Western Expresso

[1ajs]

Manitoba
Winnipeg drag icon Bob Burgess remembered as selfless, fun-loving person who brought joy to community
Burgess, who performed as Gloria Booths, died suddenly on Jan. 30

Lauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Feb 10, 2026 7:39 PM CST | Last Updated: February 10

A well-known Winnipeg drag artist is being remembered as a kind-hearted and selfless person whose colourful costumes and fun-loving personality spread joy across the community.

Bob Burgess, who performed as Gloria Booths for two decades, died suddenly on Jan. 30 at 67. He was a member of beloved local drag duo Pictoria Secrete and Gloria Booths, a.k.a. Picky and Glory.

Brent Young, his partner in life and in drag, said Burgess collapsed in the street while he was on his way to volunteer with Goodwill last month.

"It was so sudden. There were no warning signs of any kind," said Young.

Young said Burgess died at the scene.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-bob-burgess-lgbtq-drag-icon-9.7082027

[pspeid]

An interesting substack piece about the history and current state of Alberta's oil industry:

https://factsmtr.substack.com/p/alberta-...BGmxtgzHiZHV8_aem_WFfbyQy7sdwxSFfhIe2X0A

If anyone has been wondering "how can Alberta be running huge provincial deficits with all that oil revenue?", this could answer part of that. Yes, international oil prices had sunk (prior to Trump's war in Iran), but the value Alberta had been getting from their oil patch had been dropping drastically for many years.

[pspeid]

For the "Conservative governments are more fiscally responsible than left-leaning governments" file:

https://factsmtr.substack.com/p/getting-...g7o-WMws0vWi0_aem_uMHTUPAmPzKmvFKI4WFXlA

[Wpg_Guy]

‘Good day to be a polar bear’: Carney unveils nature strategy, new conservation areas
By: Nick Murray, The Canadian Press
Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2026

LA PÊCHE – The Liberal government’s $3.8 billion nature protection strategy will put Canada’s 2030 nature conservation goals within reach, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday.

Announcing the new plan at an event in Wakefield, Que., Carney said the federal government will create new national parks, urban parks and marine conservation areas.

Carney said his government is taking an “ambitious” approach to conservation spaces and urban parks. He said the plan will require “significant” federal funding and includes aspirations to spur private-sector investments.

The new conservation areas will include the Wiinipaawk Indigenous protected area and national marine conservation area in Eastern James Bay, and the Seal River watershed national park in Manitoba.

Carney said the Seal River park will help protect the world’s largest intact watershed.

“Think about that — the world’s largest intact watershed, providing natural carbon storage, water filtration and flood protection, while preserving the habitat of polar bears, caribou and other iconic Canadian wildlife,” Carney said.

“It’s a good day to be a polar bear in Canada.”

The federal government committed four years ago to protecting 30 per cent of the country’s land and waters by 2030.

The new plan comes just a few weeks after conservation groups warned that federal funding was running out.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

— With files from Kyle Duggan

Winnipeg Free Press

[pspeid]

Great to hear about this. The Seal River watershed is huge, great to see it as a conservation area.

.

[bomberjet]

In other very important news. The Curtis Gorson hotel on Hendrson has moved their beer vendor into the former Certigard building next door. It's a walk in cooler style place. A wonderland of beer. I haven't been to the Curtis in a while. I wonder what they'll do with the old vendor space.

[BlackDog204]

Tennessee fugitive, 35, wanted for child sex abuse charges arrested in Winnipeg

Police in U.S. state say man has no family in Manitoba and might have fled to area of 'least resistance'

Rosanna Hempel · CBC News · Posted: May 12, 2026 6:50 PM CDT | Last Updated: 11 hours ago


An American fugitive wanted for child sex abuse-related charges in Tennessee was arrested far from home during a traffic stop in Winnipeg last week. Logan Woodard Kelley, 35, was charged criminally and indicted by a grand jury in Robertson County, north of Nashville, but failed to appear in court last month while on pre-trial release, Tennessee police said. That triggered an international search, Det. Joseph Chelini of the Greenbrier Police Department said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Kelley was indicted on 14 counts of aggravated statutory rape last August in connection to a case involving a 13-year-old girl, Chelini told CBC News. Earlier this year, Kelley was charged with 15 counts of soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor, which involves explicit images, and 10 counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, which involves creating and distributing child pornography, Chelini said.

