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SUPPLIED Julie Regner loves to see Canadians tackle the slopes or après-ski at North Dakota’s Frost Fire Park.

Manitobans continue to draw line in sand, choose not to cross once-neighbourly line on land

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Monday, Feb. 23, 2026

Julie Regner loves to see Canadians tackle the slopes or après-ski at North Dakota’s Frost Fire Park, which has drawn skiers and snowboarders across the border for decades.

While there hasn’t been an official tally of visitors this season, the park’s general manager doesn’t think she’s seeing as many Manitobans amid the steep decline in Canadians venturing south.

“I would say it’s maybe decreased some from last year. They’re definitely still coming down to ski,” Regner said from the park, which is close to Walhalla, just 10 kilometres south of the border.

“We just love having them come down. They’re super nice people.”

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A city committee heard a report Tuesday on the planned development of Winnipeg Airports Authority land. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)

Jet to the west

A city committee heard a report Tuesday on the planned development of Winnipeg Airports Authority land. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)

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Wait times for MRIs getting worse in Brandon, Dauphin

Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

BRANDON — Wait times for MRI scans have surged in the Prairie Mountain Health region during the last two years.

Despite a campaign promise by the NDP in September 2023 to increase the number of allied health professionals capable of administering diagnostic imaging in northern and rural areas, wait times for MRIs have increased dramatically in Brandon and Dauphin.

Median imaging wait times tripled at Dauphin Regional Health Centre between 2024 and 2026, increasing from eight to 24 weeks, according to the province’s wait time dashboard.

The Brandon Regional Health Centre median wait times for MRI scans more than doubled during the same period, from nine to 23 weeks.

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MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Stephen Giesbrecht shows where the base of a new community mailbox was burned, before the box was even installed.

Residents fear mailbox crime sprees

Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Preview

Residents fear mailbox crime sprees

Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Some North End residents are concerned new community mailboxes will become a target for vandalism and crime after the base of one was recently lit ablaze — before it was even installed.

The community mailboxes started to show up on Andrews Street within the last two weeks. Some have been installed, while at other locations, only the concrete foundation is in place.

“They just dumped them on the boulevard,” said Stephen Giesbrecht, who lives beside one of the boxes in the St. John’s neighbourhood. “They dumped them on the corner and then they were gone.”

One of the concrete slabs has already played host to a fire and some of the hardware needed to install the mailbox melted.

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Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

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SUPPLIED From left: Jonah, Sam and Grace Penner, and their dog Murphy, during their summer camping years.

Sunshine Fund guarantees a little magic in the summer

Grace Penner 4 minute read Preview

Sunshine Fund guarantees a little magic in the summer

Grace Penner 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

To this day, I still remember the morning polar plunges into Moose Lake — a cold shock to the system meant to wake campers up before the sun hit its peak.

Throughout my youth, my siblings and I attended Camps with Meaning, an organization that at the time offered three Mennonite bible camps at Camp Moose Lake, Camp Koinonia, and Camp Assiniboina. I spent many summers at Camp Moose Lake as well as an annual weekend trip with my high school, Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.

I have fond memories of swimming in the lake, picking up a bow and arrow for archery practice, sitting in the cafeteria with all of my friends waiting to devour home-cooked meals, as well as camp-wide games of Manhunt where bouts of giggling echoed around the property.

My parents were able to send all three of us to camp, including my brothers Jonah and Samuel, due to the camp being subsidized by the Mennonite Church. Without the financial assistance, it would have been a strain on my family to support three children going to summer camp on a yearly basis.

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Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

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RCMP, OCN seek mother of dead newborn or fetus

Morgan Modjeski 2 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

The RCMP and Opaskwayak Cree Nation leaders are trying to identify the mother of a newborn baby or fetus found deceased in Umpherville on Monday.

RCMP said the remains were found between two homes and on Friday, a news release from leadership of the northern First Nation called for anyone with information to come forward.

“The RCMP has advised leadership that it is continuing its investigation and seeks to identify the mother and family of the deceased newborn and determine the surrounding circumstances,” said Chief Michael Constant, in the release.

