Book club to mull Métis, rural history in Hold Your Tongue

Two-time cancer survivor trades blows with angry Lake Winnipeg in epic 12-hour fundraising swim

After 12 hours of wind, waves and a painful shoulder, Jonathon Fenton has finished what he started, making it across Lake Winnipeg.

The 62-year-old two-time cancer survivor completed the roughly 26-kilometre swim Sunday, a year after shoulder problems forced him to stop 16 kilometres into his first attempt.

The swim was the second year of Fenton’s Jonny’s Big Swim fundraiser, which supports the Alberta Cancer Foundation, CancerCare Manitoba Foundation and Health Sciences Centre Foundation.

He raised roughly $48,000 this year, bringing the two-year total to about $90,000.

New exhibition offers up 125 different ways to look at Canada

As a curator and head of collections and exhibitions at WAG-Qaumajuq, Riva Symko has been contemplating landscapes in art for a long time. But living in an ever-changing and ever-threatened one has altered her perspective on them.

Before coming to Winnipeg, Symko and her husband lived in Anchorage, Alaska. One day, seven or so years ago, they were out hiking when a sudden thunderstorm rolled through — “which is very unusual in Alaska,” she says — sparking a forest fire that ended up raging out of control. That summer, the whole city, save for the ocean side, was surrounded by fire and blanketed with heavy smoke. Climate change was viscerally visible.

“And since then, I really haven’t been able to look at a beautiful landscape the same,” she says.

With Terra Cognita/Incognita, a new exhibition opening at WAG-Qaumajuq Wednesday night, Symko wants to inspire and challenge viewers to look at landscapes differently, too.

City crews cleaning up drug paraphernalia, weapons having some impact on inner-city life

A three-person crew, employed by the city as part of its recently expanded proactive cleanup program, allowed the Free Press to follow along last week while they worked to make the Freight House Recreation Centre's property safe to play in.

Manitoba family finalist for cattle producers environmental award

A family in western Manitoba is one of seven finalists for a national environmental award honouring beef cattle producers.

Connor and Kyla English, alongside Connor’s parents, Brian and Leanne English, are nominated for the Canadian Cattle Association’s Environmental Stewardship Award. The 30-year-old award is presented to beef farmers and ranchers who explore innovative ways to protect, preserve and enhance their operations and the environment simultaneously.

This year’s recipient will be announced on Wednesday during a banquet at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Winnipeg.

The English family’s roots near Bradwardine — about 265 kilometres west of Winnipeg — date back to 1898. Today, Connor, Kyla, Brian and Leanne manage a herd of about 320 breeding cows on nearly 445 hectares (1,100 acres) of owned and rented pasture and forage land.

All sports in the line of fire as summer weather heats up

With such freezing winters, warm weather is usually welcomed with open arms here in the Keystone province. But it’s hard to be grateful for rising temperatures when sunny days turn into torturous heat.

Internationally, athletes have been affected by the rising heat, smoke or storms that viciously blunder through. This year alone the weather has impacted everything from the Tour de France to the men’s FIFA World Cup.

Locally, the U18 Football Canada Cup had to delay multiple games well into the night and there have been repetitive tarp deployments during Winnipeg Goldeyes games.

Jared Ladobruk, executive director of Golf Manitoba, has seen the impact over the last couple of years.