News briefs for Thursday, August 20, 2026

Outdoor pools, spray pads to close for season

5:43 PM

Pools and spray pads across Winnipeg will soon start to close for the season.

The Fort Garry Lions Pool alongside Provencher Pool and the Windsor Park Pool will close at the end of day on Sept. 4, said a city news release Thursday.

Freight House, Kildonan Park, St. Vital and Westdale pools, alongside the Transcona Aquatic Park, will close at the end of the day on Sept. 7, said the city, alongside the wading pools at Central Park, Dakota Park, Machray Park and McKittrick Park.

Closure of the city’s other wading pools will start next week Tuesday and will continue until Sept. 6, said the city. Spray pads will remain open until the end of day Sept. 7.

The city is also hosting its annual “Doggie Days of Summer,” on Aug. 29 at the Bruce Park Wading Pool, said the release.  The event invites owners to bring licensed dogs to frolic before the facilities close for the season.

Owners have to pre-register on the city’s website, with two separate slots for different dog sizes. The city said spots are limited.

Police seize opium during traffic stop

2:06 PM

A 22-year-old man faces charges after officers seized more than three kilograms of opium from his vehicle during a traffic stop, police say.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were conducting drug enforcement on the Trans-Canada Highway near Headingley early Thursday, a news release stated.

Officers pulled over a 2024 Dodge Ram and found evidence of interprovincial drug trafficking, police said. With the help of a drug detection dog, opium worth about $200,000 found concealed in the vehicle, along with $600 in cash.

The West St. Paul man faces possession of a scheduled substance for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5,000.

He was released on an undertaking.

Man charged in Garden Hill stabbing

1:48 PM

A Garden Hill Anisininew Nation man faces charges after a 22-year-old a was stabbed.

Island Lake RCMP received a report of a stabbing just before 7 a.m. Tuesday and found the victim at the Garden Hill nursing station suffering from a life-threatening stab wound. He was later airlifted to a Winnipeg hospital, RCMP said in a news release Thursday.

A 27-year-old man from the community, located about 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. He remains in custody ahead of a court date in Winnipeg.

Attempted murder charges laid in St. Vital stabbing

1:18 PM

A 27-year-old man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed or attempted to stab relatives at a St. Vital home Wednesday night.

Winnipeg police said they were called to a report of a man who was armed with a knife and believed to be intoxicated while he refused to leave a family residence in the 600 block of Dakota Street at about 8 p.m.

A woman in her 40s, who is related to the suspect, defended herself with a laundry basket and was not injured when the suspect attempted to stab her, police said.

He then left the suite and was locked out of the building, where he allegedly robbed a male in his late teens at knifepoint. The teen, who didn’t know the suspect, was not physically injured.

Police said a man in his 50s, who is related to the suspect, was stabbed and seriously injured, when he went outside and confronted the suspect.

The victim was taken to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable.

Officers arrested a suspect on Arden Avenue, a few blocks away, a short time later. The 27-year-old man is also charged with aggravated assault, robbery and possession of a weapon.

Pam Grier to speak at Winnipeg conference

11:11 AM

Pam Grier, known for her pioneering work in action films, will be a keynote speaker at an upcoming Film Training Manitoba conference.

Grier will speak Oct. 24 at Canada’s Supporting Women in Film Trades Conference. She’s set to discuss barrier breaking and building a lasting career.

Grier starred in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Jackie Brown, and films such as Coffy and Foxy Brown.

The conference will be held at The University of Winnipeg’s Riddell Hall, at 411 Spence St.

Tickets are $70 on Film Training Manitoba’s website.

Firefighters battle blaze in vacant Winnipeg home

9:25 AM

Northbound Disraeli Freeway is partially blocked while firefighters battle a blaze in a boarded-up vacant house in Point Douglas.

The city’s transportation management centre said northbound Disraeli is reduced to one lane (the median lane) at Lily Street, just east of Main Street.

The two-storey house is located at Disraeli and Argyle Street.

In a Facebook post, Nick Kasper, president of United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, shared videos and photos of the home’s roof and top floor engulfed in flames while crews sprayed water from outside the building.

“Winnipeg fire crews from last night’s shift are working overtime this morning to extinguish a well-involved fire in a vacant home,” Kasper wrote. “Initial-arriving crews attempted an aggressive interior attack but were forced to withdraw due to deteriorating and unsafe building conditions.”

Kasper asked drivers to use caution and slow down while passing firefighters and vehicles at the scene.

“Please watch for firefighters, apparatus and other emergency personnel in the area,” he wrote.

A Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service spokesperson said crews were called to the scene shortly after 6 a.m.

“Due to heavy fire conditions, crews were unable to enter the structure. They are fighting the fire from the exterior,” the spokesperson wrote in an email shortly after 9:15 a.m.