News for young children

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

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Craig Block, which has gone up for sale, housed perhaps the first Black union in North America, the Order of Sleeping Car Porters.
No Subscription Required

Craig Block link to city’s Black history

Cody Sellar 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Craig Block link to city’s Black history

Cody Sellar 4 minute read Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

Above a fruit seller in a small brick building on Main Street, a group of Black railway porters made history.

The Order of Sleeping Car Porters, formed in Winnipeg in 1917, was North America’s first Black labour union. Five years later, they established offices and a meeting hall on the second storey of the building, the Craig Block, at 795 Main St.

Now, the building has hit the market, without any historical status protections or a bronze plaque to commemorate its history.

History writer Christian Cassidy said he’s seen the building, which recently housed retail store Ma’s Fishing, go up for sale once or twice in the past. Each time, he worries someone will buy it and knock it down. It’s one of last buildings that links Winnipeg to the history of its Black communities.

Read
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
SUPPLIED The City of Selkirk announced it has purchased the Garry Theatre for $350,000, plus closing costs.
No Subscription Required

The show must go on as Selkirk buys theatre

Cody Sellar 3 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

The show must go on as Selkirk buys theatre

Cody Sellar 3 minute read Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

Many in Selkirk thought the credits had rolled for the Garry Theatre, but it appears there’s a sequel.

Landmark Cinemas decided to close it in May and on Wednesday, the City of Selkirk announced it had purchased the theatre for $350,000, plus closing costs.

“What we’ve heard so far is people are very excited and very happy that the city has been able to secure the property,” said Selkirk CAO Duane Nicol.

Nicol said the city will reach out to the community to determine how best to use the building. The city hopes it will become a centre for arts and culture, he said.

Read
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jillian Sheedy, right, and Velia Amador are co-founders of Jillian Leigh Jewelry.
No Subscription Required

Local jewelry company handed key to success

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Local jewelry company handed key to success

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

It’s a golden opportunity that came straight out of the blue.

Nominees for the upcoming Emmy and Golden Globe awards will be walking the red carpet in handmade necklaces from Winnipeg company Jillian Leigh Jewelry, but exactly how the award show organizers discovered the local brand of gold adornments remains a mystery.

“We still don’t know how they found us, but we’re really glad they did,” says co-founder and jeweler Velia Amador. “It means a lot to us to be able to participate in such a high profile event because it’s going to help us gain some international exposure.”

“And if any of the celebrities loved our pieces and ordered something from us, I think I would die,” says Jillian Sheedy, the business’s other half and a self-professed celebrity enthusiast. Before they were business partners, the women were co-workers at a corporate office. They started Jillian Leigh together in 2018 after Amador — who had been forging jewelry as a hobby for more than a decade — offered to make some custom bracelets for Sheedy’s wedding.

Read
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
Supplied Charlie Johnston portrays an elaborate game of cat’s cradle that becomes a cosmic session of electrochemical psychotherapy at 357 Eveline St. in Selkirk.
No Subscription Required

Selkirk art crawl centres on city's thriving mural scene

Ben Waldman  6 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Selkirk art crawl centres on city's thriving mural scene

Ben Waldman  6 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021

Sometimes a wall is more than just a wall.

It’s a blank canvas. And in recent years, artists in Selkirk have turned several into works of art, highlighting local figures and traditions, using paint to transform bricks and plaster in the downtown into a growing visual history of the city.

Since 2018, nearly 20 murals have emerged, depicting everything from the traditional community round dance to Indigenous and settler women thriving on the Prairie landscape to a grandmother passing on her teachings. Others bring needed attention to the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and to everyone affected, in the past and present, by the Indian Residential School System, those who came home and those who never did, artist Jordan Stranger says.