Recognizing the discovery is “deeply troubling” for the community, band leadership expressed its concern and said it is “exploring the need for additional supports for the health of mothers and families.”

Local

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Mike Vogiatzakis held a news conference at Winnipeg City Hall Friday, where he vowed to release a new pledge each week for the rest of his campaign for mayor.

‘Unsafe for children’: Mayoral candidate Vogiatzakis promises to ramp up security in public parks

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview

‘Unsafe for children’: Mayoral candidate Vogiatzakis promises to ramp up security in public parks

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

A mayoral candidate is vowing to have security teams monitor parks and remove people doing drugs at the green spaces, if elected.

Mike Vogiatzakis held a news conference at city hall Friday, where he shared some initial promises.

“People (who) are not supposed to be in those parks, who are bringing drugs to those parks, who are injecting needles in their bodies, they will be removed (from) those parks immediately and their needles will go with them,” said Vogiatzakis.

He vowed to release a new pledge each week for the rest of the campaign.

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Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

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MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Sixty-four Winnipeg Transit drivers are off work due to psychological injury, totalling more than 30,000 days and 225,000 hours of lost driver time.

Transit union pleads for full shields after near ‘hijacking situation’

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Transit union pleads for full shields after near ‘hijacking situation’

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026

The union representing Winnipeg Transit drivers says the need for full safety shields is critical after an operator was threatened with a hatchet early Thursday.

James Van Gerwen, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, told the Free Press about the latest incident of violence on a city bus.

The bus was waiting at the St. Vital terminal at about 1 a.m. when a passenger repeatedly told the operator to drive. When the driver left the terminal, the passenger took a hatchet out from a bag, reached around the safety shield and threatened her.

A police car happened to be driving next to the bus and the driver flagged it down, Van Gerwen said. Winnipeg Transit spokesperson Brandon Logan wouldn’t discuss details of the incident, but confirmed a report was made to Transit’s control centre Thursday morning.

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Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026

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ROBERT LEE / FREE PRESS FILES The provincially funded Free Youth Transit Pass Pilot program will provide no-cost bus rides to youths between the ages of 11 and 17 and high school students between the ages of 18 and 21.

WSD official expects older students to get free youth Transit passes first in staggered rollout of pilot program

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

WSD official expects older students to get free youth Transit passes first in staggered rollout of pilot program

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026

A program allowing youths to ride Winnipeg Transit buses fare-free is on track to start next month, though some will wait longer than others to get their passes.

The provincially funded Free Youth Transit Pass Pilot program will provide no-cost rides to youths between the ages of 11 and 17 and high school students between the ages of 18 and 21.

On Thursday, Premier Wab Kinew revealed not all students will be eligible when school resumes next month, as passes will be available based on grade levels.

“It’s going to happen week by week, more and more students will be getting the bus passes. So, this is just at the request of the people who run Transit, so that they can accommodate this new program. As you go back to school, you’ll find out how the bus passes are going to be distributed,” said Kinew.

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Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026

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MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The new sinkhole was caused by intense rainstorms earlier in the summer that created a new area of erosion, city spokeswoman Julie Dooley said.

City blames bad weather for creating new sinkhole on Sturgeon Creek path

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview

City blames bad weather for creating new sinkhole on Sturgeon Creek path

Malak Abas 3 minute read Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

After a massive water-filled hole on a Sturgeon Creek active-transportation pathway took more than a year to fix, a new sinkhole has opened nearby.

In June 2023, the Free Press reported on a gaping depression stretching seven metres long, three metres wide and up to a metre deep that opened on a pathway leading to a playground on Amarynth Crescent near the Sturgeon Creek active-transportation route. The city finally made repairs in October 2024.

Now, about 12 metres away from that spot, a new crater has appeared.

The hole, about three metres long and 2.5 metres wide, has been blocked off using metal rods and plastic netting, but resident Philip Kaban said the opening is getting larger.

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Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

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