Key West moves to ban sunscreens that could damage reefs

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.

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.

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.

What’s open, what’s closed, what’s up in Winnipeg on Terry Fox Day

The first Monday in August marks Terry Fox Day in Manitoba, honouring the legendary Canadian who was born in Winnipeg in 1958.