Girls just wanna… fit in

Men accused in commercial break-in spree were wearing ankle bracelets

Two men in electric ankle bracelets who were being monitored by justice officials have been accused in a two-month spree of commercial break-ins, vehicle thefts and other property crimes.

City police have charged one of the suspects and are searching for the second.

About $140,000 worth of property, including trailers, lawn equipment, motorcycles and bicycles, was reported stolen in 13 incidents in Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Headingley between April 20 and June 28, the Winnipeg Police Service said.

Both suspects were wearing electronic monitoring bracelets during that time.

A grand jeté of climate-change denial

The first hurricane to hit Hawaii in 34 years. The Mediterranean on fire from Spain to Greece. ‘Heat domes’ one after another for months on end in Europe and North America. Thousands of excess deaths. A record El Niño piled on top of an average global temperature up from +1.2 C five years ago. Predicted high for this year: +1.7 C.

Surely they’ll get it now, you think — but no, they won’t. It once seemed sensible to think that when the climate damage gets bad enough and the trend line becomes impossible to ignore, ‘they’ (meaning the climate change deniers and their fellow travellers) will finally accept that the threat is real and urgent action is necessary.

A few of them will, but most will not.

It is becoming clear that as the old position of flat disbelief in climate science becomes untenable, the preferred response among former deniers is to admit that climate change is big, dangerous and already well underway — but to insist that it is already too late and nothing can be done about it now.

Take advantage of hydroelectric potential

Manitoba Hydro tells us that we are going to need significant new electricity generation over the coming decades.

Pharmacist who failed to disclose addiction, couldn’t account for ‘staggering’ amount of drugs fined $100K by disciplinary panel

A Manitoba pharmacist has been hit with $100,000 in fines and costs after a disciplinary panel found he dispensed a “staggering” amount of drugs that could not be accounted for.

Glen Pauch, who worked at a Portage la Prairie pharmacy, was fined the maximum $25,000 by the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba and ordered to pay another $75,000 toward the cost of the investigation and disciplinary proceedings.

A 28-page disciplinary decision dated June 9 found more than 39,000 doses went unaccounted for while Pauch was consuming drugs and improperly dispensing controlled substances — including the opioids oxycodone and hydromorphone, and Concerta, a stimulant prescribed for ADHD — to 11 patients.

The college found Pauch failed to properly document the drugs he dispensed and did not maintain required records for controlled substances returned to the pharmacy or received from suppliers.

City crews cleaning up drug paraphernalia, weapons having some impact on inner-city life

A three-person crew, employed by the city as part of its recently expanded proactive cleanup program, allowed the Free Press to follow along last week while they worked to make the Freight House Recreation Centre's property safe to play in.

Paralyzed foster girl has system under a microscope

An internal investigation by Manitoba’s Families Department is nearly complete in the case of a six-year-old girl who is paralyzed after being assaulted by her foster mother in Winnipeg.

The review by child-welfare officials is intended to prevent similar incidents, but it’s unlikely the public will learn the findings or recommendations.

“We’re working closely with the (child and family services) authority to make sure that every recommendation is taken seriously and implemented,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Monday.

“They’re important (investigations) because they help us identify what went wrong so we can make those changes to ensure something like this tragedy never happens again.”