Let sloppy smoocher lick wounds, move on

Educating youth major priority for artist

It has to be among the biggest skateboard decks in the country, and it hangs in Peatr Thomas’s art studio on Donald Street in the Exchange District.

The four-metre deck’s artwork created by Thomas, depicts Cree skateboarder Joe Buffalo, spirit lines radiating from his airborne figure, as he becomes the first skater to jump over a massive gap (also four metres) in Montreal’s Peace Park.

“I like that idea and practice of falling and getting up again, over and over to achieve something,” says Thomas, 39.

It’s a lesson he applies to his art practice.

Entrepreneur Willow Wolfe conceived and crafted a better — and cruelty-free — paint brush

NAROL — Talk about a brush with fame.

Fifteen years ago, Willow Wolfe, the founder of Willow Wolfe Painting Courses and Art Supplies, read about American actor/artist Richard Grieco’s experimentations with a style of painting he’d coined as “abstract emotionalism.”

Wolfe, whose personally designed line of synthetic paint brushes and watercolour workbooks are sold at more than 450 retailers around the globe, mailed Grieco (21 Jump Street, Veronica Mars) a set of brushes she felt would suit his needs.

The two have since remained in touch and this spring Grieco contacted Wolfe again, to let her know about a semi-autobiographical movie called The Painter he was directing and starring in.

At the city’s busiest fire and paramedic hall, first responders face a relentless workload

As a soft rain begins to fall between the concrete walls of “Hope Alley,” little feels further away than the place’s namesake.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews have been called to the narrow downtown passage, named by Al Wiebe, a formerly homeless man turned advocate. People regularly pass through here, moving between the shelters, drop-ins and resource centres clustered around Main Street between Logan and Higgins avenues.

Against a wall, as the sky switches into night mode, a man sits bleeding from his nose, seemingly unaware of how he ended up with blood running down his T-shirt.

His situation has already set Winnipeg’s emergency response network in motion.

‘Last chance’ clearance U.S. booze punted from Liquor Marts

American alcohol that returned to Manitoba Liquor Mart shelves in May as part of a “last chance” sale is headed back to storage or will be destroyed.

“We are removing U.S. liquor products from Liquor Mart shelves,” a spokesperson for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries said Thursday. The Crown corporation had been pushing to off-load its stockpile of U.S. booze.

Premier Wab Kinew launched a provincewide boycott of American alcohol in March 2025 to fight back against tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries has not placed new orders since the boycott began, but it still had inventory.

As of early May, the U.S. inventory had a value of roughly $3.4 million, which is roughly one-third of what was removed from shelves and placed in storage, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries has said. It was unable to provide an inventory update on Thursday.

End of retail ‘gravy train’ should get more police boots on the ground

If Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers has his way, the “Superstore gravy train” is going to be derailed.

Journalling club looking for folks up for a scrap

On any given Monday evening this summer, Katie Borgfjord could be found scrapping and yapping with friends and strangers alike, building community one collage at a time.

Borgfjord is the creative force behind Scrap and Yap, a local journalling club that hosts workshops and drop-in events that launched in January. This summer, she set up shop at the weekly Riverview Community Centre’s Monday Markets, inviting visitors of all ages to pull up a chair and get crafty for a while.

“We have magazines, stickers, scrap paper, glue, scissors, stamps, anything you might want to just let your creativity out,” Borgfjord, 26, says.

“It’s different every time. Usually a few people will drop in, some will stay the whole time. My favourite is when people just drop in who have never heard of us before. I hope that it helps spark some creativity.”