Shift empty-nest mom away from leeching losers

Each of city's historic bridges has unique story

They span the muddy waters from which Winnipeg derives its name. They connect neighbourhood to neighbourhood. They’re a fundamental feature of our city.

Winnipeg has a reputation as a “River City,” but many don’t know the stories behind the bridges they use every day.

While a bridge may seem to be a boring piece of basic infrastructure, many of Winnipeg’s have fascinating histories that go back more than 100 years.

Confusing rules leave business owners anxious

Dino Camiré is counting down the days before the province makes his business a “pandemic scapegoat” again.

He said it happened before when restrictions were loosened last fall, and believes it’ll happen again after updated public-health orders come into effect this Friday.

“It won’t be my fault or any other businesses included in these reopenings,” said the operator of One Family Fitness Centre in Winnipeg. “But what happens when COVID-19 cases start rising again? It’ll be so much easier to blame us, even though we’re the ones stuck following and trying to understand their confusing rules.”

Camiré’s frustrations are among many from business owners in the province, who the Manitoba government is allowing to reopen — but with stringent capacity limits and with regulations they described to the Free Press as vague, confusing and “frankly, offensive.”

Middle Eastern wars: wait for September

Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump told journalists that the United States and Iran are “in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal.”

On Wednesday, after an American helicopter gunship crashed in the Strait of Hormuz, presumably downed by Iranians, he declared angrily that “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”

Later on the same day, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqai took on the role of ‘only grown-up in the room’, saying that the United States is “damaging the diplomatic process through the contradictory messages it sends, its repeated shifts in positions and demands, and, worst of all, through repeated violations of the ceasefire.”

The pattern is pretty clear by now. Trump oscillates between wild optimism and frustrated fury, while the Iranian negotiators keep their voices down, never shift their positions, and display performative patience. That enrages Trump even more, and I suspect the Iranians secretly enjoy it.

Embarking on backyard photo expedition benefits science, conservancy says

Manitobans can contribute to a global scientific database that helps scientists further understand local wildlife by simply going outside and snapping some photos.

The Big Backyard BioBlitz, which began earlier this week and ends Monday, is an annual national event organized by the Nature Conservancy of Canada that encourages people to record wildlife observations and submit them to researchers.

People can take photos of animals, insects or plants at any outdoor space and submit them virtually through the NCC website. The program is a great way for people to take part in protecting the environment, said Christine Chilton, the conservancy’s Manitoba region community development manager.

“It becomes really easy to say, ‘The climate is in trouble and things are not going the way we want them to, I wish somebody would do something about it.’ This is a really neat way for people to be a part of the story and help make a difference.”

How to fill potholes

The people of Winnipeg have become a tired and irritable bunch. They have endured the worst winter since the invention of the automobile and now are living through what might be the worst spring for potholes since they started making roads for those vehicles.

It's understandable then, that as city council was presented with the details of a $590-million plan to complete the city's first leg of rapid transit, the public, politicians and media all wondered aloud if the money would be better spent filling that proliferation of potholes.

As we yet again get dragged into the quagmire of a 60-year-old rapid-transit debate, every Canadian city Winnipeg competes with for investment, immigration and tourism has been lining up to announce their long-term commitment to rapid-transit development. Vancouver is currently constructing a $1.4-billion expansion to its Skytrain system, Calgary and Edmonton have announced billion-dollar additions to their existing networks, Ottawa will be investing $3 billion over the next 10 years and Hamilton and Kitchener are both building new light-rail systems.

Most of these cities face the same infrastructure challenges as Winnipeg, but their leadership believes the solution is not a choice between conflicting priorities of transit spending and road repair. Rapid transit is seen as a complementary strategy that addresses the root causes of infrastructure deficits, helping to make road-maintenance budgets more sustainable, in part by reducing private vehicle use and in turn road wear and capacity demands.