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The true costs of your pet — for everyone

Pets are a problem, but few will discuss the downsides of pet ownership.

Walk on Portage Avenue reveals difficult present, some cause for optimism

On a recent visit back to Winnipeg, I got to witness the multitudes of Portage Avenue.

From my Airbnb on Hargrave Street, I had the opportunity to do quite a bit of walking on Portage Avenue, from Portage and Memorial all the way down to the recently opened intersection at Portage and Main.

Along the way, I saw it all: huge and dynamic construction projects, persistent urban decay and the occasional oasis of revitalization.

All in the space of 10 blocks.

Police resuming drug-enforcement crackdown, working with outreach community

Winnipeg police are relaunching a drug enforcement campaign in some neighbourhoods Friday after they say a 10-day sweep led to more than 100 arrests and a drop in reported crime earlier this summer.

Police said the renewed initiative, targeting open drug use and trafficking, will continue into November with an outreach-first approach and a partnership with a coalition of community groups in response to criticism of the initial campaign.

“While there was a great deal of support for the enforcement actions we undertook to address public safety issues, there was also criticism about the lack of collaboration,” Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers told reporters.

“At that time, I acknowledged that community organizations should have been part of our efforts. Hence, we’re here today.”

Gilbert Plains Country Club closes for remainder of season due to flood damage

Scott McCallum has made the trek to the Gilbert Plains Country Club clubhouse countless times.

But this was the first time the golf professional and general manager of the course required hip waders to get to his office.

Walking hand in hand with his wife Lindsay, McCallum didn’t need much time to see the devastation caused by the flash flooding in the Parkland region in late June.

“We’re on a river and it’s a beautiful golf course, but anytime you’re on a body of water you know that you’re taking a chance of events like this happening,” McCallum said in a telephone interview. “To this magnitude, we’ve never seen anything like it before. So, this is new to us.

Leon’s Getting Larger and their tours are getting longer

Emo music was never just a phase for Nikola Boticki.

“It was people just saying the things I was feeling,” says the 26-year-old vocalist and guitarist. “Growing up, it’s kind of like, ‘I feel that way but I’m not going to say that out loud,’ so it was nice to hear someone say it.”

Boticki got into the punk subgenre near the end of his angsty high school years and his appreciation only grew while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The music inspired him to form his own emo band, Leon’s Getting Larger, with friends Luke Penner (vocals/drums) and Noah St Hilaire (bass).

Winnipeggers hoping for shorter waits in rural ERs delay care for all, Selkirk nurse says

Nurses and union leaders say Winnipeggers — who are frustrated with wait times at city hospitals — head to rural emergency rooms instead, but the facilities don’t have enough staff to meet the extra demand.

As a result, patients in the Selkirk Regional Health Centre emergency department have waited up to 18 hours during peak times, said one nurse who works there.

The nurse, who spoke to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity, said in recent years they have noted more Winnipeg patients who’ve driven the 25 kilometres north to Selkirk’s ER, believing the wait for treatment would be shorter than in the three emergency departments inside the Perimeter.

“They’re all trying to access health care, right? And everybody deserves health care. And I feel bad, because people have to come out here thinking that the wait times are less,” the nurse said. “I can’t blame people for wanting to seek care, and they’re desperate to see someone.”