System to address violence in schools a no-brainer

For too long, violence in Manitoba classrooms has been treated as an uncomfortable problem discussed quietly in staff rooms, but rarely confronted publicly.

That silence is beginning to crack.

As more teachers come forward with stories of classroom evacuations, physical assaults and workplaces increasingly defined by fear and disruption, the province can no longer dismiss these incidents as isolated or unavoidable.

Far more needs to be done to provide teachers — and students — with safe learning and working environments.

What tastes like a Korean pancake and is purple all over? An Oreo inspired by K-pop group BTS

Oreo is teaming up with K-pop supergroup BTS for a bit of marketing dynamite that capitalizes on consumers’ growing interest in global flavors.

Mondelez, Oreo’s parent company, said Tuesday that BTS-themed Oreos will go on sale June 1 online and June 8 in stores. The cookies, which feature purple wafers in a nod to the band’s signature color, will be sold in more than 80 markets around the world, making the partnership the brand's biggest to date.

The band also designed 13 embossments for the wafers, including the names of the seven members and an outline of the light stick that fans hold at BTS concerts.

The white-and-tan creme center of the sandwich cookies was formulated to taste like hotteok, a warm, brown sugar-stuffed pancake that’s a popular Korean street food.

You should be dancing, yeah. Moving to music offers all kinds of benefits as you age

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Carol Ross can’t stop smiling at dance practice as she shouts out the steps of a routine to members of her tap and jazz troupe for women age 50 and older.

“I’ve been dancing my whole life, it’s the best,” said Ross, who founded the Rodeo City Wreckettes group 23 years ago at an age when many people are getting ready for retirement.

Now 87, Ross and her husband and lifelong dance partner John, also 87, have long known what more older adults are now discovering: Moving to music is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Medical professionals say it doesn’t matter if it’s Western line dancing, ballroom steps, salsa, tap, Zumba at the gym, or with a group like the Wreckettes.

“Dancing is one of the most powerful activities for older people,” said Julio Loya, a nurse and geriatric program coordinator at the Tucson Medical Center.

Museum diorama detailing marshland, rye farm decommissioned owing to pest infestation

What was designed as a triumph of taxidermy has instead become a buffet for pests.

Manitoba Museum has been forced to decommission the Delta Marsh and Rye Farm two-part diorama in the Parklands Gallery after discovering the extent of the devastation wrought by mice, clothes moths and beetle larvae. The open-air exhibition, completed in 2003, represents the province’s most important wetlands and the challenges faced by early farmers, including Ukrainian immigrants in the 1920s.

“Pests are a major issue,” says Amelia Fay, the museum’s director of research, collections and exhibitions. “All museums have pests and use discreet pest-management systems, but this specific diorama was particularly vulnerable because of how authentically it was constructed, using real plant materials and organic elements that various types of critters like to consume.”

Pests can enter the museum when the doors open; clothes moths drift in with foot traffic, mice can get in through tiny gaps and dermestid beetles can hitch a ride with visitors or via tiny cracks, laying eggs in areas close to food sources for future larvae.

Manitoba doctors support provincial government’s proposed social media ban

WINNIPEG - The negative effects social media has on children and youth's mental and physical health is outweighing other health concerns like substance use and injuries prompting some Manitoba doctors to support a ban on these sites, a new report has found.

Doctors Manitoba, the organization representing roughly 5,000 physicians and students in the province, surveyed its members and found that social media and excessive screen time pose significant risks to the mental health, sleep and robust development in children and youth.

Of the 242 physicians who completed the survey, 90 per cent supported a ban on social media sites and artificial intelligence chatbots for children.

"The findings are quite clear. Doctors believe social media, screen time and chat bots are among the top risks to children's health and well-being, ranking higher than even smoking, drinking, injuries and sedentary lifestyles," Dr. Alon Altman, president of Doctors Manitoba, told reporters on Monday.

Logistics expert guides the way — for nearly 30 years

Melissa Lopushniuk has been a member of Girl Guides Canada for nearly 30 years.

She started at age six and worked her way through all five branches of the program — from Sparks to Embers to Guides to Pathfinders to Rangers. She became a volunteer adult guider when she turned 18.

Her first role as an adult volunteer was with a Spark and Ember unit comprising elementary school-aged children.

