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Mayor proposes city take on more debt to save tree budget

Mayor Scott Gillingham is proposing the city take on more debt to avoid trimming its tree-planting budget.

In a motion at Thursday’s city council meeting, the mayor notes a boost in water and sewer revenues, reported earlier this year, helped the city cover a greater portion of major sewage upgrades without debt. That change added $48 million to the city’s debt capacity.

Gillingham is now calling for the city to use some of that debt room to avoid the cut, which aimed to fill an unexpected budget gap.

The Manitoba government recently directed the city to spend an additional $1.236 million of its provincial “strategic infrastructure basket” funding on the Assiniboine Park Conservancy Journey to Churchill exhibit. City finance officials recommended transferring some tree funding to fill that gap, and council’s executive policy committee voted in favour of the plan on July 7.

Super-Spike volleyball tourney returns for 24th year

It’s that time of the year again for Manitobans to participate in an iconic summertime event. Super-Spike is back and better than ever with a whopping 3,100-plus players — the most the event has had since 2017.

Taking place at Maple Grove Rugby Park this upcoming weekend from July 17-18, volleyball players of all levels of experience will be bumping at the outdoor courts in hopes of dusting off their skills or to simply have a little fun in the sand.

Greg Paseshnik, the events general manager, could not be more excited for this years tourney.

“Super-Spike is in year 24 now which is hard to believe,” Paseshnik said. “I still think it’s one of Winnipeg’s best kept secrets.”

Nine years for man who kidnapped delivery driver

A delivery driver was kidnapped after the break-up of a business partnership involving “grey-market vapes” that were sold at Winnipeg convenience stores, a Manitoba judge has been told.

The Winnipeg Police Service said last week that investigators recently arrested a third suspect in the Oct. 11, 2024 incident, in which three men are accused of kidnapping the 22-year-old driver and holding him at gunpoint for hours as they stole merchandise from a storage facility.

One of the men arrested, 43-year-old Jonathon Ranger, pleaded guilty earlier this year to forcible confinement and two offences related to the stolen gun that was found when he was arrested in December 2024.

In June, he was sentenced to nine years in prison, minus time served, based on a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence as part of a plea bargain.

WestJet cabin crews issue warning

Travellers leaving Winnipeg got an unexpected view Tuesday — a line of silent WestJet flight attendants, wearing sunglasses and holding signs protesting unfair wages.

“Ready to Strike” and “Unpaid Work Won’t Fly!” boards faced passersby hurrying into the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport’s departures level.

Some 66 Manitoba-based WestJet workers stood silently outside the terminal for a half-hour, before noon.

Elsewhere, their colleagues cast strike votes. Some 4,400 flight attendants across Canada began voting July 9; the vote closes Wednesday.

Manitobans on hook for $40M in unpaid medical bills racked up by non-Canadians

Manitoba Nurses Union president calls the amount “shocking.”

Report calls for schools to add more ‘sensory rooms’

Manitoba schools are being urged to set up more “sensory rooms” and use the spaces — which can feature mood lighting, flexible seating and fidget toys — to address growing concerns about student outbursts and related injuries.

A new report from the Manitoba Federation of Labour is renewing calls to better protect educational assistants, teachers and other public-sector employees.

One of its 10 recommendations, published on Monday, focuses on tackling overcrowding in community facilities and establishing “safe spaces in schools to respond to violence.”

“It’s become the norm: kids having meltdowns that require you have to evacuate the classroom,” said Jane Allison, an educational assistant in Winnipeg.