Judge refuses to drop elections suit against Trump, media

Entrepreneurial spotlight finds IndigiHub

The list of accolades keeps getting longer for the Winnipeg-based founder of IndigiHub, an online resource for Indigenous entrepreneurs.

In February, Zachary Flett was named one of three finalists for the Indigenous Innovation Award at North Forge’s inaugural DARE Innovation Awards. In May, he received the Community Impact Award at the Manitoba Tech Awards.

Earlier this month, Flett was selected as one of five finalists in the Indigenous division at the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, a national competition that saw more than 650 people nominated across 10 categories.

The recognition feels good, Flett said, but at the same time, he wants to keep the focus off himself and on his product.

Woman pleads guilty in toddler’s death

A woman who pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessaries of life after her 13-month-old son died of an drug overdose in their Sherbrook Street apartment will serve a sentence of house arrest.

Latasha Stewart, in her mid-30s, was given the conditional sentence order of two years less a day by provincial court Judge Malcolm McDonald last Wednesday over the Dec. 29, 2022 death of her son Romeo.

“The circumstances in this case are truly tragic. As a result of an adult’s careless drug use, a 13-month-old boy lost his life,” said McDonald.

“It’s hard to imagine a clearer … lesson in the dangers of street-drug use in a household with young children present (than) in this case.”

Winnipeg team behind national LGBT monument spent six years bringing it to fruition

The Winnipeg team behind a national monument recognizing the LGBT Purge were in Ottawa to celebrate its official unveiling Friday.

Thunderhead is the work of local artists Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan, Liz Wreford and Peter Sampson of Public City Architecture, and knowledge keeper Albert McLeod, who served as cultural adviser for the project.

The team beat out 31 international submissions for the project, which is permanently located at 201 Wellington St. in Ottawa along the Ottawa River, in view of Parliament.

“We are a beacon internationally around the world of what democracies can do about inclusion, about human rights,” McLeod said.

Community rallies around family devastated by fire

Dennis Lafreniere and his wife didn’t expect to celebrate 27 years of marriage Thursday in a Selkirk hotel room while reeling from a recent house fire.

The couple and their two daughters lost their home last Sunday in a raging fire that left nothing behind, but overwhelming support from multiple communities has kept them afloat.

“It’s devastating when you don’t have any clothes, any medication, all of that stuff, and it’s just so overwhelming the next morning. It’s just nasty,” Lafreniere said.

Investigators suspect the fire was caused by a fridge, freezer and battery charger that were all plugged into the same electrical line that got overheated. The house, located on Highway 59 between Selkirk and Libau, is a farmhouse built in 1943, and investigators think worn-out electrical lines also contributed to the fire, said Lafreniere.

Making a clear code of conduct for Winnipeg councillors

As Winnipeggers have recently been reminded in the case of Transcona city councillor Russ Wyatt, not all codes of conduct are created equal.

City’s landfill gas project hasn’t gained any steam after four years

Four years after the city started working on a proposal to convert potent landfill gases into renewable energy, a lack of buyers is being blamed for holding the project up.

In March 2022, city council directed staff to complete a deal with Integrated Gas Recovery Services, which would see Winnipeg become a raw landfill gas supplier and potentially earn millions of dollars of new revenue.

If city council approved the proposed contract, the reuse of landfill gas would then replace the city’s current practice of flaring — burning as it’s released — the vast majority of methane produced at Brady Road landfill.

However, the effort has faced a few different roadblocks since it began.