Winnipeg Music Festival wraps up

Suspect with lighter, torch arrested, released four days before accused charged with murder in fatal arson, trial told

Four days before Alex Courchene was charged with murder for a North End blaze that killed two people, police arrested another suspect who was released that same day without charge, a jury heard Wednesday.

Courchene, 30, has pleaded not guilty to arson and two counts of second-degree murder in the Sept. 14, 2024, deaths of Zenabu Gula, 38, and Geda Wodisso, 49.

Prosecutors allege Courchene set a fire shortly before 3 a.m. in the stairwell of a building at the corner of Main Street and Atlantic Avenue that housed a church and apartment suites.

Gula and Wodisso were unable to escape their second-floor suite and died from smoke inhalation.

Jets hit first patch of early-season turbulence

DALLAS — The Winnipeg Jets are getting an early test in the age old battle that pits process versus results.

After dropping three games in a row and four of the past five (1-3-1), a fast start out of the gate (3-0-1) has been met with some turbulence.

But it’s not like the Jets have abandoned the structure that allowed them to start well either — the defensive side of the game has mostly been sound, even through this latest bump in the road.

Sure, there have been times when turnovers and puck management have led to glorious chances against, but the structure has mostly remained in place and provided a stable foundation.

Manitoba First Nation taking federal government, department to court over damage to sturgeon population

A remote Manitoba First Nation is taking the federal government to court over claims a Manitoba Hydro project is hurting the sturgeon population in the lower Churchill River.

In an Oct. 15 statement of claim filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench, Tataskweyak Cree Nation said the Churchill River diversion operated by Manitoba Hydro has had widespread ecological effects and damaged sturgeon populations in the area.

The lawsuit alleges Ottawa has breached its treaty obligations to protect the community’s right to harvest the fish.

The lawsuit names both His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, the minister of fisheries and Oceans Canada as defendants.

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.

Winnipeg business closure scare leads Hydro to reschedule planned outage

Manitoba Hydro has cancelled a planned River Heights neighbourhood outage after a miscommunication led to area businesses fearing unexpected closure.

Hydro had planned to shut down power along Lanark and Renfrew streets between Corydon Avenue and John Brebeuf Place on Friday.

Overhead electrical maintenance work can only be done with the power off, during the day, for safety reasons, Hydro spokesman Peter Chura said. It chose Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. because St. John Brebeuf School had an in-service day.

However, the affected area houses a strip of businesses including a Royal Bank of Canada, eateries, shops, services such as physiotherapy and a medical centre.

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.