Rich, spicy hot chocolate a decadent treat

Troubadour of tears

Field Guide, for all his sad songs, is dressed exclusively in vibrant colours. His beanie is mustard yellow, his jacket and shirt are forest green, his Blundstones are burgundy. His short, scruffy beard is Spalding-ball orange.

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.

City MP, nurses want safety standards for increasingly violent health facilities

While there have been hundreds of violent incidents reported at two Winnipeg hospitals over two years, there haven’t been provincial or national safety standards established for health-care facilities, something one local union and a Winnipeg MP are pushing for.

From October 2016 to October 2018, there were 444 violent incidents reported at the Health Sciences Centre and 175 such cases at Grace Hospital, according to freedom of information results obtained by the Free Press.

The statistics encompass incidents of verbal abuse and threats of violence, plus instances of physical aggression. Some incidents stem from deliberate acts, while others involve patients with dementia or those disoriented from a medical condition, who may have no control over their actions.

A Winnipeg MP who spent years working as an emergency room physician is trying to draw attention to health-care violence nationally, tabling a petition Friday that asks Ottawa to tackle an issue in which he has first-hand experience.

Report slams Omnitrax in fatal derailment

A Hudson Bay Railway derailment south of Thompson which resulted in the death of a conductor occurred after the track was washed out because of high water levels due to heavy rain.

But the 44-page report released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada on Thursday also condemned the railroad's former owner, Omnitrax, saying that in the months before the derailment, while the company still owned it, "because the rail line was for sale, much of the other infrastructure maintenance was being deferred.

"In general, HBR, under Omnitrax, performed only a minimum amount of maintenance to keep the remaining portion of the rail line open while remaining in regulatory compliance. With a reduced engineering force, the track infrastructure began to deteriorate."

The TSB also found Omnitrax's reduction of its beaver control program also left the track vulnerable to a washout, its emergency response plan didn't include anything about responding to a train derailment, and the plan had never been reviewed by the regulator.

Manitoba makes clean sweep at Canadian junior curling championships

CALL it — most appropriately — a Manitoba sweep. Or, perhaps, a buffalo stampede.

The curling-crazed province flexed its mighty rock-tossing muscle again Sunday in Langley, B.C., as Manitoba teams charged off with victories at the Canadian junior curling championships.

Altona’s Mackenzie Zacharias was the class of the women’s draw from the very moment the first stones were delivered last Saturday, capping a perfect week with a resounding 10-3 triumph over Abby Marks of Alberta in the morning championship contest.

She celebrated the achievement with her younger sister, Emily, who plays second, along with third Karlee Burgess and lead Lauren Lementine.