New Music / NEIL YOUNG / Le Noise (Warner)

Four councillor candidates vie for wide-open Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry ward

One of Winnipeg’s most densely populated wards is up for grabs come election day.

Four candidates are in the running in Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry, with the councillor position wide open after area Coun. Sherri Rollins announced in July she would be withdrawing her candidacy.

Journalist Brook Jones, hospitality worker and union organizer Carson Mauthe, city planner Jeff Palmer and retired finance worker Kevin Stuart have thrown their hats in the race.

Palmer has worked as a city planner for more than 20 years, in both the non-profit and private sectors, including CentreVenture and the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation.

New twist in Hellebuyck saga, suspension ends Friday

Connor Hellebuyck has played the reverse Uno card. What we don’t know is if he has any intention of coming back to friendly Manitoba or if this is simply the latest attempt to put the Winnipeg Jets' feet to the flames in an effort to move him to an American market.

De Havilland calls for national water bomber fleet as it scrambles to meet demand

MONTREAL - On July 13, a pair of Canadair water bombers touched down on the Seine River, skimming along its surface to refill their water tanks as they battled a wildfire south of Paris.

The "super scoopers," with their signature ketchup-red wing tips on a mustard-yellow body, sucked up 6,000-plus litres from France’s most famous waterway in one go as part of a fight against the flames then rampaging across Europe.

The event in north-central France underscored how wildfires are ranging even farther from their traditional grounds and fuelling an urgent need for water bombers to fend off climate disasters.

The iconic Canadair turboprops serve as the only amphibious firefighting aircraft currently in production built from the outset for that purpose, rather than being retrofitted to douse flames.

Inconsistency plagues Bombers as season hangs in balance

It’s reached a point where members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers can no longer hide their frustration.

They’ve been inconsistent all season, and it caught up with them again Friday at Commonwealth Stadium in a 35-27 loss to the Edmonton Elks.

The Bombers (8-9) could’ve clinched a playoff berth with a win. With both the Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-8) and Calgary Stampeders (9-9) winning Saturday, Winnipeg must now beat the B.C. Lions (10-7) in Vancouver on Friday to qualify for the post-season.

Meanwhile, the Elks improved to 13-4 and secured first place in the West Division for the first time since 2015.

New Music / NEIL YOUNG / Le Noise (Warner)

The title alone gives you a warning that Neil Young's latest isn't going to be an easy listening experience. This isn't Young as a folkie, nor is it the distorted rock 'n' roller who hangs out with Crazy Horse -- this is a whole different Young, one armed with just a guitar, his well-worn warble and a studio of effects.

The eight tracks on Le Noise are filled with looped vocals, layers of guitars, fuzz, drone and echo all manipulated by producer Daniel Lanois. Underneath the mayhem is a brutally honest album with Young laying his soul bare. On Love and War, one of two acoustic tracks, he admits, "When I sing about love and war/I don't really know what I'm saying." Hitchhiker, originally written in the early 1990s, is an autobiographical tune that takes us on a walk down memory lane, from becoming famous to what drugs he used to deal with it. Walk With Me shows off his romantic side, along with Sign of Love, about with his 32-year marriage. Rumblin' finishes things off on an ominous note as Young looks at climate change.

The experimental nature of the music doesn't mean he's forgotten about melodies, because no matter what Lanois is doing, he and Young understand the hook is king and Le Noise if full of them. 4 stars

-- Rob Williams

Disgraced ex-dean landed job at German university after fleeing Winnipeg

Before he was arrested in a posh Paris suburb, the disgraced dean of Manitoba’s only law school — who fled the country following a 2020 expense scandal — kept a low profile at a German university.