Solo test flight clearly underscores root issue

Transcona councillor faces new sex assault charge

A city councillor charged with sex assault earlier this year faces new sex charges in a separate incident, in a case Winnipeg’s mayor called “deeply concerning.”

Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, 56, was charged Monday with sexual assault and administering a noxious thing with intent to aggrieve or annoy over an October 2023 incident.

Allegations of a 2023 assault were reported to the Winnipeg Police Service in April, a month after Wyatt was charged with sex assault in relation to a 2025 incident.

In the 2023 incident, a man told police he become acquainted with Wyatt through a website in July of that year and said they met in person on more than one occasion.

Moving rail lines outside city would make Winnipeg ‘major transportation hub’

After decades of calls to move rail traffic to the outskirts of Winnipeg, a plan that would benefit residents, railways and taxpayers is now on track, says the former Winnipegger leading the way.

A rail line bypass south of the city, using Crown-owned land and the Manitoba Hydro corridor, would take 20 years to complete, remove 120 railway crossings that are a safety risk and free up about 250 acres of Winnipeg land over time for development, Lloyd Axworthy said Wednesday.

“The visions that we have have to be implemented,” Axworthy said at a news conference announcing the launch of a 90-day feasibility study to move freight rail traffic out of Winnipeg’s urban core along Manitoba Hydro’s southern transmission corridor, connecting east to west along the Perimeter Highway.

The former federal transport minister and Manitoba MP was tasked by Premier Wab Kinew in October 2024 to lead a two-year rail relocation feasibility study.

Ducks Unlimited makes province’s largest-ever conservation-land purchase

A Manitoba landscape that helped save the Giant Canada goose from extinction has now been permanently protected in the province’s largest conservation land purchase in history.

Winnipeg couple feels flush after highway porta-potty scare

Talk about a crappy situation.

Two Winnipeg seniors were driving on the Trans-Canada Highway Monday afternoon when they collided with an unlikely projectile: a porta-potty.

Ed and Helen Toews were driving to their cottage in Sioux Narrows from Kenora, Ont., when a portable toilet came loose from the bed of a passing truck and launched into their car.

Ed Toews, 87, was sitting in the passenger seat when a flash of green came into his line of sight.

A new chapter: Renamed Winnipeg Book Festival takes to The Forks this fall

Winnipeg’s long-running annual literary festival returns this fall, once again featuring a slate of authors, local and beyond, ready to engage with readers.

New this year is pretty much everything else, including a new name, executive director and team of staff — as well as a shift to a tight, condensed timeline and a move to hold all events under one roof.

The festival formerly known as Thin Air/Livres en fête is now the Winnipeg Book Festival; the event takes place Oct. 1-4 at The Forks Market, with most events offering free admission.

It’s a lot of changes for the stalwart literary festival, which was run for more than two decades by Charlene Diehl, who stepped away in late 2025.

Boyd Group hits US$1 billion sales in a quarter

The company behind Boyd Autobody & Glass cracked $1 billion in sales within a quarter — the first time it’s done so in its 36-year history.

On Wednesday, Boyd Group Services announced sales of US$1.013 billion for its second quarter. It’s a 29.9 per cent increase from the year prior.

Over that year, Boyd Group Services added 340 new locations. Those sites added $211.3 million to its overall sales and accounted for most of the growth.

Same store sales grew 2.9 per cent.