‘KPop Demon Hunters’ to take over the streets this Halloween

TORONTO - Earlier this year, eight-year-old Betsy Schruder had a tough decision to make: Glinda, Benson Boone, or Zoey from "KPop Demon Hunters"?

Ultimately, her choice was clear: she'd join the legions of kids dressing up as characters from Netflix's runaway hit this Halloween, donning black space buns, a turquoise tank top and purple pants to embody the bubbly popstar-by-day, demon slayer-by-night.

"I like how she sometimes turns into cartoons and when she cries out popcorn," Betsy says by way of explanation.

Though Betsy has seen "KPop Demon Hunters" fewer times than some of her peers -- a paltry twice -- she knows all the songs by heart and regularly watches clips online.

TikTok as a tool — but for whom?

Canada already considers TikTok a threat to national security and the lives of many Canadian youth who, a recent investigation showed, collect huge amounts of personal data on every one of its users.

Schools work to fulfil promise afforded by new law supporting Indigenous language

‘Minawaanigoziwin” is the Ojibwa concept that comes to mind for Sherri Denysuik when the Winnipeg teacher is asked about her thoughts on a new law that raises the status of Indigenous languages in schools.

That term is roughly translated to “one who is happy and joyous.”

Denysuik, a member of Sagkeeng First Nation, is trying to learn words many of her ancestors were banned from speaking and, in many cases, punished for uttering inside a residential school.

Recent changes to Manitoba’s Public Schools Act are expected to make it easier for future generations to become fluent in Indigenous languages.

Croft Music plays finale after century-plus in business

A 110-year-old music instrument business has concluded its coda.

On Saturday, Ian Crowson closed the doors for good on Croft Music and began his retirement. The company specialized in selling and renting string instruments — particularly violins — and sold accessories and sheet music.

For the last 23 years, Croft Music worked in tandem with Violins by Anton, a one-man business operated by luthier Anton Domozhyrov. Crowson rented instruments and Domozhyrov repaired them out of the same location at 833 Henderson Hwy. Domozhyrov will continue running Violins by Anton in the building.

Crowson announced his retirement on Facebook at the end of May, writing that he would finish his career shortly after his 72nd birthday in September.

Silenced no more: Indigenous languages celebrated at site of former residential school

Languages once suppressed at the Assiniboia Residential School are now prominently displayed at the site.

More than 100 people gathered Tuesday at 621 Academy Rd., on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, for a ceremony unveiling three plaques near the former school.

The plaques are written in Anishinaabemowin, Anishininimowin, Cree, Dakota, Dene, English and French — the languages spoken by children who attended the school.

“It’s very important, and it can also be quite emotional,” said Darian McKinney, a board member for the Assiniboia Residential School Legacy Group, whose grandparents were residential school survivors.

Emergency-vehicle traffic technology pilot a success and city should expand it, WFPS says

Winnipeg ambulances and fire trucks could soon automatically trigger green lights through most of the city, allowing faster emergency responses.

An emergency vehicle pre-emption pilot project was a success, so the city should pay to expand it next year, according to a new Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service report.

“It makes travelling through intersections safer and decreases the time it takes first responders to arrive at an emergency scene,” the report says.

WFPS will seek $1.8 million in 2026 capital funding and $200,000 to cover operating costs to expand the program. That would extend its reach to 437 “higher-risk” intersections, including the 17 included in the pilot, out of Winnipeg’s total 693.

Most refused to listen then, more understand now

An open letter, to the children:

It’s late September in Manitoba and the leaves are turning golden. Autumns are beautiful on this land. I hope that, wherever you were, you were able to enjoy it. I hope that there were moments, and maybe more than moments, where you were able to leap face-down in the fallen leaves, to gather them to your nose, to breathe their earthy perfume of red and orange.

There is more orange in Winnipeg now. I wish you could see it. The signs and flags, dotted around the city, staked into lawns and hung over doors and posted as stickers in shop windows. That orange means people care about you and they remember. Even those who didn’t know you, because you lived your whole lives before we were born.

