Mystery ingredient — chestnuts

Fringe reviews #15: Button-mashing mayhem

Babel, Chase Padgett, Dirk Darrow, The Glass Between Us, K-Tel Demon Hunters, Mr. Richard, Penny Ashton, Grant Canyon, Rocky Horror Show, Wisecracks for Weirdos

Winnipeg Fringe Festival: 2026 show reviews

Not sure what to see at this year's Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival? All of the Free Press’s reviews will be published here.  Find a show and click to read its review.

Four candidates at play in The Pas-Kameesak byelection

The number of voters who cast a ballot in advance indicates there’s more than the usual amount of interest in Tuesday’s provincial byelection in The Pas-Kameesak, political watchers say.

Elections Manitoba on Monday afternoon reported 1,772 votes cast in advance, with advance voting continuing until 8 p.m. at the local election office in The Pas. The final number of advance votes will be tallied and released Tuesday morning. By comparison, there were 1,826 advance votes cast in The Pas-Kameesak in the 2023 general election.

“Generally, the turnout in byelections is far less than in a general election,” said University of Winnipeg political science Prof. Malcolm Bird. “Usually it’s between 30 to 50 per cent of what would turn out in a general election.”

He said it’s interesting that a byelection that won’t change who’s in government has attracted so many people to vote in advance in the middle of summer.

Mosque’s restorative justice program helps newcomers find their way

The Masjid Bilal is a chunky grey building just off Logan Avenue surrounded by warehouses and railyards. It looks more like a bunker than a mosque.

But on a summer Friday afternoon, its green-and-white carpeted interior is humming with activity. Two men in white robes and flat woolen caps are seated on the carpet poring over a copy of the Qur’an. A few young boys dodge through hallways, poking curious noses into open doors. At the back, next to a table piled with prayer mats, two girls in hijabs share schoolyard gossip. In the kitchen, women are cooking up pots of rice and chicken for people who will soon arrive for Friday prayers.

The Masjid Bilal is a community hub for members of Winnipeg’s African diaspora as well as Muslims from many other countries.

It’s also home to the Bilal Community and Family Centre, an innovative, community-centred nonprofit that is meeting vital needs for newcomers in this city.

STARS moves to Brandon to fill gap after Dauphin hospital closure

STARS air ambulance’s operations are being temporarily relocated from Winnipeg to Brandon to help out in the region after an area hospital was forced to shutter due to flooding.

Prairie Mountain Health said in a notice Monday the move to the Brandon Airport is expected to reduce transport and response times for patients requiring rapid escalation to higher levels of care.

The Dauphin Regional Health Centre was forced to evacuate its patients and close its doors on July 1 after the region experienced severe flooding.

The hospital’s basement flooded and power was knocked out, which caused significant damage to the facility’s HVAC system. The hospital’s kitchen, laundry, pharmacy and equipment sterilization are located in the basement.

‘Heartbreaking loss’: Sandy Bay First Nation offers condolences after apparent dog attack

Leaders with the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation are offering their condolences after an animal rescue worker died following an apparent dog attack in the community and say the “stray and aggressive” animals are a longstanding issue.

Amanda Nobiss, 37, was volunteering in the community on the shores of Lake Manitoba with K9 Advocacy. Her remains were discovered on Friday morning.

The Manitoba First Nations Police Service said in a news release that it had been contacted by a friend of Amanda’s who was trying to locate her, around 12:45 a.m.

Using her cellphone location, police determined she appeared to be in Sandy Bay, said the release. Resources were dispatched to the area, including a drone, but due to the large radius of the cellphone “ping,” no one was located until 6 a.m.