WEATHER ALERT

Whose story is being told? How perspectives shape our understanding

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

COURT SKETCH BY JAMES CULLETON King’s Branch Justice Glenn Joyal oversees the opening of accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki’s trial Monday.

Mountain of Skibicki news coverage has irreparably biased jurors, U.S. researcher tells trial judge

Dean Pritchard 5 minute read Preview

Mountain of Skibicki news coverage has irreparably biased jurors, U.S. researcher tells trial judge

Dean Pritchard 5 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 30, 2024

Extensive pre-trial media coverage in the case of accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki has biased the jury pool beyond the court’s ability to correct the damage, a judge was told Tuesday.

“We know that when (jurors) have been exposed to a certain amount of pre-trial publicity, even for a well-intentioned juror it is going to be very, very difficult for them to (remain unbiased),” testified Florida University psychology professor Dr. Christine Ruva, who has extensively researched the area of juror bias and its impact on jury decision-making. “It’s unconscious and out of their control.”

Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the May 2022 slayings of three Indigenous women — Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth as-of-yet unidentified woman killed in March 2022, who Indigenous leaders have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

A trial jury was selected last week and is set to begin hearing evidence May 8.

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Tuesday, Apr. 30, 2024
Supplied Larry (Toby Hughes, left, with Melanie Whyte and Lisa Bell) delves into our health care.
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Satirical musical tackles health-care woes in bite-sized chunks

Thandi Vera 5 minute read Preview
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Satirical musical tackles health-care woes in bite-sized chunks

Thandi Vera 5 minute read Thursday, Apr. 18, 2024

They say laughter is the best medicine. Throw a little song-and-dance into the mix and you get Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System — an 11-part web microseries that humorously addresses Canada’s ailing medical system through music and satire.

Sara Kreindler, a professor of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba, spearheads the show, drawing from her extensive research.

“It’s about starting a conversation,” says writer-composer Kreindler, who has a PhD in social psychology. “Whether you’re a health-care provider or just someone curious about the system, I want viewers to come away feeling empowered to hold our elected leaders accountable for addressing the underlying issues.”

Through the character of Larry, played by Winnipeg actor Toby Hughes, viewers embark on a journey navigating the complexities of health-care policy.

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Thursday, Apr. 18, 2024

The price of political polarization

Allan Levine 5 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 3, 2024

If you follow X (Twitter) as I do, scrolling through hundreds of posts a few times a day, you can’t help but conclude that the political divide in both the U.S. and Canada, between Democrats and Republicans and between Liberals and Conservatives, has become wider and more extreme than it has ever been.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Howard Raber, the third-generation president of Raber Gloves and Mitts.
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Raber Gloves’ Garbage Mitts the must-have Winnipeg winter accessory

Ben Waldman 10 minute read Preview
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Raber Gloves’ Garbage Mitts the must-have Winnipeg winter accessory

Ben Waldman 10 minute read Monday, Feb. 28, 2022

‘I am the wrong person to complain to about the weather,” Howard Raber says jubilantly midway through a Winnipeg January, wearing a golf shirt as he opens the door to his family’s factory on McDermot Avenue.

Raber does not mind the cold. It’s the reason he is in business.

Had his grandparents immigrated in 1925 to a warmer place, their grandson’s opinion on the windchill might differ. But the ancestors chose Winnipeg — not such a bad place to be in the business of making gloves.

When it’s freezing outside, which in the wintertime is often, if not always, Howard Raber considers himself especially lucky. “When it’s cold out, we are everybody’s best friend.”

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Monday, Feb. 28, 2022
FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers' Max Scherzer pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, in San Francisco. Eight-time All-Star Max Scherzer is nearing a $130 million, three-year contract with the New York Mets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Monday, Nov. 29, because the agreement was still being worked on and would be subject to a successful physical.(AP Photo/John Hefti, File)

Even if games go on, MLB lockout could alienate Gen Z

Jake Seiner, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Even if games go on, MLB lockout could alienate Gen Z

Jake Seiner, The Associated Press 7 minute read Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Max Scherzer stars in the last video posted to Major League Baseball’s TikTok account before the league locked out the players Thursday morning.

The clip, viewed over 400,000 times, shows the final out from Scherzer's first no-hitter in 2015 with Washington, followed by teammates dousing the three-time Cy Young Award winner with chocolate syrup. Hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd's “Swang” plays in the background.

“Max Scherzer is ... officially a New York Met!!!” the caption reads, celebrating Scherzer's $130 million deal to pitch in Queens.

It could be the last post featuring a big league player sent to the account’s 4.8 million followers for months, a curveball with real consequences for a sport already concerned about courting young fans.

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Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025
Marc Miller, federal Indigenous services minister, from left, Herb Redsky Jr. and Shoal Lake 40 Chief Vernon Redsky, stand in front of the Harvey Redsky Memorial School and toast safe tap water. Melissa Martin / Winnipeg Free Press
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Shoal Lake 40 toasts clean water

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Preview
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Shoal Lake 40 toasts clean water

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021

SHOAL LAKE 40 FIRST NATION – As he raised his glass, Chief Vernon Redsky looked at the water and a memory came rushing back. It reminded him of when he was a kid, he said, and the water in Shoal Lake was crystal-clear like that, back when he and his friends would splash along the shore, drinking from the lake when they got thirsty.

