Residents fear mailbox crime sprees

Some North End residents are concerned new community mailboxes will become a target for vandalism and crime after the base of one was recently lit ablaze — before it was even installed.

The community mailboxes started to show up on Andrews Street within the last two weeks. Some have been installed, while at other locations, only the concrete foundation is in place.

“They just dumped them on the boulevard,” said Stephen Giesbrecht, who lives beside one of the boxes in the St. John’s neighbourhood. “They dumped them on the corner and then they were gone.”

One of the concrete slabs has already played host to a fire and some of the hardware needed to install the mailbox melted.

Préserver à bout de bras

La Maison Gabrielle-Roy s’apprête à abattre trois ormes plantés devant le musée depuis 1905. Une décision prise à contrecœur pour assurer la sécurité du bâtiment et du voisinage, mais qui illustre surtout les défis financiers auxquels sont confrontés les petits organismes patrimoniaux, contraints de jongler entre entretien, programmation culturelle et ressources limitées.

Avec beaucoup de peine, la Maison Gabrielle-Roy va de l’avant pour faire abattre les trois ormes qui trônent devant le musée depuis plus d’un siècle.

Du fait de leur grand âge et de la météo difficile de ces derniers mois, c’est un peu dos au mur que le conseil d’administration a pris la décision de couper ces arbres.

Une décision jugée “très importante” par la présidente du CA Louise Plamondon.

Rail-traffic alert beacons, signs will give drivers chance to change routes, save time

A new rail-crossing alert system will help Winnipeg drivers avoid train delays.

Roadside TRAINFO beacons and digital message boards will now flash at locations prior to select rail crossings. They will alert drivers to approaching trains, with adequate time to let them choose an alternate route and avoid the wait.

The flashing beacons are now located at the following high train-traffic spots:

Pandora Avenue at Day Street, Redonda Street and Ravenhurst Street, to note trains at the Ravenhurst rail crossing north of Dugald Road.East and west of the multiple rail crossings on Marion Avenue between Archibald Street and Lagimodiere Boulevard, to note trains along the corridor.At the intersection of McGillivray Boulevard and Waverley Street, to note trains crossing McGillivray at Pembina Highway.Digital message sign boards will also be placed on Sterling Lyon Boulevard and Kenaston Boulevard to note when trains are present at the McGillivray/Pembina crossing.

Winnipeg’s postwar architecture well-documented by online archive

We live in a city rich with Chicago School high rises, mid-century modernism and much more. And, for the past three decades, Paul Clerkin has amassed arguably the most comprehensive archive of this architecture.

Wolseley residents put down roots to save elms

A neighbourhood group that raised thousands of dollars to inoculate publicly owned trees against Dutch elm disease hopes others will follow their lead.

WestJet ordered to scrap weight cap on power wheelchairs

WestJet is imposing an “undue barrier” on travellers living with a disability by effectively barring some power wheelchairs from its planes, says Canada’s transport regulator.

In a recent decision, the Canadian Transportation Agency said the country’s second-largest carrier must scrap its 300-pound weight cap on mobility aids before July 2027.

WestJet should use "spreader plates" to better distribute the wheelchair's weight in the cargo hold and arrange alternative travel with other airlines until then, the regulator said.

The case was brought before the transportation agency by Winnipeg resident Steven Fletcher, a former federal minister of state for transport, after he was stopped from flying with his custom wheelchair on a flight between Winnipeg and Toronto early last year.

Planned Elmwood Hub project combines 115 mixed-income housing units, social supports, programs

A long-awaited project will aim to add 115 new homes in Elmwood, with on-site social programs to support some of its more vulnerable residents.

Amazon set to expand drone delivery of lightweight packages to 500 US cities

Millions more people may be able to get smaller, lightweight Amazon packages delivered by drones by the end of the year under a plan the company announced Wednesday to expand the airborne shipping to suburban areas in nearly 500 U.S. cities.

Customers could receive the drone deliveries in as fast as 30 minutes, Amazon said in a news release. The drones can carry packages up to 5 pounds.

The plan will intensify the battle between Amazon and Walmart to provide consumers with the fastest delivery times. Both giants rely on a mix of drones and drivers to deliver everything consumers have ordered.

