Wooed by wood, Cedarella founder takes pride in handcrafted designs

Marina Bulan is the founder of Cedarella, a two-year-old venture that turns out eye-catching wood products such as jewelry, kitchen decor, children’s toys and, most recently, metre-high outdoor planters that double as home street-number indicators.

Ahead of immigrating to Winnipeg a decade ago from their native Russia, Bulan and her partner thought it would be prudent to conduct some research on their soon-to-be new home, a city they knew next to nothing about.

Imagine their surprise as they were viewing the 2007 surrealist film My Winnipeg, which comically blends historical facts about our burg with what Winnipeg-born writer/director Guy Maddin has termed “mystical hypothesizing.”

(For instance, there is no proof that, as reported in the award-winning flick, Winnipeg is the sleepwalking capital of the world, and that residents keep keys to their former abodes on their person in the event they turn up there during a bout of somnambulism.)

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.

Ahava Rabba’s alternative service attracts alternative Jews

Winnipeg Jewish community members have always had several options to choose from when it comes to deciding where to attend High Holiday services.

Those options have included local ultra-orthodox, orthodox, conservative and reform synagogues — many of which have shut down, moved or merged over the decades — as well as a variety of other alternatives that have been offered on and off at summer camps, nursing homes, private homes, hotels and rented spaces throughout the city.

When the 2026 High Holidays begin with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year at sunset on Friday, Sept. 11, there will be one more option for community members to consider.

That option is a new service being hosted on the second morning of the holiday, Sept. 13, by Ahava Rabba, a fledgling grassroots congregation that began meeting almost a year ago and is coming together for the Jewish New Year for the first time ever. Ahava Rabba, which translates from the Hebrew as Abundant Love, takes its name from the blessing that observant Ashkenazi Jews recite every morning just before the Sh’ma, Judaism’s central declaration of faith.

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.

‘How can we grow back the herd in Canada?’

Amid high beef prices and trade uncertainty, a Farm Credit Canada executive touched down in Winnipeg with a message: it’s time for cattle producers to grow.

“What they face right now is … opportunity,” said Jean-Philippe Gervais, the federal Crown corporation’s executive vice-president of agricultural production.

Gervais was representing FCC, the country’s top agricultural lender, at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference.

He spoke to the Free Press ahead of his keynote speech Thursday afternoon. Hundreds of cattle farmers and industry leaders gathered at the RBC Convention Centre for the four-day event, which began on Monday.

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.

New Edmonton velodrome puts Olympic cycling champion Kelsey Mitchell back on track

EDMONTON - A new velodrome in her backyard drew Olympic track cycling champion Kelsey Mitchell back to the sport.

After competing for Canada in bobsled in February's Milan Cortina Games, the 32-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., is back on two wheels at the new Alberta Velodrome in Edmonton.

The cycling track in the new $153-million Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre opened in January.

It's one of three 250-metre indoor UCI-sanctioned tracks in Canada.

Mole Mobile on move for your dermatological needs

This weekend, the Mole Mobile will set up shop at three Winnipeg Walmart locations. The mobile clinic will have certified dermatologists on site to screen suspicious-looking moles or lesions for skin cancer.

Pre-owned sets seller Romo’s Bricks seeks to click with Winnipeg’s Lego community

There’s no mortar in sight but there are certainly thousands of bricks at a new brick-and-mortar store in Winnipeg catering to Lego enthusiasts.

Ashton Romaniuk and Madison Froome opened Romo’s Bricks in late spring. Located at 955 Milt Stegall Dr., in the same building as CanCentral Sports Cards & Memorabilia, the store specializes in selling pre-owned Lego sets, minifigures and other Lego-related products.

“It’s something we’re both passionate about,” Froome said.

To stock the store, she and Romaniuk spent $50,000 on four large Lego collections, purchased from local collectors. Romaniuk estimates that since the store opened on June 2, inventory has grown to $250,000 worth of Lego.

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.

Rural councils work hard, plan big to build local arts scenes

BEAUSEJOUR — Brittany Wurch has always been drawn to art. She fell in love with illustration and animation as a kid, but growing up near Beausejour meant she had to travel elsewhere to satisfy her creative interests.

“I had to go to a different community to take art,” says Wurch, who chose to study in Selkirk, about a 30-minute drive west, for its high school’s superior art program.

As an adult, she’s determined to make art more accessible in her community.

A smiling red barn and a tall water tower greet visitors on the way into Beausejour. The cute, compact town is located 50 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg and is home to 3,300 people. It’s surrounded by farmland and situated within the RM of Brokenhead, where agriculture and sports have historically reigned supreme.

Truckload of squid spills into the street in Rhode Island, creating a smelly mess in the summer heat

A tractor-trailer rollover sent a truckload of squid spilling into a Rhode Island roadway, leaving a stench as they sat in the road for hours in the summer heat. Local authorities have dubbed it the “Squidpocalypse of ’26.”

