Rural hospital shutdowns continue into fall

Summer shutdowns at some rural Manitoba hospitals have quietly extended into fall, and the uncertainty about reopening is frustrating residents.

Incoming councillor calls for safety improvements on Main Street

A newly elected city councillor has called for improvements to Main Street after a man in his 60s was hit and killed while in a crosswalk at Main and Jarvis Avenue.

Natalie Smith, who was elected Wednesday to represent the Mynarski ward, attended a small vigil at the site Friday afternoon.

“I walk through here, I bike through here and I have to drive through here. I know at this intersection, I have seen so many close calls,” she said, calling the area, which is north of an underpass, “poorly designed.”

She promised to ask city administration to look into ways to slow down traffic flow on Main Street.

Ottawa announces $500 million for North End sewage plant upgrade

The federal government will provide $500 million to help complete the major upgrade to Winnipeg’s North End sewage treatment plant.

Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid confirmed the total funding at a news conference at the plant Friday, calling the work critical to Winnipeg’s future.

“The stakes could not be higher. Without expanded wastewater treatment, Winnipeg would run out of capacity to build new homes and accommodate new industries within six years,” said Duguid.

The commitment offers the final funding needed to cover the $1.57-billion third and final phase of the upgrade. The city and province will also pay $500 million each for the work.

Thailand’s king, queen test positive for COVID-19

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's king and queen have tested positive for COVID-19, and so far have only mild symptoms, the royal palace said Saturday.

Doctors prescribed treatment for King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 70, and Queen Suthida, 44, and requested them to refrain from duties for a while, the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement.

Their symptoms are “very mild,” the statement said.

Earlier Friday and Thursday, the couple visited Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok, where she was admitted after she fell unconscious due to a heart problem on Wednesday.

Doctor’s departure stressful for teen

Morgan Walker is a typical teen — but only because a piece of his brain the size of a deck of cards was removed four years ago.

Walker, who had seizures multiple times a day before his surgery, fears other people might not be so lucky.

That’s because his surgeon, Dr. Demitre Serletis, is leaving the province and Health Sciences Centre. Serletis will start practising at the Cleveland Clinic in the new year.

“I was kind of shocked, but I understood why,” Walker said from his home in Brandon. “The government really hasn’t been respecting doctors.”