WINNIPEG — Buying a bottle of booze at a Liquor Mart will soon get you no closer to paying for a vacation.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corp. announced it is flying away from being part of the Air Miles program, after almost 30 years of helping its eligible customers rack up reward points.

“We are exploring what other loyalty programs are available and whether they would be a fit for Manitoba Liquor Marts,” an MLL spokesperson said on Wednesday.

“We’ll follow our usual procurement process if we decide to engage with a new provider. Until then, Manitobans can expect to continue receiving the superior service and experiences that Liquor Marts are known for.”

WINNIPEG — Lawyers for a man who alleged he was repeatedly sexually assaulted as a child by a now-dead Catholic priest in rural Manitoba and Winnipeg in a 2023 lawsuit recently reached a confidential settlement with the Archdiocese of St. Boniface.

Terms of the settlement, which was reached in the fall after a private judicially assisted dispute resolution in front of a Court of King’s Bench justice in September, are not included in public court records reviewed by the Free Press.

The lawsuit, which was filed in June 2023 and named the archdiocese and archbishop as defendants, was officially discontinued in November.

The plaintiff, now in his early 60s, claimed the alleged abuse began when he was eight-years-old in 1972 and lasted until 1982.

WINNIPEG — The provincial government is being urged to call an inquest into the deaths of two people who had donated plasma at for-profit collection centres in Winnipeg.

Health Canada has promised to investigate the deaths, which occurred in October and January at two Grifols Plasma Donation Centres in Winnipeg.

However, the Manitoba Health Coalition said Health Canada licenses Grifols and it has a conflict of interest.

“We want as independent and (thorough) an investigation as possible for the loved ones of these Manitobans who died, to get real answers and so that harm like this doesn’t happen in the future,” coalition executive director Noah Schulz said at a news conference Friday.

WINNIPEG — A widespread Bell MTS outage this week struck a Winnipeg hospital and an unknown number of Manitobans who couldn’t call 911 because their landline and internet service was down for days.

The Grace Hospital website said Friday it was still having problems with its phone lines.

“We’re currently experiencing intermittent phone service issues at Grace Hospital. We cannot accept inbound calls in some instances. Bell MTS is aware and is working to restore service as quickly as possible.”

A Bell MTS spokesman said Friday “the vast majority of customers” had phone service restored and they’re “down to a few handful” to be reconnected following the outage that began Tuesday.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Reigning Formula 1 champion Lando Norris won the pole for today’s sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, beating current F1 points leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes.

Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was third, only 0.017 seconds behind Antonelli, ahead of the second sprint race of the season.

Friday was the first time drivers were able to test changes made by FIA, the sports governing body — during a five-week hiatus. The organization implemented changes to the regulations after drivers heavily criticized how the electrical battery power has changed the cars and competition.

“It was great,” Norris said. “Perfect result for us, nice way to reward the team. We’ve got a lot of new upgrades on the car, so nice to feel some grip again. … I’ve always loved Miami.”

WINNIPEG — Child advocates are praising the Manitoba government for announcing its intention to ban the use of social media and artificial intelligence chatbots for youths.

Premier Wab Kinew told a crowd at a party event Saturday night the NDP government will move to restrict children from using social media accounts and artificial intelligence chatbots. The proposal is intended to protect kids from technology platforms that he says hurt their development.

Details on the plan are scant, like the age limit he is considering or how a ban would be enforced. He did not speak to reporters after his speech and was not available for comment Sunday.

Kinew’s director of communications, Amy Tuckett-McGimpsey, said the premier will likely speak more about the idea in the coming days.

LUCKY NUMBERS

FRIDAY

LOTTO MAX: 11, 14, 26, 31, 36, 39, 43 BONUS: 6

WESTERN: 7, 10, 19, 28, 32, 38, 41 BONUS: 5

ON TELEVISION

• NHL — Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m. (SN360); Vegas at Utah, 8:30 p.m. (SN360)

• NBA — Detroit at Orlando, 7 p.m. (TSN); Oklahoma City at Phoenix, 8:30 p.m. (TSN5); Minnesota at Denver, 9:30 p.m. (TSN3)

• HOCKEY — At the U18 world championship, Finland vs. Canada, 7 a.m. (TSN1); United States vs. Germany, 9 a.m. (TSN4)