Moms describe being trapped in a cycle of anguish when a loved one faces mental health crises

TORONTO - Nancy Saunders says her son Ben Brennan accomplished so much in his short life.

He was an exceptional musician, loved writing and was a freelance recording engineer, she said.

Brennan played in bands across Canada and toured Europe. He studied at the University of King’s College in Halifax.

Deeply kind and compassionate, “he just had a huge soft heart,” Saunders said.

Trial against Meta in New Mexico highlights video depositions by top executives

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors began presenting never-before-seen video depositions of Meta executives at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday to bolster accusations that the social media conglomerate failed to disclose what it knows about harmful effects to children on its platforms, including Instagram.

New Mexico prosecutors are billing depositions from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri as centerpieces of the state's case against Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Prosecutors have accused Meta of violating state consumer protection laws.

Prosecutors say the dangers of addiction to social media as well as child sexual exploitation on Meta's platforms weren’t properly addressed or disclosed by the company.

Meta attorney Kevin Huff pushed back on those assertions during opening statements on Feb. 9, highlighting efforts to weed out harmful content from its platforms while warning users that some content still gets through its safety net. He said Meta discloses the risks.

End the ban: France backs return of intellectually disabled athletes to Winter Paralympics

LANS-EN-VERCORS, France (AP) — On a well-groomed, snow-covered slope in the Montagnes de Lans ski area near the French city of Grenoble, a group of Alpine skiers take aggressive lines through the gates. Their trajectories are precise, the tempo is fast and the technique polished.

Among this competition squad are world champions — some with multiple medals to their names.

Yet none will line up in the starting gates at the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games, where more than 650 athletes will compete in 79 medal events from March 6.

The reason? They have cognitive disabilities and are not eligible to compete.

Solomon to meet OpenAI CEO Altman in wake of mass killings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

VANCOUVER - Federal Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon will meet with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman next week looking for a plan on how the company might prevent another tragedy like the mass killings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Solomon said in a statement on Friday that he plans to talk to Altman "to seek further clarity and to ensure that the commitments made are translated into concrete action."

OpenAI had sent a letter to Solomon on Thursday, outlining its commitment to strengthen detection systems, to identify potential warning signals of serious violence, and better prevent attempts to evade safeguards.

Tumbler Ridge shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar had her ChatGPT account flagged internally and shut down by OpenAI last June, but the company did not notify police at the time. She went on to murder eight people on Feb. 10 in Tumbler Ridge, before killing herself.

Young woman says she was on social media ‘all day long’ as a child in landmark addiction trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A young woman who is battling against social media giants took the stand Thursday to testify about her experience using the platforms as she was growing up, saying she was on social media “all day long” as a child.

The now 20-year-old, who has been identified in court documents as KGM, says her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.

The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellwether trial, meaning its outcome could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.

KGM, or Kaley, as her lawyers have called her during the trial, started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9.

AI chatbots and teens — a sometimes deadly combination

As if there weren’t enough concerns about the changes artificial intelligence may bring in the future — the displacement of millions of workers, or the potential for AI to disconnect from its human managers and go its own way — there are clear and present dangers which AI companies must be forced to address now.

‘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.

Eby says it looks like OpenAI could have prevented ‘horrific’ Tumbler Ridge killings

VICTORIA - British Columbia Premier David Eby said it "looks like" OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent the recent mass shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., in which nine people died, as pressure piled on the artificial intelligence firm over its handling of interactions with 18-year-old shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar.

The firm has been summoned to Ottawa on Tuesday to explain why it didn't go immediately to police after its internal safeguards flagged worrisome interactions between the shooter and its ChatGPT chatbot at least seven months ago.

Eby — who is also calling for national standards for AI companies on reporting potential threats — said Monday there would be a public accounting by the company to explain why it only reported its concerns to police after the Feb. 10 killings by Van Rootselaar, who shot dead her mother, half-brother, five school pupils and a teacher's aide, then herself.

"From the outside, it looks like OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy, to prevent this horrific loss of life, to prevent there from being dead children in British Columbia," he said. "I'm angry about that."

