Get a backstage pass at Manitoba Opera

Dozens, if not hundreds, of wounds inflicted on man, murder trial told

The body of a Winnipeg man beaten to death in a North End drug house was outside a Flora Avenue church for nearly a week before it was discovered, a court has been told.

Christopher Kyle Wattman, 38, Hazel Flett, 38 and Victoria Lee Andrews, 28, are on trial charged with first-degree murder in the December 2023 killing of 20-year-old Brooklyn Elijah Hiebert.

Prosecutor Theresa Cannon laid out the Crown’s theory of the case in an opening address before Court of King’s Bench Justice Joan McKelvey on Monday.

Hiebert and the three accused were at a Selkirk Avenue “trap house” on the evening of Dec. 24, 2023, when Hiebert got into an argument with Flett and a number of unidentified people.

Surprising announcement opens door slightly for accountability in police HQ saga

Early Monday afternoon, it looked as if former Mayor Sam Katz, former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl and contractor Armik Babakhanians were going to finally and successfully escape the long arm of the law for their roles in the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters scandal.

Police HQ report ‘outrageous’: Kinew

Premier Wab Kinew says public inquiry findings that taxpayers were overcharged more than $40 million for the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project and two city leaders broke the public trust are “outrageous.”

Inquiry commissioner Garth Smorang’s report, which was released Monday, concluded former mayor Sam Katz “violated the public trust” and council code of conduct, while the city’s former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl suffered from a “complete lack of a moral compass.”

Smorang also found the city was overcharged $43.3 million for the project, with $42 million of that going to key contractor Caspian Projects.

“It’s outrageous that people who were elected betrayed the public here in the city. It’s outrageous that there were people in business who ripped you off, ripped me off — I was paying property taxes in Winnipeg at the time — and ripped all of us off to the tune of $43.3 million. That’s crazy,” said Kinew.

Detox centre ready but staffing challenges persist

Peter McMullen’s decade-long struggle with addiction gives him insight into the challenges Lighthouse Mission hopes to address with a new Main Street detox facility focused on connecting people with longer-term treatment.

McMullen, executive director of Lighthouse Mission, knows how difficult it can be to navigate Winnipeg’s addiction treatment system, particularly when someone is ready to seek help but the services they need aren’t immediately available.

Now, after years of planning and a lengthy renovation of two century-old buildings, the downtown organization is preparing to open a 10-bed detox facility at 667 and 669 Main St., with five beds each for men and women.

The facility could begin accepting clients as early as November, provided Lighthouse Mission can overcome one final hurdle: recruiting enough staff to operate it.