The Wrap: New health cards, liquor thefts, a Hydro conundrum, a new BDI and Mad Mike’s robot creations

Good evening.

To start off, a scheduling note: The Free Press will not publish a printed newspaper on Good Friday or Easter Monday. This newsletter will not be sent tomorrow.

However, we’ll have journalists hard at work, and you can check winnipegfreepress.com for the latest breaking news over the long weekend.

Wondering what else is open or closed on the long weekend? We’ve got you covered. Details on government services, transit, trash pickup, shopping and leisure activities here.

Here’s a look at what our newsroom has been working on today:

'Your health coverage shouldn’t rely on a torn, ripped-up health card'

The Manitoba government is planning to do away with paper health cards and switch to more durable plastic and digital ones.

The province said it expects to launch the new cards next year; details on material and design will be shared in the coming months. Funding for the cards has been allocated in the NDP government’s first budget, to be released Tuesday.

“Our budget will bring Manitoba into the 21st century with a plastic card and a digital option. It just makes sense,” said Premier Wab Kinew.

Kevin Rollason:

Province replacing paper health cards with plastic, digital options

The province is tearing up Manitobans’ paper health cards. “It’s 2024 — your health coverage shouldn’t rely on a torn, ripped-up health card,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said in a statement Thursda... Read More

'Restaurants are being targeted, one after another'

Frustrated restaurateurs say they’re seeing a spike in alcohol thefts due, in part, to the installation of controlled entrances at Liquor Marts to curb robberies there.

Some restaurant owners have spent tens of thousands of dollars to beef up security, while others struggle with higher insurance premiums after break-ins or vandalism.

And restaurants aren’t the only businesses facing a surge in crime. After a spike in shoplifting last year, police said thefts shifted from Liquor Marts to retail stores.

Chris Kitching:

Aggravation on menu for restaurateurs across city as pint-size pirates break in, steal booze

Elena Grande felt a sense of despair after thieves — possibly children — broke into her family’s River Heights restaurant and stole about a dozen bottles of alcohol this week. The theft from Mona L... Read More

'There’s no question that we need to find ways of building new capacity'

Manitoba Hydro has one of Canada’s cleanest electric grids, but a drought year coupled with high import costs has forced the Crown utility to turn to natural gas to meet demand.

Experts say the company needs to pursue alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar, and wean itself off fossil fuel as it prepares for a net-zero future.

Environment reporter Julia-Simone Rutgers reports on the Hydro conundrum.

Julia-Simone Rutgers:

Fossil fuel fouls clean-grid future

Manitoba Hydro can’t escape its emergency reliance on natural gas as demand ramps up for electric power Read More

'A great win'

Bridge Drive-In has a ‘Goog’ surprise for northern Winnipeg: a new location.

BDI aims to open its second ice cream shop before the May long weekend at the corner of Main Street and Jefferson Avenue.

The new site will differ slightly from the 67-year-old Winnipeg institution’s Jubilee Avenue eatery. Indoor seating, ice cream cakes and hard ice cream are on the agenda.

Gabrielle Piché:

BDI preps new Main Street location

Original menu on offer, ‘infrastructure in place’ to add hard ice cream Read More

'These little guys helped me to heal'

Know the idiom “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”?

That definitely rings true with Michael Beaudry, a West St. Paul resident who creates whimsical, robot-like sculptures out of scrap metal and detritus he turns up here, there and everywhere.

David Sanderson:

Scrap-metal maestro

Mad Mike’s robot creations rise from the rubbish heap Read More