Author: ‘Game of Thrones’ finale was ending, also beginning

Reading the city in its buildings

Cities reveal what they value. Their buildings are the evidence.

Long after today’s debates have ended, buildings remain. They record what a community believed was worth building, what it considered beautiful, what it chose to preserve — and, perhaps most revealingly, what it allowed to disappear. Architecture is history written in brick, stone, concrete, glass, steel and wood.

Architecture is not only about the past. It is also about the future. Every building we preserve, every building we construct and every building we demolish says something about who we are — and what kind of city we hope to become. Our built environment forms part of our collective cultural memory. It tells the story of where we have been while shaping where we are going.

A city is a manuscript that every generation revises. Our responsibility is to leave the next chapter better than the one we inherited.

What's Up: Breweries party, Stellar, Ballet in the Park, Perlage: A Métis Voyage, the art of motorcycles, Fringin’

Better TogetherSookram’s Brewing Co. (479-B Warsaw Ave.) and Low Life Barrel House (398 Daly St. N.)Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.FreeA pair of neighbouring Winnipeg craft breweries are teaming up for a party Saturday with plenty on tap — including a collaborative beer release.

Low Life Barrel House and Sookram’s Brewing Co. are again joining forces for Better Together, a celebration of both breweries, on Saturday starting at noon. On tap for the festivities: drink specials, a scavenger hunt run, live music, brewery bingo, DJs and food by Big Dawg and Low Life’s own Snack Häus.

And then there’s the beer. The breweries have teamed up on a collaborative brew called Better Together, a pale ale made collaboratively using house yeasts from both breweries. It will be available at both breweries, who are also hosting each others’ beers on their respective taps alongside their own (and even doing some custom blends).

Thirsty Winnipeggers need not worry about driving from place to place — a trolley will be running between the facilities throughout the event, which is free and open to all ages (there will be games for the younger guests and plenty of non-alcoholic options).

Landlord miffed after city orders cleanup of riverside homeless camp

A West Broadway landlord is angry the City of Winnipeg has ordered him to clear away a homeless encampment from his riverfront property or have the cleanup cost added to his property tax bill.

Marvin Sharp, CEO of Astroid Management Ltd., which manages the Pen-Eve Apartments at 35 Balmoral St., said the city is forcing private property owners to deal with a problem they didn’t create.

“This is kind of like the neighbours throwing their garbage over the fence, every single day, and the city’s saying, ‘You have to go clean this up, but we’re not going to go tell the neighbour to stop doing that,’” Sharp said. “What do you want me to do here? You’ve got a serious problem here. We’re not talking about someone throwing garbage on the ground. We’re talking about encampments.”

Sharp said he received a city compliance order dated July 10, which was viewed by the Free Press. It says a bylaw officer observed “an accumulation of garbage” on the property, including abandoned goods of manufacture, tents and unattended shopping carts.

A foodborne parasite and government efficiency

Week-long explosive diarrhea. There. Now that we’ve got your attention, here’s a cautionary tale about red-tape reduction and public health.