Brightest lights in the northern musical sky

Senior’s family frustrated by Manitoba Housing’s response to apartment’s bedbug infestation

The family of a senior who left his Manitoba Housing apartment after two years of bedbug infestations is accusing the provincial body of being ineffectual and irresponsible in its treatment of the persistent pests.

The senior had lived at the Columbus Courts building at 253 Edgeland Blvd., since 2011, but when he began getting severe skin rashes all over his body about two years ago, his son began to worry.

They found out the 14-storey building was being sprayed for bedbugs after an infestation had impacted several units. After multiple rounds of pesticide treatments, the problem has not subsided, the son told the Free Press.

“They come in, they spray pesticides and then they leave. And it’s been completely ineffectual,” he said. “My dad keeps seeing the bedbugs even the day after the treatments and continuously, they’ve just gotten worse and worse.”

Tundra Inn renovations highlight Churchill’s ‘growth potential’

Frontiers North Adventures has completed a major renovation and expansion of the Tundra Inn in Churchill, modernizing one of the northern Manitoba community’s best-known hotels.

The project added 21 new guest rooms and expanded common areas, bringing the total room count to 44. (The net increase was 13 guest rooms, after an aging section of the building containing eight rooms was demolished.)

Lisa-Joy Gunter, president and co-owner of Frontiers North Adventures, said the project was driven by a desire to improve the guest experience and invest in the community.

“It really just needed an update,” Gunter said on Tuesday.

Ottawa to hit U.S. back with tariffs on steel, aluminum, smartphones and golf clubs

The federal government hit back at the latest escalation in the trade war with the United States on Tuesday, announcing plans to hike American steel and aluminum tariffs from 25 to 50 per cent.

Community rallies around family devastated by fire

Dennis Lafreniere and his wife didn’t expect to celebrate 27 years of marriage Thursday in a Selkirk hotel room while reeling from a recent house fire.

The couple and their two daughters lost their home last Sunday in a raging fire that left nothing behind, but overwhelming support from multiple communities has kept them afloat.

“It’s devastating when you don’t have any clothes, any medication, all of that stuff, and it’s just so overwhelming the next morning. It’s just nasty,” Lafreniere said.

Investigators suspect the fire was caused by a fridge, freezer and battery charger that were all plugged into the same electrical line that got overheated. The house, located on Highway 59 between Selkirk and Libau, is a farmhouse built in 1943, and investigators think worn-out electrical lines also contributed to the fire, said Lafreniere.

Pretty, purple and pernicious plants plaguing Prairies

After noticing mysterious purple flowers popping up in little patches around the Wolseley neighbourhood last summer, Vic Penner didn’t give it too much thought.

However, this summer, the deceivingly beautiful flowers were impossible to ignore.

“They were just everywhere,” said Penner, 37.

Wolseley isn’t the only neighbourhood being overrun by the plant.

Thirteen accused in gun, drug trafficking network in rural Manitoba

RCMP and Winkler police have arrested more than a dozen people allegedly connected to a drug-and-gun trafficking network that operated in rural Manitoba.

The joint investigation began in December 2024, when officers from the Winkler Police Service asked the Mounties for help after learning kilograms of cocaine were being imported to a Winkler-area truck repair business, said RCMP Supt. Jeff Asmundson, who oversees the force’s Manitoba integrated law enforcement team.

Mounties and Winkler police gathered evidence for 19 months and expanded the probe, dubbed Project Dolor, as investigators learned other types of illicit substances and firearms were being trafficked by the network in a number of southern Manitoba communities, said Asmundson, whose team investigates serious and organized crime.

“It started as a cocaine trafficking investigation, and obviously, as we move along in a project or a file, evidence is gathered and an opportunity arose and we wanted to ensure public safety,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We were able to secure some firearms.”