City making inroads on spring cleanup

The spring cleaning of Winnipeg is well underway to make the city ship-shape ahead of summer.

Street and sidewalk sweepers are making their way throughout the city, sucking up dust and sand left behind by winter weather. Water trucks douse the streets and sidewalks, so the sweepers have an easier time picking up winter’s waste.

Crews began the cleanup on April 19 and are expected to work for the next six weeks or so, said Michael Cantor, the city’s manager of street maintenance.

A thunderstorm Wednesday night forced crews to pause operations for 30 minutes for safety reasons, but they are still on track for the project, Cantor said.

Flood fears subside in Peguis, but community to ‘remain vigilant’

Peguis First Nation may avoid flooding this spring, but its chief says the community must remain vigilant.

Chief Stan Bird, in a social media message Thursday night, said it’s believed the Fisher River, which runs through the community, has crested.

“It could begin to recede over the next couple of days. The key word is ‘may,’” Bird said. “Out of an abundance of caution, we must remain vigilant. Basements can still flood, road access can still be affected, drinking water could be impacted and flood water from the south has not reached their full volume yet.”

Bird said Peguis got lucky after heavy precipitation forecast for the area this week didn’t materialize.

Justice Department drops criminal probe of Fed chair Powell, likely clearing the way for Warsh

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has ended its investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as his successor.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro said on X on Friday that her office was ending its probe into the Fed’s extensive building renovations because the Fed’s inspector general would scrutinize them instead.

The move could lead to a swift confirmation vote by the Senate for Warsh, a former top Fed official whom President Donald Trump, a Republican, nominated in January to replace Powell. Powell's term as chair ends May 15. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, had said he would oppose Warsh until the investigation was resolved, effectively blocking his confirmation.

Republicans praised Warsh during a Tuesday hearing even as Democrats questioned his independence from Trump, the lack of transparency around some of his financial holdings, and what they said was his flip-flopping on interest rates. Still, Trump's previous appointment to the Fed's board of governors, Stephen Miran, was approved by the full Senate just 13 days after his nomination.

Thrift store owners urge province to extend security rebate in wake of persistent theft, vandalism

Susan Lockhart and other volunteers who operate a charity thrift store in Winnipeg’s inner city fear recurring break-ins and vandalism — and the high cost of repairs — will force it to shut down.

Lockhart, the president of Just Like New to You, which donates proceeds to the HSC Foundation, is urging the Manitoba government to extend a security rebate program to non-profit thrift stores.

“Most of us are 100 per cent volunteer, 100 per cent donations and raising money for charities, and it’s just kind of a sad situation when we might have to end up closing our doors because of theft,” Lockhart said Thursday. “The last couple of years have been increasingly difficult.”

Just Like New to You, at 635 Portage Ave., near Sherbrook Street, has donated nearly $1 million to the HSC Foundation since it opened 21 years ago.

Brainstorming session proposes solutions to alarming rate of student absenteeism

Dante Taylor spent much of his early high school career ditching class — a routine occurrence outside of football season — to hang out at trap houses in Winnipeg.

“For so long, I just didn’t care,” the 16-year-old told an auditorium packed with 200 people, many of them principals and superintendents, at a summit on student absenteeism.

“It wasn’t something that seemed to be important to me because it didn’t seem to be important to anybody that I was around.”

Dante said his perspective changed recently, after meeting with a guidance counsellor, doing extensive self-reflection and enrolling in a physics course that he finds equally fascinating and challenging.

Nighthawks complete sweep

VIRDEN — They grow up so fast, don’t they?

The Niverville Nighthawks may be the newest kids on the Manitoba Junior Hockey League block. But they didn’t need much time to show they’re a force to be reckoned with.

A magical regular season — the second-best in league history, in fact — has been capped off with the prestigious Turnbull Cup.

Niverville finished off a four-game sweep of the Virden Oil Capitals Thursday night with an impressive 6-2 victory inside Tundra Oil and Gas Place.

Rural paramedics ‘burned out,’ union says; data shows job vacancies nearly doubled in two years

The shortage of paramedics in rural Manitoba is bad and getting worse, the union that represents them warned Thursday.

Vacancies of advanced, intermediate and primary-care paramedic positions hit 24.8 per cent in December, up from 14.5 per cent two years earlier, according to data the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals showed Thursday.

The union circulated a freedom of information request showing Shared Health data listing 151 vacant full-time equivalent positions in December, compared to 84 in December 2023.

“(Paramedics) are short-staffed. They are burned out and they are frustrated,” said Jason Linklater, the union’s president.

Accomplished curler Harris unable to land spot with women’s contender

BRIANE Harris was hopeful she’d land with a contender on the women’s circuit this off-season.

The four-time Scotties champion — who most recently played third for Kate Cameron — explored her options, but the ideal situation didn’t present itself.

Thankfully for the 34-year-old, she had an offer on the table from Kyle Doering to make the switch to mixed doubles. The pair of Manitobans recently announced they’re joining forces.

“I didn’t think I had any good (four-person) fits in the works, so I was like ‘You know what, let’s go with Kyle,’” Harris said Thursday.

Top Iran diplomat traveling to Pakistan for talks on ceasefire with US

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat on Friday headed to Pakistan, where officials have been trying to get the United States and Iran to convene for a second round of ceasefire negotiations.

The trip comes as much of the world is on edge over a war that has snarled crucial energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz, clouded the global economic picture and left thousands dead across the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that he was on his way to Pakistan, Oman and Russia on a trip focused on “bilateral matters and regional developments.”

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Araghchi’s trip and whether a U.S. delegation would also travel to Pakistan.

Bird Lake man says freeing moose from ice a ‘rush’

A Manitoba man says he’s honoured to have been able to help rescue a moose stranded in the ice in Nopiming Provincial Park.