Don’t overthink unexpected avuncular aid

Stefanson shifts gears in effort to leave Pallister behind

One year after Brian Pallister suddenly resigned as Manitoba premier, his successor is striking a different tone ahead of an election the PCs could call sooner than its scheduled October 2023 date.

Firefighter’s death fuels cancer fight

The United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg is mourning the loss of Winnipeg firefighter Darrel Maynard while continuing its work to raise awareness of occupational cancer and improve health protections for firefighters.

Maynard, a senior firefighter II and acting lieutenant with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, died Aug. 5 at age 41 after a three-year battle with occupational cancer.

He served Winnipeg for nearly two decades and leaves behind his wife Francine and sons Colin and Christian.

“Darrel was an incredible, incredible person, an incredible firefighter, and really, really special to all of us,” said Nick Kasper, president of UFFW.

Don’t delete organ concert tickets when scrubbing digital life

There is an organ in Germany that is playing one composition until 2640.

What’s billed as the world’s slowest concert features a piece by American composer John Cage, and was back in the news because it had its first chord change in two years. It’s already been playing for 25 years; only 614 more to go.

Organ music at the end of the world.

The real take-home for me, however, is the fact that there are already “inheritable” tickets for the final Sept. 4, 2640, event being sold for 2,640 euros (US$3,045).

Licence reviews probe hard-hit care homes

The results of a provincial probe into one of Manitoba's deadliest personal-care home outbreaks remain unknown, even as the health department puts the private facility's licence under review.

Maples Personal Care Home in Winnipeg is one of three personal-care homes in Manitoba currently having its licence reviewed because it hasn't been able to keep up with provincial standards, a government spokesperson confirmed Monday. But the province has yet to disclose the findings of a review it commissioned last fall.

Lynn Stevenson, a former nurse and B.C. deputy health minister, was tasked with looking into the operations of the Revera Inc. personal care home after a "nightmare" situation unfolded at Maples in early November. An anonymous paramedic's social media post on Reddit described residents dying at the chronically understaffed facility, some being left hungry and dehydrated while others were "being literally left to rot." It prompted then-Health Minister Cameron Friesen to promise a review of the facility's operations.

More than a month after a preliminary report was completed following the review, the province says it will not be publicly released, but that changes have already been put in place for staffing, infection control and safe visits. The final report was expected this month.

HSC weapons scanners effective, needed at other hospitals: nurses union

The AI weapons scanners at Health Sciences Centre have detected close to 2,000 items since they were installed at Manitoba’s largest hospital.

From March 6, 2025 to the beginning of this month, a total of 1,973 items had been flagged by the scanners and identified for further review, Shared Health said this week.

Knives, Swiss army knives and other multi-tools, drugs, alcohol, box cutters, syringes and other injection devices were detected, it said. The technology set up at entrances to the adult and children’s emergency rooms and the crisis response centre is designed to identify a wide range of objects that may require review under site safety protocols.

But Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said the technology isn’t available everywhere at HSC, and a sawed-off rifle was discovered in the adult ER earlier this month.

West Kildonan Industrial residents call for speed bumps after child hit by truck

Residents in the West Kildonan Industrial neighbourhood are calling on the city to install speed bumps in their area after a child was hit and dragged by a vehicle Thursday.

Katelyn Bemister lives near the area where the child — who was hospitalized as a result of the incident and has been upgraded to stable condition — was struck. She says people frequently speed in the area.

“They’re going really fast, and they’re not really paying attention at all to the pedestrians in the area,” says Bemister.

In video supplied to the Free Press by a resident, the child can be seen riding a bike down a sidewalk along the 500 block of North Point Boulevard.