It was there when Lopushniuk’s leadership skills came to the forefront: organizing activities for weekly meetings and planning events and excursions for the younger guides.

Linking Hope creates nonprofit connections to build a better future

Standing atop a plastic chair in a bustling warehouse on the edge of downtown Winnipeg, Breena Courchaine projects her voice to coordinate dozens of volunteers and thank them for the day’s work.

The morning has been a frenzy of piling clothes atop tables, moving donations around the room and finding permanent homes for things at Linking Hope’s new, permanent home.

By 12:30 p.m. Saturday, more than 100 volunteers had moved Linking Hope’s inventory into its new home at 323 Edwin St., across the road from its former space at 190 Disraeli Fwy., and the team was well ahead of schedule — a testament to the organization's support, staff say.

“We literally could not do this without our volunteers,” Courchaine said. “Every idea that has made this place better is mostly coming from the volunteers.”

Expressive power, emotional encounters: A closer look at Rothko’s Brown and Blacks in Reds

WHAT IT IS: Brown and Blacks in Reds, a 1957 painting by American artist Mark Rothko.

This work recently sold for US$85.8 million during a record-setting evening at Sotheby’s auction house, raising vexing questions about what we mean when we talk about the value of art.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Brown and Blacks in Reds offers a sombre example of Rothko’s most immediately recognizable period, with stacked blocks of colour vibrating against an intense ground. It is usually classified as a colour field painting, part of the larger abstract-expressionist movement of the 1940s and ’50s. (Rothko himself famously disliked both these terms.)

Mad Men fans might recall a Season 2 episode in which eccentric senior partner Bert Cooper acquires a Rothko painting something like this. (“I heard it cost $10,000,” Sal says.) Some of the younger employees sneak into Cooper’s office to look at it.

Banning YouTube removes tools from schools

It’s been a long time since the norm for audio-visual presentations in classrooms took the form of a slide projector, or a TV cart with a VHS player and a small cathode-ray tube set.

But Manitoba’s premier is asking himself something lately: are the modern equivalents good for schools?

Premier Wab Kinew said during a recent CBC interview that he does not think YouTube, the popular video-streaming site, should be used in classrooms. He made the comment during a discussion on his broader effort to keep kids aged 15 and younger from accessing YouTube and other social media apps.

The comments have caused some consternation among educators who, while recognizing YouTube in general is not a great source of information for young people, believe it nevertheless offers access to a solid repository of educational video content provided by reputable sources.

Youth unemployment more than just an economic statistic

For many young Canadians, getting a first job is no longer a simple rite of passage. It has become a source of stress, frustration and uncertainty about the future.

Across Canada, teenagers and young adults are sending out resumés, applying online for hours at a time and following up with employers, only to hear nothing back. For students trying to save for tuition, get experience or simply gain independence, the struggle to find work is becoming increasingly discouraging.

Statistics Canada reported the national unemployment rate for youth ages 15 to 24 reached 14.3 per cent in April, far above the overall unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent. The youth unemployment rate remains significantly higher than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic average of 10.8 per cent.

Behind those numbers are young people who are eager to work but unable to gain a foothold in the labour market. Many employers continue to ask for experience even for entry-level positions, leaving students and recent grads trapped in a cycle where they cannot gain experience because nobody will hire them.

Pappas Greek Food and Steak closes after three decades of serving Winnipeg

Customers at Pappas Greek Food and Steak were served a side of gratitude with their meals on Friday, as the long-running Winnipeg restaurant marked its last day in business.

Owners Bob and Maria Papasotiriou are retiring after more than 30 years of operating the eatery, located at the corner of Roblin Boulevard and Elmhurst Road in the Charleswood neighbourhood.

“People walked in, they celebrated around our tables — birthdays, special occasions — and memories were created. So it’s not like a business anymore. This is home,” Maria said before lunch service.

“I want to express our deep appreciation for everybody who came through our doors and made our dream a success. They filled our hearts with a lot of joy.”

Combat in the classroom: Many Manitoba public school teachers are concerned violence is making their jobs more difficult

The majority of teachers in a new Probe Research study reported both the prevalence of violence and severity of incidents has increased since they joined the profession. Early years and veteran teachers, along with those working in Winnipeg, were the most likely to report worsening conditions.

Hermanos raises curtain on new chapter

A longstanding Winnipeg eatery is moving to a space attached to the Centennial Concert Hall that has been closed since the 1990s.

