Badminton World Federation freezes rankings for Tokyo Games

The Leaf at Assiniboine Park welcomes first visitors

The parking lot was full and Winnipeggers came out in droves Saturday morning for the public opening of The Leaf, the new indoor horticultural attraction at Assiniboine Park.

WRHA moves to cut growing echocardiogram wait list

Manitobans are waiting a year or more to receive a key test that detects and tracks heart disease.

As of June 15, there were about 6,500 Manitobans on the wait list for an echocardiogram, and the list is growing at a rate of about 265 per month.

Patients facing heart emergencies are receiving tests immediately, while most of those whose conditions are considered urgent or semi-urgent are getting them within established Canadian benchmark times -- about a week, officials say.

However, thousands of patients who are considered candidates for "elective" tests are waiting anywhere from 10 to 15 months, with a median wait of 12 months, according to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Province tables legislation to cover health-care system changes

The Pallister government has introduced broad legislation to support several of its key planned health-care reforms.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen said Wednesday that Bill 10 (The Regional Health Authorities Amendment Act) will provide the framework to simplify the administration of the health-care system and improve accountability.

All health services in Manitoba will be delivered through the five current regional health authorities, CancerCare Manitoba and a new provincial authority called Shared Health. The administrative changes are set to begin next month and will continue to be rolled out over the next two to three years.

The Health Department will cease to administer health services directly and focus its activities on planning, policy development, funding and oversight. It will set system-wide performance goals and track results.

New council, new opportunies for Winnipeg

Last week, Winnipeg voters returned Mayor Scott Gillingham to city hall for a second term, but the more surprising election storyline is that nine of the 15 councillors surrounding him will be new faces.

One encouraging aspect of the results is the community-building experience several of these new councillors bring to the job. Their backgrounds in urban planning, neighbourhood advocacy and community development offer valuable perspectives as Winnipeg confronts difficult questions about how it grows.

These perspectives will be particularly important because some of the most consequential decisions councillors can make happen when they evaluate residential development proposals at committee meetings. Over the next four years, the 16 people we’ve just elected will bear the enormous responsibility of deciding where and how Winnipeggers live. These choices will have profound implications for quality of life, social opportunity and the economic viability of our city. They will shape not only the Winnipeg we know today, but the city we leave to our children and grandchildren.

At committee meetings, councillors will hear endless arguments about parking, traffic, and protecting “neighbourhood character.”

Russian Olympic biathlon champion loses Sochi doping case

GENEVA - Two-time Olympic biathlon champion Olga Zaitseva lost her appeal Thursday against disqualification from the 2014 Sochi Olympics for her part in Russia’s state-backed doping program.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges upheld the International Olympic Committee’s disciplinary ruling of 2017, which used evidence against Zaitseva from Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov.

Zaitseva’s disqualification from all her Sochi events strips Russia of its silver medal in the women’s biathlon 4x6-kilometre relay. She won — and will retain — her gold medals from the same relay event at the two previous Winter Games in 2006 and 2010.

Her lawyer in Switzerland, Yvan Henzer, said Zaitseva would appeal the CAS ruling at Switzerland’s supreme court. The federal court typically only intervenes if legal process was abused.