Some of those lives were long, some far too short, and most were somewhere in the middle. Some found joy, whether in spite or because of everything that happened. Some were imprisoned by the pain, haunted by the memories and the grief for what was taken away. There, too, perhaps most were somewhere in the middle.

Hard pass. Cold brew. Dad bod. Merriam-Webster adds over 5,000 words to ‘Collegiate’ dictionary

NEW YORK (AP) — Word nerd alert: Merriam-Webster announced Thursday it has taken the rare step of fully revising and reimagining one of its most popular dictionaries with a fresh edition that adds over 5,000 new words, including “petrichor,” “teraflop,” “dumbphone” and “ghost kitchen.”

The 12th edition of “Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary” comes 22 years after the book's last hard-copy update and amid declining U.S. sales for analog dictionaries overall, according to Circana BookScan. It will be released Nov. 18, with preorders now available.

Petrichor, by the way, is a pleasant odor after a rainfall following a warm, dry period. Teraflop is a unit of measure for calculating the speed of a computer. Dumbphones are just that, mobile devices we used before the smartphone revolution. And ghost kitchens, which came into their own during the pandemic, are commercial spaces for hire.

Other additions: “cold brew,” “farm-to-table,” “rizz,” “dad bod,” “hard pass,” “adulting” and “cancel culture.” There's also “beast mode,” “dashcam,” “doomscroll,”“WFH” and “side-eye.”

Robot umpires are coming to MLB. Here’s how they work

NEW YORK (AP) — Robot umpires are coming to the big leagues in 2026 after Major League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee on Tuesday approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System.

ABS will be introduced in the form of a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each call, which can be appealed to the computer. Robot umpires have been tested in the minor leagues since 2019, with recent testing done at Triple-A since 2022, MLB spring training this year and at this summer's All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Here's what to know about MLB's robot umps.

How does the Automated Ball-Strike System work?

Motion to rename park withdrawn after MMF complaint

A motion to rename a Glenwood park will be withdrawn after complaints the process would replace a name that honours Métis history.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) had raised a motion to rename Carriere Avenue Park in honour of James Peebles, an astrophysicist and astronomer raised in the St. Boniface neighbourhood. The motion was seconded by Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface).

Mayes issued a statement Tuesday that noted he and Allard have agreed to withdraw the motion instead of bringing it forward for a city council vote Thursday.

“(The councillors will instead) move to name a new outdoor classroom in St. George Park for Nobel laureate James Peebles … Both councillors learned last night that the Manitoba Métis Federation had concerns about renaming of the park,” the statement said.

On World Rhino Day, South Africa marks progress but still loses a rhino daily to poachers

DINOKENG GAME RESERVE, South Africa (AP) — The Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa has a thriving rhino population, but their exact numbers and the details of the security operation that keeps them safe from poaching are closely guarded secrets.

They are the protocols that reserves with rhinos follow to ensure they're not the next target for poachers who still kill on average one rhino every day in South Africa for their horns despite decades of work to save the endangered species.

South Africa has the largest populations of both black and southern white rhinos of any country and sees itself as the custodian of the animals' future.

As conservationists mark World Rhino Day on Monday, South Africa remains in a constant and costly battle against poaching nearly 30 years after black rhinos were declared critically endangered, and more than a half-century since southern white rhinos were on the brink of extinction with just a few dozen left.

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.

Going with the flow: Molten master plan quickly bears fruit for dessert enterprise

On Sept. 13 and 14, Melted, a four-month-old enterprise that dishes out strawberries smothered in warm melted chocolate and assorted toppings, set up shop at the Allery, on the second level of The Forks Market.

Small changes, big impact

Are you a climate champion or climate destroyer? Ecological quizzes and carbon-footprint calculators can help you find out.

