Social media, music world go dark for Black Out Tuesday

Pair preps for weekend test in Kelowna

KELOWNA, B.C. — Their first spin around the ice at Skate Canada International on Thursday was a mix of business and pleasure for Winnipeg pair skaters Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov.

Job one for the practice session was to get accustomed to the size and feel of the ice surface at Propsera Place while test-driving the lifts, throws and jumps they’ll perform Friday in their senior ISU Grand Prix competition debut.

“The big thing is the patterns (skating into elements) because these boards are very narrow but very long — it’s NHL size — so when you’re setting up elements you need to make sure you’re using the full length or else you’re going to run into the boards,” Elizarov explained in a post-skate chat with media.

“The second thing is the ice which is sometimes really soft or really hard. This ice is really soft.”

Director Schrader returns to silver screen with complex view of religion and belief

Bleak, wintry and rigorously controlled — until it’s not — this Book of Job-like drama from American filmmaker Paul Schrader looks at the challenges of faith.

The 71-year-old Schrader, known for scripting four Martin Scorsese films (including Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) and for directing his own (including American Gigolo, Affliction and Auto Focus), grew up in a strict Calvinist home — he famously did not see a film until he was 17 — and has always been drawn to stories of agonizing and uncertain redemption.

As the Rev. Toller (Ethan Hawke) wrestles with what it means to lead a righteous life in our badly broken world, his spiritual fate remains in doubt. It is certain, however, that First Reformed marks a cinematic rebirth for Schrader after recent disasters like The Canyons and Dog Eat Dog. Serious, complex and moving, this is not a perfect film, but even its flaws are powerful.

Toller is a solitary man who has come to the ministry late in life, after a family tragedy and a failed marriage. First Reformed, a historic church in upstate New York that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad, has since been reduced to an austerely beautiful tourist shop, more of a museum than a place of worship.

Voter turnout in mayoral race about 38 per cent

Voter turnout in Wednesday’s mayoral contest in Winnipeg was 38 per cent, based on a Free Press analysis of unofficial results.

The city has not yet provided a figure for overall turnout for the municipal and school board election.

Incumbent Scott Gillingham won a second term with 39.82 per cent of the vote. He was followed by Kevin Klein (20.71 per cent), Noah Redden (19.84 per cent) and Mike Vogiatzakis (9.66 per cent) in a field of 12 candidates.

Unofficial voter turnout within the city’s 15 wards ranged from 26 per cent (Point Douglas) to 46 per cent (River Heights-Fort Garry).

Election results: School trustees 2026

Below you’ll find live 2026 election results for school trustees in Winnipeg divisions.

We can display results only for wards in which Winnipeg voters cast a ballot; we do not have access to live results reporting for school boards outside of Winnipeg.

Multi-year budget to force councillors, bureaucrats to focus on the big picture

City hall is putting the final touches on the 2019 preliminary budget -- but the real tough job will start after that.

The city is committed to developing a four-year budget beginning with 2020, and having it in place by the end of this year.

It's a process that is filled with uncertainties, trying to balance four successive annual budgets at the same time, using assumptions on revenues and expenses that can change without notice: a provincial government that has frozen funding to city hall at 2016 levels and is reluctant to disclose annual funding commitments or share in unexpected revenues; erratic fuel prices; a possible change in government in Ottawa, which could bring new spending priorities. And in the middle of that four-year span, another civic election where new members of council may have other priorities than those laid out by the current crop of office holders.

Municipal governments across Manitoba are required to approve their annual operating and capital budgets by the end of March each year. But the criticism of decision-making at city hall has been that all the decisions are made on a year-to-year basis, keeping voters happy with an eye on the next election.

Carrying a torch for tiki

A paper tiki mask is the only indication that the door it’s affixed to leads somewhere other than a dive bar. Ring the doorbell and walk through the kitchen, however, and you’ll be transported to an island-themed lounge that’s equal parts kitschy and comfortable.

“This is just from people’s houses, like my mom’s,” says Allan Pineda, pointing to the wood carvings, water-buffalo horns and rattan furniture decorating the room. “A lot of the stuff you see in here, you’d see in a Filipino’s house back in the day — like second-wave immigrants in the ‘60s and ‘70s, they’d bring this stuff home (from the Philippines).”

Pineda is a local chef and part of the team behind the Bahay Kubo Tiki Bar, a pop-up Filipino drinking and dining experience hosted weekly at an undisclosed Winnipeg establishment.

The details are hush-hush because the temporary eatery is meant to operate like a speakeasy. The dinners are an offshoot of Baon Manila Nights, which Pineda started as a way to highlight Winnipeg’s Filipino culinary scene.