On the night table: Laura Meuckon

Westwood standoff ends with two arrested

An hours-long standoff in Westwood came to an end Thursday with Winnipeg police arresting two men and seizing a gun.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were called to Byrd Avenue shortly before 9:30 a.m. after a man was seen walking with what appeared to be a firearm, said police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy.

Officers identified a home connected to the investigation, he said.

Two men were arrested but Chancy could not yet say what they will be charged with. It’s not clear whether either of the men arrested was the male spotted with a gun.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The moon is in Gemini.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Because your communication skills are so excellent, it’s a great day for those of you who teach, write, sell, market or act because your words will be like gold. You’ll have practical, doable ideas, and at the same time, you’ll be creative and optimistic about the future!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

‘Where are they going to go?’: encampment policy blamed for homeless people sleeping outside thrift store

The owner of a Portage Avenue thrift shop says the city’s encampment ban has pushed dozens of homeless people from tent communities to spaces near her store.

Susan Lockhart, who runs Just Like New to You at 635 Portage Ave., says anywhere from 25 to 50 people can be found at any given time behind the store and along the back lane stretching between Sherbrook and Furby streets.

“Where are they going to go?” she said Wednesday from her shop. “I was just here on the weekend and I couldn’t get to our back door. There were people everywhere. Mattresses.”

Earlier this week, the city reported 275 people were known to be living in 72 encampments across Winnipeg — down from 100 encampments housing about 700 people last September. The report also noted that 141 sites have been remediated since the city’s encampment policy came into effect in November.

St. Malo’s summer hot spot relies on dedicated community to make sure park-goers can kick back and relax

August 21, 10:10 a.m.There’s nobody on the beach at St. Malo Provincial Park yet, though there’s certain to be plenty of visitors later. It’s shaping up to be a hot late-August Friday in southern Manitoba; the forecast warns of a thunderstorm in the late afternoon, but that won’t stop Manitobans from flocking to savour one of the last great beach days of the summer.

On a typical such weekend, this park, situated just an hour’s drive southeast of Winnipeg, can squeeze up to 2,000 guests onto the sandy crescent of its expansive main beach, and about 600 more on its other bathing-ready shore, which is nestled near the campground and thus long called Camper Beach.

For now, though, the scene around the lake is quiet and picture-perfect. The morning sun sparkles on the lake’s placid grey surface. A gaggle of Canada geese swim lazily, honking at each other. As park manager Bill Prevost pulls up on the beach in a golf cart, he nods at the birds with a wink.

“Did we tell you about the rule?” Prevost quips. “If you come here, you have to take four geese back with you.”

No more playing around, make 30 km/h school zones permanent

Winnipeg has already decided that 30 kilometres per hour is the right speed around schools.

It’s time to stop pretending that decision should expire every summer.

The city’s reduced school-zone speed limits returned Tuesday, a full week before the 2026-27 school year begins. They apply on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., from Sept. 1 until July 1.

Then, for two months, they disappear.

Canada’s first drive-thru-only McDonald’s opens in Winnipeg

One Grimace and dozens of smiles were on display Wednesday as McDonald’s staff and supporters celebrated the grand opening of the fast-food chain’s first drive-thru-only restaurant in Canada.