Dynamic ‘damsel’ deserves lover who’s at her level

Revered Broadway rail anchors Winnipeg’s resilient skateboarding scene

The Woodsworth Building at the corner of Broadway and Kennedy Street is an accidental, unofficial mecca of Winnipeg skateboarding.

Big Loser’s latest a winning mix of country, folk

The yellow trucker hat for sale on Facebook Marketplace said “Selkirk Lumber,” so Adam Wayne Brown knew he had to hammer home a deal.

Like the other millennial members of Winnipeg folk-country band Big Loser, the bassist has an affinity for the nostalgic, taking every opportunity — through music, through lyrics and through wardrobe — to recall the unique circumstances of growing up in a changing Interlake.

“I remember the matte yellow trucks driving around — the lumber trucks — and so I’ve had this strange memory of something disappearing from my youth and then persisting,” says Brown, who, like the band’s frontman Alex Paradoski, moved to Winnipeg more than a decade ago.

“I have a photo of the Lockport Bridge in my dining room,” chimes in Paradoski, whose first job as a teenager was bunning wieners and chopping fries at Skinner’s, a drive-in mainstay since 1929 along Highway 44.

On the night table: Laura Meuckon

Laura MeuckonExecutive director, Plume Winnipeg

I’m reading Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary with my 12-year-old son. You know what? It’s really good, it’s fun. It’s a quick, easy read, and we’re just ripping through it. We read together — it’s a fun thing to do every night before bed.

I’m also reading some Winnipeg Book Festival titles right now — currently it’s Bill Gaston’s Spying on America. It’s his non-fiction book about him and his adult sons driving through the U.S. in the COVID era, and it’s quite interesting. I’m excited to see him at the Winnipeg Book Festival — he has made me challenge some of my beliefs about the red and blue divisions in the U.S., and how there’s some unique crossovers. I think it’s important to show those crossovers to people so conversations can start about heavier topics.

Wyatt vows to ‘absolutely’ continue serving as city councillor despite latest sex-crime charges

Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt vowed Thursday to continue doing his job after more criminal charges were laid against him this week, while the mayor called for “better tools” to address elected officials who face serious allegations.

Wyatt, 56, was charged Monday with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in an October 2023 incident. He was previously charged with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in March, based on allegations tied to a 2025 gathering.

On Thursday, Wyatt arrived at city hall and quickly walked to his office at 10:20 a.m., nearly an hour after the East Kildonan-Transcona community committee meeting he planned to attend was scheduled to begin.

He answered few questions from reporters.

‘Disrespectful’: residents frustrated after Wyatt arrives hour late to committee meeting

Several Winnipeggers attending a city development hearing on Thursday expressed frustration that one councillor arrived about an hour late, delaying the matter from being heard.

Coun. Russ Wyatt, who continues to attend city hall while facing criminal charges, began participating in the 9:30 a.m. East Kildonan-Transcona community committee meeting at 10:35 a.m.

A resident who hoped to speak at the meeting about a development plan in south Transcona noted the tardiness led the committee to bump the topic down on its agenda, while dozens waited to speak on it.

Christina Pyra eventually opted to leave city hall instead of waiting for her turn to make a presentation, to avoid missing a work commitment.