News briefs for Monday, April 8, 2024

Private member’s bill would create provincial parks licence plates

3:58 PM

A Progressive Conservative MLA has introduced a private member’s bill to create specialty provincial parks licence plates.

Riding Mountain MLA Greg Nesbitt, the Tory critic for the environment, said Bill 211 would allow motorists to show their love for the parks while helping to revitalize natural spaces.

“Manitobans care deeply about their provincial parks, and this bill provides a positive way to show support,” he said in a news release Monday.

If the bill is passed in the legislative assembly and given royal assent, Nesbitt said the PCs would work to ensure the proceeds from sales of the new licence plates go into the provincial parks endowment funds, which were created by the PC government in 2021.

Specialty plates currently available to drivers benefit various sports teams, charities and other organizations.

Police search for person missing since February

3:22 PM

Winnipeg police are searching for a person who has been missing since February.

Alex Marko, 48, was last seen in the South Point Douglas area on Feb. 11. Marko is also known to frequent the Exchange District, police said Monday afternoon.

Marko is 5-11 tall, 179 pounds with medium-length brown hair and blue eyes. Police said Marko uses several aliases.

Police ask anyone who knows where Marko is to call missing persons investigators at 204-986-6250.

Suspect sought in Selkirk store robbery

2:59 PM

RCMP are searching for a man who robbed a Selkirk business at gunpoint last week.

Mounties were sent to the Main Street store after a man armed with a handgun demanded cash and fled on foot at about 11:10 p.m. on April 2. The employee wasn’t injured.

The suspect was wearing a plaid jacket and a dark-coloured balaclava. Mounties release a security image of the man taken inside the store.

Selkirk RCMP are asking anyone with information about the robbery to call 204-482-1222 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or to go online to manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Man stabbed on city bus Saturday night

2:48 PM

Police are investigating after a man was stabbed on a Winnipeg Transit bus Saturday night.

Police were called at about 8:50 p.m. after a man in his 20s was stabbed by two suspects who confronted him.

Officers found the man in the inner city, near William Avenue and Lark Street, after he got off the bus. He was receiving medical attention from a bystander, and officers continued giving him emergency medical care until he was transported to hospital in stable condition.

The Winnipeg Police Service’s major crimes unit is asking anyone with information about the stabbing to contact investigators at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or winnipegcrimestoppers.org.

50 beds added to HSC

12:57 PM

Fifty hospital beds are being added to Health Sciences Centre and 27 of them are already operational, Premier Wab Kinew and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced at HSC Monday afternoon.

It’s part of the government’s $65-million pledge to cut ER wait times. The number of additional staff needed to open these beds hasn’t been disclosed. That figure is still being ironed out, said Dr. Manon Pelletier, HSC’s chief medical officer.

City-owned golf courses open Friday

12:41 PM

Golfers can tee it up at any of the three city-owned courses beginning Friday.

Courses are opening 15 days earlier than the 2023 season, owing to a mild winter, the city said in a news release.

Tee times at Crescent Drive, Kildonan Park and Windsor Park can be made online, or by phoning the pro shops or 311 as early as Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Special spring rates on green fees will be offered until Apr. 26.

The driving ranges (mats only) at Shooters Family Golf Centre and Southside Golf Course opened last week.

Suspect sought in purse-snatching

12:13 PM

Police are looking for a man who stole a woman’s purse in St. Vital this winter.

The victim, who is in her 60s, was walking to her vehicle in a commercial parking lot in the 1600 block of St. Mary’s Road at about 7:50 p.m. on Feb. 9 when an unknown man confronted her, stole the purse she was carrying and fled on foot.

The victim was not hurt but was “very shaken,” the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Monday.

The victim’s credit card was later used to purchase merchandise at a store, police said. Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said investigators recently obtained security images of a suspect in a shop.

Police weren’t able to identify the man seen in the images on their own, so decided to alert the public, she said.

He is described as being in his early 20s. He was wearing a blue medical mask, a dark olive green hoodie with a black winter jacket made by the North Face, black pants with white stripes on the sides and black running shoes with white accents.

Police are asking anyone with information regarding the man to call the major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS), or go online to winnipegcrimestoppers.org.

WestJet adds flights to Montreal and Nashville, increases Ottawa flights

10:50 AM

WestJet said Monday it will begin offering daily year-round flights from Winnipeg to Montreal and Ottawa, and seasonal flights to Nashville.

The new flights to Montreal and increased flights to Ottawa — will start June 3. Seasonal, twice-weekly service to Tennessee’s capital is scheduled to begin Sept. 16 and will be the airline’s seventh direct international connection out of Winnipeg.

WestJet chief financial officer Mike Scott, Winnipeg Airports Authority CEO Nick Hays and Premier Wab Kinew attended the announcement Monday morning.

“We know how critical Ottawa and Montreal are for Winnipeg’s business community, and we are thrilled to continue supporting Winnipeg’s economic growth through strategic air service,” Scott said in a news release handed out to reporters at the event.

Billy Idol to play downtown arena Aug. 6

10:33 AM

With a Rebel Yell, Billy Idol announced a cross-Canada tour Monday that will stop at Canada Life Centre Aug. 6.

Tickets go on sale April 9 at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.ca and livenation.com, however there are presales scheduled as early as April 13 at 10 a.m. Prices were not announced.

The rock star — as Idol proclaims himself on numerous television commercials — became a sensation in the 1980s with songs such as Rebel Yell, White Wedding and Eyes Without a Face. The tour, which includes Platinum Blonde as the opening act, celebrates the 40th anniversary of Idol’s Rebel Yell album.