Monster trucking

Vibrant Norwood apartment garden a labour of love to honour green thumb’s late partner

St. Vital resident Rob Duncan can’t pinpoint when he first noticed an award-winning garden blanketing the grounds of a two-storey St. Mary’s Road apartment block, near Coniston Street.

Perhaps he was on his way home from work and caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye. Or maybe he was running errands in the Norwood Flats area and paused to admire the array of annuals, perennials and potted plants that extends from the block’s doorway to the front curb.

What Duncan does know for certain is that after spying the urban oasis, twice fêted in Take Pride Winnipeg’s annual Winnipeg in Bloom competition, he couldn’t unsee it.

“First of all, the pink building really stands out,” Duncan says, referring to the brightly painted California Apartments complex at 268 St. Mary’s Rd. “But then you have the pergola, the rock garden, the flowers and trees… a sea of colour on a very busy street.”

Former Selkirk teacher convicted of sexual assault denies latest abuse claim

A former private school teacher convicted of sexual assault against several students has denied he abused the Manitoba man who’s now suing him over different claims of sexual violence.

Monster trucking

Vancouver's Monster Theatre has become a fringe fixture, having presented 17 productions since 2000.

This year's festival features three titles, two new works (Hockey Night at the Puck & Pickle Pub and Assassinating Thomson) and a remount of Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Artistic director Ryan Gladstone wrote two of them, directed two of them and acts in Hockey Night.

"I love making new shows," says Gladstone, during a recent interview. "That's the beauty of the fringe. It's the cheapest, easiest way to produce original work in Canada."

The Monster formula is to develop shows on the fringe circuit to a professional grade every summer and then tour them around British Columbia and elsewhere. The Shakespeare Show, written by Gladstone in 2008, was translated into Hebrew and toured Israel this year. The Canada Show: The Complete History of Canada in One Hour has been on the road since 2001 (it stopped at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People in 2006) and this year was presented in Saskatoon. Til Death will head on a provincial trek next season.

Suspension upheld for teen hockey player involved in hazing

A high school hockey player who was found to have been involved in sexualized hazing of rookie teammates lost his suspension appeal.

The youth player was barred from Hockey Canada-sanctioned activities. He was handed the four-year and nine-month suspension from sanctioned hockey after an interim ban issued in March 2024.

He appealed his suspension late last year to the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, an independent conflict tribunal, but the centre upheld the youth’s suspension, according to a written decision issued earlier this year.

An independent investigator who probed the hockey player’s actions described the youth as a veteran player who both participated in and co-ordinated the “assigning” of rookie team members to veteran players to perform tasks for them. He himself was “assigned” a rookie, the decision said.

Take a hike

We’re halfway through the 10-week summer holiday and if your family is anything like mine, it’s very likely you’ll be in full-blown survival mode at this point.

You’ve already visited all the popular ice-cream spots in the city (and if you haven’t then you’ll find a list of our faves here) , you’ve ticked every box in our Road Trip Bingo Card and answered every single question in the our How Well Do You Know Your Province Quiz … and there are still 29 days to go before school starts on Sept. 8.

If you’re running low on ideas, don’t worry — we’ve got you covered, with not one, not two, but three cycling/walking routes to help you squeeze a bit more fun from what’s left of the holidays. Grab your helmets, lace up your sneakers, pack water bottles and get outside to explore different neighbourhoods in the city.

NOTE: Check winnipegtrails.ca before you leaving to make sure paths are open and in working order, especially if we’ve had a bout of nasty weather.