It's alleged Kelley does not have a passport and entered Canada illegally, possibly through a farm or field — while potentially armed with multiple handguns and rifles — a few days before his court date in Robertson County on April 24. An arrest warrant was issued after he failed to show up in court, Chelini said. Chelini says the department worked with federal law-enforcement agencies — including the United States Marshals Service, which leads national fugitive investigations — to track Kelley.

Chelini said his department learned Kelley was in Winnipeg by early May but police hadn't completed all the formal and "time-consuming" paperwork and processes of alerting Winnipeg police by the time officers arrested him. Winnipeg police officers saw a speeding truck in the Exchange District at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and pulled it over near Higgins Avenue and McArthur Street, a Tuesday news release said.

The officers identified the driver and learned about the outstanding arrest warrant, Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Pat Saydak said in an interview. The man was arrested and turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency, where he'll stay until he can be transferred to the U.S., Saydak said. Greenbrier police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were also notified, he said.

Saydak could not confirm the man was Kelley. Chelini commended the Winnipeg officers for their diligence in identifying the man. "It couldn't have gone any smoother, especially with the risk that we believed that he was armed and dangerous," Chelini said.

"It was a tremendous fear that he would be encountered, but they wouldn't have the means to take any action against him, because ... they wouldn't have known beyond him being in the country illegally."

Kelley is believed to have disposed of guns before encountering officers in Winnipeg and wasn't armed when they took him into custody, Chelini said.

It's unclear why Kelley fled to Winnipeg as he doesn't have family ties in the city, Chelini said, adding he suspects "it was just the path of least resistance."

source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/tennessee-fugitive-arrested-higgins-avenue-9.7197092

----


Good work by the WPS in apprehending the wanted man. Considering he crossed the border illegally, with his firearms, it could have ended badly.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

Tennessee fugitive, 35, wanted for child sex abuse charges arrested in Winnipeg

Police in U.S. state say man has no family in Manitoba and might have fled to area of 'least resistance'

Rosanna Hempel · CBC News · Posted: May 12, 2026 6:50 PM CDT | Last Updated: 11 hours ago


An American fugitive wanted for child sex abuse-related charges in Tennessee was arrested far from home during a traffic stop in Winnipeg last week. Logan Woodard Kelley, 35, was charged criminally and indicted by a grand jury in Robertson County, north of Nashville, but failed to appear in court last month while on pre-trial release, Tennessee police said. That triggered an international search, Det. Joseph Chelini of the Greenbrier Police Department said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Kelley was indicted on 14 counts of aggravated statutory rape last August in connection to a case involving a 13-year-old girl, Chelini told CBC News. Earlier this year, Kelley was charged with 15 counts of soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor, which involves explicit images, and 10 counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, which involves creating and distributing child pornography, Chelini said.

It's alleged Kelley does not have a passport and entered Canada illegally, possibly through a farm or field — while potentially armed with multiple handguns and rifles — a few days before his court date in Robertson County on April 24. An arrest warrant was issued after he failed to show up in court, Chelini said. Chelini says the department worked with federal law-enforcement agencies — including the United States Marshals Service, which leads national fugitive investigations — to track Kelley.

Chelini said his department learned Kelley was in Winnipeg by early May but police hadn't completed all the formal and "time-consuming" paperwork and processes of alerting Winnipeg police by the time officers arrested him. Winnipeg police officers saw a speeding truck in the Exchange District at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and pulled it over near Higgins Avenue and McArthur Street, a Tuesday news release said.

