River resto returns to frozen Forks for 10th anniversary

RAW:almond features extra-hot lineup of chefs for chilly culinary event

After three years on ice, RAW:almond is set to return to Winnipeg’s frozen waterways this winter.

The 10th anniversary of the fine-dining pop-up restaurant created by Deer + Almond chef Mandel Hitzer and local designer Joe Kalturnyk will take place Jan. 26 to Feb. 18 at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.

Hitzer can’t wait to get back into a frosty kitchen for the first time since 2019.

“I can’t even put it into words,” he says. “As somebody who grew up in Winnipeg and has been cooking here for 26 years, one of the biggest honours of my life is the opportunity to put on, in my opinion, the largest and most incredible food event in North America.”

Trial project lauded in the fight against pollution

A city project aimed at reducing water pollution is being deemed a success, despite some challenges in adding it to an aging sewage treatment plant.

The city used strategically placed doses of ferric chloride to reduce the amount of phosphorous, a key algae-promoting nutrient, in effluent leaving the North End sewage treatment plant between June 2024 and September 2025.

The chemical additives increased the removal of phosphorous through the plant’s treatment process. It went from 61 per cent of the nutrient being removed pre-trial, to reach 74 per cent in 2024 and 67 per cent in 2025.

“It’s a success, because we’re removing more phosphorous than we were before … Any improvement in phosphorous removal will help Lake Winnipeg,” said Michelle Paetkau, a senior planning engineer for Winnipeg water and waste.

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.

Liquor authority fines True North $12K after minors with fake ID served at Jets White Out party

True North Sports and Entertainment was hit with a $12,000 fine for serving minors with fake IDs during a Winnipeg Jets White Out street party in 2025.

The company was fined by the Liquor, Gaming & Cannabis Authority of Manitoba on May 13, 2025 after liquor inspectors attended the May 9 street party and witnessed two two minors in possession of and consuming liquor. One was visibly intoxicated, according to a compliance order dated May 15, 2025.

Both minors had security-issued “18+” wristbands and were using identification that was expired and “clearly not their image.”

The compliance order, provided to the Free Press by the LGCA, said inspectors also noticed inadequate identification checking by security before issuing the wristbands, which identify the people wearing them as being of legal drinking age.

Hayden Panettiere, who starred in ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36

Hayden Panettiere, a onetime child star who soared to fame in the TV shows “Heroes” and “Nashville” while enduring struggles with alcohol addiction and depression, has died. She was 36.

Police said Panettiere was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday. Lifesaving measures were performed but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

No cause of death has been determined and Panettiere's death remains under investigation. An autopsy found no signs of trauma and police said officers saw no signs of foul play.

The television and film performer, who would have turned 37 on Friday, had been open about her private battles and wrote at length about them in the memoir, “This Is Me,” which came out in May. She described lifelong scars from her early fame, and acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and enduring postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.