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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  9 minute read Preview
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Custom-crafted dog kennels more plush than penal

David Sanderson  9 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
Photos by Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press Pajack Obeing is a mentee in the Raising New Voices mentorship program, which aims to provide opportunities for emerging artists from communities typically underrepresented in the arts world.
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Magnificent mentorship program

Julia-Simone Rutgers 8 minute read Preview
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Magnificent mentorship program

Julia-Simone Rutgers 8 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 7, 2021

Sitting on a piano bench at the back of the St. Norbert Arts Centre gallery space Thursday, up-and-coming musician Tomiwa Omolayo is wearing rose-coloured glasses — literally.

It’s the same pair of tinted shades (accented by a rolled-up mustard-yellow toque) the self-proclaimed optimist wore for his first live show since the COVID-19 pandemic: a performance on the GerryFest 2021 stage.

“I was nervous because I wasn’t sure if the music would connect,” Omolayo said, thinking back to the August 13 show on a breezy outdoor stage at the arts centre. “I’m trying to make something that’s different, something that’s fresh.”

The Lagos-born 23-year-old is an Afrofusion artist who launched his career blending a variety of musical genres with the classic sounds of afrobeats in 2018, after moving from Nigeria to Winnipeg for school just a few years before.

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Tuesday, Sep. 7, 2021
ALEX LUPUL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A variety of Winnipeg Police jackets are also on display.
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Winnipeg Police Museum shines a light on the history of policing in city

Brenda Suderman 8 minute read Preview
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Winnipeg Police Museum shines a light on the history of policing in city

Brenda Suderman 8 minute read Sunday, Sep. 5, 2021

Worn for only a few days or weeks, a set of frayed and grimy canvas armbands stored in a back room at the Winnipeg Police Museum bear the weight of more than a century of history.

Originally fastened around a jacket sleeve with a set of snaps or modified with hand stitched elastic, these armbands bear witness to the involvement of special police constables in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

“They knew they were going to have all these civilians, so they needed ways to identify them,” museum curator Tammy Skrabek said, pointing to the large plastic bin of armbands stored on a shelf in a large second-floor archives room.

Along with the white armbands, printed with the words Special Police Winnipeg, the museum owns a bin of pinback celluloid buttons also issued to the anti-strike, anti-union volunteers hastily commissioned as police officers during the strike, which saw more than 30,000 workers participate, including most of Winnipeg’s Police Department.

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Sunday, Sep. 5, 2021
Front row, from left: Tobi and Craig Geekie, Back row, from left:, Morgan, Noah and Conor Geekie. (Alex Lupul / Winnipeg Free Press)
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Athletic excellence in the genes of Geekie family

Mike Sawatzky 10 minute read Preview
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Athletic excellence in the genes of Geekie family

Mike Sawatzky 10 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 1, 2021

STRATHCLAIR — It's a hot day in August and the Geekie brothers are home together for a change.

That doesn't happen much anymore.

Morgan, the eldest, has packed a lot into summer. After playing 36 games for the Carolina Hurricanes last season, the 23-year-old centre was chosen by the Seattle Kraken in the NHL expansion draft.

Less than two weeks later, he married his high-school sweetheart, Emma Coulter.

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Wednesday, Sep. 1, 2021
The fully electric Tundra Buggy is 16 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and 45 feet long.
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Iconic Churchill Tundra Buggy goes electric

Martin Cash 5 minute read Preview
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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.

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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.
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Veggie Van to bring fresh produce to inner city residents

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview
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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.

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Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ainsley Krone, acting advocate, Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, speaks during an announcement with Families Minister Rochelle Squires at the Manitoba Legislative building Tuesday morning.
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Manitoba youth concerned about mental health: survey

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview
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Manitoba youth concerned about mental health: survey

Malak Abas 3 minute read Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021

Young people surveyed by Manitoba's children's advocate say they need better mental health and addiction services, as well as anti-poverty programs.

The advocate, an independent office of the Manitoba legislature, consulted with almost 300 young people who live in various regions of the province. A report based on their feedback, “The Right to Be Heard”, was published Thursday.

Generally, youth in the north were more likely to say they are concerned about poverty and substance abuse, while those living in Winnipeg were more likely to select racism and mental health issues.

“A report like this allows us a really incredible opportunity to sit down internally and think about how the projects that we have underway, how the projects that we’re maybe considering embarking on, align with what youth want us to be focused on,” said acting children's advocate Ainsley Krone said.

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Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021