Gallery: Historic NDP win in Manitoba By: Winnipeg Free Press Posted: 12:30 AM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023

STARS moves to Brandon to fill gap after Dauphin hospital closes

STARS air ambulance’s operations are being temporarily relocated from Winnipeg to Brandon to help out in the region after an area hospital was forced to shutter due to flooding.

The Prairie Mountain Health region said the move is expected to reduce transport and response times for patients requiring rapid escalation to higher levels of care.

The Dauphin Region Health Centre was forced to evacuate its patients and close on July 1 after the region experienced severe flooding.

The hospital’s basement flooded and power was knocked out, which caused significant damage to the facility’s HVAC system. Fifty-four patients were sent to nearby health centres, including 24 patients who were transferred to the Brandon hospital.

Fringe reviews #16: I need an extra show

Filthy Fakespeare, Just You and Me, The Review, Serious Comedy, This Is, You Are Happy, Real Grilfriend, Push Your Wheelchair

Safe-walks program around downtown venues to launch after pleas from WSO performers

The city will provide safe walks and patrols will be increased around downtown arts venues in response to performers and staff feeling unsafe while working in the inner city.

The safety measures are part of the new Performing Arts Wayfinder Program, which will use $100,000 in funding from the mayor’s office for two additional Downtown Community Safety Partnership staff members to focus on safe walks and patrols for performers, audience members and staff.

The program is scheduled to begin in September and run through June 2027.

The initiative comes after members of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra reached out to Mayor Scott Gillingham in a letter outlining their concerns about safety for musicians, other staff and their patrons.

Gallery: Historic NDP win in Manitoba

After months of speculation, numerous speeches, a few polls and many advertisements in both newspapers and social media, the New Democratic Party of Manitoba has won the province’s 43rd general election and tossed the Progressive Conservative government out after seven years in power.

Homeless standstill can’t be addressed until province, city collaborate

What we have here is a basic failure to understand the dynamics of homelessness.

Last week, the Free Press documented the friction between Osborne Village residents and business owners and homeless individuals seeking refuge at Oak Table, a drop-in centre that provides food, shelter from the heat and cold, and access to social services.

Oak Table operates out of space in St. Augustine Church, located on River Avenue just east of Osborne Street. The aforementioned residents and business owners, as well as employees of a daycare that operates out of the same church, all expressed concerns about discarded drug paraphernalia, garbage and open drug use by the people visiting Oak Table.

It’s not hard to sympathize with people who are tired of dealing with this mess and mayhem. Still, it should be said that Oak Table, a private not-for-profit organization affiliated with an umbrella social services agency called 1JustCity, is not in the wrong place.