Her story: 1st time all-female broadcast crew calls MLB game

Winkler-based internet provider delivering high-speed service to 30 rural and First Nations Manitoba communities

Valley Fiber says it is undertaking one of its largest fibre optic projects and is building infrastructure that will deliver internet to 10,000 homes and businesses in rural and First Nations communities across Manitoba.

“These communities will now have access to the fastest internet network in Manitoba, and it will power their lives and their business,” Ryan Klassen, chief executive officer of the Winkler-based internet provider, said Tuesday from Fisher River Cree Nation.

The province has granted Valley Fiber use of two of its underused cables on the existing Manitoba Hydro fibre optic network for up to 20 years as part of the project, which will connect nearly 30 communities — including Buffalo Point, Hollow Water, Black River and Peguis First Nations, along with Fisher River and Fox Lake Cree Nations — to high-speed internet.

Construction should be finished by 2027.

Manitoba gains doctors for third straight year, but loses at pandemic-level rate: report

Manitoba is adding doctors at a record clip — but it’s also losing them at a rate not seen since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, a physicians advocacy organization cautioned Wednesday.

‘Dynacare sucks’: premier muses about bringing lab services back into public system

Premier Wab Kinew says Manitoba may bring Dynacare’s diagnostic lab services back into the public system rather than continue to sign contracts with the for-profit company.

“Dynacare sucks. They’ve made an absolute mess of this situation,” the premier said Wednesday, the day the company’s 350 employees reported back to work after the labour board halted their strike after just one day.

Kinew first made the remark about Dynacare in a CBC radio interview Wednesday morning and added he is “not happy with them.”

Dynacare performs the majority of non-emergency blood and urine tests in the province.

Labour board ruling halts Dynacare strike

The Manitoba Labour Board has cut short a strike by 350 lab workers employed by Dynacare who administer blood and urine tests for patients in Winnipeg, Brandon and surrounding communities.

The board ruled late Tuesday afternoon that the workers, who hit the picket line at 6 a.m., must return to work Wednesday.

Jason Linklater, president of their union, the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, slammed the board’s decision.

“The Manitoba Labour Board is doing exactly what the government asked them to do: they are taking away our members’ right to fight for fairness,” he said in a statement.

Weekender festivities to take over downtown

Come one, come all, to Graham Avenue this weekend.

Organizers of the Weekender hope to welcome thousands of Winnipeggers to the streets and parking lots in and around the Graham Avenue pedestrian mall in what they are billing as “Downtown’s Biggest Street Party.”

Starting Friday evening and running through Sunday, the free festival boasts a plethora of ways by which visitors can enjoy themselves. From food trucks to markets, games to live music, classic cars and free bike repairs, the festival aims to provide a little something for everyone.

“The Weekender is truly about bringing people together, to have fun, to experience all that downtown has to offer,” says Olivia Billson, director of communications and public relations for Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, which is putting on the festival in conjunction with Smith Events and Arch Events.