The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

Teachers work with Microsoft and Minecraft to create Anishinaabe society

In a forest abundant with birch trees, knowledge keeper Chickadee Richard greets students with a teaching about tobacco, known as semaa in Anishinaabemowin.

“Semaa is a gift of reciprocity. We give semaa to receive knowledge and healing,” Richard says about a practice that is traditional for Anishinaabe people, via a medium that is anything but.

The birch trees, much like the teepees, campfire flames and murky brown rivers that surround her, are pixelated.

And the elder from Sandy Bay First Nation? A video game version of Richard.

Ottawa commits $8.1 million for downtown Y redevelopment

The federal government is backing a major redevelopment of Winnipeg’s Downtown Y that will expand community programs and update the century-old Vaughan Street building.

On Monday, Ottawa committed $8.1 million toward the Y’s plans to expand newcomer and mental-health programs.

The project will also upgrade elevators, change rooms, aquatics and fitness areas and energy systems. Construction is expected to begin in October, according to the Y’s website.

The YMCA-YWCA is contributing $3.5 million to the project.

Record participation, funds raised in 2026 breast cancer awareness race

It’s become a tradition for the West End Legends to gather, get dressed up in hot pink and gab about their late girlfriend on the first Sunday of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Mary was a beauty, a brain, an athlete and a friend,” said Linda Opalko, a 67-year-old member of the fundraising team founded in honour of Mary Stawychny.

Stawychny’s last breath was taken the same day the group — made up of friends the career teacher maintained since she grew up on Ingersoll Street more than 50 years ago — got together for the 2022 CIBC Run for the Cure.

“We were walking as she was leaving us four years ago,” Opalko said as she and fellow fundraisers strolled down Wellington Crescent on Sunday morning.

Giant Tiger decision creates giant void for desperate population

A lot of Winnipeggers may shrug, but the end of Giant Tiger’s downtown store is a giant problem for many of the people living in the centre of the city.

It would have been difficult for anyone going into or passing by the Canadian discount chain’s Donald Street and Ellice Avenue location Thursday to miss the red notices posted on the store’s windows advising it will close on Nov. 7.

According to a 2024 Downtown Winnipeg BIZ report, about 18,000 people live in Winnipeg’s downtown.

More than 60,000 people work there, and some days — when there’s a big concert or the Jets play at Canada Life Centre, for example — the number of people spending time in the area increases significantly.

Norway's Ruud wins Olympic gold year after father's death

The decorated alpine athlete was disqualified from her first two races in Beijing, but still has plenty of events to come.

Volunteer pop-up library axed from Manitoba Youth Centre

Manitoba Corrections has cancelled a pop-up library program at the Manitoba Youth Centre, leaving inmates without librarian services and fewer options to borrow certain books.

The Prison Libraries Committee, part of the non-profit Manitoba Library Association, operated and funded the volunteer program since 2024 before it was shut down by the province last month. The group previously partnered with the province to offer the service because the facility has no dedicated library of its own.

“It is concerning that community members who are incarcerated, especially youth, are losing out on meaningful programming, access to information and rehabilitation efforts, which are offered at no cost to (Manitoba) Corrections. We urge Manitoba Justice to promote more library services and programming, not less,” said a Sept. 24 letter from the non-profit addressed to the justice minister.

Ashley Huot, chair of the Prison Libraries Committee, said she was puzzled when she received an email last month from Manitoba Corrections stating that the pop-up library was no longer needed.