Social media can be addictive even for adults, but there are ways to cut back

Social media addiction has been compared to casinos, opioids and cigarettes.

While there’s some debate among experts about the line between overuse and addiction, and whether social media can cause the latter, there is no doubt that many people feel like they can’t escape the pull of Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and other platforms.

The companies that designed your favorite apps have an incentive to keep you glued to them so they can serve up ads that make them billions of dollars in revenue. Resisting the pull of the endless scroll, the dopamine hits from short-form videos and the ego boost and validation that come from likes and positive interactions, can seem like an unfair fight. For some people, “rage-bait,” gloomy news and arguing with internet strangers also have an irresistible draw.

Much of the concern around social media addiction has focused on children. But adults are also susceptible to using social media so much that it starts affecting their day-to-day lives.

‘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.

Attention-grabbing screens demean us, bit by bit

The first time I read Oryx and Crake, Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s haunting dystopic novel, I couldn’t put it down. I devoured it in just days, engrossed by the fictional world Atwood wove from the most discomfiting new threads of our own.

Over the years, I returned to the book many times, always finding new depth in its pages. Each time, I finished it at the same brisk pace. I was a fast reader as a child, and for most of my life, that didn’t change.

Until now. In November, as part of an effort to calm my restless mind, I put Oryx and Crake on my nightstand, and made a pledge to myself to read a little bit every night. This time, it’s been over two months, and I’ve made it through only 92 pages.

It would be easy to say I’ve been too busy, but that would be a lie. I’ve had time to read. The problem is now, unlike when the book came out in 2003, I struggle to read more than a page without checking my phone quickly; and checking it once means falling into the chasm of raw content the internet has become.

Province hunting for web-based system to better assess and help youth with mental-health, addiction issues

As a drug crisis rages in Manitoba, the province is looking for a better web-based mental-health and addictions assessment tool for youth to help connect them to the services they need.

Shared Health said it’s seeking an evidence-based assessment system that focuses on mental health and substance use challenges in youth. On Monday, it posted on the public-sector tendering site MERX that it’s looking for systems and tools that are secure and ready to go.

A spokesperson for Shared Health said the authority is trying to determine whether there are any stronger screening tools and digital platforms than what is currently in use. The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth has sounded the alarm over substance use among children and youth, and the need for the province to do more and better.

Shared Health currently has a screening tool and digital platform — the Child Behavior Checklist and the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA-Web), the spokesperson said.

Advocates push for advance MAID requests two years after Parliament recommendation

OTTAWA - Sandra Demontigny knew something wasn't right when she couldn't remember buying herself a new pair of boots. They were a splurge — a little out of character for the mother of three — and she had been excited about bringing them home.

"I saw them near the door and I asked my kids, 'Who bought these boots? I've never seen them,'" she said.

"The kids were saying, 'No, (they're) yours. You bought them and you really like them."

Sliding her feet inside, she realized she couldn't remember buying them. "I started crying," she said.

Open AI, Microsoft face lawsuit over ChatGPT’s alleged role in Connecticut murder-suicide

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The heirs of an 83-year-old Connecticut woman are suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft for wrongful death, alleging that the artificial intelligence chatbot intensified her son's “paranoid delusions” and helped direct them at his mother before he killed her.

Police said Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, a former tech industry worker, fatally beat and strangled his mother, Suzanne Adams, and killed himself in early August at the home where they both lived in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The lawsuit filed by Adams' estate on Thursday in California Superior Court in San Francisco alleges OpenAI “designed and distributed a defective product that validated a user’s paranoid delusions about his own mother.” It is one of a growing number of wrongful death legal actions against AI chatbot makers across the country.

“Throughout these conversations, ChatGPT reinforced a single, dangerous message: Stein-Erik could trust no one in his life — except ChatGPT itself," the lawsuit says. “It fostered his emotional dependence while systematically painting the people around him as enemies. It told him his mother was surveilling him. It told him delivery drivers, retail employees, police officers, and even friends were agents working against him. It told him that names on soda cans were threats from his ‘adversary circle.’”

