Winnipeg Free Press – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Oddities market fills the gap in macabre curiosities

Chris Kitching 3 minute read Yesterday at 4:50 PM CDT

The dolls Katherine Blahut designs are the ones from your childhood — with a macabre twist.

There’s the Nosferatu-inspired “NosferaTOT,” complete with fangs, pointed ears and another doll’s severed leg, and “ScAriel,” a demonic, Disney-inspired mermaid more interested in taking human souls than gaining one.

“I get a lot of questions like, ‘Are they haunted?’” Blahut said Sunday at An Oddly Curious Market in Winnipeg, where she was one of 45 vendors.

The sight of sinister-looking baby dolls brought some marketgoers to a dead halt at Blahut’s table. Some were curious or commented on how impressed they were by her work. Some visitors appeared a tad uncomfortable.

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Local

CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Prospective candidates for Winnipeg’s upcoming municipal election have until 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 22 to register and file nomination papers.

Additional candidates register for Winnipeg’s fall election

Free Press staff 2 minute read Preview

Additional candidates register for Winnipeg’s fall election

Free Press staff 2 minute read Yesterday at 3:18 PM CDT

Every city council ward is set to have a contested race in the Oct. 28 municipal election, barring any withdrawals, after additional candidates registered for two contests.

Dennis Bayomi is running in Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood, where Evan Duncan is the incumbent candidate.

Bayomi is president and co-deputy leader of the Green Party of Manitoba. He’s run for the Greens in provincial and federal elections.

Fred Morris registered to run against incumbent Cindy Gilroy in Daniel McIntyre.

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Yesterday at 3:18 PM CDT

Local

The Western Star All-Suites Hotel in Melita. The Manitoba Labour Board ruled in favour of three employees of the hotel chain in an Aug. 25 decision. (Google Maps)

Foreign workers at Manitoba hotel are owed $138-K in unpaid wages and fees, labour board rules

Abiola Odutola 5 minute read Preview

Foreign workers at Manitoba hotel are owed $138-K in unpaid wages and fees, labour board rules

Abiola Odutola 5 minute read Yesterday at 11:47 AM CDT

BRANDON — The Manitoba Labour Board has ordered the Western Star All Suites Hotel to pay nearly $138,000 in unpaid wages and administrative fees after it dismissed the appeals involving three foreign workers employed by the company.

In a decision dated Aug. 25, the board ordered 6692452 Manitoba Ltd. (doing business as Western Star All Suites Hotel), 1638185 Alberta Ltd. and company director P.X. to pay a total of $137,915.79 to the Employment Standards Branch for wages owed to foreign workers S.J., J.B. and G.R.

The decision was edited to protect the personal information of the employees, who worked at a hotel, reportedly in Melita, at different times and also lived there during their employment.

The board stated the employees were owed wages after hearing evidence about long working hours, irregular payments, inadequate employment records and working conditions.

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Yesterday at 11:47 AM CDT

Local

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
An unknown man was identified after police asked for the public’s help and issued a composite sketch and description of the man, who was found dead on a city street in July.

Winnipeg police ID deceased man, notify family

Free Press staff 3 minute read Preview

Winnipeg police ID deceased man, notify family

Free Press staff 3 minute read Yesterday at 11:26 AM CDT

Winnipeg police have been able to notify next-of-kin about the death of a man found unresponsive on a city street in July.

The man was identified after police asked for the public’s help and issued a composite sketch and description of the unknown man on Friday.

On Sunday, police said his family has been notified and thanked the public. Additional details about the man were not released in order to respect the family’s privacy, police said.

The man died in hospital after being found unresponsive July 28 at the corner of Main Street and James Avenue in Winnipeg, and investigators’ previous efforts to identify him were unsuccessful.

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Yesterday at 11:26 AM CDT

Bomber Report

John Woods / The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros (8) throws during first half action against the Montreal Alouettes in Winnipeg on Friday.

