Alberta bans masking mandates in schools, guarantees in-person learning

Tibial tray connected to aerospace sector …

There are thousands — perhaps tens of thousands — of people in the United States who are walking around with Manitoba-made metal parts in their bodies.

After Winnipeg-based manufacturing solutions provider Precision ADM Inc. got started in 2015, one of its first jobs was fabricating U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved tibial trays — a critical component for knee replacement surgery that transmits loads from the femur to the tibia, ensuring stability, alignment and durability over millions of cycles of use.

Manufacturing the tibial trays for a client in the U.S. stands out as a vivid memory for Martin Petrak, the company’s co-founder and president.

“We made something that could go into a human, that should be there for the rest of their life,” he says. “We thought, we’ve finally done something significant here as an organization, as a company, with staff that believed that we could do this.”

Educational drone survey of canopy targets sick trees

Drones could help save Winnipeg’s elm trees from being tagged with a fatal orange mark, owing to the work of experienced pilots and their student assistants.

Throughout the 2021-22 school year, Volatus Aerospace Corp., a so-called “drone solution company,” has recruited high school students to take part in a research project that aims to streamline canopy surveillance in Winnipeg.

City employees typically survey trees for Dutch elm disease either on foot or by driving past them. It’s a laborious process — and by the time a human eye can spot wilting, curling or yellowing leaves, it may be too late to reverse the damage caused by the fungal infection.

In partnership with the City of Winnipeg, University of Winnipeg and Seven Oaks School Division, Volatus is using drone technology to try and speed up the diagnosis process.

Bigger story: Jets’ playoff run or Bombers’ Cup victory?

Steve Lyons: Hello there. How’s it going? Hope you are staying warm. Guess winter is here now. Man, it’s been nice so far — especially, the lack of snow. Thought we were in for a long one after that dump of white stuff in October. I bought a new shovel on the weekend just in case. I’m sure it will show up at some point. Yes, I’ve been doing my own shoveling.

So, lots going on since we last chatted. Like the whole world changing with the Bombers winning the Grey Cup! More on that in a bit…

The Jets won AGAIN on Tuesday night, beating the Red Wings. The team is now 19-10-1-1, good for 40 points. As we chat on Wednesday morning, they are just two points behind the Blues, who hold down top spot in the Central. Heady stuff. They certainly look like they are going to make me eat my words about not making the playoffs.. I think.. maybe.. haha

One caution: Since Nov. 1, the Jets have won 13 games, but only four of those victories have been against current playoff teams — Vegas, Florida, and the Dallas Stars twice. They’ve certainly made hay in this soft spot in their schedule, but it will be interesting to see how they fare once they start playing the Caps, Bruins, Isles, Blues and Avs of the world. The one game they had against a top tier team in November, they got whacked 4-0 at home by Colorado.

Musk’s gambit unlikely to end well

Elon Musk is that rarest of things, a benign sociopath, and therefore a person of considerable value to the world. He has just made a mistake that could ruin his long-term plan, for his purchase of Twitter is almost bound to end in tears. The sharks are always circling the very rich and highly geared, and I find myself worrying about him.

Confidence vote was gamble for MLA, Tories: political expert

BRANDON — A Progressive Conservative MLA’s decision to put forward a confidence motion against the party’s former leader carries a lot of risk for her and the Tories, a political science expert says.

Obby Khan resigned as leader of the PCs on Monday after Jodie Byram (Agassiz) initiated a confidence vote against him the previous week.

The majority of the PC caucus voted in favour of Khan, but he resigned a few days later, citing continued efforts to undermine him by a minority of MLAs.

Brandon University political science Prof. Kelly Saunders said while she doesn’t know what Byram’s motivations were for triggering the vote, such a move carries a lot of risk.