Day 8: No-bake snowballs

Bell sheds 19 more Manitoba employees

At least 19 Manitoba jobs were lost recently during Bell Canada’s ongoing restructuring.

Parent company BCE Inc. confirmed in June it’d axe nearly 700 jobs through organizational changes. Those changes began last year.

A dozen Manitoba staff were laid off on July 30, according to Team-IFPTE Local 161, the union representing the workers.

Another seven union members left voluntarily though a departure program, the union reported Tuesday.

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.

Homegrown grub: Resto turns to the Leaf for freshest ingredients

The term “eat local” has taken on a whole new meaning at Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar, where the journey from plot to plate is measured in footsteps rather than miles.

Head chef Mike Licharson has expanded the restaurant’s focus on local sourcing by incorporating fruit and vegetables grown in The Leaf’s biomes and outdoor kitchen garden into his menu.

Bananas from the tropical biomes star in his banana-bread French toast and accompanying banana compote. Leeks, braised slowly and paired with Manitoba-grown beluga lentils, and Swiss chard — which takes the place of grape leaves in Licharson’s play on classic meze dolmades, a nod to the chef’s Greek-Ukrainian-Irish heritage — are both grown in the outdoor kitchen garden.

The park’s produce complements the restaurant’s other locally sourced ingredients, Licharson says.

What's Up: Tattoo Convention, Nikki Glaser, Ag Fair, Menno Simone drag show, Ami Cheon album release

Winnipeg Tattoo ConventionRed River Exhibition Park, 3977 Portage Ave.Friday, 3-11 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.Tickets: $30 plus taxes at wfp.to/iRwThe air will be filled with the buzz of needle guns as over 250 artists gather at Red River Exhibition Park this weekend for the eighth annual Winnipeg Tattoo Convention.

Whether you’ve been toying with the idea of your first ink or are looking to add to your collection, the three-day event is sure to inspire and excite tattoo enthusiasts and the tattoo-curious. Artists from around the world will be convening at the show — bring your best custom art or choose from pre-drawn designs and go under the needle.

Many of the artists are taking bookings for the weekend in advance — it’s recommended you check out winnipegtattooconvention.com to see their work and whether they’re able to fit you in. Alternatively, some artists will be taking appointments on the spot.

The Winnipeg Tattoo Convention has plenty going on beyond getting inked, including a beer garden, merchandise, a market, food trucks and live music (including Sol James, Jamie Buckboro, Jess Rae, Curtis Newton and Norah Erickson).

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.