Be discreet when it comes to naked truth

City puts Osborne Village lot up for sale third time

The city is making a third attempt to sell a seemingly prime Osborne Street property, after an offer for the surface parking lot fell through earlier this year.

The 772-square-metre space at 145 Osborne St., which formerly operated as an official paid city parking lot, has been posted for sale once again.

It may puzzle some Winnipeggers to see the site in the heart of Osborne Village remain empty so long after the city declared it surplus in 2020.

However, a few different challenges may limit its appeal to potential buyers, alocal real estate agent said.

Epidemiologist examines COVID-19 risks associated with five activities allowed under Manitoba's public health orders

Sitting in church unmasked. Gathering with friends on an outdoor patio. Relaxing in a spa. All are allowed under Manitoba’s current public health orders. But how safe are these activities? The Free Press spoke with local epidemiologist Cynthia Carr about the risks associated with five activities permitted right now.

Mayoral race lineup grows to 10 candidates

An electrical contractor has become the 10th candidate to register for the race to become Winnipeg’s next mayor.

Zac Uminski has thrown his name into the competition, after Scott Gillingham signed up to seek re-election as mayor and eight other candidates previously registered.

The father of four said concern about homelessness and addictions sparked his interest in politics.

“My campaign will focus on practical solutions to improve public safety, support families and strengthen the city services,” Uminski said. “We need safer communities.”

Winnipeg-born Michael Rubenfeld helping to keep Ukraine’s broken hearts beating through art

KRAKOW — On Feb. 15, nine days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Oksana Pyzh and her husband packed up their kid, their car and a few of their things, and began the long drive west from their home in Kharkiv, towards Poland, stopping every few hours along the way. A leisurely pace, compared to the flight of those who came after, but there were no bombs then.

Still, it was obvious to Pyzh that something bad was about to happen. Russia was massing its troops on the border. Foreign countries were moving diplomats out of Kyiv and U.S. President Joe Biden warned of an imminent invasion. Pyzh’s friends weren’t too worried — “nothing will start,” they said — but she was gripped by an urgent and terrible feeling.

“I’m a really anxious person,” she says, bluntly. “In my world, there is nothing so terrifying like war.”

Mentally, she’d given herself another reason to go. Six years earlier, Pyzh, an architect and artist, had held an exhibition of her works at a gallery in Warsaw, a collection of pieces reflecting on what Ukraine had been left with after the Soviet Union collapsed. One of the largest paintings from that show was still in Poland, and she thought she might take it back.

SNC head stressed urgency to cabinet in 2017

OTTAWA - The head of SNC-Lavalin told the Canadian government it had to change its anti-corruption rules "as expeditiously as possible" in a 2017 letter to the minister in charge of procurement, just as her department was helping oversee public consultations on lighter punishments for corporate misconduct.

SNC-Lavalin CEO Neil Bruce wrote to Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough on Oct. 13, 2017 and sent copies of his message to seven other senior cabinet ministers.

Bruce also attached his company's official submission for the consultations, which were examining possible changes to the "integrity regime" and the potential creation of a plea-bargain-type tool known as a deferred-prosecution agreement or remediation agreement.

Bruce's Montreal-based firm was charged in 2015 with corruption and fraud over allegations it resorted to bribery while pursuing business in Libya. If convicted, it could be barred from public contracts for 10 years under the federal integrity regime.