The Wrap: Hydro rate freeze delay, TikTok accelerator, Bowness returns, and fond furry farewells

Manitoba’s new NDP government may push back a key election promise to freeze hydroelectric rates for one year, due to a worsening fiscal outlook at Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro.

On Friday, Hydro released its second-quarter report, showing a $610 million swing in projected revenues for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The publicly-owned utility had budgeted $450 million in net income this year; that figure has been revised to a $160 million loss in just six months.

The TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators, a free six-week course presented by the National Screen Institute (NSI), is designed to teach up-and-coming influencers how to make the most of the platform.

The accelerator is now in its third year and is a chance for the NSI — a national film training centre based in Winnipeg — to engage with a new kind of filmmaker.

 

Emotion was the order of the day as Rick Bowness, head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, returned to the rink in Florida.

Bowness was away from the team for nearly five weeks after his wife, Judy, suffered a seizure.

“Judy is doing about as well as we could expect,” Bowness said Friday morning.

In their latest Dump & Chase column, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe discuss Bowness’ return, plus Zach Benson’s first NHL goal, Ryan Reaves’ first goal of the season, and the controversy over Marc-Andre Fleury’s mask.

From making the tough decision on when to euthanize your pet to potential ways to memorialize them, the impending loss of an animal companion isn’t easy.

Writer Eva Wasney explores how pet owners deal with end-of-life care for their furry loved ones and the resulting grief.