All these murals will serve as the backdrop for a free public art crawl Sept. 4 and 5, with local vendors and artisans posting up next to them and getting a long-awaited opportunity to share their work with the community, including handmade goods, paintings, crafts, sewing and woodworking pieces, and much more.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
ALEX LUPUL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jane Khau and her husband Eric Lai applied to open a store last year, just shortly after Chung Chun launched as a brand in 2019.
No Subscription Required

New resto taps into Korean cuisine to amp up the humble 'corn' dog

Temur Durrani 5 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

New resto taps into Korean cuisine to amp up the humble 'corn' dog

Temur Durrani 5 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021

Imagine a world full of corn dogs.

Think innumerable personal configurations — scores of sauces and seasonings, not to mention the variety of meats and cheeses that can be found inside these deliciously crispy concoctions.

Could it be the classic pairings of ketchup and mustard or the adventurous sweet mayo, teriyaki and honey butter? Is the batter just panko-crusted, or does it have potatoes on it? Perhaps it’s infused with squid ink?

Maybe on the inside, there’s a long pull of mozzarella cheese, with the choice of chicken, veggie, pork or beef for the meat. Perhaps, however, you want to scrap the sausage altogether and just go with oozing chocolate instead.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
ALEX LUPUL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Deb Kelley, shelter co-ordinator for the Manitoba Ferret Association No Kill Shelter, with Bear.
No Subscription Required

Ferret shelter fears city’s proposed pet limit

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Ferret shelter fears city’s proposed pet limit

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021

An animal shelter fears its network of foster homes could be at risk, should a proposed change to Winnipeg’s responsible pet ownership bylaw be approved.

Deb Kelley, a shelter co-ordinator with the Manitoba Ferret Association No Kill Shelter, said a newly proposed limit that each Winnipeg household be allowed a maximum of five ferrets would not support the shelter’s model of care. The shelter relies on multiple foster homes, ensuring all of them already own ferrets and are qualified to properly care for them.

As a result, many of those homes already contain up to six ferrets, before they take others in temporarily, she said.

“We’re here for every ferret in need, whether it’s old, young, sick, healthy. If the bylaw goes through where each household can have only five ferrets, that would devastate our foster home space,” said Kelley.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
The fully electric Tundra Buggy is 16 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and 45 feet long.
No Subscription Required

Iconic Churchill Tundra Buggy goes electric

Martin Cash 5 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Iconic Churchill Tundra Buggy goes electric

Martin Cash 5 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021

The Churchill travel company, Frontiers North Adventure, has been operating its fleet of iconic Tundra Buggies for decades but for various reasons John Gunter, CEO of the company, knew the fleet needed to be upgraded.

A chance encounter between Gunter and Red River College’s former head of research and partnerships three years ago put Gunter on the path towards electrifying the Tundra Buggies.

On Tuesday, the fruits of that labour were revealed at Red River College’s Vehicle Technology and Energy Centre (VTEC) — the first EV (electric vehicle) Tundra Buggy.

It was a collaborative effort between Frontiers North, RRC’s VTEC, New Flyer and the non-profit Vehicle Technology Centre that pooled a growing expertise in heavy vehicle electrification that has been developing over the past decade in Winnipeg.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
ALEX LUPUL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Janelle Wride, Delivery Coordinator for Fireweed Food Co-op, and Paul Dyck, a volunteer, pose for a photo with their vegetable stand as part of Fireweed's Veggie Van program on August 19, 2021. The program offers affordable local produce to those in lower income neighbourhoods.
No Subscription Required

Veggie Van to bring fresh produce to inner city residents

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Veggie Van to bring fresh produce to inner city residents

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021

A farmer’s market on wheels is hoping to put a dent into the problem of food deserts in Winnipeg’s inner city

Fireweed Food Co-op has launched its new Veggie Van pilot program, which brings subsidized local produce into Winnipeg’s inner city neighbourhoods through a mobile market on Thursday afternoons. The West Central Women’s Resource Centre was the first stop on the Veggie Van’s inaugural tour last week.

“We have zucchini, beets, yellow onion, carrots, sweet corn,” says Fireweed’s food hub delivery co-ordinator Janelle Wride, while standing behind a table piled high with colourful vegetables. “Those are most of the basic items that we have available from the producers right now and each week it’ll change a little bit.”

