Food literacy curriculum on the menu

Manitoba has a new recipe for health class and “food literacy” is a key ingredient.

The in-class portion of phys-ed has historically involved lessons about puberty, the risks of consuming drugs and dissecting Canada’s food guide.

A new pilot program asks teachers to expand their nutrition units and include in-depth discussions about how everything from diet culture to food insecurity affects eating habits.

“This is really moving beyond a conception of food as only fuel, where you just boil down food to its calories, its vitamins,” said Sarah Elvins, a food historian at the University of Manitoba who researches popular culture and marketing.

MPI looks into motorcycle safety

Manitoba Public Insurance is probing how to make regional roads safer for motorcyclists.

The public insurer is seeking feedback about restrictions on powerful bikes for new riders, mandatory training for older motorcyclists and limiting registrations to drivers who have a motorcycle licence (Class 6).

The Coalition of Manitoba Motorcycle Groups, which is set to gather at its regular meeting in Winnipeg Wednesday, will weigh in.

President Mary Johnson said some of the questions — such as those that relate to restricting new riders to bikes with engines under 500 cubic centimetres — are non-starters.

Suspension on the horizon for Hellebuyck as pre-season set to start

In this high stakes game of chicken, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Connor Hellebuyck or any of the potential suitors for the Winnipeg Jets franchise netminder appear ready to blink.

That’s why this summer-long stalemate is on the verge of stretching into autumn.

Jets players have been saying what you would expect them to say over the past week, both during informal skates and at Monday’s golf tournament at St. Charles Country Club — which was an official team event.

And the ability to separate the personal relationship with the business side of the game has been prevalent in most conversations.

Man serving time for 2018 second-degree murder pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2024 prison slaying

A Manitoba man is now serving his second life sentence in prison after an unexplained technical mistake resulted in a fatal seven-on-one attack on another inmate.

Randal Hastings pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter for his part in the July 2024 killing of 37-year-old Dean Tyler Young at Stony Mountain Institution.

Hastings, 33, was previously convicted of second-degree murder for a 2018 killing in Thompson and, at the time of Young’s death, was serving a life sentence with no chance of parole until 2033. His latest sentence comes with a seven-year period of parole ineligibility.

“It may be a very long time before any parole board is asked to consider whether you can and ought to be safely released into the community,” Court of King’s Bench Justice Sarah Inness told Hastings.

Manitoba mineral production set to triple, premier says

Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday Manitoba plans to triple mineral production in the next five years “to unlock a new era of wealth creation and growth.”

“We’re going to make sure that opportunity is spread throughout the province,” he told a news conference at the Canada investment summit in Toronto.

The province is working with industry and Indigenous governments to send a message to investors that “we’re going to do mining right in Manitoba,” the premier said.

For too long, Manitoba has lagged behind neighbouring provinces, Kinew said.

Poster protocol

Although the days when telephone poles and notice boards across the city were thick with gig posters, either slopped up with wheat paste or wrapped tight with packing tape, are behind us, the art of making an appealing visual ad for live music events is still a vital part of the local creative scene.

However, a widespread backlash against a new kind of slop — the use of generative AI images — has been building, especially among creatives when it comes to promoting live music.

“Live music is and always has been a DIY type of scene, especially locally,” says Evan Simpson, who has been working as a graphic designer for nearly a decade.

“For years people have been making their own flyers, or if they have the budget, hiring a designer or artist to come up with some artwork for their flyers. It’s a whole ecosystem, a scene supporting itself. If you take away the visual side of it, the spark, individuality and uniqueness of each gig poster is lost. What a sad world it would be if all art were made by AI.”

Police cracking down on gangs, organized crime in bars and lounges

Patrons can expect to see more police officers in and around bars and lounges in the coming months as the Winnipeg Police Service plans to crack down on gangs and organized crime.

Uniformed officers will be patrolling bars, lounges and other licensed establishments, targeting gang members and people associated with organized crime. Priority will be given to those who pose the greatest risk to public safety, WPS said in a news release Tuesday.

“We’ve seen — time and time again — where people involved in gangs, in organized crime, attract violence or commit violence, on people who they would perceive as their rivals,” Insp. Josh Ewatski, who heads the service’s organized crime unit said, noting the plan was in the works for a while.

He said while there was no specific incident that resulted in the new push, but said violence — including stabbings, assaults and shootings — over the years is behind the move.

Transit safety drives first mayoral debate

The safety of Winnipeg Transit drivers was front and centre Monday as the first mayoral debate of the 2026 election focused on public transit.

Kevin Klein, the most experienced of the 10 candidates at the Amalgamated Transit Union 1505-hosted debate, said the time for partial safety shields has passed.

“The partial shields have failed drivers. That’s why we need change,” the former PC MLA and city councillor said, adding driver safety is not a staffing issue, but a “protection failure.”

If elected, Klein said he will bring in full-shield implementation across the city within two years and start a nine-bus pilot project immediately.

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.