Getting river rehab rolling: Other cities' success in stemming effluent offer splashes of hope for Winnipeg's waterways

From giant cisterns to rain gardens, storage tunnels and parks, cities across Canada — and the rest of the world — have shown there are plenty of options to stop the overflow of sewage into freshwater.

Innovative horse simulator helps riders with disabilities get in the saddle

VICTORIA - "Do you want to go faster?"

Jayne Imeson already knew the answer she was going to get from her six-year-old son, Casey, sitting astride his new steed in a park in Central Saanich, B.C.

He nodded with a smile. "Always faster -- this kid loves his speed," Imeson said.

Casey's usual ride is a Fjord horse named Valla, but on Thursday, he became the first official user of the MiraColt horse-riding motion simulator developed for the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association.

Nearly one in three non-profit workers burnt out and food insecure, survey suggests

A survey of 1,116 employees at non-profit organizations across Canada indicates more than one-third of workers regularly feel burnt out and exhausted.

The Changemaker Wellbeing Index, published Thursday, says 36 per cent of workers said they were struggling with issues such as anxiety, poor job satisfaction and insufficient household incomes.

The survey was conducted between Feb. 21 and March 14 by Toronto-based Environics Research on behalf of media company Future of Good.

Thirty-four per cent of respondents at community non-profits said they were food insecure, and 20 per cent said they were likely to quit in the next six months.

Le water-polo séduit les jeunes francophones manitobains

À l’occasion de la Ligue d’hiver, le club Vortex a reçu les équipes de water-polo de la Saskatchewan les 25 et 26 janvier derniers, qui n’étaient pas venues en territoire manitobain depuis deux ans.

La Liberté est allée à la rencontre de l’équipe des moins de 14 ans dont presque la moitié des joueurs est en école d’immersion.

Jayden Del Campo, l’un des coachs du club, a notamment accepté de réaliser avec nous une entrevue en français. Il nous a confié ce qu’il appréciait dans cette activité aquatique.

“C’est l’un des meilleurs sports d’équipe. On se voit très souvent pour les entraînements donc nous sommes comme des frères. C’est ma deuxième famille. Le water-polo c’est aussi beaucoup de fun!”

Les Aces de Saint-Anne lancent une soirée francophone

Le Comité culturel de Sainte-Anne lance sa première soirée de hockey francophone. Le 7 décembre à 19 h, les Aces de Sainte-Anne affronteront les Hawks de Notre Dame à l’aréna Maurice-Chaput.

L’idée vient de la “voix des Aces” Marc Connelly, s’inspirant des soirées thématiques dans les sports professionnels. “C’est une manière d’encourager les gens à venir à nos parties,” explique-t-il.

Peu après avoir proposé l’évènement à sa mère, Diane Connelly, secrétaire au Comité culturel, un nouveau sous-comité a vu le jour pour organiser la soirée.

“On veut essayer de mettre autant de français qu’on peut dans la fête, ajoute Diane Connelly. Une grande soirée est planifiée, car on veut que la ville sache, qu’au rural, on fait des choses!”

Manitoba bans cellphones for K-8 students

Manitoba has announced a ban on cellphones in elementary schools and strict rules to silence devices and keep them out of sight during Grade 9-12 lessons next month.

Kindergarten to Grade 8 students will be barred from using phones at any point in the school day, including during lunch and recess.

High schoolers will be asked to leave their phones in their locker, with a teacher or at the principal’s office when classes are in session.

Teenagers can access their devices on breaks and when a classroom teacher approves usage for educational purposes.

Satirical musical tackles health-care woes in bite-sized chunks

They say laughter is the best medicine. Throw a little song-and-dance into the mix and you get Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System — an 11-part web microseries that humorously addresses Canada’s ailing medical system through music and satire.

Sara Kreindler, a professor of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba, spearheads the show, drawing from her extensive research.

“It’s about starting a conversation,” says writer-composer Kreindler, who has a PhD in social psychology. “Whether you’re a health-care provider or just someone curious about the system, I want viewers to come away feeling empowered to hold our elected leaders accountable for addressing the underlying issues.”

Through the character of Larry, played by Winnipeg actor Toby Hughes, viewers embark on a journey navigating the complexities of health-care policy.

Some doctors sneak education into their online content to drown out misinformation

TORONTO - When Dr. Siobhan Deshauer makes online videos, her primary goal is to demystify medicine. Her secondary goal?

"I call it 'smuggling in education,'" said the physician and YouTuber, who boasts nearly a million subscribers on the platform. "You're coming for this mystery and this excitement, but I'm smuggling in some topics that I think are really important and that I'm passionate about."

