The Wrap: Landfill search demanded, health system transparency vital, debating the ‘Houston model’, deals with the Devils, Winnipeg Folk Fest lineup and star shooter

The families of two slain First Nations women are continuing to press the Manitoba government to search a landfill for their remains.

The families, along with supporters and Indigenous leaders, rallied at Portage and Main and then marched to the legislature on International Women’s Day on Friday. Speakers called on Premier Wab Kinew to make good on his promise to search the landfill and said they were tired of waiting for the Manitoba government to act.

Speaking with reporters Friday afternoon, Kinew refused to provide any updates on the timeline for searching the landfill, but disagreed with claims that the search had been delayed.

Manitoba Health stopped publishing recommendations from critical incident reviews on the government’s website five years ago, and it’s unclear if or when the information will be public again, despite doctor and nursing groups being in favour.

A critical incident is an unintended event that results in death, injury or disability to a person using health services in a hospital, personal care home or other setting.

Critics say failing to share recommendation reports — or patient safety learning advisories, as they are officially known — with the public could undermine Manitobans’ confidence in the system.

Last month, the Free Press travelled to Houston to see firsthand how that city turned its homeless crisis around. The now widely-lauded ‘Houston model’ has become shorthand for how to tackle homelessness, even among Manitoba’s elected leaders.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and Premier Wab Kinew have expressed interest in replicating the Houston model here.

But some local organizations that are already helping and housing Winnipeg’s homeless population question why the city and province think Houston’s model could directly translate to success in Winnipeg, saying they’d rather receive more support for the good work they’re already doing.

In this second of a two-part series, investigative reporter Katrina Clarke sits down with groups who work with homelessness in Winnipeg to ask what they make of the Houston model and whether it could be replicated here.

The Winnipeg Jets will be heading into playoff battle this spring with arguably their deepest and most talented roster to date, one that was significantly bolstered Friday after general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff stepped up to the plate and took a couple big swings.

Right-winger Tyler Toffoli and defenceman Colin Miller were acquired from the New Jersey Devils in a pair of separate deadline-day deals.

The lineup of performers at the 2024 Winnipeg Folk Festival is the city’s music scene equivalent of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project; classified information known only to a zip-lipped few.

That is until this evening, when folk fest officials made their annual bombshell announcement at the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club, finally spilling the beans to begin a four-month promotional buildup for the event, which takes place July 11 to 14 at Birds Hill Provincial Park.

Multiple times a week, amateur astronomer Richard Konrad records images of galaxies, far, far away, through the lenses of telescopes stationed in southern Spain, the Utah desert or Chile’s Rio Hurtado Valley.

But the 62-year-old Westwood grandfather isn’t a seasoned globetrotter with unlimited resources to pursue his hobby. Not even close.

Rather, Konrad is among an ever-increasing number of celestial enthusiasts who rely on public internet-based services to capture out-of-this-world, high-res images of stars, nebulae and quasars. And they do it all without ever having to set foot outside their house.

Writer David Sanderson takes a closer look.