Munch Madness — Round 1 Munch Madness III: Cast your vote for the city's best breakfast By: David Sanderson   Posted: 12:00 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 22, 2019

State of emergency declared after unprecedented October snowfall

Premier Brian Pallister has declared a state of emergency in response to a massive snowstorm that slammed Manitoba heading into the Thanksgiving weekend.

“I have spoken to Manitoba Hydro and they have officially made a request to declare a state of emergency, which gives them the power to access additional resources, supplies, materials,” Pallister said.

“(This will help) restore power as quick as possible. We’ll be proceeding to grant that request.”

The storm knocked down hundreds of power lines and forced the closure of dozens of highways. More snow fell on Winnipeg than the city has had in all of October in any single year.

Another fresh start for North Portage

It’s hard to believe that a good chunk of Portage Place mall will face the wrecking ball. As a mixed-use development, Portage Place’s history is marked by controversy and unmet expectations of being an upscale retail centre tasked with saving Winnipeg’s downtown.

To understand the gravity of this week’s announcement regarding new owner Starlight Investments’ planned $400-million retrofit of Portage Place, it’s important to look back to 1984, when Winnipeg’s economic outlook was bleak and our city had weathered the tumultuous 1970s.

It was also this period that tore open the economic and social fabric of the fabled stretch of Portage Avenue, between Eaton’s and the Bay, that had long been the retail heart and soul of not only the city, but also Western Canada.

The story of the mall’s transformation is also indicative of just how dramatic has been the transformation of downtown, and our broader economy, over the past 35 years. What is central is the shift from Winnipeg’s historical “desperation planning” model, dependent on deep subsidies and government-led support, to the more recent private-sector-driven approach.

Jets backup goalie has things to think of other than hockey

The balance David Rittich needed came in a way he least suspected.

Steinbach-born YouTube sensation Alayna Fender woos viewers

For several generations, screen entertainment had two kinds of stars — movie stars, whose larger-than-life efforts on the silver screen produced larger-than-believable paycheques and notoriety, and TV stars, who became rich and famous (and, in showbiz terms, respected) on a decidedly smaller scale.

Sometimes, a star would ascend from one level to the next, burning brighter in the pop-culture consciousness. Occasionally, a major star would transition from big screen down to small, either to dabble temporarily in a well-scripted TV project or, perhaps, more permanently after fading box-office appeal made movie work harder to find.

In recent years, the increase in high-quality television writing has made movement between the two different levels of stardom much more common.

But for those decades, in the pre-digital world, those were the only levels of stardom to which screen actors could aspire. These days, there’s a very viable third option: online stardom.