Saskatchewan RCMP issue ‘Crime Pattern Alert’ as thieves target more churches

Sun sets on Hellebuyck era

Now that the Connor Hellebuyck era of the Jets has finally concluded, what impact will the departure have on the netminder’s legacy?

Well, it’s a complex answer and one that could change with the benefit of time and a side order of sober second thought.

Given how raw things are right now and how things quickly went sideways — with the franchise goalie essentially forcing his way out of town with his trade request back in April — many members of the Winnipeg Jets fan base quickly found themselves at the “good riddance” stage of the grieving process.

This wasn’t how this story was supposed to end and there’s no doubt some feelings have been hurt along the way.

First Crumbl cookie shop opens in Winnipeg

The early birds got their cookies.

Klaudia and Jayson Ballantyne were the first in line for the grand opening of Winnipeg’s first Crumbl location at 1570 Regent Ave. West, arriving at 2 a.m. Friday — six hours before the cookie chain was set to open.

The brother and sister brought their lawn chairs and blankets and hunkered down.

Roughly 90 minutes later, by their count, the next customers arrived.

Alberta: More federalist than you thought

Avert your eyes if you don’t like hard-core. This is a hard-core column about the hard-core Alberta separatists who hijacked a party, corrupted a process and failed in their fevered fervour to break up Canada.

First, be of good cheer. Canada won Monday night’s referendum in Alberta. Decisively. Three-quarters of the votes cast were for Option 1: “Alberta should remain a province of Canada.” Only one in four Alberta voters opted for a referendum on separation.

Alberta won, too. That strong vote against separation means the province can look ahead, confident the independence fever dream is boxed. A true win-win and a sad rarity in politics these days.

Be warned, though. Those hard-core separatists are hard dogs to keep on the porch, as the expression goes. They are already agitating to be taken more seriously than the votes warrant. They intend to flex whatever muscle memory remains to depose Premier Danielle Smith from her leadership of the United Conservative Party. Dis-united Conservative Party, anyone?

Processing potential long way from reality

There are times in life when you want to be wrong — like when you walk into the doctor’s office believing your ailment will be the death of you.

It’s the same sort of feeling I get wading through the pile of newly released reports extolling the unrealized “potential” for more value-added processing in Canadian agriculture. There’s this little voice inside my head saying: “I’m from Manitoba. Show me.”

There are jaw-dropping numbers bandied about in various reports from Food and Beverage Canada, the Canadian Chambers of Commerce/PwC and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. For example, more processing could add $75 billion on top of the $188 billion the sector already generates, create hundreds of thousands more jobs and a bigger domestic market for farmers. The list goes on.

Not to discount the solid analysis behind these efforts. Overall, it all sounds great, although notably missing is any mention of the growing concerns over ultra-processed foods and how that might affect future market growth.

Province orders ban on private teacher-student messaging

Manitoba teachers are no longer allowed to text or use social media to contact a student – regardless of whether they coach a school sports team or supervise other activities outside typical instruction times.

Mayor Gillingham poised for repeat

Incumbent mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham remains in the lead among decided voters in a new poll that suggests a majority of Winnipeggers want change ahead of Wednesday’s election.

Gillingham was backed by 36 per cent of decided voters in an Abacus Data survey released Friday, followed by candidates Kevin Klein (19 per cent) and Mike Vogiatzakis and a surging Noah Redden, who were tied for third (both at 14 per cent).

While a majority of respondents expressed a desire for a new mayor, Curtis Brown, a vice-president with Abacus, said “none of the other candidates has convincingly made the case that they represent the best change.”

“In the absence of that, Scott Gillingham definitely has the advantage. He looks likely to be able to win,” Brown said.