News briefs for Monday, January 9, 2023

Missing girl, 13, found

8:35 AM

A missing 13-year-old girl has been found and is safe, the Winnipeg Police Service said Sunday night.

Annette Buck had last been seen in the St. Vital area at about 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 2.

Vacant Furby Street house destroyed by fire

8:41 AM

A vacant home on Furby Street was destroyed in a fire Sunday.

Fire crews were sent to the two-storey house in the 600 block of Furby shortly before 3 p.m.. Firefighters battled the blaze from inside and outside the house, and used an aerial ladder.

Occupants of all neighbouring homes were evacuated as a precaution.

The fire was declared under control at 6:53 p.m., the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said in a news release Sunday night.

The house sustained “significant smoke, fire and water damage” and is expected to be a “complete loss,” the WFPS said.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Missing Flin Flon woman found dead

11:01 AM

A missing Flin Flon woman who had last been seen on New Year’s Eve has been found dead.

RCMP said Monday morning that Kara Fosseneuve, 27, has been found.

“Criminality does not appear to be a factor. An autopsy will take place. The investigation continues,” a news release states.

Police asked for the public’s help Saturday in finding Fosseneuve. She was reported missing to RCMP at about midnight Thursday. She had last been seen leaving a home on Dadson Row in Flin Flon —— walking in an unknown direction —— on Dec. 31 and had not been heard from since.

RCMP said officers had patrolled the area looking for Fosseneuve before seeking the public’s help.

New program to help cancer patients closer to home

11:35 AM

The province announced today it is spending $6.6 million to begin a specialized cancer therapy program to offer new care options close to home for Manitobans with specific cancers that have not responded well to more conventional treatments.

The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell cancer therapy program provides personalized immunotherapy for people with blood or lymphatic cancers such as lymphoma that do not respond or respond well to conventional treatments, the provincial government said in a press release.  The specialized therapy harnesses the patient’s immune system to find and attack cancer cells.

Once established, it will initially be available to two groups of patients: those aged 25 or younger, including children, with acute leukemia; and people 18 and older with aggressive lymphoma, if other therapies have not worked. Manitoba sends “a few people” with these types of cancers for CAR-T therapy at health-care facilities outside of the province every year, the release said.

Man killed as vehicle, train collide

11:59 AM

A man was killed when his vehicle collided with a train in the RM of La Broquerie.

The incident happened on Road 33 North at Twin River Road at 6 p.m. Sunday.

The vehicle was going east, while the train was going north, RCMP said in a news release Monday.

The lone person in the vehicle, a 42-year-old man from Richer, was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

Slippery conditions are believed to be a factor, RCMP said.

Home-care working conditions haven’t improved, union alleges in grievance

1:10 PM

The union representing home-care workers in Manitoba has filed a grievance against health authorities alleging a renegotiated contract still hasn’t been implemented after it was agreed to in September.

Improvements in working conditions such as promised increases to shift premiums, vacation scheduling, and coffee breaks for home care workers still haven’t been implemented by the employers, Debbie Boissonneault, President of CUPE 204, stated in a release Monday.

CUPE 204 represents 14,000 health-care support staff in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health.

New Travel Manitoba branding launched

1:51 PM

Lucius, Lambert heading to WHL

3:20 PM

Two of the Winnipeg Jets top prospects just back from the world junior hockey championship have been assigned to the Western Hockey League.

Chaz Lucius, who had a hat-trick for the United States in a bronze medal-winning performance last week, is joining the Portland Winterhawks forward group, while Finnish winger Brad Lambert will join the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Both had been playing the Jets AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, this season.

Victoria Hospital fire sends four to urgent care

3:52 PM

A patient and three Victoria Hospital staff members are in urgent care because of a fire that started on the sixth floor of the hospital Monday morning.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation and no other details have been released about the extent of any injuries. The fire was quickly extinguished, but set off the sprinkler system and caused electrical issues and some flooding. Visits to the hospital have been temporarily suspended, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority stated in a news release. Visits will resume Tuesday morning.

Twenty-one patients from the floor were evacuated and moved to another area of the hospital, the release stated. No patient space was impacted by the fire, and patients will be able to return to their rooms later today.

Patients’ families are being contacted, and anyone with additional questions may contact Victoria Hospital Patient relations at 204–477–3419 or pcro@vgh.mb.ca.