Some experts say one of the best ways to fight a rising tide of medical misinformation on social media is to drown it out with captivating content backed by science, and Deshauer, an Ontario-based internal medicine and rheumatology specialist, is among a growing cohort of doctors and researchers doing just that.

Take one of her medical mystery videos, for example. In it, Deshauer tells the story of a woman who had lead poisoning. Doctors took ages to figure out what was causing her symptoms, but ultimately realized they were a result of lead in the Ayurvedic supplements she was taking.

Frustrated educators disconnecting distracted students from devices

More school leaders across Manitoba are asking students to unplug themselves entirely during lesson times and requesting staff to be role models around positive phone-use.

Tuxedo’s Laidlaw School, Collège Béliveau in Windsor Park and West Kildonan Collegiate are among those that have announced stricter guidelines surrounding personal devices in 2024.

“Ultimately, we want our kids to disconnect with their devices and reconnect with their classmates and teacher,” said Adam Hildebrandt, principal of West Kildonan Collegiate. “We think this really is the best thing for their learning.”

Hildebrandt began his career at the high school in 2004. It was around 2010 when it became commonplace for his students to carry personal devices everywhere they went, and his classroom was no exception.

Study shows ‘striking’ number who believe news misinforms

NEW YORK (AP) — Half of Americans in a recent survey indicated they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.

The survey, released Wednesday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, goes beyond others that have shown a low level of trust in the media to the startling point where many believe there is an intent to deceive.

Asked whether they agreed with the statement that national news organizations do not intend to mislead, 50% said they disagreed. Only 25% agreed, the study found.

Similarly, 52% disagreed with a statement that disseminators of national news “care about the best interests of their readers, viewers and listeners,” the study found. It said 23% of respondents believed the journalists were acting in the public's best interests.

The joke’s on us as social media capitalizes on our base impulses in race to the bottom

The most important thing we can teach ourselves, and our children, about how to navigate social media is this: the algorithms want you to be angry. They want you to be angry, because it is good for business.

Manitoba youth concerned about mental health: survey

Young people surveyed by Manitoba's children's advocate say they need better mental health and addiction services, as well as anti-poverty programs.

The advocate, an independent office of the Manitoba legislature, consulted with almost 300 young people who live in various regions of the province. A report based on their feedback, “The Right to Be Heard”, was published Thursday.

Generally, youth in the north were more likely to say they are concerned about poverty and substance abuse, while those living in Winnipeg were more likely to select racism and mental health issues.

“A report like this allows us a really incredible opportunity to sit down internally and think about how the projects that we have underway, how the projects that we’re maybe considering embarking on, align with what youth want us to be focused on,” said acting children's advocate Ainsley Krone said.

Ultimate test of sportsmanship: no refs, players resolve game disputes

At the World Masters Ultimate Club Championships being played this week at Little Mountain Sportsplex, the idea of respecting your opponent and promoting the integrity of the sport is not given lip service. Participants talk about respecting the spirit of the game and they mean it.

Following a round-robin men's division game between Winnipeg's Torque and Quantum of Quebec City, both teams convened for separate "spirit circles," as they are called.

These group sessions involved a discussion of the game and improvements that might be made for the upcoming match. Next, players from both teams locked arms for another spirit circle — a place where quality of play, any lingering disagreements over matters such as rough play or interpretations of the rules could be handled.

Spirit circles are part of all World Flying Disc Federation-sanctioned events.

Councillor calls for permanent bike lanes on Wellington stretch

The chair of Winnipeg’s public works committee wants the city to scrap plans for temporary bike lanes on part of Wellington Crescent and immediately proceed with a permanent protected route.

Coun. Janice Lukes wants permanent lanes to be installed in 2027 if her proposal is approved, although some proponents worry there will be more delays if plans change for a road they consider unsafe.

“I know this is frustrating and it’s challenging, but we’ve got the money — move it up and let’s just do it right the first time,” Lukes told reporters.

The city on Wednesday published a staff report and design for temporary lanes on a one-kilometre section between Academy Road and Stradbrook Avenue, after getting public input on a proposed $436,000 pilot project.

‘We need to act,’ health minister says as Canada seeks feedback on men’s health

OTTAWA - Canada needs to take action to improve the health of men and boys, Health Minister Marjorie Michel said Monday as she launched an online consultation to inform a national strategy.

Michel made the announcement in Ottawa with MPs from other parties in attendance. She said the government's approach to the issue must be non-partisan and the solutions will require co-operation among governments and community organizations.

The federal government is seeking feedback from people across the country through an online consultation that will run from March 2 to June 1.

"We invite everyone, and especially men, to participate in this important conversation," she said.

