Portage

U.S. attorneys have filed sentencing submissions for two men convicted after a family froze to death while trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba.

A Minnesota jury found Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national arrested in Chicago, guilty last year of human-smuggling charges.

The parents and two children from India were found in the snow metres from the U.S. border in January 2022.

In court documents filed Wednesday, the U.S. attorneys requested Patel be sentenced to a little more than 19 years in prison.

May 12–18 marks National Nursing Week 2025, a week to honour the hard work, dedication, and transformative impact of nurses across Canada.

This year’s theme, "The Power of Nurses to Transform Health," highlights the essential role that over 478,000 nurses play in shaping the future of healthcare in our communities and beyond.

In Portage, National Nursing Week is being celebrated in full swing, with local nurses receiving appreciation and recognition for their work.

A crowd-favourite afternoon of live music returns this weekend as four local acts take the stage for the Herman Prior Music Show, this Sunday, May 18th. The concert, sponsored by Cy Painter, promises a fun, music-filled day while raising funds for the Herman Prior Activity Centre.

Tylor Duncan is now leading MacDonald’s Sporting Goods in Portage la Prairie, becoming the fourth-generation owner of the family business. His transition follows decades of operation by his father, Wade Duncan, and previous generations dating back to the early 1950s.

A family legacy continues

Duncan says the gradual handover began last year, with his father reducing his workload from six or seven days a week to four or five.

“It’s been his dad and his dad’s dad before him, so I’m generation four now,” he notes. “We’re trying to keep the business going.”

When a church in Toronto's west end was converted into affordable housing nearly 15 years ago, the group behind the project was already thinking ahead. 

Andrea Adams, the executive director of the non-profit developer St. Clare's, said she was "daydreaming" about what could be built on the yard next to the 20-unit building on Ossington Avenue. 

She was eventually introduced to Assembly Corp., a company that builds mass timber modular housing, around the same time that the city was looking for proposals for "shovel ready" affordable housing projects. 

Some outdoorsy Canadians are planning to build their tents with elbows up this summer as the season unofficially kicks off this long weekend.

Sally Turner says she and her husband plan to do their camping, canoeing and biking this year in Canadian national parks, including at Jasper National Park this weekend, because of the U.S. trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to make Canada a 51st state.

"I have, in the past, camped in the United States, but that's not going to happen in the near future," Turner said while shopping for camping gear in Edmonton.

There’s never been a better time to celebrate Canada’s beauty and support the businesses that make it the greatest country in the world. 

Golden West introduces the Best Western See MORE Canada Auction presented by Travel Manitoba, uplifting local tourism while helping Canadians rediscover the wonders in their own backyard. 

From lakeside retreats to city weekend getaways, individual adventures, this online auction is the ticket to unforgettable experiences at unbeatable prices. 

Connor Hellebuyck was perfect again on home ice, stopping all 22 shots he faced for his second shutout in a row on home ice, as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Dallas Stars 4-0 in Game 5 of their second-round series Thursday night at Canada Life Centre.

Facing elimination down 3-1 in the series, the Jets rose to the occasion in front of a raucous Whiteout crowd on a stormy evening in southern Manitoba.

After reviewing the event, the Northern Tornadoes Project has determined that the tornado near Sperling has been categorized as an EF0 or Default, which estimates wind speeds to be between 65 and 85 miles per hour and causing minor or no damage. As of yet, no damage has been reported from the event.

Original story:

Photos and reports suggest a tornado touched down in Sperling, MB during the early evening of May 15. Justin Oertel with The Weather Centre of Manitoba shared images and video provided to him on the organization's Facebook page.

Severe thunderstorms need rising air, and to get that you need heat, or rather, you need a large difference in temperature between two areas.

Many people associate thunderstorms with a very hot day, but just having one of those does not mean that there is a large difference in temperature.

To get thunderstorms on a hot day, you need to have cool air aloft.