Cyndi & Cher

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.

Mayoral candidates’ promises worthless without price tags, payment plans

Winnipeg’s mayoral candidates have plenty to say about what they want to do for the city. But there’s one question they haven’t answered very clearly: how much are they prepared to raise property taxes to pay for it?

It’s an important question, because almost everything candidates are promising — more police officers, better transit, safer buses, improved roads, expanded library hours and better-maintained infrastructure — costs money. And in a city with limited revenue sources and growing expenses, that money has to come from somewhere.

City hall can’t even pay for what it does now with existing revenues — it has been drawing down reserve accounts in recent years just to balance the books.

So far voters haven’t heard much — if anything — from candidates about what they would do with property taxes. Would they raise them every year? By how much? Would they freeze them? Cut them?

Police HQ inquiry final report will be released next week: Kinew

The final report of the public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters will be released next week, days before voters elect a mayor and city council, Premier Wab Kinew announced Thursday.

Hockey teams scramble after two city arenas put on ice

Instead of ice, Barry Bonni walks onto a dull concrete surface at the Terry Sawchuk Memorial Arena on Thursday.

The arena, as well as the West Kildonan Memorial Arena, have had to close after failing inspections. Predictably, the city’s hockey community is in a tailspin because ice time is so precious.

“We’re now in panic mode,” said Bonni, president of the River East Royal Knights on Thursday. The Sawchuk arena is the team’s home rink.

Bonni, who is a living legend in Manitoba’s hockey community, said the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League club is scrambling to find ice time.

NDP expects crypto, data centre electricity levy to shave about $50 annually off residential Hydro bills

Revenue from the province’s new electricity levy on cryptocurrency businesses and large AI data centres will go toward offsetting residential bills, rather than the coffers of cash-strapped Manitoba Hydro.

Winnipeg next stop on Martinook’s Meals with Marty series

A weekly lap around the NHL by Free Press hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

Jordan Martinook is hungry for more.

And who can blame the Brandon-born product? He got the ultimate taste of success last year in the form of a Stanley Cup championship, and he’s now seeking a second serving this season. His Carolina Hurricanes are off to a stellar start, carrying a 6-1-1 record into Canada Life Centre on Saturday afternoon to face the 4-1-2 Winnipeg Jets.

However, in this week’s column, we’re actually talking about food. Martinook has decided to add a little more to his plate by creating a new TikTok series called Meals With Marty in which he takes folks along for the ride as he and his teammates dine around the NHL.