Author Yann Martel at News Café today

‘She was looking to destroy me’: convicted harasser faces new charges

When Agnieszka Ciochon-Newton moved into the 55-plus apartment building on Stradbrook Avenue last year, she came across as “timid, soft-spoken and sensitive,” said building manager Tanya Owen.

Little did Owen know the meek-looking 58-year-old woman would soon turn her life and the lives of many of her tenants upside down and threaten her career and family.

“She was looking to destroy me for a simple tenant disagreement,” Owen said Thursday.

Court records show Ciochon-Newton was arrested earlier this month and charged with seven counts of criminal harassment, two counts of uttering threats and one count each of fraud, breaking and entering, attempting to obstruct justice, intimidation of a justice official, mischief and defamatory libel.

Serious crash at West Kildonan intersection known for collisions

Residents in West Kildonan say an intersection that was the site of a serious car crash Sunday morning is notoriously dangerous.

Rob Lick heard a loud bang around 7 a.m. and rushed out of his home on Leila to see what the commotion was. He saw two crushed SUVs, a white and black one, in the intersection. Police vehicles arrived shortly after.

“It sounded like when (garbage trucks) drop a big dumpster,” he said. “I heard somebody crying or wailing, they were standing by the vehicle so I don’t know who exactly it was or if someone was injured.”

The sound of sirens followed shortly after when emergency crews came to the scene. The intersection was immediately blocked off.

Jets up against the clock

Time has often been on the side of the Winnipeg Jets, with Cole Perfetti’s famous “Manitoba Miracle” buzzer-beater serving as Exhibit A.

But that won’t necessarily be the case this coming season, when the clock threatens to become a stubborn and, at times, confusing opponent.

Premier Wab Kinew’s decision to adopt permanent daylight time will have a significant impact on the hockey club, both as hosts and visitors, head coach Scott Arniel told the Free Press on Sunday.

Athletes are creatures of habit, and their regular routines are going to be challenged during the period from Nov. 1 to March 14, which covers the majority of the 84-game campaign.

Former Bombers linebacker Gauthier enjoying career as electrician

Most professional football players don’t ride off into the sunset on their own terms.

Shayne Gauthier was well aware of that, but it didn’t make it sting any less when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers informed the veteran linebacker that they weren’t bringing him back for 2026.

“I was really hoping to play one more (season) because it would have been my 10th season, so, I’d say it didn’t really end the way I wanted,” Gauthier recently told the Free Press.

“It left a little sour taste in my mouth, but that’s part of pro sports. If everybody got the ending that they wanted, then it wouldn’t really work.”

AC/DC leaves Winnipeg crowd thunderstruck

AC/DC proved once again that rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution.

A rowdy stadium of about 35,000 people at Princess Auto Stadium couldn’t agree more as the Australian rock legends made their first trip to the city since 2015 on their PWR/UP tour, cranking out two hours and 20 minutes of raw and raunchy high-voltage material, a mix of blues, crunchy power chords, melodic riffs and double entendres that spanned five decades.

Their wide-ranging appeal was apparent in the demographic makeup of the crowd, which ranged from young children to seniors, many clad in $30 glowing devil horns from the well-stocked merch booth that also offered posters, banners, beer koozies, lanyards, tour books and T-shirts.

There is no one in music quite like guitar god Angus Young. He is 71, but onstage he is ageless, a hyperactive teenager dressed in his signature blue schoolboy uniform and yellow and blue cap, running around, duck-walking and leaping in the air while cranking out riff after riff and extended solos on his trusty black Gibson SG.

Author Yann Martel at News Café Monday

Bestselling author Yann Martel will be joined by Free Press literary editor Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson at the News Café (237 McDermot Ave.) on Monday at 9:45 a.m.

The Saskatchewan-based Martel, best-known for his 2001 book Life of Pi, is currently touring in support of his new novel The High Mountains of Portugal.

The public is welcome to watch the interview in person or on the Free Press website.