Days before festival cancellation, bailiff seized assets from Just for Laughs

Tenants slam Alta.-based landlord, protest rent increases

Charlie Medd wasn’t ready for another adventure last October, when she moved out of the Wolseley Avenue apartment she had called home for 15 years.

Medd said life at Lincoln Apartments began to change after Wingspan Properties, an Alberta-based landlord, bought the building, made minor cosmetic changes and increased rent. She felt the changes were intended to push renters — many of them on fixed incomes — out the door.

“At some point, I got scared. I’d been there 15 years,” Medd said about the threat of rent increases. “I’d just painted my whole apartment. But when I heard that there’s going to be that many people homeless, I thought, ‘I’m too old for another adventure.’

“It felt like you were getting a nudge out the door. Like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to be doing this, and your rent is going to go up every year.’”

Blue Bombers whiff on their opportunities to put game away

In theory, Bryce Perkins has a simple job.

When it’s third and short, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers trot out the short-yardage quarterback, and all he has to do is plunge forward for a yard or two to make everyone on his sideline happy.

But on Friday night against the visiting Toronto Argonauts, he went above and beyond his job description.

The Bombers, down 24-21 with six minutes left, faced a third-and-one from their own end when Perkins found a hole and burst through it for a 76-yard touchdown to put the home team in front 28-24 late.

Husband of rival sex club owner accused in attempted bathhouse bombing

A Winnipeg bathhouse owner says he was shocked to learn the man accused of planting a pipe bomb outside his business is married to the owner of a competing sex and lifestyle club.

Christopher Gregoire, who recently took ownership of AQ Sauna, said a live pipe bomb was found by a “heroic patron” outside the club, formerly known as Aquarius Bath House, in the early morning hours of Sept. 11.

On Thursday, the Winnipeg Police Service announced Erik Lymen Olson, 59, was facing multiple charges in the incident. Olson is the husband of Adonis Men’s Spa owner Doug Pomanski.

“This is wild,” Gregoire said after learning of the charges.

Days before festival cancellation, bailiff seized assets from Just for Laughs

MONTREAL – A bailiff seized more than $800,000 in assets from the Montreal company that runs the Just for Laughs comedy festival one week before the company announced it was seeking protection from its creditors. The seizure came after the company, Groupe Juste pour rire inc., failed to make a court-ordered payment to a former employee who was laid off in 2019 despite having been promised a job for life. The Quebec Court of Appeal ordered Juste pour rire to pay André Gloutnay, an archivist, $666,500, to cover lost wages since the layoff and future earnings until he reaches retirement […]

Portage Avenue stabbing victim staggered into nearby store for help

A 46-year-old man stabbed on Portage Avenue Wednesday afternoon is in hospital after staggering, bloodied, into a nearby dollar store.

Police said the man was confronted by several people on the 300 block of Portage shortly before 6 p.m. and was stabbed with an unknown weapon. He was helped by people inside the store until police and paramedics arrived.

The man was rushed to hospital in unstable condition but was later upgraded to stable, the Winnipeg Police Service said.

WPS Const. Claude Chancy said Friday that police were still attempting to speak with the victim, and it was not yet clear if the attack was random. No arrests have been made.

Flammable gas culprit of 2024 Transcona home explosion: police

Flammable gas is believed to be the cause of a 2024 house explosion in Transcona that damaged neighbouring homes and displaced residents.

“As a result of the investigation and upon Crown review, the explosion is believed to be an isolated incident,” Winnipeg Police Service Const. Dani McKinnon said in an email Friday afternoon.

“There are no public safety concerns connected to this incident, and no criminal charges have been laid.”

The sudden blast happened in a bungalow on Camrose Bay on June 26, 2024. It levelled the home and caused significant damage to 22 other houses. At the time, it was described as “catastrophic” by the fire chief at the scene.