City says it has plan to replace removed trees

Following concerns that megaprojects to widen Kenaston Boulevard and extend Chief Peguis Trail would spark the removal of hundreds of trees, the city is sharing its plan to replace them.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy had feared the major construction efforts would prove devastating to the tree canopy. She raised a motion calling for staff to estimate the scope of that loss and value of the trees removed, accounting for size and species and a funding plan to replace each one destroyed.

“Just by driving by, I could just (imagine) the loss, the devastation … I want to make sure that … any of the lost trees that they can’t put back into the project will be put elsewhere in the city,” said Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre).

On Thursday, the councillor said city staff have now reassured her existing policies will require that all removed trees be replaced, including those currently located on private property that the city winds up expropriating.

Winnipeg courts WestJet as home for multimillion-dollar maintenance facility

WestJet is eyeing Winnipeg as the potential home for a aircraft maintenance facility, the Free Press has learned, launching a race to expand wastewater, utilities and traffic infrastructure near the airport to help secure the deal.

Lawyers push for six years for ex-hockey coach who sexually abused teen

A former youth hockey coach who repeatedly sexually abused of one of her players for more than a year should go to prison for six years, a judge was told Thursday.

Madison Biluk, 30, pleaded guilty last year to one count of sexual assault and one count of luring.

Biluk was aware when she abused the victim that she was vulnerable, depressed and had been sexually abused in the past, Crown attorney Larissa Campbell told provincial court Judge Jerilee Ryle.

“Despite knowing how vulnerable (the victim) was, (Biluk) still chose to sexually abuse her,” Campbell said.

Legal change allows visual artists to earn royalties when work resold on secondary market

Artwork often becomes more valuable over time, yet artists rarely reap the financial benefits of a growing creative portfolio.Following years of lobbying, that dynamic is finally set to change in Canada.

Swastika painted on West End mosque

A mosque in Winnipeg’s West End has become the most recent site of what appears to be hate-motivated graffiti, marking another incident in a series that has unfolded over less than a week.

Someone noticed a swastika painted on the Abu Bakr Al-Siddique mosque and community centre at Ellice Avenue and Home Street on Wednesday morning.

Adnan Siddiqui, the mosque’s director, said he learned about the vandalism shortly after, when he received calls from media and police.

Police informed him they were working to remove the Nazi symbol before congregants arrived for daily prayers.

Tories ask feds to reject proposed supervised drug consumption site

A group of community members and the provincial opposition Tories are asking Health Canada to reject the Manitoba government’s bid for a supervised drug consumption site in a central Winnipeg neighbourhood.

Province plans to release quarterly stats on sobering centre detentions

The province will report how many intoxicated people have been held at its new 72-hour detention centre on a quarterly basis beginning in the spring.

Winnipeggers detail misery of WestJet baggage delays, last-minute vacation-package changes

While a Winnipeg newlywed on his honeymoon waits a fifth day for his delayed luggage from a WestJet flight to Mexico, another city man found himself in the same situation, and waited four days in Cancun.

Minnesotans continue to grapple with fatal ICE shooting

MINNEAPOLIS - Demonstrations and vigils are expected to continue in Minneapolis today as the community grapples with the fallout from the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot in the head Wednesday on Day 2 of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Minnesota has become a political flashpoint with U.S. President Donald Trump's continued jabs at Gov. Tim Walz — former vice-president Kamala Harris's 2024 running mate — and derogatory remarks towards the state's Somali population.

Trump last month called the Somali population "garbage" following a federal investigation into COVID-19 and medical aid fraud connected to organizations serving Somali immigrants and others.