News briefs for Monday, December 8, 2025

West End Cultural Centre surpasses fundraising goal

4:00 PM

On Monday, the West End Cultural Centre announced it had surpassed its goal to raise $50,000 one week after putting out a desperate plea for public donations.

“Thanks to an overwhelming response from the community, we raised almost $70,000 and far exceeded our original goal,” executive and artistic director Jorge Requena Ramos wrote in an email to patrons.

Last week, Requena Ramos told the Free Press the non-profit Ellice Avenue music venue was at risk of laying off staff and cancelling programming if the fundraising goal wasn’t met by the end of the year.

With the immediate goal met, WECC staff and board members will be “carefully evaluating programming, partnerships, grants and funding opportunities,” Requena Ramos wrote this week.

Construction on new Eriksdale hospital emergency room to begin in February

3:18 PM

The provincial government says construction on the new emergency department at the hospital in Eriksdale is slated to begin early next year.

The province said Monday it has awarded a construction-management tender for the project at E.M. Crowe Memorial Hospital.

Early work on the $8.6-million project, including site setup, some demolition and safety measures, is expected to begin in February, before full construction starts later that same month.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the project will “renovate and modernize” the hospital’s emergency department and acute care areas.

It’s expected to increase capacity and improve patient privacy and safety.

Missing woman, 49, last seen in Elma area

3:16 PM

RCMP are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing woman last seen in the Elma area this summer.

Millicent Powell, 49, was last seen July 18. The Winnipeg Police Service did not say in a news release Monday when she was reported missing.

She is described as 5-7 in height, with a medium build, black and grey hair, and brown eyes.

The WPS asked anyone with information regarding Powell’s whereabouts to call its missing persons unit or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-986-6250.

Thompson woman missing since Saturday: RCMP

2:21 PM

RCMP are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing woman.

Candace Wastesicoot, 43, was last seen at a home on Ashbury Place in Thompson. Officers went there to check on her at about 11:55 p.m. Saturday, but she fled before they arrived, Manitoba RCMP said in a news release Monday.

She is described as 5-8 in height, 250 pounds, with black hair and black eyes.

RCMP asked anyone with information regarding Wastesicoot’s whereabouts to call its Thompson detachment at 204-677-6909/6911.

Man had gun in backpack: police

2:10 PM

Police say a man is facing firearms and weapons charges after officers saw him wearing a backpack with the barrel of a gun sticking out of it.

Officers were sent to a home on the 700 block of Toronto Street for an unrelated matter shortly after 2:30 a.m. Monday.

Police found a loaded sawed-off shotgun, a small amount of ammunition and a folding knife in the bag.

A 48-year-old man was detained in custody.

Shots fired in Ebb and Flow First Nation

12:15 PM

A man was arrested after shots were fired in a home on Ebb and Flow First Nation.

Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP were sent there at about 2:50 p.m. Sunday. They were told “a disturbance occurred” between two males. No one was hurt, and a man ran into the woods without the gun.

Police called in a canine unit, and officers arrested a man “with a minor injury” in an empty lot.

A 26-year-old Ebb and Flow man has been charged with multiple gun and weapons offences, mischief over $5,000, resisting or obstructing a peace officer, and three counts of failing to comply with conditions of a release order.

Officers seized a sawed-off shotgun.

Province warns of three more Winkler-area measles sites

11:32 AM

The provincial government notified the public Monday of three more locations — all in or near Winkler — where people might have been exposed to measles. The locations are:

The emergency department at Boundary Trails Health Centre, located between Winkler and Morden, from 6:25 p.m. to 10:10 p.m. on Dec. 2, and from 9:20 p.m. Wednesday to 2:40 a.m. Thursday

Outpost Grill, which is also located between Winkler and Morden, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 29

Garden Valley Collegiate in Winkler, from 8:25 a.m. to 3:10 p.m on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.

Public health officials asked anyone who was in those locations during those times to check their immunization records and ensure they are up to date with measles vaccines.

Two girls arrested after shopper stabbed in McGillivray Boulevard parking lot

11:08 AM

Two girls — one only 12 years old — are facing charges after a woman was stabbed and robbed in a store parking lot on McGillivray Boulevard last month.

Officers were sent to the 2300 block shortly before 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 26. The victim, who is in her early 60s, was taken to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable.

The Winnipeg Police Service said Monday that she was walking back to her vehicle after shopping when two girls demanded her purse. One of the girls stabbed her when she “did not initially comply,” police said.

The suspects grabbed her purse and ran away. People in the parking lot helped the victim and called 911.

On Thursday, a teen girl told police she had been threatened at knifepoint by two girls she knows and driven to Brandon in a stolen vehicle. She was let out there, and the other two girls drove away.

The two teens continued on to Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. Two people were arrested with the help of Virden RCMP on Friday.

A 14-year-old girl is charged with robbery, possession of a weapon, forcible confinement, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, four counts of failing to comply with a sentence and two counts of failing to comply with a release order. She was detained in custody.

A 12-year-old female is facing charges of robbery and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. She was released on an undertaking.

ATV driver dies after striking wire in Pimicikamak 

10:21 AM

A man driving an all-terrain vehicle died after hitting a guy-wire in a ditch in Pimicikamak Cree Nation.

The incident happened along the community’s main road at about noon Friday.

Manitoba RCMP determined the ATV was travelling on the road when the driver turned into the ditch and hit the wire, which is near a hydro pole. The 42-year-old man was taken to the nursing station, where he died from his injuries.

The man was not wearing a helmet, RCMP said in a news release Monday.