Technical Vocational Education

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

Attention-grabbing screens demean us, bit by bit

Melissa Martin 8 minute read Preview

Attention-grabbing screens demean us, bit by bit

Melissa Martin 8 minute read Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026

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.

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Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026

AIRAM DATO-ON / PEXELS.COM

A planned January digital detox starts with deleting time-wasting apps, including social media, and occasionally going phone-free.

AIRAM DATO-ON / PEXELS.COM
                                A planned January digital detox starts with deleting time-wasting apps, including social media, and occasionally going phone-free.

Fans mourn closure of cupcake vending machine company Sprinkles Cupcakes

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Fans mourn closure of cupcake vending machine company Sprinkles Cupcakes

The Associated Press 2 minute read Monday, Jan. 5, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Sprinkles Cupcakes, a company famous for selling sweet treats in vending machines known as “cupcake ATMs,” has shut down after 20 years of operation around the United States, according to its former owner.

“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go,” said Candace Nelson, who started the company after she lost her job in 2005. The closure was announced Dec. 30.

Nelson started Sprinkles Cupcakes in her own kitchen, and the first location was in a small Beverly Hills storefront that had previously been a sandwich shop. The brand would go on to ascend to national fame, and fans took to social media following the company's announcement to lament the closure.

The company's cupcake-dispensing machines in malls and airports briefly went viral on TikTok for the not-so-subtle “I love Sprinkles” jingle that played repeatedly while a mechanical arm delivered the dessert.

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Monday, Jan. 5, 2026

FILE - A newly-installed 24-Hour Cupcake "ATM," that will be continuously restocked to dispense fresh cupcakes, is seen right as patrons enter Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, Calif., March 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - A newly-installed 24-Hour Cupcake

Peace by Chocolate and NuttyHero products added to pistachio recall due to salmonella

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Peace by Chocolate and NuttyHero products added to pistachio recall due to salmonella

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026

TORONTO - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has added several Peace by Chocolate and NuttyHero products to its ongoing recall of pistachios possibly contaminated with salmonella.

The latest recall published Friday includes Peace by Chocolate bars and assorted chocolates sold across Canada.

They may have been sold individually or as part of a variety pack.

The affected products include Dubai Style Chocolate Pistachio and Kunafa Bar, The Peace Maker Specialty Bars, Trans Canada Trail — Peace Seeker, the Classic Box, the Proudly Canadian box and assorted filled chocolates.

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Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is recalling more pistachio-containing products as part of an ongoing salmonella investigation. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa is shown on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is recalling more pistachio-containing products as part of an ongoing salmonella investigation. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa is shown on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

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

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Preview

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

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

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.

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Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, Sherry Gott.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, Sherry Gott.

Fewer than one in five Manitobans are sure they know fabricated online content when they see it: survey

Ben Waldman 5 minute read Preview

Fewer than one in five Manitobans are sure they know fabricated online content when they see it: survey

Ben Waldman 5 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

When Weekly World News stories about a half-boy, half-bat lined supermarket checkout lanes in the 1990s, most consumers — including Probe Research partner Curtis Brown — could readily, easily and confidently identify the eye-grabbing tabloid reports as false.

“When it comes to (content generated by) AI, people have a bit less confidence,” says Brown. “Sometimes it’s very obviously so-called AI slop — like a historical figure talking about something contemporary. The last couple of months I’ve seen a lot of videos of JFK talking about what a fool his nephew is.”

Even if a quick Google search to note RFK Jr. was nine when his uncle was assassinated in 1963 — marking such videos as debris in an artificial intelligence mudslide — new media literacy polling conducted by Probe for the Free Press reveals that only 18 per cent of Manitobans feel very confident that they can identify whether video footage is “fake or AI-generated.”

Of the 1,000 Manitobans randomly surveyed by Probe between Nov. 25 and Dec. 10, 13 per cent believed that they’d personally shared video, images or text on social media that they didn’t realize was fake.

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Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

Bat boy appeared in the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News in the early 1990s.

Bat boy appeared in the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News in the early 1990s.
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Filipino-style fried-chicken biz off to a sizzling start

David Sanderson 7 minute read Preview
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Filipino-style fried-chicken biz off to a sizzling start

David Sanderson 7 minute read Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

Before we begin, John Tadeo wants to make it abundantly clear that Popoy’s, the tag he and his girlfriend Patricia Santiago settled on for their Filipino-style fried-chicken biz, isn’t a play on an international fried-chicken chain that bears the name of a certain, spinach-loving sailor-man.

