Louis Riel School Division embraces AI agents of change

End-of-year report cards will be drafted using a new digital assistant made by and for teachers working in St. Vital and surrounding communities in southeast Winnipeg.

The Louis Riel School Division’s data team has spent much of the 2025-26 school year designing and piloting secure artificial intelligence-powered tools to address common problems for staff and students.

Curriculum-Linked Assessment and Reporting Assistant is one of its five new “AI agents.”

“Teachers put in all their assessment data and it helps them create meaningful, curriculum-aligned, jargon-free comments for parents,” said Marnie Wilson, data strategy officer for the division.

SCO-led app Miikahnah Connect links Indigenous workers to labour demand

As Jay Sanderson turned to face his job site, evidence of his work stared back — plywood replacing windows at the former Hudson’s Bay Co. flagship store downtown.

Lately, he’s been in the basement.

He’s working with several First Nations members on the construction of Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization’s revamp of the old Bay site.

Construction on the facility — which will include housing and a childcare centre, among other things— is slated for another two-and-a-half years, according to SCO’s grand chief.

City has ignored dangerous median opening for more than a year, frustrated residents complain

North Logan community members want the city to take responsibility for a hazard they say is putting pedestrians at risk and has gone ignored for more than a year.

An uncovered utility access point on a median near Logan Avenue and Patrick Street has exposed pipes inside to the elements and people to a potentially nasty fall, said Romeo Zapata of the North Logan Safety Patrol.

“The location of the hole is on the boulevard,” he said. “So when people try to cross the street, they go to the boulevard and they look for cars; they don’t look for holes. So that’s a double danger.”

The Logan neighbourhood hazard is the city’s latest trouble spot. A Wolseley woman fell armpit-deep into a boulevard hole in April, and a West End resident has had no luck getting a crater in front of their home filled.

Charges stayed against men accused in bike chop shop

A high-profile arrest of two men accused of operating a bicycle chop shop at a riverside homeless encampment last summer went nowhere in court after the Crown requested the charges be stayed.

The bust at a public park on Waterfront Drive made headlines last August, when the Winnipeg Police Service announced investigators had taken the unprecedented step of applying for a search warrant before entering the makeshift tarp structure.

Police seized 50 bicycle frames, 77 tires, 53 rims and other equipment believed to be stolen. Two men were charged with possession of property obtained by crime.

A review of court records shows the Crown prosecutor leading the case stayed the charges against the accused on April 15. The decision means the charges are suspended but not dismissed, and could be reactivated within one year if new evidence comes to light.

Manitoba pharmacists seek dose of new powers

When patients come to Britt Kural to assess a sore throat and ask for medicine, she has to tell them no.

Kural, a practising pharmacist for 27 years in Winnipeg, was trained to help — but regulations in Manitoba bar her from treating the common ailment.

“I get questions regularly from patients who want (care) and it’s quite disappointing when I have to say ‘no, I’m sorry, we can’t do that in Manitoba,’” Kural said Thursday, noting she’s forced to send people to a doctor instead.

Pharmacists Manitoba is calling on the government to expand the scope of health services and bring care up to par with other provinces, better co-ordinate patient care and retain and recruit pharmacists.

Transit fare evasion crackdown results in more than 11,000 trips denied

More than 11,000 bus rides have been denied since a Winnipeg Transit crackdown began on riders who don’t pay fares.

A crackdown on bus riders who don’t pay their fares is getting credit for preventing thousands of free Winnipeg Transit rides.

Passengers who intended to board Winnipeg Transit buses without payment, as assessed by community safety officers and Transit inspectors, were denied rides about 11,700 times through a fare enforcement program since July 2025, a city report notes.

Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, says the enforcement program is being welcomed by drivers and riders, while those who can’t pay are not simply turned away.

‘I’ve dreamt about this’: semi-retired truck driver from Manitoba emotional in announcing $46-M lotto win

Earl Giesbrecht was thrilled when he checked his lottery tickets at a local grocery store and initially thought he was $46,000 richer.

Economy adds 88,000 jobs as unemployment rate falls to 6.6%: StatCan

OTTAWA - The labour market rebounded with a surprise gain of 88,000 jobs in May, partially offsetting a bigger drop in employment since the start of the year, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The agency said the unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent in May, down from 6.9 per cent in April.

StatCan said May’s gains were the first significant increase in employment since November 2025. The economy had shed 112,000 net jobs in the first four months of 2026.

Economists had broadly expected a more modest gain of 10,000 jobs in May and that the unemployment rate would hold steady.

Far-flung buddies celebrate four decades of annual golf trips in the city their friendships were forged

A group of lifelong friends from Winnipeg are reuniting for their 40th annual golf trip.

Cockerill elected to repair torn labrum mid-season that was impeding backswing

Manitoba’s top professional golfer is on the mend.

Aaron Cockerill has been playing through shoulder pain for the past three seasons on the DP World Tour, hoping to keep it in good enough shape to continue swinging for success.

The Stony Mountain product recently reached the point of no return as his game began to falter, leading to a decision to go under the knife and put his career on pause.

“It’s just slowly been deteriorating,” he told the Free Press on Thursday from his Winnipeg home.