Keeping you in stitches

‘Difficult day’ as man pleads guilty to impaired driving in bride-to-be’s death near Portage

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — Driving a stolen truck with meth in his system, James Lorne Hilton lost control on a highway near Portage la Prairie last winter and caused a crash that killed a beloved bride-to-be, court heard Thursday.

Hilton, 25, appeared in the Court of King’s Bench and pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and failing to remain at the scene of the Jan. 15, 2025, collision that killed 28-year-old Kellie Verwey.

“This is a difficult day,” Crown prosecutor Mike Himmelman said as the proceedings began, addressing more than a dozen of Verwey’s family, friends and supporters who gathered in court to hear Hilton admit to his crimes.

Reading from an agreed statement of facts, Himmelman described how Hilton was driving westbound on Highway 26 on the morning of the collision when he veered into the opposing lane and caused another pickup truck to lose control.

Fort Garry Hotel on Métis federation’s radar

One of Winnipeg’s most iconic buildings, the Fort Garry Hotel on Broadway, is next on the Manitoba Métis Federation’s list of acquisitions.

“We are not done with our commitment to investing in Winnipeg’s downtown,” president David Chartrand said Friday, the same day the federation announced it has purchased the former National Research Council property on Ellice Avenue downtown.

“One potential new acquisition we’re considering, if the price is right and the partnership is positive, is the Fort Garry Hotel. It is an iconic part of Winnipeg’s history and its future, just like the Red River Métis,” Chartrand said.

The 113-year-old hotel was co-listed for sale in May by real estate brokerage firms Avison Young and Cushman & Wakefield Winnipeg, but doesn’t have a list price.

Mayor flip-flops on cutting tree-planting budget after intense criticism

Public opposition has prompted Mayor Scott Gillingham to change his mind about chopping $1.2 million from the city’s tree-planting program.

Uncertainty bakes costs into CUSMA chain

Despite all the melodramatic hype and handwringing leading up to it, the July 1 timeline for renewing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade passed without a U.S. commitment to extend its 2036 sunset.

The sun still rose the next day. Trucks and trains are still crossing the border carrying Canadian commodities (albeit not on that new bridge named after a famous hockey player). Grocery stores still carry imported fruits and vegetables from the south, and Canadians in several provinces still can’t buy American liquor.

Nothing changed, except everything.

We must now accept the certainty of continued uncertainty as Canada, along with the rest of the world, considers how to deal with the increasingly erratic leadership at the helm of the world’s largest economy.

Marla Somersall devoted her life to people in need

Whether it was helping women build businesses in rural Tunisia, leading homeless and addiction support organizations or delivering meals to vulnerable Manitobans, Marla Somersall spent her life dedicated to lessening other people’s suffering.

Over a career that took her from North Africa to Prince Edward Island and back to Manitoba, Somersall held leadership roles in a range of social service and non-profit organizations, always drawn to work that centred on supporting people in need.

Most recently, she served as executive director of Meals on Wheels Winnipeg — a non-profit organization that provides meals to people who are unable to prepare them for themselves.

Kelly Scrivener, client co-ordinator with Meals on Wheels, said Somersall was a very calm and respectful person who led with gentle direction and fostered a collaborative workplace.

Burger-slinger brings Minnedosa its own version of a sloppy classic

MINNEDOSA — It could have been his chili-smothered secret.

One of the first things Zac Easton did four years ago after he and his wife Cass became the latest set of owners of the Dari Isle Drive-In, a seasonal, 70-seat restaurant that has operated in Minnedosa since 1965, was introduce a fatboy hamburger to the menu.

The 31-year-old grew up in Westwood. As an homage to the burger haunts of his youth — iconic spots such as the Burger Place, Nick’s Inn and the Dairi-Wip Drive-in — he was excited to show off his version of the Greek-style favourite at their new premises.

The interesting thing was, many of the people from the southwestern Manitoba town didn’t have a clue what a fatboy was, and those who ordered it that first summer assumed it was the Eastons’ own creation.