Searching for drive

Lawsuit targets pontoon boat operator, Sea-Doo driver, owner in fatal Whitemud River crash

The father of a 39-year-old Portage la Prairie woman killed in a boat crash on the Whitemud River is suing the men who were operating the involved watercraft, claiming they were negligent when navigating the winding waterway.

Downtown Winnipeg comedy club Yuk Yuk’s closes

A downtown Winnipeg comedy club, Yuk Yuk’s, closed after being one of the company’s worst performing locations across Canada.

“We’ve opened many clubs,” said Mark Breslin, Yuk Yuk’s founder. “They’re like oil wells — some of them gush, some of them trickle and some of them are just dry.

“You never absolutely know which is going to be which.”

The franchise counts at least 10 locations nationally.

Rivers restoration projects get a funding boost

RIVERS — The provincial government is providing $98,000 to help restore the Rivers train station, develop a bicycle museum on the site and expand bike trails in the community.

The train station is an important part of the province’s history, said Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard, who was in Rivers on Wednesday.

“This project preserves a key piece of Manitoba’s heritage, and it creates new opportunities for tourism, culture and local economic and recreational development,” Simard, the MLA for Brandon East, told a gathering of about 25 people.

The funding, which is coming from the provincial program From the Ground Up — Safe Healthy Communities for All, is also being used toward researching and producing the Sekine bicycle story with Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan, for the planned museum.

Gaps in homecare leave Winnipeg man in perilous situation

Tom Landy fears he won’t live long enough to receive adequate homecare.

The 49-year-old Winnipegger has spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative disease, and requires 24-7 homecare, but gaps in his care leave him sitting in one spot for hours and lately he’s developed bed sores.

Landy was approved for around-the-clock care in June 2025, but staffing issues and an investigation into a homecare worker’s workplace injury have left him without help for periods of time throughout the day and forced his 76-year-old father to fill in.

“This is what they’re here for, to take care of me, and now it feels like I’m a burden,” he said from his home in the Maples.

Fanning captures second straight senior’s title, while Martens’ provincial victory 27 years in the taking

Todd Fanning is among the most decorated golfers in Manitoba history.

But a second straight senior men’s championship — captured Wednesday at Breezy Bend — was especially sweet.

That’s because it opens the door for him to represent the province at the Canadian senior men’s championship, which just so happens to be set for his sporting backyard at Niakwa in early September.

“This tournament was really important for me. Not only defending, but to try and get on the team and try to represent our home course,” Fanning told the Free Press.

‘Eight credible threats’ against Hydro employees: CEO

Manitoba Hydro president and CEO Allan Danroth took aim at critics and revealed he and staff members have been threatened while defending the Crown corporation’s plan for three new combustion turbines Monday.

Without identifying individuals, Danroth said “constant, uninformed criticism” of Hydro and misinformation has eroded public trust and contributed to hostilities and an unsafe workplace for employees.

“Manitoba Hydro is currently managing eight credible threats against our employees, five of them directed at me personally,” Danroth told a Public Utilities Board hearing in Winnipeg.

“More troubling is these threats are increasingly affecting our front-line workforce. In the last year, my employees have been threatened with weapons, including guns, while performing their duties, and in one recent incident a homeowner directed his dogs to attack one of our meter readers.”