‘Fine wine’: Vintage Collaros shows up in big win over Als after 38th birthday

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

‘Fine wine’: Vintage Collaros shows up in big win over Als after 38th birthday

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Yesterday at 10:29 AM CDT

Zach Collaros was in no mood for I-told-you-so’s.

There were no references – either thinly veiled or direct – to the naysayers, many of whom thought the Blue Bombers were in deep trouble as the league-leading Montreal Alouettes rolled into town on a roll for a matchup on Friday that could have left Winnipeg with a sub-.500 record heading into the Labour Day Classic.

No, that’s not Collaros’ style or part of how he operates.

After outduelling Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander in a convincing 44-28 victory, Collaros stood in front of a group of reporters and displayed almost no emotion, despite delivering what can easily be described as his best showing of the season.

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Yesterday at 10:29 AM CDT

Business

External view of the Google building in Chelsea on Thursday, Oct. 09, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)

Google Maps to display Lake Ontario as Lake America in U.S.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Google Maps to display Lake Ontario as Lake America in U.S.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:49 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Google Maps has updated to display "Lake America" for users located in the United States, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week to rename the Great Lake.

Users in Canada will still see it displayed as Lake Ontario on Google Maps, though the search engine will pull up Lake America as a result if users enter that name in their query.

The search giant said in an Aug. 29 post on its corporate website it made the change because the U.S. government's geographic names database has formally renamed the lake.

Users outside Canada and the U.S. will see both names, Google's post said.

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Updated: Yesterday at 6:49 PM CDT

Opinion

Of frogs, roses, kings and a Great Lake Editorial Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026
Kusama embraced dots which crowded her vision Jen Zoratti Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026
Letters, Aug. 29 Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026

Local

SCOTT BILLECK / FREE PRESS
Waverley West council candidate Nafiya Naso’s signs are seen covered with spray paint on Saturday.

Council candidates call out vandalism after campaign signs defaced in Waverley West

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

Council candidates call out vandalism after campaign signs defaced in Waverley West

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:34 AM CDT

A council candidate in Waverley West said she will not be intimidated after 16 of her campaign signs were vandalized this week — some with apparent gang symbols.

Nafiya Naso is the second candidate in the ward whose signs were defaced this month. Jasmine Brar, who is also running for the council seat, had some of her signs broken on Friday along Kenaston Boulevard and signs near Naso’s that were also defaced on Saturday.

Earlier this month, Eaglewood Park in the nearby Prairie Pointe neighbourhood was also vandalized with graffiti that included homophobic slurs, anti-India messages and repeated references to “3LK” — a symbol Naso believes is associated with a gang.

Naso’s signs, located along Waverley Street near Tim Sale Drive and across from École South Pointe School in southwest Winnipeg, were spray-painted with apparent gang signs, crude drawings and other messages, including “loser” and “Ur not winning” written across her name and photograph.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:34 AM CDT

Faith

Rescuers carry bodies of flash flood victims for a mass burial in Chitwan, Nepal, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Nisha Shrestha)

In one Nepal district, flood catastrophe is measured in bodies and burial trenches

Shristi Kafle And Aijaz Hussain, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

In one Nepal district, flood catastrophe is measured in bodies and burial trenches

Shristi Kafle And Aijaz Hussain, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:10 PM CDT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The devastating flash floods in the Himalayan region swept so many people downstream that authorities in one Nepalese district have begun burying bodies in temporary graves before they can be identified, prompting accusations that Hindu funeral traditions are being ignored.

In south-central Nepal's Chitwan district, the scale of the catastrophe was evident in some 250 bodies awaiting identification and the hastily dug trenches for their temporary burial following Wednesday’s catastrophic floods and mudslides, which killed at least 800 people and left more than 3,000 missing in Nepal and Tibet.

The bodies were carried hundreds of kilometers downstream by the Bhotekoshi River from the flood's epicenter before being recovered in Chitwan.

Authorities carried out a temporary burial of about 100 victims on Saturday, officials said, as forensic teams struggled to cope. A convoy of vehicles carrying bodies entered a lush, forested area as an excavator dug a wide trench in the red earth while officials and media looked on.

