Bright lights, big sound and chrome beach balls

Max youth sentence for boy in liquor store robbery

A 15-year-old boy has been handed a maximum youth sentence of three years custody and community supervision for a violent liquor store robbery a judge says impacted not only the people he attacked, but the entire city.

“This is the type of incident likely to cause some Winnipeg residents to pose the question to themselves whether the city is as safe as they thought it was, or, if this could happen in the middle of the afternoon in a busy shopping mall, is anybody safe anywhere in the city?” provincial court Judge Dale Schille said Tuesday.

“The impact of these offences is not restricted to the individuals involved, it has impacted the community in a broader way,” he said.

The boy previously pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery, three counts of assault, and one count each of mischief and uttering threats in connection to the robbery last November at the Tyndall Market mall Liquor Mart and the mayhem that followed.

Former Bison rules CFL roost New CFL commissioner hands off credit to family, football

There are few things Randy Ambrosie wants people to know about him more than his love for football and family. In a 20-minute interview with reporters Wednesday, Ambrosie, following his official announcement as the 14th commissioner of the Canadian Football League, made clear his devotion to the game through anecdotes featuring his loved ones.

“You’ll get used to the fact that I talk about my family a lot,” said Ambrosie.

“And you’ll find with the Ambrosie family we cry a lot, quite easily.”

The 54-year-old appeared to get misty-eyed when sharing a number of stories from his past, a humbling beginning that first began in Winnipeg before expanding into careers as a football player and business leader in Toronto. During a separate interview with the Free Press, which was the first news outlet to report Ambrosie’s hiring last week, he dove further into his connection to Winnipeg.

A young Canadian women’s soccer team should have continued success, but for how long?

Canada is the only country currently ranked among FIFA’s top 10 that does not have its own women’s league.

Al Simmons releasing his Barber of Seville adaptation

Al Simmons needs an audience. To the beloved Manitoban children’s entertainer, butts in seats are almost as crucial as well-placed puns. Many performers make themselves the centre of attention or the ultimate decision-maker, but what’s made Simmons an icon for over 50 years is that he does precisely the opposite: he lets the audience participate, inviting five-year-olds to sing with him, heckle him, and sometimes, stage bomb him.

“In front of an audience, they become my directors. That’s what I’ve done my whole career: I hear when they laugh, and I hear where they don’t,” says Simmons, now 72. “I instruct the audience at the beginning that I expect them to yell things at me, to laugh at me, to have fun. I encourage hecklers. It just makes everybody remember: Hey, I’m watching a live performance.”

Take an archival clip from 1980. At Assiniboine Park, the Human Jukebox stands tall and attracts a dense crowd, wondering who or what is inside. A coin is dropped into a Rube Goldbergian slot, rolling through a tube. The audience is quiet, until a hand pops through to catch it. A child screams, a bell dings, and out pops Simmons. “Now for this tune, I’m going to use a very special horn,” he says. “The noise of this horn comes out of your mouths. When I squeeze it, you all go, ‘HONK.’” They oblige.

There’s real artistry at play when Simmons performs live, which is why the last 12 months have been such a strange, inexplicable era in his life. 2020 was supposed to be the busiest year of his career, but it came screeching to a halt with the pandemic, right after a run of his one-man production of Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville wrapped up in Manitoba schools. (He developed the show with Manitoba Opera in 2009, and has toured it for the organization since).

Manitoba teacher commissioner received 94 complaints in 15 months, report reveals

A new report shows 94 complaints were flagged to Manitoba’s independent teacher commissioner during a 15-month period.

Commissioner Noni Classen has released a summary of the professional misconduct concerns and findings of investigations between January 2025 and March 2026.

The regulatory college was established on Jan. 6, 2025.

“These processes can be difficult and deeply personal for everyone involved, including students, families, teachers and school administrators,” Classen wrote in the 24-page document released this week.

Close to 5,000 net new health-care workers added since 2023 election, province says

More doctors and nurses are working in Manitoba than ever before but health-care challenges remain, Premier Wab Kinew says.

The province has added 4,725 net new health-care workers to the provincial system since the NDP won the October 2023 election, Kinew told reporters Tuesday.

The government’s total includes 370 doctors, 1,464 nurses, 2,152 health-care aides and 607 allied health professionals, a group that includes physiotherapists, dietitians, paramedics, medical lab technologists and others.

Kinew said more doctors and nurses are working in Manitoba than ever before.