Baidu unveils ChatGPT-rival Ernie Bot; 650 companies sign up

Jets GM insists club’s not working under any deadline in netminder’s trade request

Connor Hellebuyck and his family were subject to so much post-Olympic vitriol that both the Winnipeg Jets security team and even police had to get involved.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) or important decisions until noon today. After that, the moon moves from Scorpio into Sagittarius.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Your idealism is aroused, perhaps because you feel sympathy for the suffering of someone far away. Because you are proactive by nature, you might do something to help in any way you can. Pay attention to what you say and do. Expect detours.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

‘Parental rights’ issue resurfaces

Trustee campaign material that condemns rainbow flags is being met with outrage of all kinds, written complaints and, in one case, a cease-and-desist order.

“Parental rights,” including questions about classroom diversity, equity and inclusion policies, are resurfacing heading into school board elections across Manitoba.

“People are trying to advance their politics and their issues while simultaneously calling teachers ideologues and brainwashers,” said Shannon Moore, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba who studies sexual health education. “And I find that rich.”

Moore said parents have a right to choose independent school or homeschool, but they do not have a right to dictate curriculum that is currently developed using research and mainstream morals.

Winnipeg chamber chair seeks to get creative

Could Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre tickets be the next company-wide perk?

It’s a question Bob Somers is posing. He’s slated to take the reins as Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce board chair on Oct. 1.

“There’s just such a barrier to engagement with the creative sector,” said Somers, a principal landscape architect at Scatliff + Miller + Murray.

He’s attended chamber events over the past 20 years. Many videos shown at luncheons come without local music or a credit to the filmmaker, Somers said.

‘She was looking to destroy me’: convicted harasser faces new charges

When Agnieszka Ciochon-Newton moved into the 55-plus apartment building on Stradbrook Avenue last year, she came across as “timid, soft-spoken and sensitive,” said building manager Tanya Owen.

Little did Owen know the meek-looking 58-year-old woman would soon turn her life and the lives of many of her tenants upside down and threaten her career and family.

“She was looking to destroy me for a simple tenant disagreement,” Owen said Thursday.

Court records show Ciochon-Newton was arrested earlier this month and charged with seven counts of criminal harassment, two counts of uttering threats and one count each of fraud, breaking and entering, attempting to obstruct justice, intimidation of a justice official, mischief and defamatory libel.