The Spit Take: Post Malone’s new rosé, Maison No. 9

Judge rejected bid from Balaquit killer’s lawyer to take case away from jury

A week before a jury convicted him of manslaughter in the death of Eduardo Balaquit, lawyers for Kyle Pietz were urging a judge to rule there was no evidence to support a finding of guilt and take the case out of the jury’s hands.

Jurors deliberated less than one full day before reaching the guilty verdict early Wednesday evening in a case distinguished by the fact Balaquit’s body hasn’t been found.

In a directed-verdict motion heard in the absence of the jury on April 28, defence lawyer Amanda Sansregret argued “a properly instructed jury” did not have enough evidence before it to reach a guilty verdict in the case.

Balaquit, 59, disappeared on June 4, 2018, after leaving home for Westcon Equipment and Rentals on Keewatin Street, where he had a contract as a cleaner.

Venture studio bridges gap between startups, financiers

While the province works on establishing the structure for its $50-million venture capital platform, the business development ecosystem is already expanding.

This week, North Forge Technology Exchange established an official partnership with the province’s first so-called venture studio — Datomar Labs Venture Studios.

Whereas an incubator like North Forge gives startups strategic advice and guidance and mentorship, a venture studio like Datomar will provide the actual technical assistance — writing the software, building the mobile app, building the back-office governance structure — as well as providing the early stage financial capital as well.

Dustin Refvik, Datomar’s CEO, said the company has assembled a talented team of about 14 people and hopes to double that by the end of the year.

Comfort, creativity battle COVID stress in art class

It was only fitting the panels on which students were tasked with painting comforting messages in Brody McQueen’s Grade 12 art class this term were customized to be six-feet tall.

“Be the reason someone feels heard,” states the board made by McQueen and his project partner, Shakira Rampersad.

Among phrases on the other panels, which will all be hung up in Winnipeg’s Maples Collegiate in the new year, were “Take a break” and “Good things are coming.”

One of visual arts teacher Stacey Abramson’s many therapeutic projects, the 1970s-style panels provided high school seniors an opportunity to brainstorm validating phrases that do not perpetuate toxic positivity — otherwise known as pretending everything is OK when it is not.

South Korea protests penalties assessed in short track

Quebec City MP Joël Lightbound said Tuesday that governments shouldn’t dismiss the concerns of people who want health measures to be lifted.

Tabulating long-term impact of long COVID

Throughout a career dedicated to health research, Dr. Alan Katz had never seen anything like it.

In fall 2021, it was announced the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (which Katz leads) had been awarded a grant to study “long COVID-19,” the name given to the prolonged suffering experienced by people who contracted, and survived, the novel coronavirus.

Soon after the news broke, Katz said something extraordinary happened: he started getting direct calls from people who believed they were suffering from long COVID, and who wanted to participate in the study.

“I’ve done research for a long time and I’d never seen anything like it before,” he said.