The goal of the program, she says, is to combat food insecurity by offering cheap, nutritious produce for sale in underserved communities.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
submitted Penner recently placed third in an ALD event in Calgary, Alberta on August 13 in the Women's category with a best drive of 253 yards.
No Subscription Required

Winnipeg teen representing Canada at World Amateur Long Drive Championship

Joseph Bernacki 5 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Winnipeg teen representing Canada at World Amateur Long Drive Championship

Joseph Bernacki 5 minute read Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021

A Winnipeg teen known for her prowess on the tee box will be launching bombs on behalf of Canada next month in Chicago.

Hannah Penner, 18, will don the red and white as part of a contingent of 20 golfers set to represent the nation at the 2021 World Amateur Long Drive Championship, set for Sept. 11-19.

She's headed to the Windy City but doesn't require a strong breeze at her back to routinely crush the ball well over 250 yards or, occasionally, eclipse the 300-yard mark.

Penner, one of four women in the group, said she's thrilled about the chance to compete against others with the same unique skillset.

Read
Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021
Deidré Coleman (left) and Patrice Gilman are taking part in this month's Black History Manitoba block party, dishing up Caribbean food from their West End restaurant. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)
No Subscription Required

Black History Manitoba's block party opportunity for chefs to share their passion

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Black History Manitoba's block party opportunity for chefs to share their passion

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Monday, Aug. 23, 2021

As a little girl growing up in Jamaica, Patrice Gilman dreamed that one day, she would cook just like Gladys, her grandmother. Everyone around downtown Kingston knew Gladys, and the little restaurant she owned in the area called Southside. Her dish of tripe and beans was famous, and fed famous athletes and hungry kids alike.

Gilman was fascinated by watching her grandmother manage the little kitchen, cooking all on her own, darting between pots of goat or chicken or fish bubbling on any of a dozen wood-fired stoves. Every morning, Gladys rose before the sun to start making lunch, and every day she was sold out of food not long after noon.

Still, she always had a little something for the kids who hung around, the ones who didn’t have enough.

“She was a one-woman show,” Gilman says. “She would feed the whole community. She had nine children, and raised many more children that weren’t her own. She passed away about 13 years ago, but her spirit lives on so strongly in our family’s heart.”

Read
Monday, Aug. 23, 2021
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Broose, an insect control worker & host of a radio program on CJUM - resting on Broose’s front yard, visible to everybody driving by on Planet Street (how appropriate) is an Orbit garbage receptacle, the sort that was commonplace along Mb highways in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s
No Subscription Required

Neptune Bay resident harbours only known survivor of the Orbit invasion

David Sanderson 10 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Neptune Bay resident harbours only known survivor of the Orbit invasion

David Sanderson 10 minute read Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021

‘Here comes another car now, slowing down to take a look.”

Ever since an aged, Orbit garbage receptacle landed in Broose Tulloch’s front yard in June 2019, the 52-year-old public works employee has grown used to drivers, cyclists, pedestrians... even the odd pizza delivery guy stopping in their tracks as they go past his yellow-and-white split-level. Curious types, some familiar with the large, white, fibreglass sphere, others not so much, pause to study the bin, a holdover from an era when dozens more dotted Manitoba highways, deposited there by the provincial government to discourage motorists from littering.

That Tulloch resides in a neck of the woods unofficially known as “the Planets” — he’s on Neptune Bay; neighbouring tracks, all intersected by Planet Street, are Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter (sorry, no Uranus) — only seems to add to the astronomical amount of attention his depository, just over a metre tall, receives on a regular basis.

Standing on his front steps, near where the Orbit is being shaded by a crabapple tree, Tulloch recalls the morning he glanced out his living room window and noticed a hydro crew assembled by the curb. Thinking the worst, that they had arrived to dig up his lawn, he ventured outside in his PJs to ask what was going on.

