2021 Countryfest to feature all-Canadian lineup

Take advantage of hydroelectric potential

Manitoba Hydro tells us that we are going to need significant new electricity generation over the coming decades.

Shelters overwhelmed as rising vet costs forcing some owners to surrender pets

In the fall of 2022, Tara Miller was faced with a difficult decision: keep her car or sell it to pay for a second knee surgery for her dog.

Ultimately, she needed her car to commute during the winter and decided to manage her dog Corby’s arthritis with medication and home therapy.

“Mentally it probably broke me,” said the 54-year-old.

While insurance covered two-thirds of the dog’s initial $6,000 surgery, Miller had to pay the remaining $2,000. That was on top of the $500 checkup before the surgery and the monthly $175 pet insurance premium.

City crews cleaning up drug paraphernalia, weapons having some impact on inner-city life

A three-person crew, employed by the city as part of its recently expanded proactive cleanup program, allowed the Free Press to follow along last week while they worked to make the Freight House Recreation Centre's property safe to play in.

Men accused in commercial break-in spree were wearing ankle bracelets

Two men in electric ankle bracelets who were being monitored by justice officials have been accused in a two-month spree of commercial break-ins, vehicle thefts and other property crimes.

City police have charged one of the suspects and are searching for the second.

About $140,000 worth of property, including trailers, lawn equipment, motorcycles and bicycles, was reported stolen in 13 incidents in Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Headingley between April 20 and June 28, the Winnipeg Police Service said.

Both suspects were wearing electronic monitoring bracelets during that time.

Trustees call for e-scooter safety education

School trustees are calling on the province to bolster public education around e-bike and e-scooter safety ahead of back-to-school season.

The Manitoba School Boards Association brought members’ concerns about a growing number of students using electronic devices to get to and from classes to the education minister’s office this month.

“There’s a concerning lack of safety knowledge on the part of Manitoba youth,” executive director Alan Campbell said.

Campbell, a long-time trustee in the Interlake School Division, resigned from elected office this summer to run the association that mobilizes school boards and provides them with labour relations support.

TV that waxes poetic, vacations hard, reminisces

The summer TV drawer is nearly empty, but here is a varied platter of viewing suggestions to amuse through to September, including: travelling with an epic poem, a group vacation, an anniversary reflection on the Tragically Hip (sob), a missing-child crime thriller and the return of a fictional talk-show host.

● Richard E. Grant’s Very Modern Odyssey

Documentary series streaming on CBC Gem

Sidestepping the argumentative hubbub about a new translation of Homer’s epic poem vs. old, and whose biceps Matt Damon wears in Christopher Nolan’s big-screen The Odyssey, consider this luscious travelogue, hosted by Richard E. Grant (Withnail and I). Beauty is beauty.