Local non-profit performance group Sisters of the Holy Rock in search for new artistic director

Wanted: A volunteer with musical talent who’s willing to dress like a nun and have some fun.

Sisters of the Holy Rock, the non-profit performance group that helps Manitoba organizations raise funds, is searching for a new artistic director.

“If we’re not able to find a replacement, the choir will not be able to continue,” says Lynn Ohlson, president of the organization.

Dressed in traditional nun habits, the choir’s members — which include both women and men — put on 75- to 90-minute variety shows. Since forming more than 30 years ago, the choir has given upwards of 550 performances and helped raise nearly $4 million for numerous organizations.

Judge rules in favour of airport authority

A Manitoba judge has sided with the Winnipeg Airports Authority in a battle over limousine and bus companies’ access to its property.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Herbert Rempel, in a recent ruling, issued an injunction barring several commercial transportation firms from operating on airport property.

The airport authority filed its statement of claim and notice of motion in October, naming Hollywood Limousine Service, Hollywood Transportation Services, Canada Bus Lines, Peg City Limo Corp. and an unnamed company as defendants.

It sought an injunction barring the companies, which are all directed by Rupinder (Ricky) Singh Brar, from airport property. The companies do not have valid commercial transport licences — which are issued by the airport authority — to operate on the grounds.

A tale of two Winnipeggers in the Women’s Japanese Basketball League

Burke Toews wondered what he’d be able to accomplish as a coach if he could use his native tongue.

The Winnipegger — who’s been living and involved with basketball in Japan for more than 30 years — was ready for a new challenge after a decade with the Fujitsu Red Wave, where he helped the pro women’s club win three championships.

“I’ve only coached in Japanese my whole career. I’ve never used an interpreter,” Toews told the Free Press.

“When you think of a head coach, a lot of what he or she does outside of having advanced knowledge in basketball, is about how they communicate with people. And no matter how fluent I get, I’ll never have the same language ability to communicate as I would if I was using English.”

Chinese superstition fuels latest horror novel from Winnipeg author

When she was growing up, Lindsay Wong was often warned of the ominous fate that could befall a woman who dies unmarried.

“There’s this Chinese superstition called corpse marriage, or míng hūn, where if you don’t get married, you’re gonna end up in a coffin with a corpse, someone you don’t know — and that was always told to me,” says the Vancouver-born, Winnipeg-based author.

Wong thought that, with her luck, not only would this happen to her, but things would go horribly wrong and she would wake up somehow and the corpse beside her would start yapping. For eternity.

“And what if that person’s soooo boring?” she laughs.

Steinbach educator slipped through the system without proper credentials until sex-related charges surfaced

To parents, students and football leagues of Manitoba, Braeden Martens was a trusted authority figure. But to Manitoba's Department of Education, he did not exist — and then sex-related charges surfaced stemming from his role as a teacher.

Trade deal opens door to Chinese EVs, but appetite for adapting to Canadian regulations is unclear

When Canada opens the door to Chinese EVs, expect a trickle, not a flood.

The limit is 49,000 for the first year, or 2.6 per cent of Canada’s total market (1.9 million vehicles sold), so don’t expect to see Chinese EVs dominating local dealer lots anytime soon. If those vehicles were distributed equally to Canada’s 3,783 dealerships, that’s 12 each.

A lot must happen before the first Chinese EV arrives: Canada has committed to working with manufacturers for certification to Canadian safety standards, but that won’t be immediate and will be expensive.

Assuming this opens the door to vehicles we haven’t seen yet — the Volvo EX30 is built in China, as are some Teslas and Hyundais — the brand with the most interesting prospects might be Leapmotor. It already has an extensive dealership network in Canada: it only needs to add its name beside signs for Dodge, Ram, Chrysler and Fiat. Leapmotor is associated with the current owner of those brands, Stellantis, which has 440 dealerships in Canada.

AI chatbot drags X deeper into gutter

Concern has intensified in recent weeks over the role of social-networking app X in public and political life, as the platform’s artificial intelligence chatbot has created millions of sexual “deepfakes.”

The chatbot, called Grok, has facilitated a raft of disturbing applications: a female world leader is artificially placed in bikini alongside her clothed counterparts; the corpse of the victim of the recent ICE shooting in Minneapolis is grafted into a swimsuit; a “father figure” is placed in a sexually-suggestive position next to a young woman or teen, all part of a wider trend where users have employed Grok to digitally remove the clothing of real women and children.

The images proliferated quickly, starting en masse in late December. The New York Times reported Thursday that Grok created and shared at least 1.8 million sexualized images of women over just nine days starting Dec. 31.

Earlier this month, Canada’s privacy commissioner launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s xAI, the company behind the chatbot, and expanded its ongoing inquiry of X Corp, to determine if they obtained “valid consent” from individuals to use their personal information to create deepfakes.

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.

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.

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?