Sheriff who died in train collision ‘loved everybody’

Brett Matheson-Maytwayashing was a loving father, hard-working sheriff and proud First Nations man who helped lead traditional ceremonies for a decade before he died in a collision with a train near Portage la Prairie.

Matheson-Maytwayashing, 27, died in the Tuesday morning crash, which occurred on a rural road west of Portage while he and another member of the sheriff’s service were on their way to attend court in Amaranth, his mother, Alissa Matheson-Maytwayashing, told the Free Press.

It was Matheson-Maytwayashing’s first day back at work after taking time off to participate in a sun dance ceremony in northern Saskatchewan last week, his mother said.

“Brett didn’t judge anybody, he would give people chances,” she said, her voice breaking. “He didn’t care what colour you were, he didn’t care your nationality — Brett just loved everybody.”

Police mum about final report on 10-day drug crackdown

Winnipeg police will not say whether results of the controversial 10-day crackdown on open drug use and drug trafficking that ended this month will be made public.

On Wednesday, Winnipeg Police Service said officials are still deciding whether or not to release the overall outcome of the operation, which took place from June 24 to July 3.

“We are reviewing both operational outcomes and community impacts, including valuable feedback provided by stakeholders. No final decisions have been made regarding reporting, future activities, or the release of results,” wrote Const. Dani McKinnon, in an email.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the decision on whether to release the data is up to police, noting city council doesn’t have the power to direct law enforcement operations.

Sea Bears punch ticket to playoffs with road win over Mamba

Booked. Punched. In.

The Winnipeg Sea Bears are headed back to the Canadian Elite Basketball League playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Unlike the previous two summers when Winnipeg’s pro hoops squad backed its way into the post-season on the heels of some shaky play, this year’s iteration of the club — led by first-year head coach Mike Raimbault and his self-recruited group of U Sports coaches across the province — have left no doubt that they belong after a convincing 96-83 road victory over the Saskatoon Mamba at Merlis Belsher Place on Wednesday night.

With six games — a quarter of the regular season — remaining, it’s the earliest in Sea Bears franchise history that they’ve clinched a spot in August’s eight-team tournament .

Manitoba chiefs behind renewed effort to criminalize residential school denialism

First Nations chiefs from across the country have unanimously passed an emergency resolution that calls on the federal government to criminalize residential school denialism as hate speech.

The resolution was adopted Tuesday at the Assembly of First Nations annual general assembly in Ottawa. It was introduced by David Monias, chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba and seconded by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee.

“We must honour the survivors and we must honour every child who never came home,” Monias said Wednesday. “We must also support every person who was left behind and those children who never returned home. We are left to mourn those children. They would have been our grandfathers today, our grandparents.”

The federal government estimates about 150,000 Indigenous children attended residential schools.

Grain latest Port of Churchill shipment

Prairie grain will soon ship out of the Port of Churchill for the first time in at least five years.

Manitoba Miracle forward signs five-year contract with club

Cole Perfetti is betting on himself. And the Winnipeg Jets are counting on him to take the next step in his development.

In what has been an interesting off-season to date, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff knocked another important item off his to-do list as the Jets agreed to terms with Perfetti on a five-year contract that carries an average annual value of US$6 million.

Perhaps the most important part of this transaction was that it allowed the two sides to avoid going to arbitration next Monday, which would have been bad for business for both parties.

Although it’s easy to say that it’s just business, a one-year term in arbitration, no matter the amount, would have left neither side satisfied and it would have meant Perfetti was just one year away from the opportunity to explore unrestricted free agency.

‘Senseless killing’ of man he’d just met worth at least 15 years in prison: judge

With a trail of criminal convictions behind him, Dartanian Packulak had been out of custody two months when he shot and killed 23-year-old Everett King, a man he had just met watching an ultimate fighting match at a North End home.

Packulak, 24, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years on Tuesday, after being convicted by a jury of second-degree murder in December.

“There is no evidence to refute the inference that this was a completely senseless killing of an unarmed person,” said Court of King’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg. “Mr. Packulak’s criminal history and attitudes show a person who appears to simply be incorrigible.”

Court was told King was at a Mountain Avenue home on Sept. 10, 2023, watching a televised UFC match with friends when another man arrived with Packulak, who was a stranger to others in the house.

Protesters rally in Kyiv as Zelenskyy moves to oust Ukraine’s defense minister

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Kyiv and in other Ukrainian cities Thursday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy moved to dismiss his defense minister, as parliament appointed a new prime minister as part of a major government reshuffle.

The shake-up could become a test of Zelenskyy’s political authority as Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches 4 1/2 years.

Zelenskyy has remained in office under martial law, because wartime elections are prohibited and has periodically reshuffled his government.

The political furor took place against a backdrop of unceasing Russian aerial attacks. Two people were killed and five others were wounded, including a child, when Russian missiles hit the capital, Kyiv, overnight, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said.

Winds carrying wildfire smoke over Ontario force cancellation of music festival

TORONTO - Many regions of Ontario have traded heat warnings for air quality warnings as gritty, dusty wildfire smoke permeates the skies.

Environment Canada has lifted many of the heat warnings spanning the province, though hot weather is expected to linger in some areas.

Air quality warnings are now in place from Thunder Bay to Kingston and down to Toronto, London and Windsor, as residents of several First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario flee forest fires.

The weather office has said winds from the northwest will continue to blanket southern Ontario with smoke from the northern fires until at least Friday.