- Following criticism for his "bicycle Nazi" remark the other day, Transcona councillor Russ Wyatt has apologized for his choice of words, but defends the substance of what he was saying. He insists that he's not against all cycling; fair enough, but this is kind of telling:
"A number of us councillors have been advocating for bike paths to be built," including the Transcona Trail and the North Winnipeg Parkway, said Wyatt.
"What's frustrating is to hear Bike Winnipeg not necessarily representing those projects when they come forward, but want to represent closing of lanes to cars, such as closing Assiniboine Avenue at Main Street, or removing the slip lane in Osborne Village."
Now there's nothing wrong with the bike paths Wyatt says he's advocating for, but those paths are better suited to recreational cycling than commuting (though the North Winnipeg Parkway is doubtless useful for some). And what is really needed is to get people out of their cars, not merely have them riding around when they don't have anywhere in particular to go.
- Hawaii's aquifers are being depleted at a dangerous rate. And that's not even considering what will happen as sea levels rise and cause wells to go salty.
- Israel has faced international criticism for its actions before, but even its staunchest supporters are starting to wonder.
- Apparently the starting wages for new FBI agents, who have no say in where in the US they are assigned, are inadequate to comfortably cover the costs of living in many cities (New York, San Francisco, and others). That sounds like something that a spy, terrorist, or gangster could take advantage of.
- A lawyer who formerly worked for the Thunder Bay Police Service has been charged with several offenses related to the Ontario Provincial Police's investigation of the force's numerous problems.
- The owners of the Winnipeg Jets are considering going into the charity business by creating transitional housing. Obviously part of the motivation is the fact that the area around the Canada Life Centre has a lot of highly visible homelessness, but it's still a good thing if done well.
- Kathleen Cook, the Manitoba Tories' advanced education critic, raised the issue of the cyberattack at the University of Winnipeg in the legislature last week in an attempt to throw shade on the Kinew government. What she doesn't understand (or at least hopes that you don't understand) is that the condition of public institutions doesn't magically change overnight when a government changes - it can take years for this to happen. Which means that the state of such institutions in this province right now is more a reflection of Tory policy than NDP policy.
- A planned residential development in Waterloo, Ontario is less than 500 metres from an LRT station - but separated from it by the Conestoga Parkway. There were plans to build an active transportation bridge across the freeway, but unfortunately the involvement of a provincial highway meant that the Ministry of Transportation needed to approve its construction, and Doug Ford's government never misses an opportunity to fire a shot in the culture war against getting around by some means other than private cars.
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