Today’s horoscope

MPI cuts off public parking downtown to prioritize staff mandated to return to office

Some commuters who work in downtown Winnipeg are frustrated after finding out they’re losing access to monthly parking spots in lots owned by Manitoba Public Insurance.

The Crown corporation has acquired parking spaces, currently managed by Impark for its staff, and is adding desks and renovating some floors at its Cityplace headquarters to prepare for more employees to return to the office full time, sources told the Free Press.

MPI, which owns the Cityplace complex and parkades within the tower and at 266 Hargrave St., is eliminating daily parking and reducing the number of non-MPI monthly parkers to “prioritize” parking availability for employees who work at the headquarters, spokeswoman Kristy Rydz said.

The changes will come into effect Nov. 1 for the 266 Hargrave parkade and Dec. 1 for the Cityplace tower parkade. The lots will become card-access only.

B.C. Conservative’s Lorne Doerkson sets out urgent priorities to govern

VANCOUVER - British Columbia's premier-designate Lorne Doerkson's long to-do list includes lowering taxes, while reviewing the provincial finances, working with Alberta and the federal government on the proposed Pacific Link pipeline and repealing Indigenous legislation.

Doerkson laid out his priorities at a news conference Sunday, just hours after his party was elected with about two-thirds of the province's 93 seats in the legislature.

He said he has spoken to the lieutenant-governor and named Kim Henderson, a former deputy to the premier to previous Liberal governments, to lead his transition team.

"We are going to do this properly, and we are going to do it with obviously some urgency," he said. "When this government is sworn in, it will be ready on Day 1, and it will hit the ground running."

‘It’s the human beings that make it come alive,’ says family behind annual Halloween haunt Heebie Jeebies

RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF MACDONALD — Tim Muys wants Heebie Jeebies to be legendary.

The first evidence is the latest maze at the annual Halloween attraction, which Muys and his wife, Michelle, operate just southwest of Winnipeg in the RM of Macdonald: “Legends of Horror” puts visitors face-to-face with iconic movie antagonists such as Leatherface, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger.

But further evidence can be found in Muys’ ambitions for Heebie Jeebies. With 3,400-plus five-star Google reviews and more than 30,000 visitors annually, Muys advertises the business as “Canada’s No. 1 privately owned Halloween attraction.” His vision is to build a second location in Calgary and then a third in Edmonton.

Between the populations of those two cities, plus the surrounding communities, he believes Heebie Jeebies would draw a significant crowd every fall. By his estimation, it would put the business on the map as one of the largest Halloween attractions in the world.

School division’s mental-health liaison helps students in crisis access help faster

A youth experiencing a mental-health crisis at a River East Transcona school was connected with specialized care within hours this fall, offering an early example of how a new partnership is helping students in distress.

After the teen made statements that raised safety concerns, school administrators contacted a newly appointed mental-health crisis liaison, who arrived within 30 minutes, assessed the situation and met with the student, their family and school staff.

By the end of the morning, the student was admitted to a crisis stabilization unit for several days, and arrangements were made for followup therapy.

The intervention was possible because of a pilot partnership between RETSD and The Link: Youth and Family Supports, which began at the start of the school year.

Air force pays tribute to retiring CC-130H Hercules planes

Royal Canadian Air Force personnel in Winnipeg bid farewell Saturday to the military branch’s last remaining CC-130H Hercules planes — “workhorses” that crews flew in seemingly countless combat, rescue and transport operations.

The federal government is phasing out Canada’s fleet of CC-130H Hercules aircraft, which entered service in 1974, in favour of modern planes, including the CC-295 Kingfisher, which will be used for search-and-rescue operations out of 17 Wing Winnipeg as of November.

“It’s really part of our family and one of us. This was the backbone of a lot of things that we do here out of Winnipeg,” Col. Curtis Wright, commander of 17 Wing Winnipeg, said of the “mighty Herc” after a retirement ceremony and a flypast.

The 435 Transport Search and Rescue Squadron, based at 17 Wing Winnipeg, is the final RCAF unit to fly the CC-130H Hercules. Two Winnipeg-based planes are still being flown. They will be taken out of service Nov. 1 and Nov. 18, Wright said.

Winnipeg pharmacist fined for dispensing incorrect dosage of anti-psychotic medication

A Winnipeg pharmacist has been fined for misconduct after dispensing a mistakenly high dose of an anti-psychotic, harming her patient.