Yankees coaches Nevin, Willits test positive for coronavirus

Board game company charts winning path

Dennis Northcott has launched a game without frontiers.

The Winnipeg entrepreneur is the co-designer of Galactic Cruise, a board game published last year by Kinson Key Games LLC, the business he co-founded. Since its release, Galactic Cruise has been translated into 11 languages and sold around 50,000 copies worldwide.

It’s also one of three finalists for this year’s Deutsche Spiele Preis, a prestigious community-voted board game award. Northcott will travel to Essen, Germany, later this month, where the winner will be announced at Spiel Essen, an annual board game trade fair.

“It’s been amazing,” Northcott said of the response to Galactic Cruise during an interview in his Island Lakes neighbourhood home earlier this week. “The sales have been great, but it’s also been amazing in terms of people giving their reviews.”

Yankees coaches Nevin, Willits test positive for coronavirus

Before shots are open to all, a long-awaited period is beginning, for Ontario workers who deal in person with the public to get their vaccination.

Living the dream

DETROIT – As Tyrel Bauer took a left turn out of the tunnel from the Winnipeg Jets dressing room and into the stands, he was met with a hearty round of applause from the 25 friends and family members who had made the trek from various points around North America.

Bauer had just realized a childhood dream and the significance of the moment was not lost on some of his biggest supporters.

“It was a special walk, for sure. A special walk,” Bauer said on Saturday afternoon before the Jets departed for a two-game road trip that begins on Sunday in Detroit against the Red Wings. “Those people who came – and many more that weren’t there and were cheering on from afar – they’ve always been there.

“I wanted that for my family, maybe even more than I wanted it for me. They’ve been through thick and thin. I’ve stressed mom out quite a bit over the years doing my job. That meant a lot for them and I’m really happy they could be there for it.”

Moving drama at MTYP gives voice to boy who changed law

The heroic true tale of Norway House Cree Nation-born Jordan River Anderson came home Friday night, as Manitoba Theatre for Young People presented Yvette Nolan’s Jordan.

The touring production, a collaboration with Geordie Theatre, runs weekends through Oct. 11, with additional stops in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa’s National Arts Centre.

Having several of Anderson’s family members witness the local première underscored the evening with poignancy. Elder and Pine Creek First Nation member Barbara Nepinak added her own dignified presence and prayers following MTYP artistic director Pablo Felices-Luna’s welcoming remarks.

The season-opener also marks the Winnipeg-raised playwright’s homecoming; the Algonquin playwright, director, dramaturg, actor and educator was a fixture in our local theatre community for many years before going on to serve as artistic director for Native Earth Performing Arts from 2003 to ‘11, among other contributions.

Six high school hockey programs ceased operations following new Hockey Manitoba policy

She lived the best of both worlds.

For the last three years, the 17-year-old wore a sweater for two different hockey programs — her high school team and AAA club in the Manitoba Female Hockey League — and was preparing to flourish in both colours again this winter.

Recently, however, the blue-liner was disappointed to learn she is no longer eligible to play her Grade 12 season with her school owing to a new policy imposed by Hockey Manitoba that bans players from participating in the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League if they are rostered on a U18 AAA team.

The rule applies to all athletes who play for both Winnipeg-based and rural AAA teams.

Brandonmeat packer thriving on its own

BRANDON — Canada Packers has strengthened its business and laid the foundation for future growth during its first year as an independent company, its president says.

The Brandon-based pork producer, separated from Maple Leaf Foods in October 2025, established its own leadership, strategy, systems, culture and identity while continuing operations across its hog production farms and regional hog barns in southern and eastern Manitoba.

The company’s first year was focused on building a successful standalone business while continuing to serve customers, communities and shareholders, president Dennis Organ said.

“Market conditions over the past year have been more challenging than we anticipated when we became a separate entity,” he said in an email. “Despite that, we continued to execute against our priorities, including increasing processing volumes, maintaining disciplined operations and strengthening the business.”