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Mayor backs new way to handle 911 mental health, addiction calls

Mayor Scott Gillingham is enthusiastically endorsing a proposal to change the city’s crisis-response system, potentially diverting 10,000 calls away from overburdened police, fire and paramedic services every year.

The “fourth crisis response pathway” would allow 911 calls that aren’t violent or criminal in nature to be transferred to citywide crisis-response teams, staffed in part through current community resources, which could include the Downtown Community Safety Partnership and The Link’s mobile crisis teams.

A community crisis dispatch and co-ordination hub would receive triaged calls and match them with the teams, which would move them out of the Winnipeg Police Service and Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service calls for service.

“Every day, our 911 dispatchers receive calls from Winnipeggers who are in distress, dealing with complex mental health struggles, addiction, or wellness concerns,” Gillingham said after releasing a report on the proposal Tuesday.

Autopsy confirms dog attack killed animal-rescue volunteer on First Nation

An autopsy has confirmed an animal rescue volunteer died of a dog attack on Sandy Bay Ojibway Nation earlier this month, the Manitoba First Nations Police Service says.

Amanda Nobiss, a 37-year-old woman from Winnipeg, was found dead in Sandy Bay on July 17 after police were contacted by a friend trying to locate her.

She often visited the community 180 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg to save animals.

The police service said Tuesday that an autopsy confirmed her “injuries were consistent with a dog attack.”

Landlord asks city to work with him over homeless camp after appeal option turfed

A West Broadway landlord says the City of Winnipeg has rejected his attempt to appeal an order that requires him to clear a homeless encampment from his riverfront property.

Marvin Sharp, CEO of Astroid Management Ltd., which operates the Pen-Eve Apartments at 35 Balmoral St., said Monday the decision is absurd since his firm was given almost no time to respond to the order.

The city denied his request for an appeal hearing because he failed to respond before the July 18 compliance deadline.

Sharp contends that was impossible because the compliance order, dated July 10, did not arrive at his office until July 17, leaving him just one day to file an appeal. The city clerk’s office is closed on weekends.

Report draws link between missing Indigenous women and trafficking across Canada

A new analysis of online sex advertisements featuring Indigenous women has identified cross-country corridors that are highly indicative of sex trafficking, while revealing insight into how women and girls are exploited in Winnipeg.

Former teacher would suit up with Bombers in just ninth game of three-down loop career

In a way, Micah Vanterpool’s brief stint as a Grade 3 teacher in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla., prepared him for life in the CFL.

The third-year offensive lineman for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers only has eight career games on his resumé as he has bounced around between the practice roster, starting lineup and injury report.

But thanks to his time in the classroom, he’s developed the patience that’s required by a young American trying to make a name for oneself in the three-down loop.

Vanterpool got into teaching after failing to make the New England Patriots in 2023. He said goodbye to the education profession the following year and took his talents up north to Winnipeg.

Province urged to lead effort to prevent dog maulings

More than two dozen animal advocacy groups are calling for an immediate meeting with federal and provincial governments and First Nations leadership to co-ordinate efforts to deal with problem dog populations following the mauling death of a rescue worker this month.

The Winnipeg Humane Society, K9 Advocacy Manitoba and Partners in Prevention are among the 26 groups asking for the creation of an advisory committee — which would include veterinary experts — to ensure a provincewide strategy on problem dog populations is developed and implemented.

“This is very much that call for action,” said Christina Von Schindler, CEO of the humane society. “The time is now.”

They say there are “systematic gaps” in dealing with overpopulation and the lack of veterinary services in First Nation communities. They say it is tantamount to a public health crisis.