Coast Guard retiring key ocean science vessel, replacement delayed yet again

Opera group hits pub to stage shows for sophisticated palates

Opera’s famous drinking songs — La Traviata’s Brindisi, Don Giovanni’s Fin ch’han dal vino, Carmen’s Votre Toast — tend to flow with references to women and wine, not beer.

But that hasn’t stopped Winnipeggers from sipping 1919s or Generics at local bar and brewery Little Brown Jug over the past few years to the strains of Verdi, Puccini and Mozart.

Currently in its eighth season, Opera by the Pint has its next LBJ event Wednesday at 7 p.m. (The artists also perform at the Public Brewhouse and Gallery in Steinbach at 7 p.m. on Thursday.)

This week’s program focuses on musical hits, while also featuring traditional Filipino ballads and Mexican art songs.

‘You vote with your bike’: cyclists celebrate freedoms, call for increased safety

Patty Wiens got dressed up in her sparkly, hot pink cowboy boots to pedal and talk politics with more than 100 other people on Sunday.

The founder of Winnipeg’s Fancy Women Bike Ride called on attendees of the 2026 event to ask candidates in the upcoming civic election — a half-dozen of whom were in attendance — about their active transportation platforms.

“We’re here today, in an election year, to remind you that you vote with your bike,” Wiens told a crowd of nearly 120 cyclists gathered on the legislature grounds for the group ride.

“When (city council) candidates come to your door and ask what’s important to you, you’re going to say, ‘I want to ride my bike safely in the city. What are you going to do about it?’”

Men’s recovery home dedicated to ‘homeless hero’ Faron Hall’s memory

Faron Hall never got the chance to begin recovery. Once heralded as Winnipeg’s “homeless hero” after twice plunging into the Red River to save strangers from drowning, Hall told St. Boniface Street Links executive director Marion Willis shortly before his death in 2014 that he wanted help for his alcoholism.

Take advantage of hydroelectric potential

Manitoba Hydro tells us that we are going to need significant new electricity generation over the coming decades.

Hydro, like every other utility in the world has recognized this fact. Around the world, new generating capacity is being built. Countries that have access to hydroelectric potential are building dams and planning for the future. Other countries, without the natural advantage rivers provide, are building nuclear energy capacity. And yes, in almost all those countries solar and wind generating capacity are being developed as quickly as possible.

All that additional energy capacity is needed to fuel our endless need for technology, data storage and a thousand other things. Quickly moving to electric vehicles from combustion engines will also drive up demand.

Although it is tempting to think that ever larger and better battery storage will help, it will only help in how energy is distributed. The introduction of more and better battery storage is not likely to limit the total demand for energy. The enthusiasm for battery storage is understandable, but it is certainly possible that battery storage will effectively increase our use of energy, simply because it can be so reliably accessed from our battery storage systems.

A better approach, but not yet enough

In late June, when the Winnipeg Police Service launched a 10-day ‘crackdown’ on open drug use and illegal drug sales in areas in and around downtown, it did so without consulting or informing community outreach and social services agencies working in the targeted areas.

Inevitably, the WPS action drew criticism from several front-line agencies, which issued a collective statement just two days after the police operation began, pointing out that heavy-handed policing would drive vulnerable people away from the help they desperately need.

“Every day we work to build trust with people who have experienced trauma, discrimination, and barriers to care,” Kate Sjoberg, executive director of Resource Assistance for Youth, said at the time. “Actions that create fear around accessing services can undo months or years of relationship-building and place people at greater risk of preventable harm.”

At the time, WPS Chief Gene Bowers held up his hand and said, “That’s on me.”