Diamondbacks play Marlins, aim to build on Bumgarner’s solid performance

Chinese newcomers protest over delays in security screening clearance

Dozens of Chinese newcomers rallied outside Winnipeg’s federal immigration office Friday to protest what they describe as untenable delays to Canada’s security screening process.

The rally against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada comes after a surge in immigration security screening requests created backlogs for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Protesters said the resulting delays have left them in limbo as they try to obtain permanent residency.

“We just want transparency,” said Pakying Chau, 26, who travelled from Hong Kong to Winnipeg in 2018 to study agribusiness.

Girl pleads guilty to assaulting fellow student

A high school student who admitted to attacking another girl in the hallway says she is taking responsibility for her wrongdoing.

Giant Tiger to close downtown, area residents bemoan dwindling grocery options

One of the only remaining grocery-store options for people living downtown and in the Exchange District is closing its doors.

Red notices on the windows at Giant Tiger’s Donald Street and Ellice Avenue location advised passersby the store will close on Nov. 7.

Chain spokesperson Jessica Charbonneau said in an email the decision to shutter stores is “not taken lightly and is made with careful consideration and thorough analysis.”

The store was busy Thursday afternoon.

We’re giving, they’re taking — where’s the win?

In the give-and-take of negotiations so far, Canada seems to be doing all the giving, while the United States does all the taking.

In the last few days, the Canadian government said it was backing away from a five per cent levy to be paid by American streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix after, earlier, dropping the three per cent digital services tax. Then, there was what now appears to be succumbing to American President Donald Trump over the Gordie Howe International Bridge, where Canada agreed to let the U.S. share the net revenues from the bridge, even though Canada paid for the entire construction.

Now, Prime Minister Mark Carney is signalling he won’t use energy exports to the United States as a bargaining chip in the current talks on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement, saying he didn’t “see the value” of using Canada’s energy exports to the U.S. as a trade bargaining chip.

“Canadians are reliable,” Carney said Wednesday in Red Deer, Alta. “One of the biggest commodities, arguably the best, is trust. People trust us, and so, when you’re a supplier of a key commodity, key service, you’ve got to think really hard about not supplying.”

Smoke taint new reality in wine as world burns

Summer seems to come with a familiar smell these days: the pungent aroma of smoke.

The haze of smoke from wildfires in warmer months is now the norm rather than the exception. Breathing gets tougher, particularly for those whose health is compromised, and clothes pick up that unpleasant smoky smell.

But your shirt or sweater isn’t the only thing that absorbs the scent — in wildfire-affected grape-growing regions, winemakers also have to contend with the potential for their wines to develop what is called smoke taint.

Early in the growing season grapes, like most fruit, are small and green with thick skins. The berries get larger until around late July-ish (in the northern hemisphere) the bunches stop growing, the skins get thinner and the fruit begins changing colour in a process called veraison.