Crowdwork makes the show work for comedy improv duo

If it works in Ontario, why not in Manitoba?

Grid-scale battery storage has fundamentally changed the global energy landscape — and Manitoba needs to get on board.

Battery systems store large amounts of excess electricity for when it’s most needed. While they can be charged from any generation source, they are especially beneficial for integrating wind and solar power, which vary with weather and time of day. Batteries allow electrical grids to meet the need for firm, dispatchable and affordable capacity using renewable energy, rather than relying on coal, nuclear and fossil gas. They also provide numerous other benefits, including reducing overloading of transmission infrastructure and helping to regulate the grid’s frequency and voltage.

Average costs for grid-scale batteries plummeted by more than half between 2023 and 2025 and installations have skyrocketed in China, the U.S., Australia and Europe. Texas now has 16,500 megawatts (MW) of battery storage, while California has 15,200 MW. Closer to home, Ontario recently awarded 640 MW of contracts to three battery storage projects in a competitive auction, with batteries beating out fossil gas-fired power plants on cost every time. One of these projects will be built near Dryden, only four hours east of Winnipeg.

Each battery system will provide eight hours of capacity but will cost considerably less than Ontario’s previous battery procurements, which provide only four hours of capacity. With this latest auction, Ontario has now secured 3,600 MW of battery storage capacity, including the operational Oneida (250 MW), Hagersville (300 MW) and Napanee (250 MW) projects. Almost all have significant Indigenous participation, with the latest procurements boasting 50 per cent First Nations ownership.

Gold mine accused of sparking wildfire that caused evacuations

Several property owners are suing a Lynn Lake-area gold mine over a massive wildfire that burned more than 210,000 acres last spring, causing evacuations as the flames closed in on the community.

Provincial conservation officials alleged in court documents filed last year the wildfire started May 7, 2025, after a controlled burn pile reignited at Alamos Gold Inc., located about 7.5 kilometres northeast of Lynn Lake. The blaze spread to within five kilometres of the small northern community.

A Manitoba government spokesman said Monday the fire remains under investigation.

The wildfire led to the late May 2025 evacuations of Lynn Lake, home to nearly 600 residents and located about 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and Marcel Colomb First Nation.

The Manitoba Quiz Part 1

How well do you know our province? Part 1 of a two-part, 20-question quiz. Part 2 will come on Monday, July 20.

Toys ‘R’ Us closing Polo Park store

Embattled toy retailer Toys “R” Us is closing its store in Winnipeg’s Polo Park area.

Staff hung signs sharing the news — and advertising liquidation pricing — on Friday. The signage does not indicate when the store, located at 1445 St. Matthews Ave., will close for good.

A store manager declined to comment on Monday, directing a reporter to Toys “R” Us Canada Ltd.’s head office. The company did not respond to interview requests.

Toys “R” Us announced in January it would close its Polo Park location, but reversed course a few weeks later. The Canada-wide company has been in creditor protection since February.

Bjorck inks three-year, entry-level contract with Jets

Putting pen to paper was merely the next step in the journey for Viggo Bjorck.

Now that the eighth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft has inked his entry-level deal with the Winnipeg Jets, the real fun begins.

This is standard operating procedure and was basically a formality after Bjorck’s club team Djurgardens announced publicly over the weekend that the skilled forward was leaving the Swedish Hockey League to pursue NHL opportunities.

Bjorck signed his three-year pact on Monday and it carries a cap hit of US $1.075 million in the NHL, with the ability to make another US$1 million per season if he hits his performance bonuses.

Former Manitoba MP Inky Mark charged with firearms offences; more than 400 weapons seized from home

A former member of Parliament from Manitoba has been charged after a stockpile of ammunition and firearms — including an antique cannon — and $300,000 in cash were seized from a Dauphin home last week.

Manitoba RCMP charged Inky Mark, 78, with a dozen firearms-related charges, including firearms trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, unsafe storage and careless use of a firearm.

In total, RCMP seized 439 firearms from Mark’s property, Mounties said at a news conference Monday morning.

It is expected to take investigators weeks to sort through the arsenal and determine how many of the weapons were legally possessed, but police have already identified three guns that are believed to have been illegally trafficked, and one that had a tampered serial number, RCMP Cpl. Barry Kirby said.