US warns docs not to abruptly halt opioid pain treatment

A small step among troubling signs

There’s no getting around the fact — to many people, downtown Winnipeg is unsafe. Period.

Letters, July 28

Thank you for sharing the news of Blizzard’s passing. I walked the path (near the bison enclosure) many early mornings and was always compelled to say “Salaamelykun” (“Peace be with you’) to him. He would often walk to the wire fence, and we would just look at each other.

Anishinaabe Days teepee poles vandalized

An act of vandalism to a teepee at the Treaty One Development Corp’s Anishinaabe Days did not stop the celebrations from continuing over the weekend.

Someone deliberately cut the poles used to erect the site’s teepee before the event began, Treaty One executive director Jason Whitford said Sunday.

The family responsible for overseeing the teepee and its construction at the site, Naawi-Oodena  on Kenaston Boulevard, went to the site on Friday to erect the teepee when they noticed someone had taken a saw and cut all 15 of its poles in half.

“They were stored in a safe place, and they were stored properly as per protocol,” Whitford said. “They were in an area where there was no construction so they were isolated from any activity.”

Visitors from across Canada make Somerset restaurant’s social media challenge a success

There may not be another restaurant in Manitoba that can say it has welcomed visitors from as many communities across the province and beyond as the Somerset Food Bar & Lounge has this summer.

In just over a two week span, visitors from more than 100 towns have come out to the family-owned restaurant tucked away in Somerset, a community of roughly 450 people in the Pembina Valley 130 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

It started as a challenge, “60 Towns in 60 Days,” where the restaurant wanted to document how many different places they could reach, as it often sees people travelling across Canada stop at the restaurant. The goal was also to encourage people to make a drive they normally wouldn’t.

“The more we started sharing, the more people really started getting behind it, and it turned into this really big thing fairly quickly,” said Jay Friesen, restaurant manager.

US warns docs not to abruptly halt opioid pain treatment

WASHINGTON - U.S. health officials Tuesday warned doctors not to abruptly stop prescribing opioid painkillers to patients who are taking them for chronic pain ailments, such as backaches.

The Food and Drug Administration said it will add advice to labels on how to taper opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and dozens of generic pills.

Federal and state officials have been fighting a nationwide opioid epidemic, which includes not only legal painkillers, but also illicit drugs like heroin and fentanyl. Fatal overdoses tied to opioids have dragged down U.S. life expectancy and killed more than 400,000 people since 1999, according to government figures.

The new label will warn doctors that rapidly discontinuing opioids in patients who are dependent on them can cause withdrawal symptoms including uncontrolled pain, nausea, chills and anxiety. In the worst cases, these problems have been tied to suicide.

An eroding Winnipeg neighbourhood looks to new foundations

The lot Jesse Bettcher lives on in Winnipeg's North End used to be a pile of burnt rubble. Same with the one next door. And the one across the street. But he's now the proud owner of a two-storey house with blue-grey siding and white trim.