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Updated: Yesterday at 10:10 PM CDT

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World

Survivors of a catamaran-style ferry which was capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus arrive at the port of Kyrenia in the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo)

At least 8 dead after ferry with nearly 270 passengers and crew capsizes off Cyprus’ northern coast

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

At least 8 dead after ferry with nearly 270 passengers and crew capsizes off Cyprus’ northern coast

The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:10 AM CDT

BODRUM, Turkey (AP) — At least eight people have died after a ferry carrying nearly 270 passengers and crew capsized off the coast of the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus on Sunday, Turkish media reported.

Unal Ustel, the north's Turkish Cypriot prime minister, told Turkish state broadcaster TRT that 237 people have so far been rescued. A search is underway for another 22 people, officials said.

Ustel said the ferry faced adverse weather conditions and began taking on water just 15 minutes after departure. A call for help was issued shortly after, he said. Police detained eight people — including the ferry captain — as part of an investigation into the sinking, according to Ustel.

Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said weather conditions “were not bad” and urged against speculating about the cause of the accident. He said the vessel went down in waters 500 meters (1,640 feet) deep, encumbering search efforts.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:10 AM CDT

Business

Smoke rises from the burning twin towers of the World Trade Center after hijacked planes crashed into the towers, Sept. 11, 2001, in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Richard Drew

How 9/11 transformed air security forever — even as some measures go by the wayside

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Preview

How 9/11 transformed air security forever — even as some measures go by the wayside

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:28 AM CDT

About a week after the 9/11 attacks, Jeff Price found a flight back to Colorado from Hawaii, where he’d been attending a conference when North American airspace abruptly closed following the worst terror strike in American history.

“The pilot came over the intercom and said, ‘We’re going to get you home safely, and I want to see if I can count on you so if anything happens ... you’ll help us out,’” Price recalled.

“That was kind of a shock.”

The request for help in case of hijacking drove home what the aviation security expert already knew: the travel security landscape had, overnight, shifted drastically and irrevocably.

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:28 AM CDT

World

Leaders of the No campaign react as early results from rural Iceland put the No side ahead during an election-night gathering in Reykjavik, Iceland, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Di Marco)

Icelandic voters reject a proposal to restart negotiations to join the European Union

Kwiyeon Ha And Brian Melley, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Icelandic voters reject a proposal to restart negotiations to join the European Union

Kwiyeon Ha And Brian Melley, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:37 PM CDT

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland's voters rejected restarting negotiations to join the European Union in a referendum that pitted concerns about geopolitical stability against keeping national control of Iceland’s prized fisheries, officials said Sunday.

Opponents defeated the measure by a margin of 52.8% to 47.2%, the National Electoral Commission said. The result puts the divisive issue to rest for now — more than a decade after a euroskeptic government ended EU talks that had begun after the 2008 financial crisis.

The vote Saturday was held in the shadow of repeated threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to take control of nearby Greenland. Although Iceland is a NATO member, supporters said European solidarity would provide greater protection if Trump ever made similar threats toward the volcanic island.

Iceland’s left-leaning coalition government, elected in 2024, moved up the EU referendum it had planned for next year after Trump mistakenly named Iceland four times while speaking about his designs on Greenland.

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Updated: Yesterday at 5:37 PM CDT

Bomber Report

ROBERT LEE / FREE PRESS
Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ quarterback Zach Collaros delivers a pass during the first half CFL football action in Winnipeg on Friday.

Looking back on Bombers shocking, and convincing, win over CFL’s top team

Taylor Allen 7 minute read Preview

Looking back on Bombers shocking, and convincing, win over CFL’s top team

Taylor Allen 7 minute read Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026

It was getting harder and harder to believe in the 2026 edition of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

If anyone outside their locker room picked them to beat the Montreal Alouettes, they must’ve kept it to themselves, as pundits — this one included — and armchair quarterbacks across the nation doubted their chances heading into Friday night.

And honestly, rightfully so. The Bombers had left a lot to be desired through their opening 10 games.

But no matter what the stats say or what outsiders think, they play the games for a reason.

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Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026