Religion in Canada: by the numbers

Steinem’s life a lesson in audacity, generosity, courage

I wish I could tell you the first time I heard the word “feminist,” it was from Gloria Steinem, but it was definitely from a Spice Girl.

Props, though, to the Spice Girls for actually using the F word. So many people these days are afraid of it — afraid of using it, afraid of identifying with it, afraid of claiming it for themselves.

Gloria Steinem wasn’t, and she made it so we wouldn’t be either.

The trailblazing American journalist and feminist activist died this week. She was 92. She was a lion, a woman who fought for rights and freedoms that many subsequent generations take for granted — and which, in the last decade especially, have been increasingly threatened.

Twenty-six people detained at detox centre since March

The new facility designed to detain people in a drug psychosis for up to 72 hours “is doing what it’s meant to do” — even though just 26 people were held for that purpose since it opened.

“The PCC (protective care centre) is doing what it’s meant to do — support people, meet them where they’re at, provide a caring environment,” Housing Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith told reporters Friday after updated data were posted online.

The vast majority of those detained at the 20-room facility at 190 Disraeli Fwy. were recovering from alcohol intoxication, the update shows.

There were 4,425 detained from the time the site opened Dec. 2 until June 30, for an average of less than five hours.

Neighbours relieved after fire strikes Quickie Mart

As Janina McNaughton watched the Quickie Mart on River Avenue go up in flames on Tuesday, she felt relieved.

“The first thing I see is flames, like a fireball of flames inside,” McNaughton said about watching the blaze from her bedroom across the street.

On Wednesday, the bright green building, at 292 River Ave., was boarded up and charred on the outside.

Crews from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded at 8:13 p.m. Tuesday to battle the blaze, said the city in a news release. It was under control within the hour.

Canada’s first drive-thru-only McDonald’s opens in Winnipeg

One Grimace and dozens of smiles were on display Wednesday as McDonald’s staff and supporters celebrated the grand opening of the fast-food chain’s first drive-thru-only restaurant in Canada.

Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label

A Winnipeg woman who’s been hailed as a hero by police for saving a father and his young child from the Red River says she doesn’t feel like one.

“I’m a mom… and I would do it again,” said Jayclyn Morrissette, who was walking with her neighbour through St. John’s Park on Aug. 24 when they spotted a young girl flailing in the nearby river. “I was meant to be there and that was supposed to happen.”

Morrissette, who spoke to the Free Press Wednesday after police released details about the rescue, said she and her neighbour began looking for the child’s parents and found them at the nearby playground searching for her.

Morrissette waved them over. The father, who she said could not swim, jumped into the river first and immediately began to sink.

St. Malo’s summer hot spot relies on dedicated community to make sure park-goers can kick back and relax

It’s shaping up to be a hot late-August Friday in southern Manitoba; the forecast warns of a thunderstorm in the late afternoon, but that won’t stop Manitobans from flocking to savour one of the last great beach days of the summer.