So he thought about that as he clinked his glass against two others, and took a sip. A toast, to the first officially safe tap drinking water in Shoal Lake 40: on Wednesday, after 24 years, the Treaty Three First Nation’s boil water advisory officially ended.

“It’s surreal to be at this moment,” Redsky said at a ceremony to celebrate the achievement, as well as the opening of the community’s new school.

One day earlier, a government official in Kenora, Ont., had officially approved the latest test results from Shoal Lake 40’s new water treatment plant, which started pumping this summer. That night, Redsky couldn’t sleep; he called a former chief to talk about the long road they had travelled to get to this point.

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Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Flags representing (from left) Treaty One First Nations, the Métis Nation and Dakota Nations were raised at City Hall Wednesday morning and will be flying permanently as part of an ongoing commitment to reconciliation.
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Flags of Treaty One, the Dakota and Métis fly at city hall

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview
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Flags of Treaty One, the Dakota and Métis fly at city hall

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021

Drumbeats reverberated as four Indigenous leaders rode horseback past the brick-walled restaurants on King Street: it was the beginning of a ceremony to recognize the place of Indigenous people in Winnipeg.

On Wednesday morning, the flags of Treaty One First Nations, the Dakota and the Métis were hoisted at city hall. They'll be there permanently, alongside the flags of Canada, Manitoba and Winnipeg.

"It'll make our people proud that their flag will be flying at city hall," said Sagkeeng First Nation Chief Derrick Henderson. "That is so significant."

Chiefs, representatives of various Indigenous groups and Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman spoke at the flag-raising event. Ribbon skirts, headdresses and face masks were abundant among the crowd.

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Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Callie shows how roomy her kennel is outside her home in Selkirk Wednesday, September 8, 2021. Matt and Kaelyn Proutt have started M+K Wood Co., a business that started as a cabinet supplier but now turns out custom, wooden kennels for dogs. Reporter: ?
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Custom-crafted dog kennels more plush than penal

David Sanderson  8 minute read Preview
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Custom-crafted dog kennels more plush than penal

David Sanderson  8 minute read Friday, Sep. 10, 2021

SELKIRK — One of late, standup comedian George Carlin’s best-loved shticks revolved around how, as a kid, his parents would command him to his bedroom for hours on end whenever he misbehaved. That never seemed like much of a punishment, he’d explain in his trademark, wry tone, given that’s where all his “stuff” was, the punch line being if his mom and dad really wanted to teach him a lesson, they would have banished him to their room, instead.

Carlin’s bit came to mind recently during an interview with Matt and Kaelyn Proutt, owners of M+K Wood Co., a Selkirk-based enterprise that turns out hand-crafted, wooden dog kennels that, at first glance, could easily be mistaken for a fashionable end table or armoire.

Three years ago, the married couple brought home Callie, a Labrador-English bulldog mix. They purchased a conventional, wire crate during her puppy phase, which they placed her inside as a form of discipline if she nabbed something from a dinner plate or destroyed a throw pillow. Except after they replaced her metal lair with one Matt fashioned out of spruce wood, which Kaelyn subsequently stained to match their living room decor, they discovered it no longer served its intended, penal purpose.

“Originally, the kennel was for when she was naughty. But because she seemed to enjoy the new one so much, we had to start leaving the door open all the time, so she could go inside whenever she felt like it,” Kaelyn says with a chuckle, seated next to Matt on a couch steps away from their pooch’s hideaway.

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Friday, Sep. 10, 2021
Roselyn Advincula (above) and her husband got their citizenship in March and will vote for the first time in the 2021 federal election. (Jessica Lee / Winnipeg Free Press)
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Immigrant, newcomer communities seek to get out the vote

Julia-Simone Rutgers 4 minute read Preview
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Immigrant, newcomer communities seek to get out the vote

Julia-Simone Rutgers 4 minute read Thursday, Sep. 9, 2021

When Roselyn Advincula pictures an election, she pictures a party.

In her home country of the Philippines, candidates bring in celebrity endorsements and crowd-rousing chants to inspire the electorate. Living near a polling station, she remembers sharing hellos and leaflets with the jubilant crowds walking past her door to vote.

Advincula, 39, and her husband moved to Canada 13 years ago, but just got their citizenship in March. The couple will vote for the first time in the 2021 federal election, and are looking forward to bringing the familiar atmosphere to their "second home."

"It's a mixed emotion for me, it brought back memories and excitement," Advincula said at a voting campaign event Thursday in Winnipeg's Central Park.

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Thursday, Sep. 9, 2021
JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Students arrive for first day of classes Wednesday at Glenelm School.
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Anxiety, hope as children return to school

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Preview
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Anxiety, hope as children return to school

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 8, 2021

On one side of the chain-link fence separating Glenelm School from the street, nervous elementary students fidgeted with their masks and bulky backpacks on the playground as they waited to meet new teachers and friends in lines.

On the other side, parents on the sidewalk — among them, Joisy Fernandez — peeked through the grey diamonds with anxieties of their own.

"I wish I could go in there and just stand next to her and say, ‘It will be OK,’" said Fernandez, who dropped off her daughter Natalie for the first day of Grade 5 on Wednesday morning. "As tough as it is on us, we have to show them that (a safe school year) is possible."

Glenelm, a K-6 building at 96 Carmen Ave., has kept its pandemic policy for drop-offs intact this year to prevent congestion on the playground. Parents are discouraged from entering both the Winnipeg school's grounds and building.

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Wednesday, Sep. 8, 2021