New in paper

Night terrors

Before we go any further, let me just unequivocally state: Six Pines is not for the weak.

I was so terrified my mind has effectively erased the entire experience.

I shall do my best to give you a comprehensive, cohesive review of the night my friend and I visited, but please forgive the lack of detail.

What you are about to read are snatches of memories, dragged kicking and screaming from the depths of my fear-addled brain, which is, even as I type, trying to block all attempts of retrieval.

Klein vows to freeze water, sewer rate for next two years

Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein is promising to cancel a water and sewer rate hike proposed for next year and freeze the fee for two years.

Klein said Winnipeggers are simply paying far too much for the utility.

“I think we have to freeze them right now because we’ve seen (a substantial increase) in the last four years. We are facing some of the most difficult financial times for families right now,” he said.

He would also ask the provincial Public Utilities Board to set Winnipeg’s future water and sewer rates, a power currently held by city council.

Hamelin, Poulin named Canada's flag-bearers

Also, a reader expresses support for a husband who keeps in touch with an ex from 30 years ago.

Legislation needed on vacant buildings

There is something deeply backwards about a system that lets a property owner keep a building boarded up indefinitely while neighbours are left to live with the consequences.

In Winnipeg, as long as the owner pays the taxes, follows the city’s vacant-building rules and pays the required fees, there is no hard deadline for the building to be dealt with.

The building can remain a neighbourhood eyesore. It can attract drug use and crime. It can become a fire hazard. And the people living nearby can be left wondering how long they are expected to put up with it.

Yet when Premier Wab Kinew was asked Friday whether his government would change provincial legislation to give Winnipeg the power to impose a time limit on such properties, he declined to answer.

City considers first-come, first-served Transit Plus

The city's much-maligned Transit Plus, which is for people with disabilities, could soon do away with a system that prioritizes jobs and medical trips over recreation and visits with friends, in favour of first-come, first-served bookings.

While the city says the changes could mean Transit Plus users would no longer be guaranteed to get to work or medical appointments, several disability advocates are in favour of the move. They don't believe any trip should take priority over another.

Natalie Pirson has used Transit Plus, and the former Handi Transit system, for more than 20 years. She is pleased with the proposed changes, which will be discussed by the city's public works committee next week. Pirson was quick to point out the city will have to do more than change the booking system.

"I rely on Transit Plus for every aspect of my life," Pirson said on Thursday.

Alarm sounded over school divisions’ silence

A near-blanket refusal by Manitoba school divisions to provide information about teacher misconduct is “insulting” and “nonsensical,” privacy experts say.