Don’t take sister’s love life quite so seriously

Bell MTS plans outage compensation

Bell MTS won’t say how many of its customers have landline outages, but it has told the CRTC it will double its number of service technicians and compensate customers by giving them free enhanced service — if they have a Bell MTS cellphone.

In a letter to the federal regulator this week, the company promised to hire and train more technicians as well as bring in workers from elsewhere.

“By the end of July, we will have doubled the number of line technicians available within the Winnipeg area since Sept. 2021,” wrote Bell MTS assistant general counsel Philippe Gauvin.

“Since our (May 20) letter, extra technicians have been brought in from other provinces as well as other cities within the province of Manitoba and the increased repair load is being managed by a dedicated team under senior executive oversight.

Manitoba declares public health emergency over HIV rising rates

The Manitoba government declared HIV spread a public health emergency Thursday as case counts continue to escalate.

Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, made the declaration at a news conference, noting cases have steadily increased over the past six years.

“In 2024, we reported a rate of 19.5 cases per 100,000 (people), which is roughly 3½ times that of Canada’s rate of 5.5,” Roussin said.

Manitoba had 328 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus in 2025, a sharp increase from the 90 tracked in 2019.

TV loses a visionary showrunner

Despite the respectful, nostalgic nods that are occasionally afforded to television’s long-ago, black-and-white past, there is simply no disputing that we — the binge-watching, Netflix-and-chilling, various-device-viewing generation — are living in TV’s golden age.

Not only is more content being created now than ever before, but the best of what is available to viewers of conventional broadcast TV, cable networks and streaming services is being produced at a level of quality that continually pushes boundaries, raises standards and challenges viewers on an almost-weekly basis to reconsider what qualifies as great.

And it’s worth noting, in this week when television lost one of its most noteworthy and powerful creative forces, just how significant Steven Bochco was in the modern evolution of the medium.

Simply put, Bochco, who died Sunday at age 74 after a lengthy battle with leukemia, helped set the stage for the current wave of scripted-TV excellence, particularly in the drama-series realm. Whatever it is that you consider to be the small screen’s best, from Game of Thrones to Breaking Bad to House of Cards to This Is Us, the roots of its success can be found in Bochco’s primetime productions of the 1980s and ’90s.

Wastewater monkeypox testing underway across Canada

Wastewater testing to detect the monkeypox virus has begun in Winnipeg and 12 other Canadian cities as scientists work to determine how accurate the tests are.

Four years on, future of 24 Sussex uncertain

OTTAWA - Nearly four years after Justin Trudeau opted not to move into the prime minister's official residence over concerns about its crumbling state, the building remains vacant — except for staff who continue to use the kitchen to prepare meals for Trudeau and his family.

And it appears no decisions will be made on the future of the residence until well after the fall federal election.

The federal Conservatives accuse the Trudeau government of dithering over "critical" upgrades to the stately yet run-down home, and needlessly costing taxpayers more money in the process.

At the same time, none of the main federal party leaders appears willing to opine on whether the building should be torn down or renovated, or whether they would live in the residence if it were upgraded.