B.C. government continues the pandemic wage top-up for care home workers

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.

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.

Oleksiak makes history with seventh Olympic medal

TOKYO - The Canadian women finished their impressive medal haul in the pool – including a record-setting performance from Penny Oleksiak – and Andre De Grasse finally got Canada's men on the board with his second consecutive Olympic bronze in the men's 100 metres.

After finishing third in the medley relay, Maggie Mac Neil draped a bronze medal brimming with significance around Oleksiak's neck as their teammates Kylie Masse and Sydney Pickrem celebrated on the podium.

"Most decorated," they chanted in unison with their arms around each other during post-ceremony interviews with reporters.

On the final day of swimming competition at the Tokyo Olympics, Toronto's Oleksiak took her place at the top among Canada's greatest Olympians. In helping the medley relay team win bronze, she earned her seventh career Olympic medal, and at just 21 became the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all time.

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.”

Bob Saget, beloved TV dad of 'Full House,' dead at 65

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Saget, the actor-comedian known for his role as beloved single dad Danny Tanner on the sitcom “Full House” and as the wisecracking host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” died while on a stand-up tour. He was 65.

Deputies in Orange County, Florida, were called Sunday about an “unresponsive man” in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando and found Saget dead, according to a sheriff’s statement on Twitter. Detectives found “no signs of foul play or drug use in this case.”

Saget was in Florida as part of his “I Don't Do Negative Comedy Tour.” After warm audience receptions to his gigs Friday in Orlando and Saturday in the Ponte Vedra Beach resort area, he celebrated online.

“I’m back in comedy like I was when I was 26. I guess I’m finding my new voice and loving every moment of it,” he posted Saturday on Instagram.

New COVID treatment drug painless experience: recovered patient

One of the first Manitobans to receive the antiviral COVID-19 pill that became available in the province last month has fully recovered, with no side effects.

Mary McIntosh, 72, lives in Victoria Beach and is among the 83 Manitobans recently issued Pfizer Inc. drug Paxlovid to treat COVID-19.

She reached out to Health Links when she was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Jan. 30. McIntosh has autoimmune hepatitis (a chronic liver disease), thus qualifying her to receive the new treatment.

“I did have to advocate for myself with respect to treatment options,” said McIntosh, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including a booster.