Lopsided loss not as damaging as it could have been for the Jets

PITTSBURGH — There once was a time in the National Hockey League when a putrid performance like the one the Winnipeg Jets delivered Thursday night in Boston would have carried some painful consequences.

Namely, a next-day practice filled with skating, skating and more skating — and perhaps nary a puck in sight.

But those “old-school” days are long gone, which is why Friday was all about rest and recovery for the Jets. Only a handful of players took part in an optional skate, while the majority stayed back at the team hotel for workouts and video sessions.

“Just reset. That’s a big thing. Do what everybody feels like they need to do today in order to be ready for tomorrow,” said rookie forward Isak Rosen, who was one of the few to hit the ice.

Rural resident wins court battle against ban from council meetings

A Manitoba judge has told a rural municipal council it can’t issue a blanket ban on people attending council meetings.

Justice Sadie Bond, of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, said the Rural Municipality of Alexander has to allow resident Aaron Wiebe to attend council meetings.

“The banning resolutions are neither an exercise of the RM’s authority under the (Municipal) Act, nor under the RM’s procedures bylaw,” Bond said in her 14-page decision, which was released on Monday.

“In passing them, the council acted in excess of its jurisdiction… I find that the council’s interpretation of its authority to pass banning resolutions is both incorrect and not reasonable.”

Councillors push decision on new fireworks restrictions to next spring

Fire prevention officers will meet with cultural groups and fireworks sellers to talk about conducting safe celebrations, but the city won’t impose any bans or create new bylaws before next year.

City council’s community services committee heard from the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service Tuesday and from speakers arguing both for and against additional fines, enforcement or restrictions around the sale and use of fireworks.

The committee was split on how to approach new fireworks bylaws and eventually voted to revisit the issue next March, promising to create a working group to explore the issue further, in the meantime.

“I think it’s a very complicated file, and it’s important that we’re able to hear from the councillors on what direction they want this to take for the city,” Lisa Gilmour, the WFPS’ assistant chief of community risk reduction, said after Tuesday’s meeting.

Upcoming production spotlights Winnipeg artisans

Think Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but for Winnipeg artisans instead of U.S. eateries.

That was Amanda Buhse’s pitch to Rogers. Television executives approved.

Now Buhse, whose Coal and Canary candles have landed in Hollywood swag bags and Manitoba markets, is hitting the road with a camera.

She aims to produce an eight-episode series called Made in Winnipeg. It will air on Rogers TV this fall, by current timelines.

Community gardens, urban farms more than hobby spaces, report authors say

The City of Winnipeg is being urged to make several changes to keep community gardens and urban farms in place longer.

A Pro Bono Students Canada report recommends encouraging mobile gardens in raised planters that can be set up temporarily on one lot and moved as needed, adding a “no-loss” principle to ensure each community garden that shuts down on city land is replaced with a nearby alternative and changing development policies to prioritize and preserve the green spaces.

Aaia Haji Hussein, one of the report’s two authors, said it’s important that community gardens are recognized as more than just spaces to pursue a hobby.

“They’re meant to address things like food security, public health, community infrastructure…. They’re a real way that communities get their food, where they spend time with one another, where they learn things,” said Haji Hussein.

Toronto thrilled by first World Cup game on home soil

TORONTO — It’s only appropriate Canada’s opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place in the nation’s largest city. It is the World Cup, after all.

The colossal tournament, held simultaneously in Mexico and the United States, kicked off at Toronto Stadium Friday under a bright blue sky.

And it was a thriller.

A raucous crowd of 43,000 fans, most sporting red and white, turned out to see a 1-1 draw between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Canadian men have momentum in Group B after late Larin goal

It was a draw that felt like a win.

Had Canada lost to Bosnia-Herzegovina Friday afternoon, its home World Cup would not have been guaranteed beyond next week.

Instead, the pressure is a little bit less. And in a tournament where margins matter, less is preferable to more.

Just contemplate what almost was.

Reeve asks for quick fix to damaged bridge on Highway 83

A bridge damaged by flooding in the Rural Municipality of Riding Mountain West has had to close and local officials want the province to take action quickly.

The bridge over the Shell River on Highway 83, northwest of Inglis, is a key route for much of the RM. Reeve Grant Boryskavich said the riverbanks that support it were washed away in hours on Thursday.

“At 11 o’clock in the morning the embankment had started to wash and by five o’clock that night, you could start to see the pillars,” he said about the bridge, roughly 320 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

Like Swan River and Minitonas, Boryskavich said the community was hit hard by the massive storm that dropped almost 150 millimetres of rain on the Parklands region. The area had to deal with water flowing from Saskatchewan as well, causing the Shell River to swell to more than three times its normal flow.

Winnipeg fans celebrate Canada’s first point at World Cup — on home soil

Winnipeg soccer fans groaned as Bosnia and Herzegovina took the early lead against Canada at the FIFA World Cup Friday afternoon.

“It’s the way it goes” said Mark Seburn, 67, one of a few dozen footy fanatics who were getting their game on at X-Cues’ Café and Lounge.

It was Canada’s first match on home soil — at Toronto Stadium.

“It’s a special moment,” Seburn said, noting he got into the sport when his children played as youngsters. He said soccer has brought their family closer together.

Storm insurance claims could set Manitoba record

Manitoba is on pace to set a record for insurance claims related to this week’s storms.

Insurance brokers have been inundated with calls to assess and process claims for flooded basements and properties. Local insurer ONE Insurance said it has received more than 700 claims and expects to issue millions of dollars to its clients.

“It is definitely the single largest event that we’ve experienced in our organization,” said interim CEO Rey Girardin.

Residents in the RM of Rockwood, including in Stonewall and Balmoral, have submitted the most claims, he said.

Word test

TESTING

Premier Wab Kinew is an imported Manitoban, born in Kenora and raised on Onigaming First Nation in Treaty Three (in northwestern Ontario) before his family moved to Winnipeg. He’s the son of well-known Anishinaabe leader and traditional knowledge keeper Tobasonakwut Kinew and Kathi Kinew.

These are the words we provided feedback on: Boniface, Cockburn, Dauphin, Dene, Hellebuyck, Iafallo, Íslendingadagurinn, Kinew, Kildonan, Malak Abas, Métis, Newfoundland, Orlikow, Pembina, Portage la Prairie, Premier, Regina, St. Vital, Samyn, Schiefele, vínarterta, Wiebe, Generation Z.

Winkler hosts first LGBTTQ+ celebration Saturday

Sebastian Sanders is both excited and nervous about returning to Winkler to tell his story at his hometown’s first Pride event.

To get through his anxiety, he imagines a younger version of himself in the audience. “I’m just imagining that kid being like: ‘Oh, I can be happy and healthy and be myself and find community and be OK,’” he says.

Growing up attending church in Winkler, Sanders internalized a lot of homophobia and transphobia. “I was indoctrinated to believe I was a giant abomination,” he says. At times he thought about taking his own life.

Sanders was diagnosed with cancer when he was 19. The experience forced him to ask himself hard questions. When he finished chemotherapy, he told his family and friends he was queer. “I was ostracized by most of the people around me,” he says.