She woke up to ‘We’re at war’ in Ukraine. Now Mariia Vainshtein is a New York City tennis champion

NEW YORK (AP) — Mariia Vainshtein never heard the noise and slept straight through that horrible night four years ago.

She didn’t have her phone near bed when she woke the next morning — it probably had been taken by her parents for some teenager's misbehavior, she suspects now with a laugh – so couldn’t scroll around for the news of the day. Instead, she just asked her mother when she could get a ride to school.

Anzhelika Kotliantseva knew they weren’t going anywhere in Ukraine that day. Not after she had been awake for hours, listening to the nearby explosions that began when Russia launched its invasion.

“My mom was like, ’What do you mean? We’re at war! There’s no school, no nothing!'" Vainshtein said.

Social media companies face legal reckoning over mental health harms to children

For years, social media companies have disputed allegations that they harm children’s mental health through deliberate design choices that addict kids to their platforms and fail to protect them from sexual predators and dangerous content. Now, these tech giants are getting a chance to make their case in courtrooms around the country, including before a jury for the first time.

Some of the biggest players from Meta to TikTok are facing federal and state trials that seek to hold them responsible for harming children's mental health. The lawsuits have come from school districts, local, state and the federal government as well as thousands of families.

Two trials are now underway in Los Angeles and in New Mexico, with more to come. The courtroom showdowns are the culmination of years of scrutiny of the platforms over child safety, and whether deliberate design choices make them addictive and serve up content that leads to depression, eating disorders or suicide.

Experts see the reckoning as reminiscent of cases against tobacco and opioid markets, and the plaintiffs hope that social media platforms will see similar outcomes as cigarette makers and drug companies, pharmacies and distributors.

Making the most of Winnipeg’s biggest opportunity

The critical moral test for any community is the world it leaves for its children.

Without a doubt, Winnipeggers want all their city’s young people to have successful lives. Here are things we know make success possible: graduating from high school and avoiding disasters like addiction to drugs, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and becoming involved with the criminal justice system.

Most citizens understand this. And if they were told there are proven ways to make it much more likely for our wishes for Winnipeg’s young people to come true, they would probably say “Hey, let’s do more of that!”

But mostly, we don’t.

‘Anti-social’ dancer fell in love with metal, ‘community’ at WECC

Dammecia Hall is an artist, and for her that means spending a lot of time by herself.

“I’m extremely anti-social,” says the dancer, choreographer and educator. “But as soon as you put me in a social environment, I come alive.”

One of the social environments Hall finds herself in these days is the West End Cultural Centre, the non-profit performance venue inside a former church at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

While attending an event at the WECC, a friend of a friend encouraged Hall to volunteer at the venue. The 43-year-old Wolseley resident applied soon after, and has been volunteering at the WECC for more than a year.

Food-culture extremes reverberate back to farm

The absurdity of our civilization’s extreme relationship with food hit me like a runaway snowboard the other night while watching the Ozempic Olympics in between commercials advertising pizza and french fries.

The relentless marketing, alternately promoting weight-loss support and foods that lean towards making us fat, isn’t aimed at the elite winter athletes strutting their stuff on the world stage in Italy. It’s a safe bet they didn’t achieve the peak of human fitness on a diet of pizza and french fries. It’s equally doubtful they require injections of the GLP-1 class of drugs to help manage their weight.

These athletes deserve our admiration and respect, but to be fair to the rest of us, most working stiffs don’t have the time, drive or resources to devote full-time to the pursuit of extreme fitness.

No, those commercials are aimed at the couch potatoes back home, subjecting us to both temptation and a shortcut to redemption as we bear witness to these feats of human endurance.

‘Looksmaxxing’ hammers home a new standard of attractiveness

‘Pain is beauty” is not a new concept. Guys hitting themselves in the face with hammers? That’s new.

Movement, proper sleep crucial for brain health

Winter in Winnipeg has a way of forcing us indoors.

Short days. Long nights. More sitting. More screens. Less movement. More “I’ll get back on track in spring.”

That seasonal slowdown doesn’t just stiffen joints and pad waistlines. It quietly affects the brain, too.

When most people think about Alzheimer’s or dementia, they picture something that shows up late in life — 70s, 80s, maybe a parent or grandparent.

Relationship with city’s icy waterways warms many a Winnipegger’s heart

In summer, a screened porch or gazebo adds another room to Winnipeg houses, full of light and fresh air.

A balcony in a high-rise apartment seems to double the horizon available to residents: it feels like you could step out into the branches of a big old elm or a cottonwood, full of birds.

In the same way, the frozen Assiniboine, Red and Seine rivers add concert hall- and football stadium-sized swathes of space to the city.

The iced-over rivers provide new ways of seeing and understanding this place we call home.