Read
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021
CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Morgan Fontaine (nee Sizeland), left, grew up blocks from the rez school in River Heights and first met Ted Fontaine, right, when he was one of the
No Subscription Required

City considering new name for park near former residential school to honour Indigenous leader

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

City considering new name for park near former residential school to honour Indigenous leader

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021

AS a residential high school student, the site now known as Wellington Park offered him rare moments of joy.

As an adult survivor of that system, it helped trigger both positive memories and quiet, disturbing flashbacks.

Theodore Fontaine, who died in May, found more than a chance to play hockey and baseball at the Assiniboia Indian Residential School, according to his wife Morgan Fontaine.

“These fields, this was just for him a time of that little taste of freedom that he longed for.… It was just before his seventh birthday (that) he lost his freedom,” she said.

Read
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021
supplied
No Subscription Required

I meme, you meme: internet language brings us together

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

I meme, you meme: internet language brings us together

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021

Sometimes, a public health campaign gets it right.

The Baltimore City Health Department has been earning praise for a new initiative that spreads accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines online by using an internet-native language: memes.

“Ginger ale can’t cure COVID, Derrick!” reads one. “Mimosas with the girls? You’re still not vaxxed, Debra!” reads another. “What the FAQ is Delta? It’s new. It’s scary. But we’re here to break it down.”

Done wrong, a public health department using the language of the internet can smack a bit of, to evoke a popular meme, actor Steve Buscemi dressed up unconvincingly as a teenager and asking, “How do you do, fellow kids?” (To be fair, so does describing memes in print.)

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021
SUPPLIED Darlene Kuchar created memes based on the Charleswood house debacle.
No Subscription Required

Tree-felling display home transport generates online buzz

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Tree-felling display home transport generates online buzz

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021

A Winnipeg display home that recently smashed into trees and street signs as it was transported via truck has now been to British Columbia, the Panama Canal and Oz — via the internet.

An online Manitoba starlet, Photoshopped images of the house in the city and beyond have gone viral.

The home’s transport Saturday led to the destruction of nearly two dozen trees in the Charleswood neighbourhood along Roblin Boulevard, between Scotswood Drive and the Perimeter Highway. The house was too wide to fit on the road. It also hit several street signs.

The Winnipeg Police Service said officers arrested the driver, who’s facing a charge of mischief over $5,000. The incident is now subject to a provincial investigation.

Read
Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021
Mat Wooller, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, kneels among a collection of some of the mammoth tusks at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-JR Ancheta, University of Alaska Fairbanks MANDATORY CREDIT
No Subscription Required

'Cheering for the mammoth': Scientists retrace the steps of 17,000 year-old animal

Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

'Cheering for the mammoth': Scientists retrace the steps of 17,000 year-old animal

Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026

More than 17,000 years ago, a woolly mammoth roamed enough of the Alaskan landscape to circle the Earth twice.

That's according to a new paper from an international team of researchers who retraced the lifetime of one of the extinct ancient Arctic creatures.

The mammoth's story is written in its tusk through tiny isotopes, which are tiny atoms, said Mat Wooller, a paleoecologist at the University of Alaska.

"Isotopes are like a little chemical GPS (global positioning system) recorder," Wooller said.

Read
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026
Tim Smith / Brandon Sun files If proposed changes to a city bylaw pass, Winnipeggers will legally be able to own a pit bull.
No Subscription Required

Pit bulls legal, ball pythons banned?

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Pit bulls legal, ball pythons banned?

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021

Laura Baker has wanted a pit bull for 20 years, but hasn’t bought one because of the city’s ban.

“I just feel like the whole breed has been so misrepresented, misunderstood and given a raw deal in terms of being able to find loving homes,” the St. James resident said.

If proposed changes to a city bylaw pass, Baker will legally be able to own a pit bull, while it could become illegal to feed wildlife and to leave pets in vehicles at certain temperatures.

