Dreaded ring may be waiting under the tree

Security guard, 22, stabbed by shoplifter at Dollarama store

A security guard was stabbed as he tried to stop a shoplifter at a Dollarama store in Winnipeg Tuesday, the latest in a string of violent incidents at the discount chain.

Winnipeg police were called to the outlet in the Courts of St. James, at 2727 Portage Ave., around 4 p.m.

Police said the guard, who is employed by Impact Security, had confronted a man suspected of shoplifting and directed him to leave the store. The suspect pulled out a sharp-edged weapon and stabbed the guard in the upper body before fleeing with stolen merchandise.

The guard, 22, was seriously injured and was taken to hospital in unstable condition. He was later upgraded to stable condition.

Fully protecting Transit drivers overdue

The union representing Winnipeg Transit drivers declared last week — again — that the service’s buses need to be outfitted with full safety shields, after yet another incident involving an assault on a partially protected transit operator.

New Skyline: revolving restaurant to reopen atop Fort Garry Place

Come fall, people will once again have the chance to dine more than two dozen storeys above Winnipeg’s downtown.

Alfonso Maury, former owner of Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria, is preparing to reopen the revolving restaurant on the 30th floor of Fort Garry Place. The venue, which has sat empty for the past six years, offers a panoramic view of the city.

Maury is aiming to open Dos Pampas Skyline Restaurant at the beginning of October. He plans to hire around 20 employees, who will prepare and serve an Argentinian-inspired menu he is currently putting together with head chef Norm Pastorin.

Dos Pampas will include seating for 120 customers, Maury said. Additionally, the restaurant will feature a lounge with couches and short tables where guests who have finished their meal but who aren’t ready to leave can enjoy dessert or another drink.

Thirteen accused in gun, drug trafficking network in rural Manitoba

RCMP and Winkler police have arrested more than a dozen people allegedly connected to a drug-and-gun trafficking network that operated in rural Manitoba.

The joint investigation began in December 2024, when officers from the Winkler Police Service asked the Mounties for help after learning kilograms of cocaine were being imported to a Winkler-area truck repair business, said RCMP Supt. Jeff Asmundson, who oversees the force’s Manitoba integrated law enforcement team.

Mounties and Winkler police gathered evidence for 19 months and expanded the probe, dubbed Project Dolor, as investigators learned other types of illicit substances and firearms were being trafficked by the network in a number of southern Manitoba communities, said Asmundson, whose team investigates serious and organized crime.

“It started as a cocaine trafficking investigation, and obviously, as we move along in a project or a file, evidence is gathered and an opportunity arose and we wanted to ensure public safety,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We were able to secure some firearms.”

Bombers give would-be boo birds their marching orders

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are being criticized by some fans online for booking the University of North Dakota’s marching band for Friday’s game against Montreal.

Winnipeg-based Probe Research acquired by Abacus Data

The results are in: Winnipeg-based market research firm Probe Research has been acquired.

One-hundred per cent of leadership reported being happy with the deal, which sees Probe joining Abacus Data as it seeks to expand nationally.

“This is … the best of both worlds,” said Mary Agnes Welch, a Probe Research partner. “We at Probe get to stay doing the things we’ve always loved to do for Manitobans, but we now get to take those perspectives to the national level.”

Probe Research counts government entities, non-profits and credit unions among its clients. It’s published thousands of surveys during its 32-year tenure, Welch said.