Largest T. rex skeleton has new display at Chicago museum

Culture minister’s pledge sends officials on hunt for money to fix Islamic centre after apparent hate crime

Government officials were left scrambling Friday to explain why the province is paying for repairs at a mosque recently targeted in a potential hate crime after a $1 million security enhancement fund was fully allocated in June.

On eve of Folklorama, Ghana pavilion scrambles to replace stolen outfits

Volunteers from Folklorama’s Ghana pavilion scrambled to replace cultural costumes for about 40 young dancers after the outfits were stolen in Winnipeg days before the annual festival begins.

Two plastic storage bins containing the costumes, to be worn by children and teenagers, were taken from the trunk of a parked car on Banning Street, near Notre Dame Avenue in the West End, likely late Wednesday or early Thursday.

“I felt sad that this has happened. I felt completely devastated for the mother who had them in her car,” said pavilion co-ordinator Abigail Larson. “The initial feeling of sadness changed to, ‘OK, how do we make this a positive?’”

The costumes belong to the Ghana Union of Manitoba Dancers, whose members have rehearsed for months for Folklorama, which begins Sunday.

Long journey to home ownership for Eritrean couple

Solomon Ghebru and his family have been building a life together in Winnipeg for the past three years after years of living apart in various countries. Now, they are working toward a new goal: owning a home.

Their story is the focus of this year’s Habitat for Humanity Manitoba Cycle of Hope fundraising ride, a seven-day cycling event through southern Manitoba that begins Monday. The ride aims to raise $150,000 to support Ghebru, his wife, Mehret Awate, and their two daughters as they work toward affordable homeownership.

The couple’s journey to Canada started in Eritrea, where they grew up and attended the same church together. They left Eritrea separately, hoping to build a better life together out of the country. Ghebru travelled through Sudan and Libya before reaching Malta, while Awate travelled to Sudan and then Uganda.

After he found work in Malta, he tried to have his family join him, but government policies prevented them from reuniting. The couple married in Uganda in 2016, and their first daughter, Peniel, was born there the following year.

Giant Tiger decision creates giant void for desperate population

A lot of Winnipeggers may shrug, but the end of Giant Tiger’s downtown store is a giant problem for many of the people living in the centre of the city.

It would have been difficult for anyone going into or passing by the Canadian discount chain’s Donald Street and Ellice Avenue location Thursday to miss the red notices posted on the store’s windows advising it will close on Nov. 7.

According to a 2024 Downtown Winnipeg BIZ report, about 18,000 people live in Winnipeg’s downtown.

More than 60,000 people work there, and some days — when there’s a big concert or the Jets play at Canada Life Centre, for example — the number of people spending time in the area increases significantly.

Manitoba Hydro expects storm-related power outages to be repaired Saturday

As Manitoba Hydro crews work to restore the last pockets of power following this week’s severe storms, some Winnipeg residents say the prolonged outages left them effectively stranded, unable to safely leave their apartments or charge essential mobility devices.

More than 30,000 Manitoba Hydro customers lost power after powerful storms swept across southern Manitoba Wednesday and Thursday, bringing down trees and power lines. Environment and Climate Change Canada recorded wind gusts of 133 km/h in Brandon, 113 km/h in Souris and 91 km/h in Winnipeg, along with more than 2,900 lightning strikes within 50 kilometres of the city.

In an update posted to social media Saturday morning, Manitoba Hydro said about 500 customers remained without power. The utility said it hoped to restore all remaining storm-related outages later in the day.

“Right now, we’re prioritizing customers that have been out the longest,” the post reads. “The final restoration work will still take time, in part because we’re dealing with small, localized outages and need to travel across a widespread area.”

Stampeding to Starlette’s

ELMA — Build it and they will come.

Lee and Star Giesbrecht are the owners of Starlette’s Burger Saloon, a western-themed, outdoor eating spot situated on the married couple’s 40-acre spread, immediately north of Elma.

Seated at one of a half-dozen picnic tables that dot the grounds, Star recalls a conversation she and Lee had prior to the May 2025 grand opening of their locale, which, with its weathered-wood exterior and rustic swinging doors, wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Yellowstone.

Because they are “literally in the middle of nowhere,” Star says Lee thought it would be advantageous to mount a TV in one corner of the kitchen, for those occasions when they’d be twiddling their thumbs for hours on end, with little to do.