Heavy rain shuts down Istanbul, causing flooding and 3 deaths

Author Emily St. John Mandel’s Exit Party a story of hope in dark times

If Emily St. John Mandel’s new novel Exit Party is in any way prophetic, Americans should be worried.

The B.C.-born, New York-based author’s bestselling fourth novel, 2014’s Station Eleven, chronicled a performing troupe in a post-pandemic world. The novel experienced a second wave of popularity when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, and when HBO’s Station Eleven miniseries premièred in late 2021.

Mandel launches Exit Party, her seventh novel, at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location tonight, where she’ll be joined in conversation by Winnipeg novelist Joan Thomas.

Published in September by HarperCollins, Exit Party sees Mandel once again working in the near future, in this case in a novel that features two timelines — one (dubbed the A-side in the novel) where the U.S. has fractured into a number of small countries following a civil war, and another (the B-side) where a singular, autocratic surveillance state has tightened its grip over its citizens.

Disgraced ex-dean landed job at German university after fleeing Winnipeg

Before he was arrested in a posh Paris suburb, the disgraced dean of Manitoba’s only law school — who fled the country following a 2020 expense scandal — kept a low profile at a German university.

Movie theatre reopening generates excitement in Selkirk

Selkirk got an extra dose of lights, cameras and action this weekend.

And ribbon cutting — for the grand reopening of the city’s sole theatre.

“It’s fantastic,” Mayor Larry Johannson said. “The sky’s the limit.”

The Garry Theatre now operates under a non-profit charity. It’s been closed since 2021, when Landmark Cinemas left the city.

Backstreet Boys’ 12-show Toronto run offers millennials a ticket to simpler times

When Chelsea Smith heard the Backstreet Boys were coming to Toronto, she had a simple message for the five men who soundtracked her childhood.

“Here's my credit card, take all my money.”

The 35-year-old Vancouver fan wasn’t bluffing. Having already travelled to Las Vegas to see her teenybopper crushes, she's now preparing to fly across the country for two Toronto concerts, spending roughly $600 on tickets alone.

And she's hardly the only millennial willing to pay a tidy sum to party like it’s 1999.

Hockey teams scramble after two city arenas put on ice

Instead of ice, Barry Bonni walks onto a dull concrete surface at the Terry Sawchuk Memorial Arena on Thursday.

The arena, as well as the West Kildonan Memorial Arena, have had to close after failing inspections. Predictably, the city’s hockey community is in a tailspin because ice time is so precious.

“We’re now in panic mode,” said Bonni, president of the River East Royal Knights on Thursday. The Sawchuk arena is the team’s home rink.

Bonni, who is a living legend in Manitoba’s hockey community, said the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League club is scrambling to find ice time.

New twist in Hellebuyck saga, suspension ends Friday

Connor Hellebuyck has played the reverse Uno card.

What we don’t know is if he has any intention of coming back to friendly Manitoba or if this is simply the latest attempt to put the Winnipeg Jets feet to the flames in an effort to move him to an American market.

Prior to puck drop on Saturday afternoon, when the Jets were getting set to host the Carolina Hurricanes, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that the three-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time Hart Trophy winner informed the organization he wanted to return on Oct. 2 and that his holdout has now shifted to a team-imposed suspension that can officially come to an end Friday.

The Jets were able to extend his suspension (for failing to report to training camp) because of a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, Article 15.13, subsection (c)(v), which reads: “If a player who has not received permission to be absent from training camp returns to the club, he shall be subject to a disciplinary suspension of reasonable length.”