N.L. top doctor says 253 of 260 people have recovered from COVID-19

Track records keep falling in fast Tokyo Games

Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom grabbed the first-round lead with a five-under-par round of 66, the conversation mostly revolved around the 42 C conditions in Tokyo.

City plans renos, repairs on underused, money-losing office tower next to police HQ

The city is preparing to repair two floors of the mostly vacant office tower linked to the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters that has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars more each year than it earns.

The plan is to renovate the second and third floors of the 11-storey former Canada Post tower at 266 Graham Ave, including some repairs needed to meet current building codes, notes a tendering document seeking a contractor to do the work.

In 2009, the city spent $29 million to buy the Canada Post warehouse and the tower, as part of the scandal-plagued police HQ project. Police now work out of the former warehouse and utilize some space in the tower.

The repair work will include interior demolition, asbestos abatement, several fire safety and smoke detection upgrades and some replacement of partitions, doors, hardware and ceilings. The winning bidder will also complete electrical, mechanical and lighting upgrades.

We don’t vote like our lives depend on it

There’s an old saw — we get the government we deserve. It assumes active participation in our elections, full and fair media coverage from which voters can learn and a set of viable, capable candidates from which we can choose.

Arguably, those conditions did not apply this time around in Winnipeg. Our voter turnout was just 38 per cent and Mayor Scott Gillingham’s victory came from just 15 per cent of Winnipeg’s eligible voters. Two supposedly serious competitors embroiled themselves — by choice — in juvenile mudslinging and offered scattered, chaotic policy platforms.

A fourth contender surged from behind in the closing weeks of the campaign — and Noah Redden had spent most of the campaign being thought of as one of the pack of gadflies that emerge to run every time there’s a mayoralty campaign here. Yet he virtually tied Kevin Klein for second place. Had Redden been treated during the campaign as a viable candidate (he was the only one to publish online a detailed, thought-through policy platform), who knows what would have happened?

Absorb those facts.

TV that makes the cut

Ambition is a great motivator in fields as diverse as professional boxing, high-school dance team, photography, animal wrangling and even — stay with me here — bank robbery and alien-summoning?

Sure, some of these are more relatable than others, but the solutions, and the series and movie that contain them, are intriguing. Press play to become a better you.

● The Greatest (docudrama series premières Wednesday, Nov. 4 on Prime Video)

This dramatization of the life of acclaimed boxer and activist Muhammad Ali is billed as the first authorized scripted series on the subject. Its executive producers include his widow, Lonnie Ali, as well as serious name brands Jay-Z and Michael B. Jordan. Newcomer Jaalen Best plays the title role, supported by Giovanni Ribisi (American Hostage) playing Angelo Dundee and Michael Ealy (The Following) as Malcolm X.

With the start of 2022 comes a new framework for Manitoba’s real estate industry

New year, new rules for Manitoba real estate.

On Jan. 1, the Real Estate Services Act came into effect in the province, bringing with it an updated regulatory framework for the local industry to follow, along with some key changes for parties on either side of a real estate transaction.

One of the most notable changes to consumers is likely the introduction of a service agreement requirement: any buyers, sellers, or renters of residential or commercial properties are now required to sign such an agreement with a realtor prior to any services being rendered. But there are other moves that will impact real estate business moving forward.

The regulatory Manitoba Securities Commission’s real estate division consulted with industry groups such as the Manitoba Real Estate Association in drafting the legislation, which replaces the Real Estate Brokers Act, and which the commission’s website says “reflects the changing face” of the provincial real estate landscape.