Love, music and the return of a weird noir

Defunding police ‘illogical step’: Pallister

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says he’s open to channelling justice funding to preventive programs, but questions whether defunding police is the best approach — warning there will always be criminals taking advantage of vulnerable people.

“I think the motivation that lies in frustrations of the actions of some police services — not necessarily here in Winnipeg exclusively, but elsewhere — is justifiable and understandable, and I get it,” Pallister said Tuesday, when asked to comment on the 30,000 signatures collected for a Justice 4 Black Lives Winnipeg petition calling for the abolition of the city police.

“But then moving to defunding police is, to me, an illogical step from that one. Don’t let your frustration lose your common sense... There’s a lot of people out there in vulnerable communities who depend on the police to protect them and make sure they’re safe from the action of criminals.”

There has been a widespread call to restructure police funding in the wake of George Floyd’s death May 25 in Minneapolis.

Rural hospital shutdowns continue into fall

Summer shutdowns at some rural Manitoba hospitals have quietly extended into fall, and the uncertainty about reopening is frustrating residents.

State of Manchester United goes beyond ‘favourite soap opera’ status

Last Sunday, during Manchester United’s embarrassing 3-0 loss at home to Bournemouth, supporters in the Stretford End of Old Trafford unveiled a giant banner in protest of their club’s decline.

Beneath depictions of three iconic captains — Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Bryan Robson — it presented a single word: “STANDARDS.” It wasn’t lost on anyone, as the Red Devils slumped to their meek defeat, that the banner represented the only “standards” in the stadium that afternoon.

The players were booed off the field, and the rest of the week was spent rehashing the inquiry of what, this time, might be wrong with England’s biggest club — an ongoing conversation the BBC has described as “one of the nation’s favourite soap operas.”

Inevitably, the public looked to the trio of greats whose likenesses looked down on the Bournemouth debacle to help make sense of the performance, of the ever-lowering bar of expectations and of the club’s more deep-rooted problems.

Nine more deaths, 107 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba

Manitoba is restarting its COVID-19 vaccination efforts, following a five-day break — and amidst questions about the delay.

The planned pause over Christmas was in the name of efficiency, a provincial government spokesman says, offering no other explanation on the reasoning behind the decision not to vaccinate anyone Dec. 24-28.

On Monday, the province announced nine more pandemic deaths and 107 new cases of the novel coronavirus.

As part of Manitoba's vaccination plan, the most recent immunization clinic happened Dec. 23; the next was set to start Dec. 29.

Judge halts any construction on housing project across from curling club until he rules on city’s approval

A judge has ordered that preliminary construction activities at a hotly contested housing development next door to the Granite Curling Club be “paused” until after he delivers a court ruling that could decide its future.

At a hearing last June, lawyers for the curling club urged King’s Bench Justice Ami Kotler to quash a city bylaw approving the project, set to be built on a parking lot owned by the city but used for decades by the curling club, arguing the decision was rushed and significantly flawed.

Kotler has not yet delivered his decision.

On Friday, curling club lawyer James Mercury told court project developer Granite Project Holding Inc. had secured permits to begin “early works” including excavating and shoring of the site and the installation of piles, starting as early as Monday.

Behind the scenes at circus spectacle Odysseo, it's the horses who hold the reins

It’s almost 4 p.m. on a particularly steamy May afternoon and Cavalia Odysseo rider Chelsea Jordan is putting on her makeup in the back corner of the very humid artistic tent.

She’s already spent some time layering on foundation, and is now into the decorative portion of the 30-minute process, placing a pair of small gems on her forehead and enhancing her naturally sharp cheekbones with some extra contouring.

“This is the messy part of the business,” she jokes as she sticks on fake lashes over an eyelid covered in earth-toned shadow.

It’s odd that makeup is considered the messy part of the day when Jordan spends the majority of her time surrounded by horses, but as with most people involved in Odysseo, the glitzy and glamorous aspects of being a member of the largest touring production in the world aren’t nearly as fun as the time she gets to spend with her four-legged cast-mates.