Report: Serbian arriving for Tokyo Olympics tests positive

Modern myths: RWB updates classic Slavic folk tales as part of Stravinsky-based double bill

Two stories, two choreographers, one composer: the Royal Winnipeg Ballet opens its 2026/27 season with a double bill that celebrates the influential works of Igor Stravinsky.

Stravinsky Stories, which runs Thursday to Sunday at the Centennial Concert Hall, pairs veteran Russian-Ukrainian choreographer (and former RWB principal dancer) Alexei Ratmansky’s The Fairy’s Kiss with the world première of emerging Chicago-born choreographer Houston Thomas’s Firebird.

Much like Tchaikovsky before him, Stravinsky was a composer who took commissions for ballets, but there are actually no definitive versions of either of these works, says RWB artistic director Christopher Stowell.

“Unlike Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty, where there’s sort of a blueprint of a classical production that most people follow, there have been famous productions of both The Fairy’s Kiss and Firebird, but there isn’t one that everyone’s following at all,” he says.

Brandon meat 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.”

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.”

Sidney Crosby sings praises of Jets' Bjorck, summer training partner Barron

PITTSBURGH — It wasn’t that long ago when the shoe was on the other foot for Sidney Crosby.

Transgender air force member fined for 17 Wing Winnipeg protest

A transgender military member has been fined in a case where she was Tasered while fighting to have her gender identity changed on her file.

Royal Canadian Air Force Sgt. Athena Morris was fined $2,000 for unlawfully entering a restricted area at 17 Wing Winnipeg on March 31, 2025, when she demanded the gender marker on her file be changed. Morris, a transgender woman, said she had been trying to get her gender identifier changed since January of that year.

The incident was a culmination of “months of friction,” defence counsel Maj. Carlos Da Cruz told military judge Stephen Strickey Monday during a hearing at HMCS Chippawa, a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve division in Winnipeg.

Da Cruz told court Morris was misgendered by colleagues and superiors and told she wasn’t allowed to use the women’s bathrooms or showers.