Don’t heed pressure to ‘measure up’ as a mom

Rollins becomes fifth councillor to bow out of fall election

Sherri Rollins says she’s withdrawing her bid to keep her city hall seat after eight years, citing her concerns about the “gradual erosion of the role played by council” and the struggle to work co-operatively with the mayor’s office.

The Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry councillor called her time in council “one of the great privileges of (her) life.”

“There’s still a lot of work to be done in the city, but I’m hoping my residents know that it was always personal to me, and bringing my A-game was what I wanted to do for them as long as I could. I’m going to be doing it until November inauguration day,” Rollins told the Free Press Friday.

Winnipeg’s municipal election is Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Colson Whitehead’s trilogy capper bids farewell to criminal character

For 10 years, Colson Whitehead has lived with a small-time crook-turned-Harlem furniture store owner who moonlights as a fence (laundering stolen goods). But with Cool Machine, the third book in his Harlem trilogy, the author is ready to say goodbye to Ray Carney.

Whitehead, 56, will be in Winnipeg on Tuesday to launch Cool Machine, his 11th novel, at WAG-Qaumajuq, where he’ll be joined in conversation by local author David A. Robertson.

The New York City author’s rise to literary prominence skyrocketed when two of his consecutive novels — 2016’s The Nickel Boys and 2019’s The Underground Railroad — each won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He’s also the recipient of both MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships and the U.S. National Humanities Medal, among numerous other accolades.

While Carney’s first appearance on the page was in Whitehead’s 2021 novel Harlem Shuffle, a story that takes place in 1960s New York, the character had been keeping the author company long before that. And in the process of writing Harlem Shuffle, Whitehead realized he wanted to explore Carney in more depth than what one novel would allow.

Chinese newcomers protest over delays in security screening clearance

Dozens of Chinese newcomers rallied outside Winnipeg’s federal immigration office Friday to protest what they describe as untenable delays to Canada’s security screening process.

The rally against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada comes after a surge in immigration security screening requests created backlogs for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Protesters said the resulting delays have left them in limbo as they try to obtain permanent residency.

“We just want transparency,” said Pakying Chau, 26, who travelled from Hong Kong to Winnipeg in 2018 to study agribusiness.

Each of city's historic bridges has unique story

They span the muddy waters from which Winnipeg derives its name. They connect neighbourhood to neighbourhood. They’re a fundamental feature of our city.

Winnipeg has a reputation as a “River City,” but many don’t know the stories behind the bridges they use every day.

While a bridge may seem to be a boring piece of basic infrastructure, many of Winnipeg’s have fascinating histories that go back more than 100 years.

The BEST PLACE on Earth

ORLANDO, Fla. — Ponce de Leon scoured Florida looking for the fountain of youth.

Walt and Roy Disney built it 450 years later.

On an unremarkable spit of land, near an otherwise unremarkable town, the Disneys built what would give rise to the theme-park capital of the world.

Walt Disney World opened in 1971, five years after Walt's death and three months before Roy's.

Downtown Keg closes… to reopen nearby

Downtown Winnipeg is without a Keg restaurant — for a couple months, anyways.

The Keg Steakhouse and Bar vacated 115 Garry St. on Wednesday, after more than five decades at the location. It will open in a new Donald Street apartment tower this fall.

Its move comes after years of waiting. The DSM, at 185 Donald St., sat as a partially-started apartment block after its developer stopped operating and sought creditor protection in April 2023. The developer began the project in 2019.

Carrington Real Estate took over in 2024. Part of the 14-storey site’s initial plans — pre-Carrington — was for the Keg to occupy the main floor.