Comedian Derek Edwards at the News Cafe

Three vying to unseat Allard in St. Boniface

Four councillor candidates are running to represent the St. Boniface ward in Winnipeg's municipal election.

Flood mitigation project in neighbouring Interlake First Nations underway

The federal and provincial governments are moving ahead with a $61.1-million flood mitigation project aimed at protecting hundreds of homes and critical infrastructure in Peguis First Nation and neighbouring Fisher River Cree Nation.

The first phase of the long-term initiative will see clay dikes constructed to protect central Peguis and up to 500 vulnerable homes across both communities, along with road improvements to maintain access during flooding.

Federal Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty and Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor announced Wednesday that work is underway, with Ottawa reimbursing eligible provincial costs through its Emergency Management Assistance Program.

The province previously approved $15.9 million last spring for emergency flood protection and road repairs in both communities, which have faced repeated flooding and evacuations.

Inappropriate late-night texts to students costs teachers their jobs

Manitoba’s independent teacher commissioner has cancelled two certificates this month because of inappropriate late-night messaging with minors.

E.K. resident able to get away after confrontation with knife-wielding thief who broke into his truck

Winnipeg Police Service property crime investigators are searching for a suspect potentially tied to several concerning incidents in East Kildonan in recent days.

Doug Vance, a homeowner on Dunrobin Avenue who lives with his wife and two sons, woke early Tuesday and noticed the lights were on in his truck, which was parked at the rear of his home.

He was soon face-to-face with a man armed with a large knife.

“Something, I figured, was up, so I went to go find my keys and lock the (truck) door… the light didn’t go out, so that meant the door was ajar,” said the 47-year-old.

Winnipeg soldiers help search and rescue efforts in Wainwright

Eleven military search and rescue technicians from Winnipeg were deployed to Wainwright, Alta., following the fire that killed four soldiers and injured 39 others during a live-fire training exercise Saturday.

It was the largest mobilization of SAR techs, elite primary-care paramedics in the Royal Canadian Air Force, in recent memory, a military spokesperson told the Free Press.

Every SAR tech available from 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron, located at 17 Wing Winnipeg — even those off duty — were sent to CFB Wainwright.

The technicians, who are trained to jump from aircraft into extreme environments, parachuted onto the scene from a CC-130H Hercules airplane to provide care for those injured in the fast-moving grass fire that had engulfed a training area.

U of W, former professor sued over alleged sex assault

A woman who studied and worked at the University of Winnipeg has filed a lawsuit against the post-secondary institution and her former professor — a convicted sex offender — who she alleges drugged and sexually assaulted her.

The woman, a former international student from the United Kingdom and teaching assistant at the university, claims her professor and “mentor,” Derek Spencer, put a date-rape drug in her drink and groped her following a Christmas party for professors and graduate students in 2019.

“The assailant secretly placed a date-rape drug in her drink without consent and sexually assaulted her while she was in an altered and vulnerable state,” reads the woman’s statement of claim, filed in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this month.

“She suffered grave psychological and physical harm as a result.”