Canad Inns puts Portage Avenue hotel, MET, office building ‘connected campus’ up for sale

Downtown entrepreneurs are watching with wary eyes as a prominent hotel and event centre hits the market.

U of M researchers studying ‘digital legacy planning’ before death

A team of researchers at the University of Manitoba wants adults to take the cloud they leave behind into special consideration when they envision heaven and their afterlife.

Sea Bears look for historic first franchise playoff win

It’s been a trying week for the Winnipeg Sea Bears.

It started Sunday, when the team endured a disastrous travel schedule out West before laying an egg in its regular-season finale against the Vancouver Bandits with the top seed in the Western Conference on the line.

By that night, things went from bad to worse when Teddy Allen found himself in an altercation with security staff at a downtown Winnipeg nightclub that sent the star guard to hospital. Allen sustained significant injuries that could require surgery.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s leading scorer and MVP front-runner was ruled out for the Sea Bears Western Conference semifinal tilt against the Saskatoon Mamba at Canada Life Centre on Thursday (7:30 p.m.).

Water-bus service relaunches with bigger boat

After staying docked last summer, the water-bus service stationed at The Forks is once again ferrying people up and down the Red and Assiniboine rivers.

Winnipeg Waterways launched the service for the season on Saturday, introducing commuters to the largest water bus the company has ever operated — a 10-metre-long, custom-made vessel designed specifically for scheduled passenger service.

Named after co-owners Will Belford’s and Griffin Hewitt’s fathers, the GTS (Gas Turbine Ship) Dave was built by a company in Quebec for $200,000.

“We see the rivers as being underutilized,” Belford said on Wednesday. “So we felt strongly about investing in the water bus.”

Goldeyes catcher Pelletier moonlights as team barber

Tucked inside the Winnipeg Goldeyes’ clubhouse is a no-frills washroom with a urinal, a pair of toilets and a trio of sinks beneath matching mirrors.

But when rookie catcher Raphael Pelletier drags in a well-worn black leather salon chair with cracked upholstery and lays out his clippers, trimmers and shears, the space transforms into something else: a barbershop.

While far from luxurious, it’s the type of haircutting experience that could only exist inside the wacky world of independent baseball.

“He keeps everyone looking good on the field, honestly. We needed this,” said third-year Goldeyes pitcher Derrick Cherry, while getting a trim on Wednesday ahead of the team’s game against the Chicago Dogs.

Transit driver stabbed with syringe by passenger

A Winnipeg Transit driver is recovering in hospital after a passenger stabbed him in the leg with a syringe while riding the bus early Wednesday, the Amalgamated Transit Union says.

The union said the incident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. while the operator was stopped in the northbound lanes of Isabel Street, near William Avenue. A female passenger reached around the driver’s safety shield and stabbed the driver twice before getting off the bus.

The driver was taken to the Seven Oaks Hospital in stable condition, where he is undergoing treatment and further testing, union president James Van Gerwen said in an interview.

“We spoke to the member. He is doing OK, but he is still in the hospital and he is scared — as anybody would be,” Van Gerwen said.

Razed tree canopy leaves Selkirk Avenue stretch noisier, dirtier: resident

Selkirk Avenue resident Gail Allard sits on her front steps, looking at a row of tree stumps.

Until last fall, Allard would have opened her front door to a lush canopy of mature trees. Now, she has an unobstructed view of a freight terminal — the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. intermodal yard.

Although the residential street is quiet on this August afternoon, the steady beeping of machinery moving shipping containers carries throughout the neighbourhood.

It’s the first summer since Manitoba Hydro cut down 262 mature trees — most of them Siberian elms — along Selkirk Avenue between Keewatin and Railway streets.

Former, current care home operators deny responsibility in resident’s 2024 death

An 85-year-old died because of her medical conditions, not neglect or abuse at a Winnipeg long-term care home, the facility’s current and former operators say in response to a wrongful death suit launched by the woman’s daughter.

Cari Goncalves filed her claim in the Court of King’s Bench in March on behalf of her mother Olga Ozubko’s estate, naming Revera and Extendicare, as well as a numbered Ontario company that owns the property where Poseidon Care Centre is situated, as defendants.

Revera operated the home until August 2023, when Extendicare took over.

Ozubko died in hospital on Sept. 15, 2024, following a medical emergency days earlier at the care home, where she had lived since August 2022.

Advocates say rehab benefits animals with behavioural issues, but more resources are needed

After two years at the Winnipeg Humane Society’s shelter, it seemed iffy that Benny would ever find a forever home.

The German shepherd had behavioural issues and was not great at socializing with other dogs, but after one month of rehabilitation with Back to Pack Rescue Shelter, he was able to be adopted.

Benny was fortunate enough to be given another chance, but the lack of resources for rehabilitating dogs means some aren’t as lucky, said Andrew Din, co-founder of Back to Pack.

Din and other animal advocates say more resources and education are needed to retrain dogs and give them a fair shot before they are euthanized or designated as dangerous.

Former teacher sent more than 150 ‘romantic’ messages to teen student, court told

A former Catholic school teacher who sent inappropriate “romantic” messages to a teenage student, professing he loved her, should go to prison for 30 months, a judge was told Tuesday.

Ketan Badiani, 59, previously pleaded guilty to one count of child luring connected to more than 150 messages he sent the girl between October 2024 and March 2025 while a teacher at St. Maurice School.

“It’s very clear the communications were beyond what’s appropriate and by pleading guilty he’s admitting his intention was to further a secondary offence,” Crown attorney Brett Rach told provincial court Judge Tim Killeen, arguing Badiani was grooming the girl so he could sexually exploit her.

Badiani communicated with the girl over the school’s Microsoft Teams account, messaging her at all times of the day and night and during holidays.

Endoscopy backlog, wait times greatly reduced

The Manitoba government says it has put a dent in the backlog of patients waiting for an endoscopy, a procedure used to diagnose intestinal diseases.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced Wednesday a record number of the procedures have been completed in the last three years — approximately 50,000 annually.

“When we took office, thousands of Manitobans were waiting far too long for procedures that can detect cancer and other serious illnesses because of the previous government’s cuts and mismanagement,” the minister said in the release.

“Thanks to the hard work of health-care workers across Manitoba and targeted investments to expand capacity, more Manitobans are getting the care they need sooner.”