Culture minister’s pledge sends officials on hunt for money to fix Islamic centre after apparent hate crime

Government officials were left scrambling Friday to explain why the province is paying for repairs at a mosque recently targeted in a potential hate crime after a $1 million security enhancement fund was fully allocated in June.

Rollins becomes fifth councillor to bow out of fall election

Sherri Rollins says she’s withdrawing her bid to keep her city hall seat after eight years, citing her concerns about the “gradual erosion of the role played by council” and the struggle to work co-operatively with the mayor’s office.

On eve of Folklorama, Ghana pavilion scrambles to replace stolen outfits

Volunteers from Folklorama’s Ghana pavilion scrambled to replace cultural costumes for about 40 young dancers after the outfits were stolen in Winnipeg days before the annual festival begins.

Two plastic storage bins containing the costumes, to be worn by children and teenagers, were taken from the trunk of a parked car on Banning Street, near Notre Dame Avenue in the West End, likely late Wednesday or early Thursday.

“I felt sad that this has happened. I felt completely devastated for the mother who had them in her car,” said pavilion co-ordinator Abigail Larson. “The initial feeling of sadness changed to, ‘OK, how do we make this a positive?’”

The costumes belong to the Ghana Union of Manitoba Dancers, whose members have rehearsed for months for Folklorama, which begins Sunday.

Police say pellet-style gun used in mosque attack

Police investigators probing an attack on a Winnipeg mosque have determined the weapon used was likely an airsoft or pellet-style gun — not a firearm, as initially believed.

The Winnipeg Police Service said in an update Friday investigators have potentially linked the Wednesday night shooting at Rahma Islamic Centre to reports of similar damage at a home on the 600 block of Roberta Avenue.

“The incident is reported to have occurred at 10:15 p.m. on the same evening, and damage to the windows of the residence is believed to have been caused by an airsoft or pellet-style gun as well,” the news release said.

“Due to the proximity and time frame of both incidents, investigators are attempting to determine if the incidents are related.”

‘Good deal of synergy’ brewing in South Osborne

Pub crawls could become the next South Osborne draw.

At least, that’s the hope of entrepreneurs in the area as three breweries build out locations in the Winnipeg neighbourhood.

Nonsuch Brewing Co. and Good Neighbour Brewing Co. have opened storefronts along the strip in the past three months. Dastardly Villain is creating a taproom and nanobrewery.

“I’m really excited to have these pubs and taprooms,” said Ben Shantz, board chair of the South Osborne Business Improvement Zone.

Wanderers centennial transcends the pitch

A local rugby club’s influence on Winnipeg’s sports scene impacts thousands of Winnipeggers every day. Their story is one of the city’s best-kept secrets.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg Wanderers Rugby Football Club. The Kildonan-based Wanderers' storied history reflects the core values of a global community, rooted in camaraderie and fuelled by a burning love for the sport.

The Wanderers’ influence on both rugby and football has built stadiums, shaped families, and pioneered the way for Winnipeg’s beloved professional gridiron football team.

Last month, Manitoba’s oldest rugby club celebrated the milestone with the communities it helped build. The club hosted a weekend of festivities at Maple Grove Rugby Park and was honoured on two separate occasions at Princess Auto Stadium.

Hydro scrambling to restore power to remaining 4,500 customers after storm; some outages will continue into Saturday

Power outages could stretch into a third day for some Manitobans — mainly in and around Winnipeg — while crews continued to repair widespread damage caused by powerful thunderstorms.

About 4,500 Manitoba Hydro customers were still without electricity at 2:30 p.m. Friday, after more than 30,000 lost power while powerful winds brought down trees and power lines Wednesday night and early Thursday.

The Crown corporation said it is aiming to have all outages with greater numbers of customers restored by Friday night, but some customers may remain without power into Saturday.

“The challenge is just the sheer scale of this thing — hundreds of different outages spread across a large part of the city,” Hydro spokesman Peter Chura said. “Just getting to all of them in a timely fashion is very difficult.”

Chinese newcomers protest over delays in security screening clearance

Dozens of Chinese newcomers rallied outside Winnipeg’s federal immigration office Friday to protest what they describe as untenable delays to Canada’s security screening process.

The rally against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada comes after a surge in immigration security screening requests created backlogs for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Protesters said the resulting delays have left them in limbo as they try to obtain permanent residency.

“We just want transparency,” said Pakying Chau, 26, who travelled from Hong Kong to Winnipeg in 2018 to study agribusiness.