Fate of books, reading and retailing appraised

Costco breaks ground on new West St. Paul store

Construction has begun on the American retailer's newest Manitoba location which developers expect will open in August 2027.

New Bannatyne eatery brings feast of Asian flavours

Matriarchal influences run deep at House of Ma Kitchen and Bar.

Executive chef Dom Merano took inspiration from his mom’s home cooking while developing the menu for the new Exchange District restaurant — specifically Cynthia Merano’s recipes for lumpia (Filipino spring rolls) and kare-kare (braised beef and peanut stew).

“It tastes like home,” Merano says of the dishes, adding that his mom “felt honoured to be able to share her cooking with people. She was actually here prior to opening helping me roll lumpia.”

Cynthia’s photo is hung among the “Wall of Mas” at the back of the restaurant, where the mothers and grandmothers of True Hospitality staff are given pride of place.

Liquor authority fines True North $12K after minors with fake ID served at Jets White Out party

True North Sports and Entertainment was hit with a $12,000 fine for serving minors with fake IDs during a Winnipeg Jets White Out street party in 2025.

Fate of books, reading and retailing appraised

We have nothing to fear but fear itself... and the bogeyman — which turns out to be the internet retail giant Amazon. That’s according to international journalist, novelist, book lover and reader extraordinaire, Jorge Carrión. Free Press books page readers may remember his last effort, Bookshops: A Reader’s History. It was a wonderful, poetic mash note. His new book continues in that vein with 19 recent essays.

Unlike most assaults on Amazon, and indeed most ideological differences these days, there is no ranting or sturm und drang denunciations. The subhead for the first essay reads, “Seven Arguments: A manifesto.” These include thoughts such as: Amazon is not a bookshop, it is a hypermarket; there is a distinction between a widget and a book; there are no booksellers on Amazon, and; I don’t want them spying on me.

Still, there is a choice to be made here, and Carrión recognizes the challenge, while remembering that bookselling is a blend of art and commerce. As he said at the end of his previous book, “We should not deceive ourselves: bookshops are cultural centres, myths, spaces for conversations and debate... but above all bookshops are for business.”

It was his essay on Amazon that led Canadian publisher Biblioasis to encourage Carrión to cull his latest Spanish writings, aided by translator Peter Bush. The topics here range from reading, to libraries public and private, bookstores and new technologies, as well as interviews, including one with author Alberto Manguel, with references to his time in Canada.

Rural Manitoba homeowner charged with shooting at accused thieves

A homeowner in southern Manitoba has been charged after he fired shots at a group of people accused of stealing from his property, police say.

Officers were sent to the Rural Municipality of Dufferin Saturday after a report of a theft in progress. RCMP said four people went to the property, located about 95 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, and returned later the same day driving two vehicles stolen from Watrous, Sask.

The owner of the property, a 66-year-old man, saw the suspects on a motion-activated camera and saw someone transferring fuel from a portable container into one of the stolen vehicles. The man confronted the group and fired shots towards the vehicles, police said.

Three people stayed at the scene until officers arrived and took them into custody, RCMP said. Various items believed to have been stolen from the property were found in the back of a truck. A fourth suspect fled in the other vehicle.