When Tadeo was a youngster growing up in the Philippines, his paternal grandmother never called him anything but Popoy, a derivative of Popo, which is Tagalog for little boy or child. His parents continue to address him by that term of affection to this day, so last winter, when he and Santiago were tossing around potential names for their fledgling enterprise, they agreed Popoy’s Golden Chicken had a better ring to it than John’s or Patricia’s.

“I guess if somebody associated with Popeyes (Louisiana Kitchen) ever tells us we can’t call ourselves (Popoy’s), we’d probably just change it to Poy’s,” Tadeo says, standing next to Santiago in the commercial kitchen at Riverview Community Centre, where they accept pickup orders on a regular basis, usually every other weekend.

“But since Popoy is my name, I’m not sure what argument they’d have.”

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Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

Popoy’s offers three flavours: original, hot honey and the new ‘everything bagel.’ (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)

Popoy’s offers three flavours: original, hot honey and the new ‘everything bagel.’ (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)

Regulators up surveillance of ‘gamification’ techniques used to game investors (potentially) of their money

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Preview

Regulators up surveillance of ‘gamification’ techniques used to game investors (potentially) of their money

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

Fun and games aren’t just for children this holiday season. Turns out, investing is increasingly gamified.

However, it’s more of a year-round thing, as online investment platforms use “gamification” techniques, which can make the business of dollars and cents a little more fun.

In essence, gamification involves leveraging powerful behavioural psychology tools that nudge, through video game-like design, consumers toward engaging in certain behaviours — for better and for worse.

Canada’s largest investment regulator — the Ontario Securities Commission — has conducted a few studies examining gamification to understand its potential for benefiting and harming investors.

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Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

Humanoid robots take center stage at Silicon Valley summit, but skepticism remains

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Humanoid robots take center stage at Silicon Valley summit, but skepticism remains

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 5 minute read Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Robots have long been seen as a bad bet for Silicon Valley investors — too complicated, capital-intensive and “boring, honestly,” says venture capitalist Modar Alaoui.

But the commercial boom in artificial intelligence has lit a spark under long-simmering visions to build humanoid robots that can move their mechanical bodies like humans and do things that people do.

Alaoui, founder of the Humanoids Summit, gathered more than 2,000 people this week, including top robotics engineers from Disney, Google and dozens of startups, to showcase their technology and debate what it will take to accelerate a nascent industry.

Alaoui says many researchers now believe humanoids or some other kind of physical embodiment of AI are “going to become the norm."

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Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

A man records a humanoid robot inside the exhibition room at the Humanoids Summit, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

A man records a humanoid robot inside the exhibition room at the Humanoids Summit, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Disney invests $1B in OpenAI in deal to bring characters like Mickey Mouse to Sora AI video tool

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Disney invests $1B in OpenAI in deal to bring characters like Mickey Mouse to Sora AI video tool

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 4 minute read Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and will bring characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Luke Skywalker to the AI company's Sora video generation tool, in a licensing deal that the two companies announced on Thursday.

At the same time, Disney went after Google, demanding the tech company stop exploiting its copyrighted characters to train its AI systems.

The OpenAI agreement makes the Walt Disney Co. the first major content licensing partner for Sora, which uses generative artificial intelligence to create short videos.

Under the three-year licensing deal, fans will be able to use Sora to generate and share videos based on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters.

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Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

FILE - The OpenAI logo is seen displayed on a cell phone in front of an image on a computer screen generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, file)

FILE - The OpenAI logo is seen displayed on a cell phone in front of an image on a computer screen generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, file)

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

Dave Collins, Matt O'brien And Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

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

Dave Collins, Matt O'brien And Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 6 minute read Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

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.’”

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Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Denmark plans to severely restrict social media use for young people

James Brooks, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Denmark plans to severely restrict social media use for young people

James Brooks, The Associated Press 5 minute read Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — As Australia began enforcing a world-first social media ban for children under 16 years old this week, Denmark is planning to follow its lead and severely restrict social media access for young people.

The Danish government announced last month that it had secured an agreement by three governing coalition and two opposition parties in parliament to ban access to social media for anyone under the age of 15. Such a measure would be the most sweeping step yet by a European Union nation to limit use of social media among teens and children.

