While reports of tick sightings are up across many parts of Canada this year, the risk of contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite remains relatively low in Manitoba, according to a provincial specialist.

Dr. Stephen Goulet, an Internal Medicine Specialist and physician with Manitoba’s Tick Collaborative Care Service (TiCCS), said most people bitten by a blacklegged tick will not develop Lyme disease, even as the number of confirmed cases in the province has gradually increased since the early 2000s.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. Southern Manitoba remains the province’s highest-risk region for exposure.

“The number of ticks carrying Lyme disease in Manitoba is still pretty low,” Goulet said, noting that infection following a tick bite remains uncommon.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — A provincial housing complex in Portage la Prairie is still sitting nearly empty despite high demand for affordable housing, prompting a local official to call out the government for severe maintenance neglect.

Jeff Bereza, MLA for Portage la Prairie and the PC critic for addictions and homelessness, says a recent tour of Stephens Apartments revealed shocking living conditions and an immense vacancy rate at the facility, which is owned and operated by Manitoba Housing.

According to Bereza, residents estimate that the building has capacity for 65 to 70 occupants, yet only 10 to 15 people currently live there.

“The part that’s probably the most unfortunate is that there are vacancies there, because there’s people on lower incomes or fixed incomes that are looking for places to live,” Bereza said. “And that place is sitting probably three quarters empty.”

One of the most perplexing sports stories in Canada this year is about Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and his woeful power statistics.

There’s more to baseball than hitting home runs, but in Guerrero, Jr.’s case, hitting home runs and driving in batters reaching base ahead of him are why the Toronto Blue Jays signed him to a contract extension last year that pays him an astronomical sum — in the vicinity of $500 million for 14 seasons.

At last glance, Guerrero Jr., stood tied for 205th in the list of Major League Baseball home run leaders, with six in more than 90 games, all on the road. That’s a pace that brings his season total to around 10, about one-third of what the Jays’ hierarchy expects of him annually. Another sick stat is his double play grounders — only four MLB players have more than Vladdy.

Guerrero Jr., who has never hit fewer than 20 homers in any of his past five seasons, is reportedly playing with tightness in his back, which could be the reason for his meagre offensive production. But his health is apparently not bad enough to keep him out of the lineup.

Let’s be frank. Hot dogs are the ideal convenience food for the barbecue. Readily available, they cook up quickly so there’s less time standing over a hot grill. You can keep them plain and simple or fancy them up if you’re feeling creative.

Various sources suggest, on average, Canucks chow down somewhere in the ballpark of 57 hot dogs each and every year … many of them in the actual ballpark. It works out to 37 million kilograms purchased annually by over 66 per cent of households.

Before you set up the barbecue, you’ll be doing some shopping. Producers to note are Maple Leaf Foods (brands include Maple Leaf, Schneiders and Lafleur), Winkler Meats (available at chains and independents province-wide), Winnipeg Old Country Sausage (family owned, available at chains, and local grocers), East 40 Packers Ltd. (family owned business sourcing from Manitoba farmers), Obermaier’s Sausage & Meats Ltd. (a staple for Westman).

TOP TIPS FOR GRILLING DOGS

RM OF DAUPHIN

It will take some time to get a handle on the flood damage caused in the RM of Dauphin this season, Reeve Ernie Sirski said.

Initial reports are that there are more than 200 road washouts, but Sirski expects that number to increase significantly. The rural municipality has more than 800 kilometres of roads.

Sirski said for now the municipality is focused on ensuring residents are safe, as some are stranded in their homes, so the extent of the damages still needs to be assessed.

There are hundreds of millions of rabid soccer fans in the world — as evidenced by the nearly non-stop television coverage of the FIFA World Cup centred in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico — but I’m not one of them.

Goodness knows I’ve tried. I’ve tuned in to games, hoping for some explosive offensive action and seeing instead what a non-fan like me would describe as a boring 90-minute exercise in watching strategic moves aimed at securing that one clean shot on goal that may or may not result in a score.

I know, I know. My ignorance is glaring. Soccer — or football, or futbal — is the most popular sport in the world. The world craves it. Adores it. Lives for it. The game is played in almost every country on the globe, most of which I’ve heard of. Some, such as Cape Verde, was not even remotely on my radar until the World Cup began and suddenly, Cape Verde was the biggest story of the World Cup. For a few days, anyway.

One night in late June, I tuned in to the latter portion of the Morocco-Netherlands game, the winner to advance to the round of 16 against Canada. The vast majority of the portion of the game I saw was played around the centre of the field, with a ratio of five or six back passes to every one that went forward.

A Glenboro councillor is complaining about an Indigenous consultation process after he says the community’s lagoon upgrade became $1.1 million more expensive because of a delay.

The Glenboro lagoon modernization, which is expected to cost $7.7 million, moved forward to tender this year after the Manitoba Métis Federation approved of the plans, Councillor Dale Fisher said a recent interview. The wait to hear back and ultimately get approval from the MMF cost the municipality hundreds of thousands of dollars that will lead to tax hikes and possible service cuts, he said.

“This lagoon would have been up and running, so it was a little over two years ago,” Fisher said. “Everything was complete. And then the federal government and the NDP government said, if you do not consult with these people, we’re gonna pull your funding.”

The Municipality of Glenboro-South Cypress reached out to consult with two Indigenous parties, a local First Nation and the Manitoba Métis Federation, Fisher said. The local Swan Lake First Nation got back “right away” and cleared the project, while the MMF did not respond, prompting the municipality to have to “rattle chains” and go through third parties in order to start the consultation, Fisher said.

The City of Dauphin has purchased a vacant downtown lot near the Watson Art Centre, saying the acquisition is a long-term investment intended to preserve future redevelopment opportunities and support the community’s economic development goals.

City council approved the purchase of the property at 114 First Ave. N.W. for $25,000. The purchase will be funded through the City’s development reserve, which council established in 2025 to respond to strategic land acquisition opportunities.

Deputy City Manager Lisa Gaudet said the reserve was created to allow the City to act when key properties become available rather than waiting for the annual budget process.

“One of the intended purposes of the reserve is to enable the City to acquire strategically located properties when opportunities arise, rather than missing them because funding is unavailable or timing does not align with the annual budget process,” she said.

Canadian hockey fans don’t have to be reminded that it has been 33 years since a team from one of our provinces has claimed the Stanley Cup, but the way things are going, it could be another 33 — or more — before the cup returns north of the 49th parallel.

A series of situations — nice weather and better tax rates are two of the most significant — seem to be conspiring against a team from Canada ever winning the Stanley Cup again. It might happen, because upsets are a normal part of sport, but roster building for Canadian teams is getting more difficult all the time.

Case in point: Vancouver Canucks had a rebuild in mind and they had the perfect player around which to build that potential contender: Defenceman Quinn Hughes. But after six seasons with the Canucks, Hughes told management he wouldn’t sign a contract extension, so they were forced to trade him. The best deal available was with Minnesota, who sent a couple of promising players (Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi) to the Canucks in exchange for the all-star Quinn.

Ottawa Senators have been showing recent signs of contending, making the playoffs with a team that oozed potential. But in mid-June, the team’s captain, not to mention its heart and soul, Brady Tkachuk, told team brass he, too, would not be signing an extension and gave management a list of four teams to which he would agree to be traded. Shocker of all shocks, one of those teams was the Florida Panthers where his brother Matthew plays. (Matthew, of course, orchestrated his own departure from a Canadian team, Calgary Flames, in 2022, and the floundering Flames still haven’t recovered.)