How would COVID-19 vaccine makers adapt to variants?

Northern style

North of North is partnering with the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq to celebrate the way it has propelled authentic northern fashion into the global spotlight at the gallery’s special edition of Crafted on the Catwalk tonight, featuring fashion and design from Manitoba, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunatsiavut and Nunavik.

Arnaquq-Baril and series stars Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq spoke to the Free Press ahead of tonight’s catwalk show.

Hydro reports $446-M loss in 2025-26, points to fourth drought year in past five

Manitoba Hydro posted a $446-million loss in 2025-26, as drought conditions slashed hydroelectric generation, forcing the Crown corporation to buy more power while leaving it with less electricity to sell outside the province.

The loss was $666 million worse than the $220-million profit Hydro had budgeted. The utility posted a $63-million loss the previous year, according to the utility’s annual report released Tuesday.

Hydro said the 2025-26 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, marked its fourth low-water year in the past five years, among the worst stretches of water-flow conditions in its recorded history.

Hydroelectric generation fell 23 per cent to 24 billion kilowatt-hours from 31 billion the previous year, leaving Hydro a net importer of electricity.

How would COVID-19 vaccine makers adapt to variants?

How would COVID-19 vaccine makers adapt to variants?

By tweaking their vaccines, a process that should be easier than coming up with the original shots.

Viruses constantly mutate as they spread, and most changes aren't significant. First-generation COVID-19 vaccines appear to be working against today's variants, but makers already are taking steps to update their recipes if health authorities decide that's needed.

COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna are made with new technology that's easy to update. The so-called mRNA vaccines use a piece of genetic code for the spike protein that coats the coronavirus, so your immune system can learn to recognize and fight the real thing.

Use it twice: a data centre we could support

In June, Premier Wab Kinew rejected a massive AI data centre planned near Île-des-Chênes. The project would have used 500 megawatts of power, which is about the same as the Grand Rapids generating station, and would have run on six natural gas turbines. Kinew said the environmental cost was too high and the long-term benefit for Manitobans was too low.

He made the right call. But simply saying no to data centres is not enough.

Winnipeg is a cold city. Data centres are basically huge electric heaters with computers inside. Almost every watt they use turns into heat, and most facilities pay to release it into the air. In a city that spends half the year paying to stay warm, that’s not just waste; it’s an opportunity. The idea is simple: use the energy twice. First for computing, then for heating our buildings.

The stakes are real. Manitoba Hydro’s new resource plan says peak demand will exceed our capacity as early as 2029 or 2030, and that the province will need about 1,760 additional megawatts of dependable capacity by 2035.

Netminder no stranger to heavy workload as Jets new No. 1 readies for regular-season start

Stuart Skinner is quick to admit that he wasn’t always wired this way.

As the Winnipeg Jets new starting goalie prepares for his fifth NHL season, Skinner conceded that the accountability aspect that is now synonymous with his character took some time to build up.

“As I grew up and got older, you go through certain things in life that either build character or make things worse for you. It depends on your choice and your decision,” Skinner said during a recent conversation with the Free Press. “I learned it through trial and error. I learned that, sometimes, it’s hard to get honest with yourself… For me, it’s definitely been a road for me to get to a place like this.

“It definitely is one of my pillars. Accountability is so important because that brings you into a spot of what you’re going to do next. It’s easy to let yourself off the hook. I’m more in the business of putting myself on the hook.”

Rich colours, nature-inspired hues key decorating trends for 2026

Forget featureless white walls and cold, pale floors, a warm, rich colour palette is one of the key decorating trends this year — and it won’t break the budget to update your house if repainting isn’t on the cards.

Despite Pantone’s announcement of a “soft, serene and versatile” shade of white as 2026’s colour, interior designers and decorators are eschewing Cloud Dancer, informally christened “the landlord’s special,” for richer, jewel- and nature-inspired hues such as soft ochre, deep green and earthy brown.

Moving away from the sleek, clinical practicality of flat minimalism, this year’s trends reflect the uncertain political, social and economic climate, firmly re-establishing the home as a place of safety, comfort and refuge.

“Spaces that are overly minimal can feel empty and dated,” says Michelle Chisick, interior designer at Interior Illusions on Princess Street.