The goal is not necessarily about cutting costs by replacing drivers and trucks — and drones that can only carry one package at a time would have a hard time doing that. But instead, these companies are using drones as one tool to help keep customers happy with quicker deliveries, banking on a faster delivery system attracting more shoppers.

New exhibition offers up 125 different ways to look at Canada

As a curator and head of collections and exhibitions at WAG-Qaumajuq, Riva Symko has been contemplating landscapes in art for a long time. But living in an ever-changing and ever-threatened one has altered her perspective on them.

Before coming to Winnipeg, Symko and her husband lived in Anchorage, Alaska. One day, seven or so years ago, they were out hiking when a sudden thunderstorm rolled through — “which is very unusual in Alaska,” she says — sparking a forest fire that ended up raging out of control. That summer, the whole city, save for the ocean side, was surrounded by fire and blanketed with heavy smoke. Climate change was viscerally visible.

“And since then, I really haven’t been able to look at a beautiful landscape the same,” she says.

With Terra Cognita/Incognita, a new exhibition opening at WAG-Qaumajuq Wednesday night, Symko wants to inspire and challenge viewers to look at landscapes differently, too.

An elegy for the smalls

Dad's darkroom was a place of alchemy: dark except for the one red light that wouldn’t spoil the photographic paper, trays of developer and fixer and rinse water, the enlarger with its timer, a quiet darkened patch of peace.

Proposed Transcona development — which could add 20,000 people — gets thumbs down from residents

Dozens of Winnipeggers fear plans to make way for up to 20,000 more people to live in south Transcona would dramatically alter their neighbourhood and tie hefty fees for new services to their property titles.

If city council adopts the proposed South Transcona secondary plan, all future development applications would need to conform to its goals. The affected area is located south of Dugald Road, north of St. Boniface Road, east of Plessis Road and west of Murdock Road.

Homeowner Virginia Page Jähne fears the plan could add a massive tab to the title of her 4.3-acre property to cover services required for the development.

“My main concern is that they are wanting to put $1.4 million onto my title to pay for this. Now, they say that I will not have to pay it unless I subdivide. But if a person comes by and wants to buy from me … and they see that $1.4 million … what’s the first thing (they’re) going to do?” said Page Jähne, in an interview.

Revered Broadway rail anchors Winnipeg’s resilient skateboarding scene

The Woodsworth Building at the corner of Broadway and Kennedy Street is an accidental, unofficial mecca of Winnipeg skateboarding.

Unsafe conditions force Sea Bears, Honey Badgers into winner-take-all CEBL final in Winnipeg Saturday

BRAMPTON — The Canadian Elite Basketball League’s new Finals format lasted one minute and 46 seconds.

And it’s possible even that was too long.

What was supposed to be a historic best-of-three series between the Winnipeg Sea Bears and the Brampton Honey Badgers will now return to the league’s previous format of a single-game elimination. Wednesday’s Game 1 at the CAA Centre in Southern Ontario was cancelled shortly after tip-off due to condensation on the court, which made the playing surface unsafe for competition.

The championship will flip to the Manitoba capital for a single, winner-take-all contest at Canada Life Centre on Saturday (2:30 p.m.).

Federal government announces $34M to help communities cope with climate change

OTTAWA - The federal government is spending $34 million on projects to make Canadian communities more resilient to the effects of climate change.

The funds come as cities and towns across the country spend another summer battling extreme heat, wildfires, flooding and tornadoes.

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin made the announcement in Halifax Wednesday morning. The city is receiving nearly $800,000 to install cooling measures in its parks to help residents cope with extreme heat.

"Canada’s climate is changing. Our government is investing to make these communities more resilient, so that people are protected from flooding, extreme heat and other risks," Dabrusin said in a news release.

Governments pledge ‘storefront success’ with downtown grants

The city and province will provide $1.4 million to help spruce up downtown storefronts along and around Graham Avenue, a proposal met with mixed reviews by some businesses.

The “Storefront Success” program, launched Tuesday, aims to boost the appeal of one downtown area, with the two governments each covering half the cost.

“This undoubtedly helps businesses in this region. Having the ability to access some funding to help with the storefronts makes their businesses more attractive and more welcoming,” said Manitoba Business Minister Jamie Moses.

