What’s up: Lights On the Exchange, Cabin Fever, Game-itoba, Chickadee, Lindsay Wong

Led by bassist Fred Warner, Chickadee was originally a more straightforward jazz fusion ensemble by the name of Freddy and the Fire Nation. But inspired by his origins as a fiddle musician, Warner decided to take things in a different direction a couple of years ago.

Teacher suspended without pay for mimicking child’s outburst

A Winnipeg teacher has been reprimanded for mocking a nine-year-old who was having a meltdown and inspiring classmates to join in.

Jason Richard Schneider is the latest name to be added to Manitoba’s running list of educators who’ve engaged in misconduct.

The online teacher registry was updated Wednesday with details about why Schneider was temporarily suspended without pay and shuffled to a different school at the end of the 2024-25 year.

“His conduct caused or was likely to cause significant emotional harm to one or more children,” a summary of a probe undertaken by teacher commissioner Bobbi Taillefer read.

Mapping Winnipeg website has become a go-to resource

Carol Cassell could be the queen of understatement.

“It’s just my hobby,” she replies when asked to describe Mapping Winnipeg, the passion project she began in 2020 during the lonely and isolating days of the pandemic.

Not wanting to be stuck indoors and in an effort to retain “some semblance of sanity,” Cassell took her then 18-month-old baby to check out the playgrounds near her house, taking it upon herself to map them all out with Google pins and sharing the locations on Facebook.

“The information I shared of all these really amazing playgrounds was being received very well from parents who were in the same boat as me, parents just looking for something to do in Winnipeg during that time,” the stay-at-home mom says.

Picklr Winnipeg South set for grand opening

Pickleballers rejoice — the first phase of The Picklr’s highly anticipated Canadian expansion is ready for play. Winnipeg’s newest indoor facility dedicated to pickleball could open to members as early as Saturday, so long as its occupancy permit is passed by the city.

Free Press writers discuss the blazing phenomenon of Heated Rivalry

Everyone is talking about Heated Rivalry.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the gay hockey romance from Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny, Shoresy) — based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels about the secret relationship between professional hockey players and on-ice rivals Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) — is dominating the cultural discourse. From think pieces to interviews to fan art to endless TikToks and memes, Heated Rivalry clearly has people hot and bothered.

So we thought we’d talk about it, too. Here, Free Press arts reporters AV Kitching, Eva Wasney and Jen Zoratti and sports reporter Jeff Hamilton parse what makes Heated Rivalry such a phenomenon, what it could do for hockey culture and why sometimes art needs to be a soft place to land. Warning: some spoilers ahead.

Eva Wasney: Why has this show become such a massive global hit?

Decluttering doesn’t have to be overwhelming

Your to-be-read pile is teetering over the edge of the bedside table, there’s a container labelled oats in the pantry housing an assortment of pasta and the basement floor is covered in toys that haven’t been played with in years.

If you planned to whittle down your to-do list just before the new year but have yet to mark even one task off, don’t despair.

Enter Mandy Berndsen, 47, saviour of the overwhelmed, the overtired and the overstimulated.

The owner of Calm the Chaos Assistant is a declutter and organizer extraordinaire who promises to help get your home, and perhaps even your life, back on track.

Pimicikamak’s $20-M in unpaid Hydro bills pales in comparison to what Hydro owes First Nation, chief says

To underline its anger over unresolved compensation from the 1977 Northern Flood Agreement, the Pimicikamak (Cross Lake) Cree Nation stopped paying its electricity bills from Manitoba Hydro about 10 years ago. Now, the remote First Nation owes more than $20 million in arrears on its residential accounts.

Winterruption festival has become a frozen tentpole event for music fans

While Manitoba boasts one of the richest, most eclectic summer festival ecosystems in the country, Winterruption — co-produced by Real Love Winnipeg and the West End Cultural Centre — has become a frozen tentpole event for music fans in Winnipeg.

New Music Festival explores theme of technology amid global rise of AI

This year’s New Music Festival runs Jan. 21-29 and includes six events.

Don’t miss these must-see spots, experiences on next Tokyo trip

You can spend a lifetime in Tokyo and still not experience everything the city has to offer.

That’s what makes Japan’s bustling capital so captivating. It’s also what makes it so overwhelming if you’ve never been before.

If you’re fortunate enough to be going in the near future, here are five things you might not know that could help you squeeze everything out of your Tokyo trip.

Sumo wrestlingWith it being their national sport, there must be events every week, right?

Building Blocks, Crumbling Foundation: Child Care in Crisis

A six-part investigation into the state of child care in Manitoba, examining the underlying issues that put kids and families at risk.

Landmarks: Exploring unique and iconic Winnipeg locations

Landmarks is a monthly feature in which columnist Alison Gillmor explores unique and iconic Winnipeg buildings and locations.

Silver linings aplenty for Langelaar after missing Olympic berth

Tyson Langelaar was a fan of James Bond movies growing up. The spy series a staple for him on plane rides.

This 007, however, did not capture the Winnipeg-born speed skaters’ heart — it broke it.

One of the most agonizing results of Langelaar’s career came recently at the Canadian Olympic speed skating trials in Quebec City, where he saw his dream of representing Canada at next month’s Olympic Games in Italy instantly melt away.

Langelaar, who needed a top-two finish in the men’s 1,500-metre event, finished in third with a time of 1:46:883. The difference between him and second-place Daniel Hall was a fraction of a skate blade or, more accurately, seven hundredths of a second.

Toys “R” Us store on St. Matthews shuttering

Now that Jordan Pastushenko is a father, toys are back on his radar.

“With the little one, I do have to think about it a bit more,” he said, as he visited the Toys “R” Us at 1445 St. Matthews Ave. with his wife, Breanne, and their nine-month-old son, Bohden, on Wednesday morning.

Employees put a sign up in the Polo Park area store’s front window earlier this week notifying customers the longtime location will be closing. “Everything must go!” the sign says. It does not specify when the Winnipeg store’s last day in business will be.

Pastushenko saw a photo of the sign online, which inspired his trip to the store. “We have gift cards, so I guess we’ve got to use them,” he said.

Team Lawes makes Scotties Tournament of Hearts final spot on points

Team Kaitlyn Lawes is headed to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts by the slimmest of margins.

Their fate was no longer in their hands after losing to Beth Peterson in the Manitoba women’s curling provincial final in Rivers earlier this month.

“Honestly, I assumed we were hooped,” Lawes told the Free Press in a chat on Tuesday.

“I hadn’t looked at (the Canadian Team Ranking System) before provincials and we just had the goal in mind of going in there and wanting to win and earn our spot. And after the game was over, we had some texts from people saying, ‘Don’t be too upset, we think there’s a chance that you’re in.’”