Woman with constant back pain at two years and waiting for surgery

Cheryl Grewar has now waited two years for the spinal neurosurgery doctors originally said she’d get within three to six months. Grewar is in constant pain and uses a walker so she doesn’t fall — something that happened to her in December and left her with a broken ankle. “My orthopedic doctor said the injury could have been avoided had I already had surgery,” said the 62-year-old Winnipeg woman. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cheryl Grewar is in constant pain and fears falling. ‘I broke my ankle once — I don’t want to break anything else.’ She continues to […]

Vacant Centre Village set for demolition

Centre Village, the inner-city apartment complex hailed as an architectural marvel when it opened in 2010 but shuttered and abandoned by the province in recent years, is set to be demolished this month. The long-vacant building, which caught fire Wednesday night, has gone from a sign of hope and innovation 14 years ago to an unprecedented black spot on the province’s affordable housing file. University of Winnipeg urban geography professor Jino Distasio said it’s the only time he can think of where the parties involved in building a housing complex had “so misjudged something that it needs to be demolished […]

City eyes locks to limit loose garbage

The City of Winnipeg is exploring whether lockable garbage bins could curb some trash from being strewn around downtown.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said loose garbage, including debris from receptacles deliberately dumped onto the streets, is piling up to an unsightly degree.

“I want a cleaner downtown,” Gillingham said.

“Sometimes, some of the debris that we see in our downtown streets and sidewalks comes from garbage cans that have been emptied out by individuals. So, we want to do what we can on our side to make it more difficult for people to tamper with litter receptacles and recycling receptacles.”

Manitoba credits roll at TIFF

In early August, Manitoba Film & Music announced a record-breaking year when it came to the number of film and television productions happening in Manitoba: an astonishing $434.9 million, double the amount of last year, which endured the affliction of both writers’ and actors’ strikes.

Fiscally, it was great news, with the TV- and movie-business dollars trickling through the province’s economy via everything from hotel rooms and rental cars to prop rentals.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily shake out to be a good thing for our own Manitoba filmmakers. In fact, it might serve to sharpen the divide between local artists and the moneyed Hollywood studio types bringing mainstream movies — such as Nobody 2, a sequel to the Bob Odenkirk Netflix hit, and The Long Walk, an adaptation of the Stephen King novella of the same name — to shoot here, taking advantage of some of the most generous tax incentives on the continent.

Fortunately, the Toronto International Film Festival seemed to pick this moment to prove Manitoba filmmakers have some juice of their own. The festival has an unprecedented seven Manitoba-produced films playing in the 49th edition of the festival, which runs to Sept. 15.

Brandon University calls on nude models to strike pose

No shoes? No shirt? No problem in some Brandon University arts classes.

BU associate professor Lisa Wood is on the lookout for four people willing to pose nude for drawing classes after multiple models on her roster moved to different cities and took different jobs during the pandemic.

The practice is common in universities across the country and helps students gain foundational skills and understand structure and anatomy more accurately, Wood said. It can also help new artists play with proportion and distortion.

“I like to make sure that there are a variety of models so that the students get to draw from a variety of people of different genders, of different ages, of different sizes, different races so that they get to see different people,” Wood said Thursday.

Plan to turn parking lot into ‘queer village’ advances

A housing development could soon offer a safe refuge for members of the LGBTTQ+ community.

Levi Foy, executive director of Sunshine House, said Queer Village would include emergency shelter spaces, transitional housing and independent living.

Sunshine House and 2Spirit Manitoba plan to offer supports to LGBTTQ+ tenants at the proposed site on Notre Dame Avenue, pending a final city council vote.

Foy told the Free Press that 24/7 supports would be available at the site. They might include cultural ceremonies, counselling, addictions treatment and health services.

Court reviews details of $530-M CFS settlement

An “extraordinary” $530-million settlement compensating every child affected by the province clawing back federal funds for kids in care — more than 80 per cent of whom are Indigenous — could see them getting paid by the end of the year.

The Court of King’s Bench began hearing details Thursday of a comprehensive class-action settlement agreement.

“This week’s hearings are a pivotal step towards justice and long-awaited compensation to the First Nations children who were wrongfully denied support,” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said in a news release.

The deal aims to recoup the federal children’s special allowance that was diverted from children in care to the province from 2005 to 2019, totalling an estimated $335 million.

Manitoba premier Wab Kinew wants federal help to avoid potential tuition hikes

WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says a new federal policy on international students could lead to higher post-secondary tuition fees for domestic ones. In January, the federal government announced a cap on the number of student visa applications it would accept. That was expected to result in a 35 per cent drop in the number of international students, who pay higher tuition rates, but some universities say the drop has been greater. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks during the media availability at the 2024 Western Premiers’ Conference in Whitehorse, Monday, June 10, 2024. CANADIAN PRESS/Crystal Schick Kinew, who worked […]

Beware ‘guaranteed investment’: scams on rise

Fraudsters are trying to scam more Manitobans out of their hard earned money and retirement savings. The Better Business Bureau issued a warning Thursday that the number of successful investment scams has been rising in recent years. Stefanie Lasuik, spokeswoman for the BBB of Central Canada, said the BBB’s ScamTracker received two reports of investment scams in 2021-22, but that has jumped to 10 so far in 2023-24. CHRIS RATCLIFFE / BLOOMBERG FILES Scammers will encourage the use of cryptocurrencies. “As always, we expect there were many more victims than those who reported their losses to ScamTracker,” Lasuik said Thursday. […]