Marathon racer Diver, 44, picked for Australian Olympic team

COVID-19 tracking apps raise concerns: watchdogs

VANCOUVER - Privacy watchdogs are voicing concerns over proposals across the country to implement smartphone apps to help track COVID-19.

New Brunswick, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan are among the provinces looking at or planning on creating smartphone apps that would track a user's whereabouts.

Alberta is the first province to launch an app.

Known as contact tracing, the apps track those who the user comes in to contact with, commonly by monitoring a device's Bluetooth signal.

Rogers, Telus deny blame for June twister alert barrage

Telecom companies say they aren’t to blame for the barrage of tornado alerts Manitobans received during severe thunderstorms in early June.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced in August it would investigate the unusually high number of alerts, and called on the Pelmorex Corp., which operates the national Alert Ready system, along with telecom companies Bell, Rogers and Telus to respond to a number of questions.

They were given until last Friday to describe their possible roles in the creation, receipt, processing or distribution of alerts issued from Environment and Climate Change Canada in the midst of the June 9 storm.

Telus said in its response that it received 133 alert requests targeted to Manitoba created by Environment Canada and forwarded by Pelmorex between 2:35 p.m. June 9 and 3:29 a.m. the following day. While the majority of those messages contained identical information and were automatically suppressed, 17 were ultimately sent out as alerts in Winnipeg.

Marathon racer Diver, 44, picked for Australian Olympic team

Canadian golfer uses her length to her advantage during a six-birdie day.

Struggling retailer Toys ‘R’ Us to shutter Transcona store

Playtime is almost over at the Toys “R” Us store in Winnipeg’s Transcona neighbourhood.

Signs hanging in the front windows indicate the longtime big-box chain outlet is closing. “All stock reduced” and “Everything must go” at the store, which has stood at 1560 Regent Ave. W. for more than 36 years. Even the fixtures are for sale.

An employee at the store declined to comment on Monday, directing the Free Press to Toys “R” Us Canada Ltd.’s head office. The company did not respond to interview requests.

Signage at the store does not specify when it will close for good.

Transit safety drives first mayoral debate

The safety of Winnipeg Transit drivers was front and centre Monday as the first mayoral debate of the 2026 election focused on public transit.

Kevin Klein, the most experienced of the 10 candidates at the Amalgamated Transit Union 1505-hosted debate, said the time for partial safety shields has passed.

“The partial shields have failed drivers. That’s why we need change,” the former PC MLA and city councillor said, adding driver safety is not a staffing issue, but a “protection failure.”

If elected, Klein said he will bring in full-shield implementation across the city within two years and start a nine-bus pilot project immediately.

Try growing Salvia and Veronica speedwell in your garden

Salvia and Veronica speedwell are two of the most popular garden plants.

Both include varieties that produce dense, upright spikes of tiny purple or blue flowers and come in a range of colours and forms. Gardeners frequently confuse Salvia and Veronica, but there are distinct differences between the two.

Salvia, which is a member of the Lamiaceae family, has highly aromatic leaves, square stems and tubular two-lipped flowers. Salvia is also a significantly larger and more diverse genus than Veronica, with hundreds of different species of annuals and perennials.

Veronica, formerly classified in Scrophulariaceae, is in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. The leaves and flowers of Veronica are not known for fragrance. The stems are characteristically round, and the flowers are star-like with four spreading lobes that fuse at the base.