Lose yourself in the moment

Winnipeg woman saves child, father in ‘courageous’ river rescue

A Winnipeg woman is being hailed as a hero after saving a father and his child from the Red River last month.

Police officers were called to St. John’s Park shortly before 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 after receiving a report a child had fallen into the river, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Wednesday.

When officers arrived, they found the unconscious child on shore receiving first aid from a bystander. Police took over life-saving efforts before the child was rushed to hospital in critical condition. The child was later stabilized and is expected to make a full recovery.

Police said an investigation by the child abuse unit determined a woman witnessed the child fall into the water, followed by the child’s father, who tried to save his child. The woman jumped into the river, first pulling the father to safety before swimming back out for the child.

Man who killed truck passenger handed new 12-year sentence

Manitoba’s highest court has given a man who shot at a passing truck and killed a 20-year-old woman a 12-year prison sentence for manslaughter.

William Ryerson Thomas Comber, now in his mid 20s, was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in December 2022 for the killing of Hailey Dugay on Nov. 17, 2018. Comber was later sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years.

Dugay died after the truck she was travelling in was struck by gunfire late at night on a gravel road near Fraserwood, 90 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The Court of Appeal struck down Comber’s murder conviction earlier this year and ruled he was instead guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Dangerous offender status sought for convicted killer

Crown prosecutors intend to apply to have a convicted killer, who also admitted his guilt in an assault on a stranger at The Forks and a robbery at a local beer vendor, designated as a dangerous offender.

Daniel Christopher Dumas, who is in his mid-30s, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and robbery in front of provincial court Judge Donovan Dvorak on Monday for the attacks on June 6 and 7, 2025. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Prosecutor Monique Cam said the Crown plans to apply for a dangerous offender designation for Dumas, which, if granted, could result in him being given an indefinite prison sentence.

“The Crown does intend to make an application at a future date … for a remand for assessment to have Mr. Dumas assessed by a court-ordered assessor for the purpose of pursuing a dangerous offender application,” Cam said.

Lose yourself in the moment

Time is a strange thing. Einstein theorized that it is relative and, speaking for myself, this has never been truer than during the last year. Somehow the perception of time has been distorted in a way that recent events seem like forever ago, while something that happened years before somehow feels like it happened just last week. Strange times indeed.

On a daily basis, this pandemic-induced ebb and flow of moments and hours can throw us for a loop. Somehow an hour can appear to linger forever, while we simultaneously ask ourselves ‘where did all the time go’? For me, this is partly caused by a lack of familiar structures and routines that I spent a lifetime developing. As a result, it has become harder and harder for me to truly experience ‘the now’; To be fully immersed in an activity, be it work or recreation. It has become a challenge for me to be lost in the moment — where I forget the world around me while being enthralled in an activity or thought.

But even without the added social complications of continued lockdowns we continuously struggle to hold on to our temporary experiences. After all, we live in an age where social media or other forms of digital entertainment encourage us to remove ourselves from our own present existence, either through a friend’s post or a click on the ‘find out more’ button. Even while writing this column, I am constantly tempted to check my emails or to read up on the news. Something could be happening somewhere in this world that might be more interesting than what I am doing at this very moment. But don’t worry, I decided to mentally stay with you for a while longer.

The concept of ‘being more present in the now’ is not a new idea in psychology. Mindfulness practices have become popular tools for many, be it through meditation, yoga or other mental exercises. All of these methods try to engage us fully with our current experiences. Their aim is to separate us from habitual responses, such as mindlessly watching TV or surfing Facebook, and to bring us more into the current moment. We are so here, so engaged with what is currently happening, that we forget that we are actually separate from it. That experience is also often referred to as flow. The term flow was first coined in the 1970s by psychologist Dr. Mihaly Chentmihalyi while he was studying why people would give up material goods for the elusive experience of performing enjoyable acts. He focused on what it meant to be ‘in the zone’ as opposed to ‘being zoned out.’ He himself described flow as ‘being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement and thought follow inevitably from the previous one, like playing Jazz.’

At last, some good news on homelessness

There is no shortage of reasons to be frustrated about homelessness in Winnipeg. But the latest numbers provide something that has been increasingly difficult to find — evidence that at least some things are getting better.

Mayoral rematch between Gillingham, Klein gets ugly on Day 1

Former city councillor and provincial cabinet minister Kevin Klein says he will soon enter the race to become Winnipeg’s next mayor — prompting an immediate war of words with incumbent Scott Gillingham.

Gillingham quickly responded to the announcement by calling Klein “toxic” and a “fixer” for Peter Nygard.

Klein said Tuesday he had decided not to enter the mayoral race weeks ago due to an unspecified health scare that required surgery. After recovering, he decided to run.

“The future of the city means a lot to me. I believe that we have so much untapped potential that I felt I should do something about it,” said Klein, noting he felt compelled to run because key city issues, such as perceptions of public safety in the downtown, have grown worse over the past four years.