The Danish government's plans could become law as soon as mid-2026. The proposed measure would give some parents the right to let their children access social media from age 13, local media reported, but the ministry has not yet fully shared the plans.

Many social media platforms already ban children younger than 13 from signing up, and a EU law requires Big Tech to put measures in place to protect young people from online risks and inappropriate content. But officials and experts say such restrictions don’t always work.

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Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

FILE - Caroline Stage, Danish Minister for Digitalization and representatives from the agreement parties attends a press conference about a new political agreement for better protection of children and young people online, in Copenhagen, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

FILE - Caroline Stage, Danish Minister for Digitalization and representatives from the agreement parties attends a press conference about a new political agreement for better protection of children and young people online, in Copenhagen, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

Safety concerns force city to close East Kildonan arena for extensive repairs

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Preview

Safety concerns force city to close East Kildonan arena for extensive repairs

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025

Structural problems forced the city to suddenly close an east Winnipeg arena Wednesday, leaving hockey teams and other users scrambling to find vacant ice just weeks into their seasons.

City community services chair Coun. Vivian Santos said staff told her that internal deterioration of “glulam” — glued, laminated wood — beams was discovered at Terry Sawchuk Arena.

“The beams were found to be hollow,” Santos said. “It’s uncommon, but it does present a concern.”

She said the city is looking at the remediation work that is required, the cost and a timeline to reopen the arena. The city’s website said the temporary closure is expected to last until Dec. 31, which Santos described as an early estimate.

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Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

The structural issues were only recently identified, the city said.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                The structural issues were only recently identified, the city said.

Scams, threats and fake opportunities: stay sharp

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Scams, threats and fake opportunities: stay sharp

Editorial 4 minute read Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025

Hopefully, this editorial is not coming to you as a posthumous publication.

And yes, we’re backing into this editorial a bit. (In newspaper terms, burying the lede. Hopefully, not burying its author.

But here goes: this is your regular reminder that e-mail scams abound, and come in all shapes, sizes, and threats of danger, most often imaginary. They put the pressure on with the severity of dangers you face, and urge you to act quickly.

Don’t.

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Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025

File

Scams come in all forms.

File
                                Scams come in all forms.

Investing for ourselves, and those downstream

Jocelyn Thorpe and Adele Perry 5 minute read Preview

Investing for ourselves, and those downstream

Jocelyn Thorpe and Adele Perry 5 minute read Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

We have invested large sums of money in infrastructure before.

You don’t often hear Winnipeggers complaining about the results: soft, clean drinking water thanks to the Shoal Lake aqueduct and flood protection thanks to the Red River Floodway.

A new city report outlines the importance of upgrading Winnipeg’s North End sewage treatment plant, which is responsible for treating 70 per cent of the city’s wastewater and all sewage sludge. The report focuses on the upgrades’ potential benefits to the city, including increased capacity to build new homes and businesses, and related economic growth.

It briefly mentions that upgrades to the plant are necessary in order to meet environmental regulations designed to protect waterways from the discharge of harmful materials that compromise the health of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg.

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Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

SUPPLIED

An undated archival photo shows the aqueduct construction that brought Shoal Lake water to Winnipeg. Manitoba has great need of new infrastructure investment.

SUPPLIED
                                An undated archival photo shows the aqueduct construction that brought Shoal Lake water to Winnipeg. Manitoba has great need of new infrastructure investment.
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Not everyone sees the new Cancon rules as a win. Five takeaways from CRTC’s decision

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Preview
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Not everyone sees the new Cancon rules as a win. Five takeaways from CRTC’s decision

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

An overhaul by the federal regulator of how Canadian content is defined has been met with mixed reaction from some of the country's biggest film and TV players this week.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued its long-awaited expansion of the range of creative roles that qualify a film or TV show as Canadian, setting new rules for foreign streaming companies that operate in the country.

However, not everyone sees the changes as a win.

MORE ROLES, MORE POINTS — AND MORE WORRIES FROM DIRECTORS

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Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

An assistant director stands by as a stunt car drives down Yonge Street during a film production in Toronto in 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

An assistant director stands by as a stunt car drives down Yonge Street during a film production in Toronto in 2015.  THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Ophthalmologists urge provinces not to allow optometrists to perform minor surgeries

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Ophthalmologists urge provinces not to allow optometrists to perform minor surgeries

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025

TORONTO - Ophthalmologists are urging provincial governments not to move ahead with plans that would allow optometrists to perform some surgeries and laser eye treatments, which are currently outside their scope of practice. 