Elementary students share struggles with reading after report reveals education system failing

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission published the long-awaited results of a probe into how schools are teaching children to read — or failing to do so — at the end of October.

The 70-page report represents Phase 1 of a special project that’s become known as “Manitoba’s Right to Read.” A followup on the implementation of investigators’ recommendations is expected in 2026-27.

Local investigators concluded many teachers do not have training in structured literacy, a neuroscience-backed philosophy founded on explicit instruction in phonics, which stresses recognizing the connection between sounds and letters/letter combinations.

The structured-literacy method of teaching had all but lost the so-called “reading wars” by the 2000s, amid concerns memorizing letter-sound associations was repetitive and, as a result, was destroying students’ motivation to learn. Schools pivoted to prioritizing exposing children to a wide variety of interesting and increasingly difficult texts.

A friend is a friend is a friend

My mother has a friend she does not know. For privacy’s sake I’ll call her Peggy, but that is not her name.

Walk across Manitoba raises funds for first responders dealing with mental health issues

Andrew Cherkas deals with his mental health struggles one step at a time.

The 43-year-old firefighter lives with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the tragedies he’s witnessed on the job and contemplated suicide in 2021.

Since then, medication and therapy have helped him get to a better place. The daily walks he takes with his dog, Charlie, along the trails near his home south of Portage la Prairie, are also healing. No headphones, no music — just Cherkas, Charlie and the outdoors.

Last spring, Cherkas came up with an idea to raise awareness and funds for first responders struggling with mental health issues. He launched Steppin’ in Support for 1977 earlier this month with the goal of walking across Manitoba while inviting people to donate to the Preston Heinbigner Memorial Fund.

Charges upgraded to attempted murder in summer sword attack

A 16-year-old male has been charged with two additional counts of attempted murder after more victims were confirmed in relation to a sword attack at a high school in June.

Owner tears down squatter-damaged buildings on property next to Assiniboine Park

After repeated break-ins and a stalled first attempt, a Winnipeg homeowner has finally secured city permits and torn down buildings on his property, including his childhood home.

Paul Taylor confirmed to the Free Press on Tuesday that the house and outbuildings on his Charleswood property have been reduced to rubble, which he expects to be cleared any day now.

Taylor began demolition last month after years of dealing with squatters, but the city halted the work when he started clearing trees without the proper permits. The property borders Assiniboine Park.

“I decided we need to clear the site because it’s not safe,” Taylor said at the time. “I don’t want to be on the hook if something horrible happens.”

Psychiatric patient sues over alleged negligence at HSC that enabled suicide attempt, caused severe injuries

A woman undergoing treatment at Health Sciences Centre after a suicide attempt who was allegedly permitted to leave on a temporary pass and severely injured in another bid to end her life is suing the hospital, her psychiatrist and Shared Health.

The Free Press is not naming the woman or her husband, who filed a statement of claim last week in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, claiming the defendants were negligent with her care.

The court document says the woman, after attempting suicide on Sept. 2, 2023, was rushed to the HSC by ambulance, treated for her injuries and admitted to the trauma surgery unit. A few days later, she told hospital staff she was continuing to experience suicidal ideations and was voluntarily admitted into the psychiatric unit.

While under psychiatric care, she was issued community passes to get out with her husband and children for up to five hours at a time.

Winnipeg Jets fan support ‘like none other’

It was a vivid — and very noisy — reminder of just how hockey-crazed this community can be.

A dreary, rainy Saturday didn’t stop roughly 5,000 fans from packing into Hockey For All Centre to watch the Winnipeg Jets go through their training camp paces.

“It’s awesome. It just shows how great the support is, how great the community is,” said rookie skater Colby Barlow.

The 20-year-old from Ontario, selected 18th overall by the Jets in 2023, drew one of the loudest ovations when he buried a wicked one-timer off a Parker Ford feed to open the scoring during a scrimmage, which was the main attraction of the team’s annual Fan Fest.