Set some ground rules for flirty, forthright mom

Ryan Thorpe

Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head.

COVID inspired Winnipeg's Leanne Pearson to find new ways to make connections

Leanne Pearson was fed up with 2020.

The Winnipeg country-rocker has seen the COVID-19 pandemic pull her life and career over to the side of the road.

Like so many other people in 2020, Pearson had become separated from loved ones. For months, she was in Winnipeg, staying with her folks and writing songs, while her fiancé, Jordan Riley, was at their home in Nashville, a closed border separating the two.

So she made a daring decision. She boarded a flight to Music City, one she’s taken many times, and shifted her relationship, and her music, back into high gear.

Trump says shutdown could last for 'months or even years'

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump declared Friday he could keep parts of the government shut down for "months or even years" as he and Democratic leaders failed in a second closed-door meeting to resolve his demand for billions of dollars for a border wall with Mexico. They did agree to a new round of weekend talks between staff members and White House officials.

Trump met in the White House Situation Room with congressional leaders from both parties as the shutdown hit the two-week mark amid an impasse over his wall demands. Democrats emerged from the roughly two-hour meeting, which both sides said was contentious at times, to report little if any progress.

The standoff also prompted economic jitters and anxiety among some in Trump's own party. But he appeared in the Rose Garden to frame the upcoming weekend talks as progress, while making clear he would not reopen the government.

"We won't be opening until it's solved," Trump said. "I don't call it a shutdown. I call it doing what you have to do for the benefit and the safety of our country."

Talented women's hoops team has podium dreams

Canada's finest women's basketball players gathered for a national team camp back in February. They discussed strategy. They pored over game film. They did team bonding exercises.

But a full year after they'd clinched their Tokyo Olympic berth, the players were scattered across the globe. Their camp was virtual due to COVID-19. There were no drills against the soundtrack of squeaking sneakers and hollered directions, only players' faces laid out like a checkerboard across their computer screens.

Canada's women's basketball team went 16 months without stepping onto the floor together, but the players never lost sight of their shared goal: climbing the medal podium in Tokyo. They held onto hope that the bonds built over the years together would be enough to bridge the kilometres between them.

"What hasn't (COVID-19) impacted over the past 16 months for us?" coach Lisa Thomaidis said recently. "It's been unbelievably challenging, I guess you could say, when you're trying to prepare a team for an Olympic Games, and you can't be together up until essentially the 11th hour.

Community’s compassion shelters family every step of painful journey

Outside the courthouse, in the light of a cool spring day, George and Melinda Wood stood facing the quiet half-circle of reporters. Around them were gathered dozens of family and supporters, a halo of love as united here, at the end of the journey, as it had been just over a week ago when the trial started. 

It hadn’t been a long trial, which is a kind of blessing. The trial of the man accused of Christine Wood’s murder was expected to last up to three weeks; it took just nine days. The jury reached a unanimous verdict in less than two hours Wednesday. 

As they sat waiting to hear the accused’s fate, George and Melinda clutched their hands together tightly. When the jury foreman rose to make the pronouncement — guilty, second-degree murder — those interlaced hands shot upward in unison, moved by the same surge of raw feeling that sent cries of relief ringing through the room.  

At the front of the public gallery, Melinda’s mother, Gladys, held up a spray of green flowers. They were so bright they drew eyes to them, beaming in vivid contrast to the subdued hues of the court. The colour of life. The colour of hope.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: After 9 a.m. today there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Capricorn.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You are direct, proactive and quick to act. You shouldn’t second-guess anything, especially instructions or orders from authority figures — bosses, parents, teachers, VIPs and even the police. You might misread their intentions? Postpone important decisions.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)