Renée Fleming cancels Kennedy Center appearances

Gerdau recycling workers on strike

Workers behind recycling operations for Selkirk’s steel mill walked off the job last week, calling for higher wages.

Unionized members voted to strike July 23, with a 92 per cent mandate. Months of bargaining hasn’t produced a new deal, said United Steelworkers Local 8740. The union represents 78 members striking at Gerdau AmeriSteel Manitoba Metals recycling plant.

“We’re not being recognized for the amount of work we’ve been doing,” Andrew Sealey, acting president of the local, said Thursday. “The mill is a sensational beast … We’ve got to feed her all the time, and she’s always hungry.”

The scrap metal inspected and unloaded at the recycling facility is used in steel mill operations.

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.

RCMP charge N.D. man after driver flees Emerson border crossing

A North Dakota man faces a string of charges after police say he fled the Emerson border crossing, leading RCMP on a pursuit along Highway 75.

Emerson RCMP were notified just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday that a man entering Canada from North Dakota had sped away from the port of entry after Canada Border Services Agency officers flagged him for a secondary screening.

Officers from several RCMP detachments and the Integrated Border Enforcement Team were sent to Highway 75.

Police said Morris RCMP tried unsuccessfully to stop the vehicle south of the town. Police later blocked Highway 75 at Provincial Road 210, but said the driver went around police vehicles, drove through a ditch and narrowly missed an officer before continuing north toward Winnipeg.

Teenage e-scooter driver in critical condition after crash

A teenager riding an e-scooter suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by an SUV in southwest Winnipeg on Monday night.

Witnesses provided first aid to the injured rider, who police said is under 18, after the collision happened at Waverley Street and Arbour Meadow Gate/Lake Crest Road at about 9:30 p.m.

“It feels like it happened in slow motion,” said driver Audrey Vanderspek, who was waiting at a red light when she witnessed the incident. “Maybe it’s because you’re helpless, that it just feels like everything slows down in the moment.”

Police said the electric scooter rider was crossing Waverley and was hit by a southbound 2010 Honda CR-V. The posted speed limit on that stretch of Waverley is 70 kilometres per hour.

Manitobans mostly optimistic about time change

Turning the page on turning back the clocks in Manitoba was met with enthusiasm — and some hesitation — Thursday.

Calling the move “perfect,” the general manager of Larters at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club said a switch to permanent standard time would have hurt men’s and women’s golf leagues.

The course could have tried to open an hour earlier, but some after-work leagues may have been forced to cancel owing to not enough daylight.

“It would get dark too early and people can’t leave work early to go play an hour earlier,” said Geoff Kehler. “It would have been really bad for the business.”

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.