WINNIPEG — Manitoba Public Insurance is getting strict about its winter tire program after years in which customers used it to buy other types of tires.

As of Oct. 1, only tires that are “designed and marketed solely for winter driving conditions, including snow and ice,” will be eligible for financing through the public insurer.

Currently, all-weather, all-season, four-season and year-round tires are included in the program, which allows MPI clients to pay the cost in monthly instalments. The program, established in 2014, offers financing for up to $2,000, plus interest.

In an email to retailers, MPI says the program is being changed so it “helps ensure customers receive the full winter-driving safety benefits associated with dedicated winter tires.”

WINNIPEG — The province is expanding the number of residential units that are subject to rent control.

Starting next year, units with monthly rent as high as $2,000 will be regulated under the Residential Tenancies Act. Currently, the threshold is $1,670 per month.

“This is a good thing,” Right to Housing Coalition spokesperson Yutaka Dirks said Thursday. “For those people who weren’t covered but will now be covered, that’s certainly a positive. It’s something that we called for,” the advocate said.

The coalition wanted the provincial government to go further and remove the threshold so rent control would apply to all residential tenants.

ISTANBUL — A Turkish cargo ship with 10 crew aboard sank Wednesday after a collision with a tanker off Istanbul, with no immediate signs of survivors, Turkish authorities said.

A lifeboat and other debris belonging to the Tugberk Imamoglu have been found, but there is no sign of the crew, the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs said in a statement.

“There are 10 seafarers on board, including the captain,” Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said. “They are all Turkish. We can say that the sinking occurred rapidly in 11 minutes. No one has been found alive.”

The ship collided with the Turkish-flagged tanker Alsu in the Marmara Sea at 3 a.m., the statement said. An emergency signal was received from the Tugberk Imamoglu and the first rescue craft reached the site 4:10 a.m.

The Manitoba Association of Optometrists is bringing a mobile clinic to Brandon today and offering walk-in eye appointments for children and families.

The clinic will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the WestVic Common parking lot outside FYidoctors for parents who want their children to get an eye exam before school starts, the association said in a news release Monday.

In addition to eye examinations, residents are invited to attend a community barbecue from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with face painting and additional child eye-care resources.

» The Brandon Sun

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