The city is looking for feedback on suggestions to its Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw. Winnipeg Public Service reviewed the rules this summer and came back with a number of ideas, including a removal of breed-specific bans.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021
MIKE SUDOMA / Winnipeg Free Press Chef Tara Hall has included traditional foods from her youth, such as bannock and pickerel, into her food truck's menu.
No Subscription Required

Chef wants to keep on trucking while she puts down permanent restaurant roots

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Chef wants to keep on trucking while she puts down permanent restaurant roots

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Monday, Aug. 9, 2021

Tara Hall is just getting started.

The 40-year-old chef is the owner of Winnipeg’s Aboriginal Fusion food truck and she has her sights set on opening a restaurant — sans wheels — focused on the foods she grew up eating.

The elevator pitch is “traditional Aboriginal foods with a fine-dining twist,” Hall says. “We don’t have enough of that here.”

She was born in Vancouver and grew up with her great-grandparents and grandpa on Pinaymootang First Nation in the Interlake. Hall watched her elders and aunties closely in the kitchen and learned to make staples, such as bannock, fried pickerel and saskatoon berry jam, at a young age.

Read
Monday, Aug. 9, 2021
Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press. Felled trees line the median on Roblin Blvd from Scotswood Drive almost all the way to perimeter highway. The destruction is the aftermath of a house that was being moved from the Roblin Grove development in Charleswood on Saturday morning. August 7, 2021.
No Subscription Required

Charleswood residents fume over destroyed trees

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Charleswood residents fume over destroyed trees

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Monday, Aug. 9, 2021

Frustrated residents are calling on the city and province to get to the root of the problem that led to the destruction of nearly two dozen mature trees in Charleswood on the weekend.

Early Saturday morning, a building moving company began to move a display home near the corner of Roblin Boulevard and Scotswood Drive. The home was too wide to clear mature trees along Roblin’s median.

When Winnipeg Police Service officers arrived to provide a previously scheduled escort for the movers at about 7 a.m. they discovered 17 trees had been cut down, allegedly by the driver of the vehicle hauling the house, police spokesman Const. Rob Carver said.

“Immediately, upon determining that the trees had been cut and linking it to this move, the move was halted and, ultimately, the driver (was) arrested,” said Carver.

Read
Monday, Aug. 9, 2021
Shafdar Gazze and Malina donate food hampers as a form of Zakat — almsgiving at the end of Ramadan.
No Subscription Required

Muslim Canadians’ Eid celebrations reflect diversity

Michelle Gazze 5 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Muslim Canadians’ Eid celebrations reflect diversity

Michelle Gazze 5 minute read Friday, May. 14, 2021

My earliest Eid memory is of my grandma cooking fresh, hot Sirnee — a soft, sweet, spiced, cooked dough made of flour and butter. That divine smell alone would make anyone excited to celebrate Eid.

Eid-al-Fitr (also called the “Festival of Breaking Fast” or just Eid) marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month in which Muslims fast daily from dawn until sundown. It is an opportunity to foster gratitude, discipline and deepen our connection with God, so we can live from a place of higher consciousness. Not for a single month, but for our entire lives.

Coming from a Guyanese family, I grew up with Hindu and Muslim family members. It wasn’t until my paternal grandparents immigrated to Winnipeg we started to celebrate Eid. After Ramadan, we would gather at their house to feast and enjoy West Indian sweets. We also spent more time in the community donating food hampers and strengthening our faith through acts of charity.

As Eid quickly approaches this week, most Muslims celebrate in the same religious sense, but cultural traditions differ from one country to another. A common assumption is being of Muslim faith is synonymous with Middle Eastern countries, but my Muslim friends and I represent the diversity in Islam.

Read
Friday, May. 14, 2021
Preserving stories of Muslim history in Manitoba
No Subscription Required

Preserving stories of Muslim history in Manitoba

John Longhurst  3 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

Preserving stories of Muslim history in Manitoba

John Longhurst  3 minute read Friday, Feb. 5, 2021

It was in the early 1900s when one of the first Muslims to live in Manitoba arrived in the province.

