Monstrosity Burger to call it quits

AI literacy course mandatory at U of W Collegiate

The University of Winnipeg Collegiate is requiring new students to complete artificial intelligence 101 lessons and offering a first-of-its-kind elective for those who want to perfect their chatbot prompts.

The private high school is piloting two projects this year in a bid to improve digital literacy on the downtown campus.

Every Grade 9 and 10 student will have to pass an approximately two-hour long online course about “AI essentials.”

Dean Osaed Khan likened the mandatory e-learning sessions to requiring students to complete a safety course before they can participate in a science lab.

Monstrosity Burger to call it quits

A city eatery that ran afoul of pandemic health orders has decided to call it quits.

Three charged after victims robbed, held against their will in dating scam

A Winnipeg woman and two men are facing charges after several victims were lured through online dating websites and robbed at knifepoint over a seven-month span.

Police said the victims arranged to meet in person after meeting a woman on dating sites between February and August.

They were confronted by male suspects and robbed of personal belongings, including wallets and car keys, when they arrived at pre-arranged addresses.

The suspects drove the victims’ vehicles to businesses and ATMs to make fraudulent purchases and withdraw funds from accounts, police said. The victims were allowed to leave when the suspects returned.

Quiet opening fitting for controversial site

One of this city’s most loudly debated facilities — after all the angst, all the opposition and all the vocal support — began operations in the most low-key way possible.

There was none of the usual fanfare that accompanies a new social or medical offering, no news conference, no speeches. Only a quiet Tuesday, around which was woven a lot of hope, and a great deal of worry.

Winnipeg’s first supervised drug consumption site has been a long time in the making. It’s been just over two years since the province first announced it would partner with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre to design and open the site; advocates had been calling for a supervised consumption facility for years.

But the launch, originally eyed for 2025, was repeatedly delayed as the province and service providers sorted out approvals and negotiated community concerns. In the meantime, the drug crisis in Winnipeg kept growing, with paramedics burdened by a skyrocketing number of overdose calls.

Tina's great-aunt hopes slain teen's legacy is changes to systems that failed her

Through her death, Tina Fontaine has the power to make changes to the systems that failed her, said the teen’s great-aunt Thelma Favel, who sees impending change on the horizon.

“When people think of Tina, they think about the way she died and everything. But they don’t see the door that she’s opened,” Favel said when reached at her home in Powerview.

“I know it’s awful,” she said, reflecting on the tragedy she now believes may bring forth solutions. “I’d rather have her here beside me than to have this legacy. I’d rather have her here right now than buried in a grave with her dad.”

That legacy — Tina’s lasting “kindness” — is how Favel said she hopes to reach other young people like Tina. Following an acquittal on a second-degree murder charge for the man accused of killing the 15-year-old in August 2014, Favel said she will continue to work toward change. Organizations and individuals have approached her with ideas for how to honour Tina’s name.