Dr. Nina Ahuja, president-elect of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, says surgery must remain in the hands of physicians and handing over even seemingly minor procedures to optometrists is unsafe for patients. 

Ahuja is responding to news that the Ontario and Alberta governments are working with optometrists to implement proposed changes to their practice, which they say would improve access to eye care.

Both professions specialize in the eye, but optometrists are primary eye care providers with a four-year professional degree after an undergraduate education, and ophthalmologists are surgeons and eye disease doctors with at least nine years of medical training, also after undergrad. 

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Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025

Glasses are seen at an eye clinic in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday March 4, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Glasses are seen at an eye clinic in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday March 4, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Two midwives hired in Selkirk, province announces

Carol Sanders 2 minute read Preview

Two midwives hired in Selkirk, province announces

Carol Sanders 2 minute read Monday, Nov. 17, 2025

The province has delivered midwifery services to Manitoba’s Interlake-Eastern Health region.

On Monday, Premier Wab Kinew and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced two full-time midwives will be based in Selkirk.

“For far too long, families in this region have not had access to midwifery care,” Asagwara said at a news conference in Selkirk, noting it’s been 25 years since services were available.

“Expectant parents have all too often had to travel elsewhere for the kind of personalized, expert care that they really need,” the minister said.

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Monday, Nov. 17, 2025

Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun Files

Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced two, new, full-time midwives based in Selkirk will deliver midwifery services to Manitoba’s Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun Files
                                Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced two, new, full-time midwives based in Selkirk will deliver midwifery services to Manitoba’s Interlake-Eastern Health region.
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During World Vegan Month, vegans across generations share their reasons for embracing the lifestyle

Janine LeGal 7 minute read Preview
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During World Vegan Month, vegans across generations share their reasons for embracing the lifestyle

Janine LeGal 7 minute read Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025

November is World Vegan Month, an event celebrated worldwide to shine a light on what it means to be vegan.

The U.K.-based Vegan Society defines veganism as: “a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practicable — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment.”

In other words, vegans are fully plant-powered.

While veganism was once considered an option from the fringes, it’s now much better recognized, discussed and practiced by old and young, famous and not.

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Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Health, sustainability and kindness to animals are some of the reasons Debbie Wall (from left), Jahzara MacDougall and Randy Tonnellier practise veganism.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                Health, sustainability and kindness to animals are some of the reasons Debbie Wall (from left), Jahzara MacDougall and Randy Tonnellier practise veganism.

Unique Bunny jumps to 10 stores, with eye on future expansion

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Unique Bunny jumps to 10 stores, with eye on future expansion

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

Ekam Verma’s shopping trip might be sparked by an email: we’ve restocked. Her destination? Unique Bunny. Verma scanned the aisles of Unique Bunny’s McPhillips Street location on Monday — her go-to Japanese eyeliner was across the store; South Korean cleansing foams and pore repair serums stood nearby.

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Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

Fiona Zhao, owner of Unique Bunny, will open a new store in Montreal next month.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Fiona Zhao, owner of Unique Bunny, will open a new store in Montreal next month.

The ‘fix’ is a fantasy as dysfunctional health-care system fails Manitobans on multiple fronts

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

The ‘fix’ is a fantasy as dysfunctional health-care system fails Manitobans on multiple fronts

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 31, 2025

If you’ve been stuck in a Winnipeg emergency room wondering why you’re waiting longer than ever to see a doctor, you’re not imagining it.

New numbers are in, and they paint a grim picture of a health-care system still in crisis.

According to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s 2024-25 annual report released this week, emergency room and urgent care wait times have jumped 36 per cent over the past three years.

The 90th percentile wait time — meaning nine out of 10 patients are seen faster and one in 10 waits longer — has ballooned from 7.6 hours in 2022-23 to 10.3 hours in 2024-25.

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Friday, Oct. 31, 2025

The emergency department at the Health Sciences Centre (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

The emergency department at the Health Sciences Centre (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

Halloween pumpkin waste is a methane problem, but chefs and farmers have solutions

Kiki Sideris, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Halloween pumpkin waste is a methane problem, but chefs and farmers have solutions

Kiki Sideris, The Associated Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025

Don’t let your Halloween pumpkin haunt the landfill this November.