Hermanos will move from the historic Ashdown Warehouse, at 179 Bannatyne Ave., to the long-shuttered restaurant space at the concert venue, to cater to the theatre crowd, its owners told the Free Press Friday.

“This is our opportunity to expand and ensure the long-term success of the family business,” Noel Bernier, co-owner of Hermanos, said Friday.

Bernier announced this month the South American steakhouse would close after 17 years. He promised it would reopen in the east Exchange District.

Daycare loses playground structure in brazen overnight theft

HEADINGLEY — Children at a Montessori school in Headingley were set to enjoy one of the first warm days of the season, but when owner Angie Izzard arrived to open the facility Friday morning, she discovered it had been targeted in a bizarre overnight burglary.

Somebody rammed a vehicle through a chain link fence surrounding Guiding Minds Montessori playground and stole a wooden play structure.

Izzard said it appears the structure was cut free from its supports with a saw before being hauled away.

“How? How could this happen? Who? Why? I’m just shocked,” she said, adding that an assortment of other children’s toys were also missing.

Number of new measles cases trending down in Manitoba

Manitoba’s number of new confirmed measles cases is trending downward, but it’s still difficult to predict when the outbreak could end, a top public health official told the Free Press Friday.

Quartet of vintage ventures makes the old new on Main Street

There’s something new/old going on in the heart of downtown Winnipeg.Since the beginning of April, 468 Main St. has been home to four businesses specializing in retro clothing, furniture and housewares.

What you don’t know can, in fact, hurt you

‘What you don’t know can’t hurt you.”

It’s an interesting maxim, accurate in some settings.

But equally accurate might be, “What you won’t know, can hurt you.”

The last few years of politics — particularly in the United States but in other places as well — have been remarkably fractious and absolutist. You’re on one side or the other. You choose who to listen to, and what to believe in. People you don’t agree with are obviously stupid.

Adverse weather slows pace of seeding to below 5-year average

High winds and a cool spring have caused a lag in Manitoba’s crop-planting season.

At this time last year, more than half of crops — at least 57 per cent — had been seeded, according to reports. By Tuesday, just 37 per cent of 2026 seeding was complete.

The pace falls behind the five-year average: 43 per cent of seeding is usually done by May 19.

A crop report from the Manitoba government points to “extremely high winds” and rainfall slowing progress.

Is demographic collapse a good idea?

Smartphones seem to be directly linked to a worldwide crash in the birth rate.

It is “quite plausible that the modern digital media environment has had profound effects on society that have led to a decline in romantic coupling,” said Melissa Kearney, professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame.

She has to talk that way, being an academic, but what she means is that people are doomscrolling, not copulating.

That’s old news, but the evidence for it is more impressive because it is data-based. That’s what we have social scientists for, and John Burn-Murdoch, a columnist with the Financial Times, realized that you could quantify the data if you talk to enough of them. So he did, and learned that the big drop in the birth rate happened precisely when people got smartphones.

Generic semaglutide to hit Canadian pharmacies this week at a fraction of the cost of Ozempic

TORONTO - Two generic versions of Ozempic are set to start arriving in Canadian pharmacies this week, which means patients who use the drug to treat diabetes or for weight loss may have more options for a fraction of the cost.

Health Canada approved both Dr. Reddy's and Apotex's generic semaglutide — the active ingredient in brand-name Ozempic — about three weeks ago.

Apotex is based in Canada and said it began shipping its product on Tuesday.

India-based Dr. Reddy's said in an email that its semaglutide has already arrived in "select" Canadian pharmacies and will be available more widely across the country in the coming days.

Music as therapy — singing through tears

It’s Sunday and I arrive in the middle of hymn sing. Mom and her roommate are dozing on the couch in the lobby as the songs swell around them, the recorded music supplemented by a choir of earnest voices.

The diminutive lady with the horn-rimmed glasses who had vigorously belted out Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ at last week’s singalong is more subdued today, her voice soft and plaintive during Why Me Lord?

Indeed, there is an air of sadness to this gathering, the musical selections steeped in nostalgia. It feels more like group therapy than joyful noise.

But then the residents here are grieving. They have lost two of their number in recent weeks, both wonderful women whose company I enjoyed on many previous visits, and today’s music session has been dedicated to their memories.