Thomas, Chafe on shortlists for Governor General’s awards

Razed tree canopy leaves Selkirk Avenue stretch noisier, dirtier: resident

Selkirk Avenue resident Gail Allard sits on her front steps, looking at a row of tree stumps.

Until last fall, Allard would have opened her front door to a lush canopy of mature trees. Now, she has an unobstructed view of a freight terminal — the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. intermodal yard.

Although the residential street is quiet on this August afternoon, the steady beeping of machinery moving shipping containers carries throughout the neighbourhood.

It’s the first summer since Manitoba Hydro cut down 262 mature trees — most of them Siberian elms — along Selkirk Avenue between Keewatin and Railway streets.

Sea Bears look for historic first franchise playoff win

It’s been a trying week for the Winnipeg Sea Bears.

It started Sunday, when the team endured a disastrous travel schedule out West before laying an egg in its regular-season finale against the Vancouver Bandits with the top seed in the Western Conference on the line.

By that night, things went from bad to worse when Teddy Allen found himself in an altercation with security staff at a downtown Winnipeg nightclub that sent the star guard to hospital. Allen sustained significant injuries that could require surgery.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s leading scorer and MVP front-runner was ruled out for the Sea Bears Western Conference semifinal tilt against the Saskatoon Mamba at Canada Life Centre on Thursday (7:30 p.m.).

Homegrown grub: Resto turns to the Leaf for freshest ingredients

The term “eat local” has taken on a whole new meaning at Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar, where the journey from plot to plate is measured in footsteps rather than miles.

Head chef Mike Licharson has expanded the restaurant’s focus on local sourcing by incorporating fruit and vegetables grown in The Leaf’s biomes and outdoor kitchen garden into his menu.

Bananas from the tropical biomes star in his banana-bread French toast and accompanying banana compote. Leeks, braised slowly and paired with Manitoba-grown beluga lentils, and Swiss chard — which takes the place of grape leaves in Licharson’s play on classic meze dolmades, a nod to the chef’s Greek-Ukrainian-Irish heritage — are both grown in the outdoor kitchen garden.

The park’s produce complements the restaurant’s other locally sourced ingredients, Licharson says.

Concordia doctor denies responsibility for Calgary man’s permanent disability

A Concordia Hospital doctor accused in a negligence lawsuit after a Calgary man was left permanently disabled when he was given a massive overdose of a powerful sedative has denied she ordered he be given the drug.

Zachary Hoogerdyk’s father, Edward Hoogerdyk, and the Alberta government filed their statement of claim earlier this year in Court of King’s Bench naming the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, provincial health agency Shared Health, Concordia Hospital, Dr. Anna Ziomek and two other hospital staff as defendants.

Hoogerdyk, who was 23 at the time, went to Concordia’s urgent-care centre with flu-like symptoms and worsening breathing difficulties on March 25, 2024 while he was in Winnipeg on business and to visit family, the lawsuit says.

The claim alleges Ziomek diagnosed Hoogerdyk with low levels of oxygen in his blood and a strain of the flu, before ordering him to be intubated.

Storm left $840M of insured losses across Manitoba, Saskatchewan

Severe weather spanning two days in June — hitting both Manitoba and Saskatchewan — has led to at least $840 million in insured losses.

The June 9 and 10 weather is the latest in an increasing number of “catastrophic” events with major insurance payouts, said Rob de Pruis, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s national director of consumer and industry relations.

The Insurance Bureau didn’t share a breakdown of insured losses by province. Most of the claims cover hail and flood damage, including sewer backups, de Pruis said.

At the time of the storm, Manitoba saw grapefruit-sized hail, torrential downpours and at least one tornado.

Airport traffic surges despite fewer U.S. flights

The Winnipeg airport has recorded an uptick in traffic this summer, despite the loss of notable U.S. flights.