Eligible small- and medium-sized businesses located in the area bordered by Portage Avenue to the north, Hargrave and Donald streets to the east (excluding Canada Life Centre), St. Mary Avenue to the south and Vaughan Street to the west can now apply for grants of up to $200,000 each.

A Winnipeg home with a mountain view? You won’t find a real one, but AI-generated visual suggests otherwise

Manitoba’s mountain range peeked out behind a Scotia Street home.

At least, it did in a photo attached to a real estate listing for 232 Scotia St. in Winnipeg’s (flat) Seven Oaks neighbourhood.

Another picture — now removed — showed a cartoon cityscape viewable from the bungalow’s front porch.

Both photos had tags in their bottom left corners: “AI-generated content.”

Ducks Unlimited makes province’s largest-ever conservation-land purchase

A Manitoba landscape that helped save the Giant Canada goose from extinction has now been permanently protected in the province’s largest conservation land purchase in history.

‘Exciting news’ on rail relocation coming

Premier Wab Kinew is expected to make an announcement concerning long-awaited Winnipeg rail relocation later this week.

Former federal transport minister and Manitoba MP Lloyd Axworthy, who Kinew tasked in October 2024 with leading a two-year rail relocation feasibility study, confirmed there would be an announcement Wednesday.

“We’ve had this rail study group which I’ve chaired and we’ve been responsible for developing recommendations,” Axworthy said Monday.

The longtime champion for Winnipeg rail relocation, who is vacationing at his cottage on Lake Winnipeg, deferred to the premier’s office for information, but confirmed he will attend Wednesday’s news conference.

Take a hike... or a bike ride on these Winnipeg trail options

We’re halfway through the 10-week summer holiday and if your family is anything like mine, it’s very likely you’ll be in full-blown survival mode at this point.

You’ve already visited all the popular ice-cream spots in the city (and if you haven’t then you’ll find a list of our faves here) , you’ve ticked every box in our Road Trip Bingo Card and answered every single question in the our How Well Do You Know Your Province Quiz (Part 1 and Part 2) … and there are still 29 days to go before school starts on Sept. 8.

If you’re running low on ideas, don’t worry — we’ve got you covered, with not one, not two, but three cycling/walking routes to help you squeeze a bit more fun from what’s left of the holidays. Grab your helmets, lace up your sneakers, pack water bottles and get outside to explore different neighbourhoods in the city.

NOTE: Check the Winnipeg Trails website before you leaving to make sure paths are open and in working order, especially if we’ve had a bout of nasty weather.

Vibrant Norwood apartment garden a labour of love to honour green thumb’s late partner

St. Vital resident Rob Duncan can’t pinpoint when he first noticed an award-winning garden blanketing the grounds of a two-storey St. Mary’s Road apartment block, near Coniston Street.

Perhaps he was on his way home from work and caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye. Or maybe he was running errands in the Norwood Flats area and paused to admire the array of annuals, perennials and potted plants that extends from the block’s doorway to the front curb.

What Duncan does know for certain is that after spying the urban oasis, twice fêted in Take Pride Winnipeg’s annual Winnipeg in Bloom competition, he couldn’t unsee it.

“First of all, the pink building really stands out,” Duncan says, referring to the brightly painted California Apartments complex at 268 St. Mary’s Rd. “But then you have the pergola, the rock garden, the flowers and trees… a sea of colour on a very busy street.”

An updated Wolseley classic

For unknown reasons, many older homes — in addition to being dated — were never fully developed or updated by their previous owners.

That was the scenario when a renovator went in to update a dishevelled two-and-a-half storey home in Wolseley in February 2026, says Darryl Walsh of Royal LePage Prime Real Estate.

“This was ... badly in need of updating,” he says of the 1,612 sq. ft. residence, which was built in 1910. “Not only that, but the top floor had never been fully developed.”

Today, the home’s top floor is now fully functional — and then some.

Nova Scotian children under 14 will soon be banned from e-bikes

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia’s public works minister says the province plans to ban children under 14 from riding electric bikes this fall.

Fred Tilley says the age restriction is part of a slate of changes that will be made to the province’s Traffic Safety Act.

The minister says technology is allowing e-scooters and e-bikes to move much faster than before.

The province first restricted children under 14 from using e-scooters back in 2022.