The officers identified the driver and learned about the outstanding arrest warrant, Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Pat Saydak said in an interview. The man was arrested and turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency, where he'll stay until he can be transferred to the U.S., Saydak said. Greenbrier police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were also notified, he said.

Saydak could not confirm the man was Kelley. Chelini commended the Winnipeg officers for their diligence in identifying the man. "It couldn't have gone any smoother, especially with the risk that we believed that he was armed and dangerous," Chelini said.

"It was a tremendous fear that he would be encountered, but they wouldn't have the means to take any action against him, because ... they wouldn't have known beyond him being in the country illegally."

Kelley is believed to have disposed of guns before encountering officers in Winnipeg and wasn't armed when they took him into custody, Chelini said.

It's unclear why Kelley fled to Winnipeg as he doesn't have family ties in the city, Chelini said, adding he suspects "it was just the path of least resistance."

source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/tennessee-fugitive-arrested-higgins-avenue-9.7197092

----


Good work by the WPS in apprehending the wanted man. Considering he crossed the border illegally, with his firearms, it could have ended badly.

Right here is a display of the difference between what the public is allowed to know about crime in Canada vs the U.S. Winnipeg Police would not even give his name even though he is illegally in Canada. TN Police tell us everything,

[drew]

There is a difference between accused and convicted in terms of a person's expectation for anonymity. Also, in abuse cases they tend to avoid names to protect the victim's names from becoming public.

Obviously in some higher profile cases, that isn't possible. But generally speaking, the authorities are more careful in releasing names in Canada. I don't think its a bad thing necessarily.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by drew

There is a difference between accused and convicted in terms of a person's expectation for anonymity. Also, in abuse cases they tend to avoid names to protect the victim's names from becoming public.

Obviously in some higher profile cases, that isn't possible. But generally speaking, the authorities are more careful in releasing names in Canada. I don't think its a bad thing necessarily.

And it's an excellent policy too.

The Epstein files highlight just how messed up the US system is. The names of the accused have been protected, but the victims have had their identities leaked, even though they have not come forward to the media, and were underage.

The Canadian criminal justice system, for all it's flaws, is far better than the American counterparts.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by drew

There is a difference between accused and convicted in terms of a person's expectation for anonymity. Also, in abuse cases they tend to avoid names to protect the victim's names from becoming public.

Obviously in some higher profile cases, that isn't possible. But generally speaking, the authorities are more careful in releasing names in Canada. I don't think its a bad thing necessarily.

Canadian police (and in some cases Canadian laws) seem way over the top on privacy. Not disclosing murder victim's names is insane. Allowing sex offenders to remain anonymous is outrageous, even where the victim is related.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

And it's an excellent policy too.

The Epstein files highlight just how messed up the US system is. The names of the accused have been protected, but the victims have had their identities leaked, even though they have not come forward to the media, and were underage.

The Canadian criminal justice system, for all it's flaws, is far better than the American counterparts.

Epstein is an aberration. In the U.S., perps are way more likely to be named and shamed than in Canada.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Epstein is an aberration. In the U.S., perps are way more likely to be named and shamed than in Canada.

I could not care less about the perpetrators. I am more concerned about protecting victims.

[BlackDog204]

Insect populations drop even without direct human interference, a new study finds

Even in areas relatively undisturbed by human activity, insect populations are on the decline, with climate change as a likely culprit. That's the finding of new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study, published in the journal Ecology, calculated the density of flying insects during 15 summers, between 2004–2024, in a remote meadow in the Colorado mountains.

The bugs collected included common flies — and a wide range of other, mostly winged species.

The insect populations were found to have declined by an average 6.6% annually — a 72.4% drop over the 20-year period.

source: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/12/nx-s1-5535551/insect-populations-human-interference-study

This is something I began to notice a few years ago. If one were to travel an hour north of Winnipeg to a cabin, the cars grill used to be littered with insect guts. Today it's not nearly as bad. There just seems to be a lack of insects in recent years.

70% of he North American insect population is gone. This is not good news, as insects are part of the food chain. How much longer can we go on, before people start to die out in droves?