More than 1 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) of pumpkins rot in U.S. landfills each year after Halloween, according to the Department of Energy.

Yours doesn’t have to go to waste. Experts told us your pumpkins can be eaten, composted or even fed to animals. Here’s how.

Cooking with pumpkin waste

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Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025

FILE - A kid carves a pumpkin on the front porch of her home Oct 20, 2023, in Auburn, Maine. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal via AP, File)

FILE - A kid carves a pumpkin on the front porch of her home Oct 20, 2023, in Auburn, Maine. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal via AP, File)

Seven Oaks pool closing at least a year for repairs, renovations; parents worry about dried-up swim-lesson opportunities

Scott Billeck 3 minute read Preview

Seven Oaks pool closing at least a year for repairs, renovations; parents worry about dried-up swim-lesson opportunities

Scott Billeck 3 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025

Parents in northwest Winnipeg say they’re worried about losing access to swimming lessons after the city announced it will close Seven Oaks Pool for more than a year in order to complete extensive repairs.

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Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Seven Oaks Pool will be closed for a year beginning Monday.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                Seven Oaks Pool will be closed for a year beginning Monday.

Black-led non-profit developer gets federal funds for affordable housing units in north part of city

Scott Billeck 4 minute read Preview

Black-led non-profit developer gets federal funds for affordable housing units in north part of city

Scott Billeck 4 minute read Monday, Oct. 20, 2025

A Black-led real estate developer has become the first in Canada to secure federal funding, paving the way for 30 affordable housing units within a new 72-unit development in north Winnipeg.

Non-profit Inuka Community Inc. received $23.3 million through the Affordable Housing Fund, administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The CMHC set aside $50 million specifically for Black-led organizations to help create more than 500 units.

The new rental complex at 1510 Main St., will include 30 one-bedroom, 30 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units. Thirty of those units, in a mix of sizes, will be designated affordable and aimed at newcomers to the city, with available supports such as debt management, credit building and driver training.

“Lots of sleepless nights to get here,” said Naomi Gichungu, Inuka’s chief executive officer.

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Monday, Oct. 20, 2025

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS

Naomi Gichungu, chief executive officer of Inuka Community, Inc., at the site of the affordable housing complex at 1510 Main St. on Monday. The complex is set to house 72 rental units.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
                                Naomi Gichungu, chief executive officer of Inuka Community, Inc., at the site of the affordable housing complex at 1510 Main St. on Monday. The complex is set to house 72 rental units.

Custom metal fabrication firm NJ Industries Inc. builds reputation on customer loyalty

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Preview

Custom metal fabrication firm NJ Industries Inc. builds reputation on customer loyalty

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

Dirk Hollar and his colleagues don’t give out awards to the businesses they work with, but if they did, the “No. 1 Vendor” award would go to NJ Industries Inc.

Hollar is the operations manager at Freedom Concepts Inc., a Winnipeg company that creates bicycles for individuals with limited mobility. When Hollar needed a small order of sprockets made a few years ago, someone suggested he check out NJ Industries, a custom metal fabrication facility headquartered in the CentrePort Canada development on the northwest edge of Winnipeg.

Hollar drove to the company and introduced himself to owner Nagarajah Jayaranjan — better known to his customers and friends as Jay. Jayaranjan took Hollar’s order and showed him around the facility. By the time the tour was over, the sprockets were ready. Jayaranjan handed them to Hollar, free of charge.

That gesture led to ongoing business between the two companies.

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Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS

A CNC Laser cutter at work on a sheet of steel. NJ Industries (30 Harvest Dr) does custom metal fabrication, including laser cutting, bending and welding. The company recently made a $1.5 million, 10,000 square foot addition to its operation, which allowed it to add a tube laser cutting machine. Reporter: Aaron Epp 250926 - Friday, September 26, 2025.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
                                A CNC Laser cutter at work on a sheet of steel. NJ Industries (30 Harvest Dr) does custom metal fabrication, including laser cutting, bending and welding. The company recently made a $1.5 million, 10,000 square foot addition to its operation, which allowed it to add a tube laser cutting machine. Reporter: Aaron Epp 250926 - Friday, September 26, 2025.