‘We had our minds made up’: Advance voters head to the polls

Manitobans cast their first votes in the provincial election Saturday morning, with advance polling stations opening throughout the province.

“Things are going well. We are seeing some pretty active advance polls which is great,” Michael Ambrose, communications director with Elections Manitoba, said.

The busiest polling stations in Winnipeg were in constituencies represented by Progressive Conservative MLAs, with Kirkfield Park (Kevin Klein), Riel (Rochelle Squires), Fort Whyte (Obby Khan) and McPhillips (Shannon Martin, who is not running for re-election) topping the charts, Ambrose said.

With the official election day slated for Oct. 3, advance polls provide more opportunities for voters to ensure their voice is heard, he added.

Police investigating after boy, 14, stabbed downtown

A 14-year-old boy suffered serious injuries Friday night after he was stabbed in downtown Winnipeg.

Around 11:30 p.m., officers near the intersection of Carlton Street and Portage Avenue were flagged down for assistance, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a release.

Police found the boy with stab wounds in his upper body and treated him on scene using a tourniquet and chest seals. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition, but was upgraded to stable condition before undergoing surgery.

The suspects fled before police arrived and no arrests have been made.

Thieves target dinner supplies as food needs skyrocket

Andrew Pankiw arrived at Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church on Thursday night with bags of food for an upcoming dinner fundraiser when he realized the church had been ransacked.

The parish president said the small Ukrainian church in Brooklands is now scrambling after the theft wiped out its entire supply of meatballs and dozens of perogies for the event.

“You’re bringing people together to find something in common they can enjoy together, and get to meet each other,” he said Friday. “It’s just very disappointing to see actions like this disrupting those efforts.”

Community groups that are helping to feed those in need say it’s distressing — but not surprising — that food items were among the stolen goods.

Page meets Pops in powerhouse orchestral show

“I’m just a good, old-fashioned, authentic Canadian guy,” said self-declared legendary Canadian pop icon Steven Page onstage at the Burton Cummings Theatre Friday night.

Well, gosh, yes, for sure he’s all that; however, he’s also a whole lot more.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra featured the internationally renowned singer-songwriter — joined by his Steven Page Trio mates: Craig Northey (guitar/vocals) and Kevin Fox (cello/vocals) — as it kicked off its Live at the WSO series with the first of two weekend shows, led with gusto by maestro Julian Pellicano.

The Fayetteville, N.Y.-based artist last appeared here for the WSO Pops show Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in April 2016, which feels like a lifetime ago, during the “Before Times.” He also burned up the Burt’s stage as lead singer with his former band, the near mythical Barenaked Ladies, even further back in 1992.

NDP edges past Tories on public safety plank: poll

Premier Heather Stefanson and her Progressive Conservatives have staked their political lives on tackling crime and boosting public safety. It turns out Manitoba voters think Wab Kinew and the NDP could do just as good of a job.

PCs, NDP waging war for control of the legislature in a small number of constituencies

In a province as vast as Manitoba, political parties vying for power could be expected to cover as much ground as possible during a short, four-week campaign leading to the Oct. 3 general election.

However, of the 57 electoral divisions up for grabs on Oct. 3 and more than 866,000 eligible voters to be courted, Manitoba’s New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives have staged campaign announcements in fewer than two dozen communities since the writ was issued early this month.

Over the past three weeks, NDP Leader Wab Kinew concentrated his political attention in three Winnipeg communities and hosted multiple campaign commitments in PC-held Fort Richmond, Kirkfield Park and St. Boniface, all of which the party hopes to turn orange on election day.

By contrast, the Progressive Conservatives, for the most part, have stuck to their own territory, tapping their seasoned, incumbent MLAs to announce tax breaks, economic-development promises and health spending in select suburban Winnipeg constituencies the party is desperate to retain and Tory strongholds in rural Manitoba.

Audit flags ex-dean’s spending spree

A University of Manitoba audit into a law dean’s expenses found he frequently paid personal bills with public school dollars and neglected students while the school’s decentralized reporting system allowed his rampant misspending to go unchecked for years.

Confidential minutes from a July 14, 2020, meeting — which were leaked to, and independently corroborated by, the Free Press this week — expose Jonathan Black-Branch’s pattern of inappropriate spending and related institutional gaps.

University president Michael Benarroch called the special summer meeting so the board of governors could be briefed on an investigation sparked by an internal tipster.

Per the minutes, Black-Branch’s “most concerning” expenses were $518,000 on personal professional development that distracted him from his dean duties, $50,000 between hospitality bills (including membership fees at the Manitoba Club) and a payment of $75,000 to the International Society of Law and Nuclear Disarmament.

Local companies gain foothold in death-tech sector

It’s a gift from the dead planned by the living.

A Winnipeg start-up has launched an app to send users’ photos and videos to their loved ones after they’ve died.

The company is part of a growing sector — death tech — using technology to assist end-of-life planning. The industry has swelled since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You don’t want everyone to see everything in your phone,” said Michael Okoye, the 27-year-old founder of All-Life Digital Asset Manager (ADAM).

‘I didn’t feel safe’: neighbours handcuffed after Hazelton Drive killing

Neighbours of a Winnipeg home where a man was found slain Wednesday morning had no idea what had happened — until police entered their duplex unit with guns drawn.

Vikas Mor said he and his roommates were handcuffed and held by police until officers confirmed they were not involved in the homicide next door.

“We were shocked,” said Mor, who was in his underwear when police burst in and led him and his friends outside. “I didn’t feel safe.”

Sukhdool Singh Gill, 39, was dead when police arrived at the neighbouring duplex unit, at 230 Hazelton Dr., at about 10 a.m.