Actor mulls racial and economic divides

Finding the balance on short-term rentals

It’s fair to say the advent of Airbnb in 2008 changed the short-term rental market — it and its competitors gave hotels a run for their money, gave homeowners new ways to make an income and helped customers pay less for accommodations.

The change didn’t come without problems. No one is likely to enjoy having rowdy instant condo neighbours who are in town for a day or two to catch a concert and party the night away — nor do quiet neighbourhoods enjoy the constant churn of customers abutting their yards.

But short-term rental owners are taxpayers, too — in fact, when they’re fully compliant with municipal regulations, you can argue that they often pay more than their neighbours. They’re part of the accommodations economy and many owners have seen the rules change during the tenure of their operations, making it harder and harder to turn a profit.

Every time a municipality announces plans to change the rules, owners probably shudder.

Kinew delivered what most of us wanted; now we’ll have to deal with the consequences

Premier Wab Kinew has decided to adopt permanent daylight savings time, which means a permanent end to the spring forward, fall back tradition of adjusting our clocks. And absolutely no one is surprised.

Online fundraiser for ‘polite, modest farmer’ facing firearms charges sending message, neighbour says

Thousands of dollars have been raised to help cover the legal fees of a Manitoba man charged after he allegedly fired a gun at thieves during a theft on his farm in August.

Manitoba abandoning spring, fall clock changes

Time’s up for the time change in Manitoba.

Manitobans won’t be setting their clocks back an hour in November. The province has decided to permanently stay on daylight time after surveying residents on the twice annual clock adjustment.

“We heard from Manitobans loud and clear — no more changing the clocks in Manitoba,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a news release Thursday.

Most of the 72,000 votes submitted in an online EngageMB survey — 92 per cent — said they would like to see the practice end. The survey asked if they preferred earlier sunrises in winter with standard time or the later sunsets in summer with daylight time. More than half of survey participants (58 per cent) indicated a preference to stay on permanent daylight time; 34 per cent voted to eliminate the time change but stay on standard time.

‘One of a kind’: CEO, philanthropist Doug Harvey dies at 72

Doug Harvey, a Winnipeg business titan and philanthropist, has died after battling cancer for more than a decade.

Harvey gave millions of dollars to Winnipeg organizations while he was CEO of DLH Group, a nationwide network of businesses that support heavy duty truck and trailer users.

Loren Remillard, CEO and president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said the business community is mourning the loss of the influential businessman who helped shape Winnipeg.

“We are a transportation and logistics hub in Winnipeg and it was partly the result of geography, and a big part because of leaders and visionaries like Doug Harvey,” he said.

Actor mulls racial and economic divides

Balancing two very different aspects of life can be difficult, whether that involves work and family, career and leisure or other circumstances that can easily clash and cause disruptions to people’s lives. Much of Anais Granofsky’s life has been about balancing two different racial backgrounds, together with wealth and poverty, as she relates in her engaging memoir, The Girl in the Middle: Growing Up Between Black and White, Rich and Poor.

Granofsky is best known for playing the role of Lucy Hernandez on the Degrassi television series. In addition to acting in a number of films, she has worked as a screenwriter, producer and director and is developing a television series loosely based on her early life. This memoir is her first book. Currently, Granofsky lives in Toronto with her family.

From the beginning, Anais Granofsky faced a number of barriers as the daughter of a Jewish man from a wealthy family and a black woman from a background of poverty. Growing up in social housing with a single mattress for both her and her mother contrasted sharply with what Granofsky experienced on her regular visits to her wealthy paternal grandparents. Life became even more difficult when her father became interested in eastern religions and left to join a community of mystics in India.

The struggle to maintain a balance between two very different lifestyles forms the main theme of the book as Anais and her mother attempted to deal with a low income and frequent unemployment, broken or struggling relationships and more. Her parents’ divorce, her mother’s remarriage and the birth of her half-sister caused both tension and happiness in the author’s life. Signs of changing fortunes in Granofsky’s early television appearances and other experiences helped to shape the author’s childhood. Meanwhile, she had to find a way to reconcile the economic struggles that she and her mother experienced with the wealth she saw on her regular visits with her father’s family.