It was a warm, sunny day in the coastal town of Narragansett when the spill happened Sunday, and Narragansett Police Capt. Ryan Prest said he was told that the scene “started to smell bad as the squid sat out in the sun for a few hours.”

The fully-loaded trailer was taking the squid to a processing facility out of town when the trailer dislodged and tipped on its side as the driver was navigating a turn, spilling a “substantial portion” of its calamari cargo, the police department said in a statement.

Police responded at 9:27 a.m., and the intersection wasn’t reopened until 5:15 p.m., authorities said.

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.

Province officially recognizes arboriculture as a trade

Arboriculture has officially been recognized as a trade in Manitoba, which industry experts say will help address the increased demand for tree experts across the province.

Before-and-after NASA images show crater carved by a SpaceX rocket that slammed into the moon

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft circling the moon is providing the sharpest views yet of the crater carved by a crashing SpaceX rocket.

The space agency released before-and-after photos of the impact area on Tuesday.

The Falcon rocket’s upper stage plowed into the moon at 5,400 mph (8,700 kph) on Aug. 5 after drifting through space for more than a year. It launched a pair of private moon landers with experiments and even a tiny rover in 2025 as part of NASA’s push to commercialize lunar exploration.

Based on these new photos by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the fresh crater appears to be 60 feet (18 meters) across and less than 10 feet (3 meters) deep, according to scientists.

Fundraising rappel from top of downtown tower with persuasive granddaughter leaves 72-year-old exhilarated

It’s safe to say that most people don’t spend Tuesday mornings rappelling 83 metres down the side of a downtown building. With their 72-year-old grandmother.

MamiMarkets connecting ethnic food vendors, customers

A West African soup recipe and a fruitless search for ingredients led to a business opportunity for two Manitoba entrepreneurs.

Manitoba honey industry buzzing as U.S. tariff clock ticks

Canadian product is being rushed to the United States ahead of a threatened 50 per cent tariff on the industry.

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.

From the Plate to the Mic: Several former Blue Jays active in baseball podcast space

TORONTO - The post-season hangover lasted a lot longer than Toronto Blue Jays fans expected this year.

A slow start coupled with mid-season struggles nearly derailed the 2026 campaign for Canada's lone big-league team. However, a strong run of form after the recent trade deadline has lifted Toronto back into the playoff race.

With interest ramping up for the reigning American League champions, the timing couldn't be better for several former Blue Jays who moved into the baseball podcast space this year.

One such offering is the "Get It Done League" podcast featuring former sluggers Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin with broadcaster Arash Madani. The title serves as a nod to a memorable Donaldson quote from the 2015 season.

Daycare, family centre addition will turn care home into intergenerational community hub

Seven-year-olds and 70-somethings will socialize daily when a 152-spot daycare opens inside of a seniors’ residence in Winnipeg in a couple of years.

Construction on a new wing of the Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre is scheduled to begin this fall, it was announced Monday.

The project won’t be complete for at least 22 months, but it’s already being touted as a made-in-Manitoba model for intergenerational community hubs across the country.

“It’s a real good idea to mix the younger generation with the older generation,” said Allan Rutherford, a 79-year-old resident of the 200-bed personal care home in Linden Ridge.

Free fix is in: repair café aims to keep items out of landfills

Stephen Kirk wants to give people a chance to fix items they’re not ready to let go of.

The Spence Neighbourhood Association staffer took notice when repair cafés started popping up around the world, and he decided to bring the idea to Winnipeg.

The café invites people to bring broken items like bikes, clothes and small kitchen appliances to the association’s headquarters to get free repairs by a team of skilled volunteers.

“Certainly in our neighbourhood, a lot of people’s motivation is economic, they would rather fix it than have to buy a new one,” said Kirk, the environmental and open spaces coordinator for the Spence Neighbourhood Association.

Trustees call for e-scooter safety education

School trustees are calling on the province to bolster public education around e-bike and e-scooter safety ahead of back-to-school season.

The Manitoba School Boards Association brought members’ concerns about a growing number of students using electronic devices to get to and from classes to the education minister’s office this month.

“There’s a concerning lack of safety knowledge on the part of Manitoba youth,” executive director Alan Campbell said.

Campbell, a long-time trustee in the Interlake School Division, resigned from elected office this summer to run the association that mobilizes school boards and provides them with labour relations support.

Volunteer helps keep Nellie McClung’s legacy alive

Growing up with ties to the community of Manitou, Gillian Potvin has found great inspiration in the traces of Nellie McClung’s legacy.

The 39-year-old has spent nearly a decade channelling that inspiration back into the community by being a key part of the Nellie McClung Museum of Canada’s marketing and events planning since it opened at 55 Main St., in the southern Manitoba town in 2017.

Utilizing her skills in marketing and digital design for the museum is her way of thanking the woman who fought for the rights she has today and continuing her legacy.

“She helped women to be identified as persons and that’s huge,” she said of the woman born in 1873 and considered one of Canada’s most prominent suffragists. “It’s easy to take for granted some of these rights we now have as women, but there would have been a big fight back in the day to change the things that have always been.”