Mocha butterballs

Planned Elmwood Hub project combines 115 mixed-income housing units, social supports, programs

A long-awaited project will aim to add 115 new homes in Elmwood, with on-site social programs to support some of its more vulnerable residents.

Fatal stabbing of Ukrainian newcomer left family shattered

A man who fatally stabbed a Ukrainian newcomer in “a random, unprovoked, and senseless act of violence” on the street has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.

Ethan Gladu, 22, was found guilty of manslaughter in February in the December 20, 2023 killing of Ivan Rubanik, a 46-year-old father of two who had fled to Canada for a better life with his family several months before.

Gladu, then 19, randomly stabbed Rubanik shortly before 8 a.m., near Talbot Avenue and Watt Street, as the victim was walking to work that morning. He died of blood loss soon after.

“The people of Winnipeg, or any community, should feel confident that they can go about their business, walk to work, support their family, and carry on with their lives without being attacked,” said Court of King’s Bench Justice Kenneth Champagne on Thursday afternoon as he sentenced the killer.

Zoo caring for orphaned polar bear cub

The Assiniboine Park Zoo is caring for an orphaned polar bear cub that arrived from Churchill Thursday after conservation officers determined it was incapable of surviving on its own.

The officers found the bear’s dead mother.

Orphaned cubs have a high mortality rate, and a medical team was quickly sent to Churchill to support the cub’s initial needs, the zoo said in a media release.

The team arrived in Winnipeg late Thursday night.

Finish summer strong with these fun, relaxing options

Late summer can feel neither here nor there.

As on a Sunday night, a certain back-to-school or -work melancholy sets in. The big Manitoba festivals have come and gone. You’re starting to take a reckoning of all the craft beer and food-truck calories you’ve sopped up for two months, without having done as much hiking, canoeing or yard work as you promised yourself.

The wind begins breathing threats of fall, but the golden colours, jack-o’- lanterns and corn mazes aren’t here yet to reassure you of fall’s dusky pleasures. Instead, on a perfect 22 C day, you find yourself having flashbacks of Winnipeg winter nights colder than Mars.

Are we being overly depressing? Absolutely.

City blames bad weather for creating new sinkhole on Sturgeon Creek path

After a massive water-filled hole on a Sturgeon Creek active-transportation pathway took more than a year to fix, a new sinkhole has opened nearby.

In June 2023, the Free Press reported on a gaping depression stretching seven metres long, three metres wide and up to a metre deep that opened on a pathway leading to a playground on Amarynth Crescent near the Sturgeon Creek active-transportation route. The city finally made repairs in October 2024.

Now, about 12 metres away from that spot, a new crater has appeared.

The hole, about three metres long and 2.5 metres wide, has been blocked off using metal rods and plastic netting, but resident Philip Kaban said the opening is getting larger.

Mocha butterballs

Berenice Keryluk of Winnipeg offers a family cookie recipe that her son requests every Christmas. These mocha treats are rich and tender -- a bit like Mexican Wedding Cakes -- but with a terrific jolt of chocolate and coffee.