Winnipeg animator turns ‘Are we there yet?’ into art

Amazon in the weeds over damage to tall grass reserve

Patricia Dutchak was devastated when she first saw the wide swaths of crushed grass and upturned soil at Winnipeg’s Rotary Prairie Nature Park, a municipal heritage site.

“This is a very rare ecosystem, a remnant of tall grass prairie, there’s barely any left in the world, and to come here and see all this damage was heartbreaking,” Dutchak, chair of the Transcona Rotary Club’s parks committee, says.

The club is responsible for maintaining the protected green space, which was significantly damaged this summer when a fence between the park and the neighbouring Amazon distribution centre was relocated.

The 20-acre nature preserve is situated on a narrow tract of land on Regent Avenue West in the commercial heart of Transcona. The park received its municipal heritage designation in 1992 and is, today, surrounded by high-traffic streets, industrial warehouses and car dealerships.

Michael Douglas comes to terms with fears, fame, father

NEW YORK — Michael Douglas, the award-winning actor and producer, recently turned 82. He is a cancer survivor, a recovered addict, a married man, the father and son of actors.

He is also an author, who begins his memoir with a message of thanks to his family — past and present and future — for the “sense of immortality.”

“Many times my father was asked, ‘Kirk, are you jealous of your son?’” he said during a recent interview at a Manhattan hotel, referring to his late father, fellow actor and sometime combatant Kirk Douglas.

“And he said, ‘Jealous?’ This is a sense of immortality, a continuity of generations.’”

Whistleblower pharmacist fined for misconduct after complaint

A Manitoba pharmacist who made complaints against a colleague that led to sanctions against him has now also been fined due to her own conduct.

Police seize cocaine valued at $1.5M, about $750K in cash in raid on St. Vital house

A St. Vital homeowner and her husband were going about their business during an afternoon last month when police officers in tactical gear suddenly appeared, walking across their front lawn.

The target was a few doors down: a maroon bi-level home on a quiet stretch of Satinwood Place, within earshot of children playing outside at a nearby school.

The homeowner, who asked not to be named to protect their privacy, said the police presence caught the couple by surprise in the Southglen neighbourhood, where they weren’t accustomed to seeing that kind of activity.

“We never heard the (police) cars pull up, but there were cars blocking the entrance to the street from both sides,” said the neighbour. “They had a shield, a battering ram — everything. Just not used to seeing that.”

Alzheimer’s has sent my mother back in time

My mother does a lot of time-travelling — time-shifting, the Alzheimer’s Society calls it.

Mayoral candidates Klein, Vogiatzakis continue to snipe over inducement allegations

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Mike Vogiatzakis told reporters Monday he will contact the city clerk to report his allegation that rival Kevin Klein offered him a job to drop out of the race.

Vogiatzakis and Klein both doubled down a day after accusing each other of offering the other a position at city hall, if they were victorious in the Oct. 28 election, in exchange for a withdrawal.

“Do I want to get him charged? Not really. I don’t want to destroy anybody’s life,” Vogiatzakis told reporters.

“Kevin’s a good guy. I thought he was a friend of mine, but he’s not. Kevin uses leverage to get ahead, and he tried to use me as leverage.”