Turkish court orders ban on Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok for offensive content

Childfree Winnipeg group gives women without kids a place to gather

Katelyn Sawatzky founded Childfree Winnipeg Women in 2021 to bring together women who don’t have kids — be it by choice or circumstance — and do not plan on raising children.

The group is designed to help them share experiences and build meaningful friendships.

The community welcomes cisgender, straight, transgender, bisexual and lesbian women. Parents, including empty nesters and men, are turned away.

“Our group is a safe space where women can hang out with other women without being asked when you’re going to have kids or why you don’t have kids … where you don’t feel like you have to validate or defend your choices in any way, because everyone gets it,” Sawatzky says.

‘Huge resource gaps’: judge shortage leads to circuit court cuts

A shortage of judges is forcing Manitoba’s provincial court to slash sittings across the province.

The court announced in a notice to the profession Wednesday that it will be reducing the number of annual court sittings at nine rural circuit locations and St. Boniface provincial court in Winnipeg by 68 sittings, effective April 1, 2027.

The reductions are necessary to balance “access to justice needs with the complement of judicial resources currently insufficient to maintain the current court schedule,” said the notice, signed by provincial court Chief Judge Ryan Rolston.

Affected circuit courts include Altona, Arborg, Beausejour, Easterville, Cranberry Portage, Lundar, Grand Rapids, Moose Lake, and Pine Falls.

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Ferraro, Skinner getting lay of the land before training camp starts

They’ve both been around the NHL block a bit, but make no mistake, Stuart Skinner and Mario Ferraro are experiencing some “new kid at school” type jitters this week.

The pair were prized July 1 free agent signings by the Winnipeg Jets and are now quickly trying to get the lay of the land — from teammates and systems and structure to restaurants, schools and the best routes to the rink — in what is a frantic time on both a professional and personal level.

“It’s a big change, right?” Ferraro said Wednesday following a pre-training camp skate at the Hockey For All Centre.

“Like moving cities, getting settled somewhere else, with my family, my wife, my daughter, our two dogs. But I think it’s gone really well and smooth. We found a great place here, and we’re really happy with where we’re living.”

Manitoba’s economic growth this year dogged by ‘uncertainty’: report

Manitoba’s economy is poised to grow 1.2 per cent this year, a report by Signal49 Research forecasts.

The firm formerly known as the Conference Board of Canada expects Manitoba will be bolstered by private-sector spending, largely in the mining sector and by public-sector projects over the next five years.

“Manitoba, it’s not unscathed from the trade war,” Richard Forbes, a Signal49 Research principal economist, said Thursday. “More … the uncertainty is affecting Manitoba than the direct trade impact.”

Forbes pointed to Alamos Gold’s Lynn Lake gold mine project and a consortium buying Vale Base Minerals’ Thompson nickel mine for up to $280 million. Global demand for minerals should benefit the Prairie province, Forbes said.