What’s wrong with a fun summer sweetheart?

Jets trending in right direction after picking up points in first three games

Welcome to a small sample size season, when sweeping observations and hot takes can quickly become outdated and — occasionally — out of touch.

With that as a cautionary backdrop, the Winnipeg Jets are off to a 2-0-1 start that has them temporarily occupying top spot in the Central Division.

“We were optimistic that we’re a better team than we showed last year,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “We want to play fast. We want to compete hard, and we want to give ourselves a chance to win every night, so I think we’ve done that.”

As the Jets welcome the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday to open a three-game homestand, they’ve gotten off to a fast start in a season that required one.

Selkirk middle school changes name to honour Murray Sinclair

SELKIRK — A local middle school now bears the name of one of its most famous alumni.

École Selkirk Junior High was renamed Murray Sinclair Middle School at a ceremony Wednesday.

The late Sinclair, who was a judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, played basketball for the school team, back when it was known as Selkirk Collegiate Institute.

In 1968, he was named male athlete of the year and voted valedictorian. He would go on to dedicate his career to Indigenous justice and human rights in Canada.

PCs call for crackdown on property crime

A Progressive Conservative government would open a Crown prosecutor’s office dedicated to dealing with property crime.

Interim party leader Konrad Narth made the announcement Wednesday flanked by colleagues in front of a boarded up 7-Eleven on Main Street. Narth promised to hire 25 prosecutors who would focus on property theft, which he said is the type of crime attorneys have been inundated with in recent years.

Narth said crime has increased under the NDP government and pledged to crack down on thieves in Winnipeg and rural areas, if the PCs win power in the next provincial election, due on or before Oct. 5, 2027.

“Under this premier, Manitoba’s crime rate is 81 per cent above the national average. Property crime represents 58 per cent of crimes committed, an increase of nearly 25 per cent since Wab Kinew and the NDP took office,” Narth said, citing numbers from Statistics Canada. “In Winnipeg, the rise of property crime has significantly increased the cost of doing business and forced many businesses to now close their doors.”

Amazon in the weeds over damage to tall grass reserve

Patricia Dutchak was devastated when she first saw the wide swaths of crushed grass and upturned soil at Winnipeg’s Rotary Prairie Nature Park, a municipal heritage site.

“This is a very rare ecosystem, a remnant of tall grass prairie, there’s barely any left in the world, and to come here and see all this damage was heartbreaking,” Dutchak, chair of the Transcona Rotary Club’s parks committee, says.

The club is responsible for maintaining the protected green space, which was significantly damaged this summer when a fence between the park and the neighbouring Amazon distribution centre was relocated.

The 20-acre nature preserve is situated on a narrow tract of land on Regent Avenue West in the commercial heart of Transcona. The park received its municipal heritage designation in 1992 and is, today, surrounded by high-traffic streets, industrial warehouses and car dealerships.

Letters, Oct. 7

Wally Daudrich apparently claims that Duff Roblin joined the PC Party in the 1960s. He does not know the history of the party.