Introduction to Michif — one word at a time

Before the wolf can howl, Norman Fleury says a Michif word: Ooyoowuk.

“Ooyoowuk,” Fleury repeats. Or, in English, “howl.”

Ooyoowuk is one of 70 words articulated by Fleury with an animation and English translation to match — all bundled into digital flashcards.

A group of Métis entrepreneurs unveiled their Michif flashcards this week. They join a swelling movement to revitalize the Métis language, which combines languages such as Cree and French.

St. Boniface residents drained after demolition of Happyland pool

As demolition continues at one outdoor pool in St. Boniface, a city councillor hopes to take a second look at extending the life of another one.

Will electric tractors gain traction? At a pilot event for farmers, researchers see possibilities

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In the soft dirt of an indoor horseback riding ring last month, a group of farmers got ready to test drive a new piece of equipment: an electric tractor.

As they took turns climbing in — some surprised by its quick acceleration — they gave real-time feedback to the Michigan State University researchers who have been developing it for over two years.

The farmers remarked on the motor's quiet whir. Most were intrigued, or at least open to the idea. Some were concerned that the battery on the underside of the carriage would mean a lower clearance over the field, while others worried that it would simply be too expensive.

“What we hope to do when we retire is we want to get everything electric on the farm. The tractor is the last electric implement to get,” said Don Dunklee, one of the farmers to provide feedback. He runs a small organic vegetable farm that's relied on wind and solar for decades.

After summer evacuation, northern students ready to hit the books

Hundreds of young wildfire-evacuees will be reunited with their peers and teachers on Sept. 29 for a belated, albeit welcome, first day of school on familiar campuses across northern Manitoba.

Frontier School Division plans to officially launch 2025-26 in South Indian Lake, Leaf Rapids and Lynn Lake before the end of the month.

Chief superintendent Tyson MacGillivray said he and his colleagues are looking forward to “opening day,” following months of emergency management and uncertainty.

Approximately 450 students are currently unable to attend regular classes at West Lynn Heights School (Lynn Lake), Leaf Rapids Education Centre (Leaf Rapids) and Thunderbird School (South Indian Lake).

Artists, performers open their doors, and their souls, for Culture Days

Culture Days, a national celebration of local arts and culture, kicks off today and runs through Oct. 12.

There are hundreds of free public events taking place across Manitoba over the next three weeks, including in Winnipeg, Morden, Gimli, Flin Flon and beyond. Nuit Blanche Winnipeg, the city’s annual late-night art party, also falls under the Culture Days umbrella and takes place Sept. 27.

Find a sample of the fun below and visit culturedays.ca for more information.

Central Park Moves: Weekend BeatsCentral Park, 367 Ellice Ave.

Smash n Axe Arcade Disco opens in former Nor Villa Hotel banquet room on blueprint of nostalgia

The dream of the ‘90s is alive in North Kildonan, and it’s been given a 2025 twist.

Adam Dudek and Raj Maniar have fond memories of visiting arcades 30 years ago, playing games and seeing the designs on the carpets glow under black lights. So when they were decorating Smash n Axe Arcade Disco, the River East neighbourhood business they opened on Wednesday, they decided to give it a neon splash.

“We really wanted to bring people back in time and give them the feeling they had when they were a kid,” Dudek said.

Located in the basement of the Nor Villa Hotel (1763 Henderson Hwy.), Smash n Axe features more than 20 arcade games, including 11 pinball machines.

When self-doubt creeps in at work, pause and reframe your negative thoughts. Here’s how

NEW YORK (AP) — When we make mistakes at work, it can lead to a cycle of negative thinking.

The damaging thoughts swirl: “I’m an impostor.” “I’m not smart enough.” “I’m failing at my job.”

Feeling like an impostor — doubting one’s own abilities despite a track record of success — is common, especially among women and members of marginalized groups. Even on days when everything’s going right, it can be hard to shift out of a cycle of self-doubt.

But there are ways to interrupt that downward spiral.