His name was Ahmed Awid, and he came from what is now Lebanon — one of perhaps fewer than 1,000 Muslims in Canada at the time.

Awid settled in Brandon, where he married a local woman and established two successful businesses before moving to Edmonton in 1928.

Awid’s story is one of many told in a new book: Muslims in Manitoba: a History of Resilience and Growth.

Read
Friday, Feb. 5, 2021
No Subscription Required

Pas facile, le baseball au féminin

Manella VILA NOVA de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press 4 minute read Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018

Quand elle était enfant, Sophie Bissonnette n’avait pas d’intérêt évident pour un sport particulier. Ses parents ont donc décidé de l’inscrire au baseball, la passion de son père, Marc Bissonnette. Devenue elle-même amoureuse du sport, elle a joué pendant 15 ans dans des équipes masculines, puis féminines.

À ses débuts, le baseball était surtout l’occasion pour Sophie Bissonnette de passer du temps avec son père. “Il m’a toujours entraînée, et ça me plaisait beaucoup d’avoir ces moments avec lui. Dans ma première équipe, il y avait six filles et un garçon. Au fil des années, il y a eu de moins en moins de joueuses, jusqu’à ce que je sois la seule de mon équipe.”

Une situation qui a quelque peu préoccupé ses parents. “Ma mère était inquiète que je ne sois qu’avec des garçons. Mes parents m’ont proposé de passer au softball, pour être avec d’autres filles. Mais pour moi, c’est un sport complètement différent, et je ne voulais pas arrêter le baseball.”

Sophie n’a senti une différence que quand elle a commencé à jouer à haut niveau. “L’entraîneur me traitait comme les autres joueurs. Mais je n’étais pas la meilleure, et je sentais que je devais travailler plus fort, parce qu’il y avait des préjugés. Quand il y a 12 garçons et une fille sur le terrain, on remarque la fille et on prête plus attention à ce qu’elle fait. Mais j’avais ma place dans l’équipe, et j’étais prête à tout pour y rester.”

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Solar power — from homes, businesses and farms — makes up a fraction of Manitoba’s energy mix

Proponents of solar power push for provincial infrastructure investment to boost grid resilience

Julia-Simone Rutgers 15 minute read Preview

Proponents of solar power push for provincial infrastructure investment to boost grid resilience

Julia-Simone Rutgers 15 minute read 3:00 AM CDT

In the early 1970s, licence plates were stamped with the slogan “Sunny Manitoba” — a nod to long summer days, crisp blue winter skies and frequent sun dogs reflecting off of blinding white snow. While the slogan later changed, Manitoba’s ranking as Canada’s second-sunniest province has not.

Despite that sunlit reputation, solar power — one of the most-developed renewable energy sources — makes up just a small fraction of the province’s electricity grid.

“It’s extremely marginal, especially when you compare to other jurisdictions like Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said James Wilt, policy development manager at Climate Action Team Manitoba.

Manitoba boasts a predominantly emissions-free grid, with 97 per cent of its power generated by a network of hydroelectric dams. But the provincial utility, Manitoba Hydro, has forecasted that its once-abundant renewable energy source will soon fall short. There is growing demand for power amid the electrification of sectors like transportation and heating, and the rapidly growing interest in developing electricity-hungry data centres. Combined with more unpredictable water levels owing to climate factors like extreme drought, it’s all prompted the utility to warn that capacity could run out as soon as 2030.

Read
3:00 AM CDT
Lev Radin / ZUMA Press Wire Auction assistants display Mark Rothko’s Brown and Blacks in Reds during a press preview at Sotheby’s auction house.
No Subscription Required

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

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read Preview
No Subscription Required

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

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read 3:00 AM CDT

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.

Read
3:00 AM CDT
FILE YouTube, for teachers, is a tool.

Banning YouTube removes tools from schools

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Banning YouTube removes tools from schools

Editorial 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

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.

Read
2:01 AM CDT