Sleuth in the slammer

Plasma clinic pauses operations in Canada amid ‘unfounded attention’

A plasma collection company is pausing operations in Canada due to “unfounded attention” after two people died following donations at Winnipeg clinics.

‘Disrespectful’: residents frustrated after Wyatt arrives hour late to committee meeting

Several Winnipeggers attending a city development hearing on Thursday expressed frustration that one councillor arrived about an hour late, delaying the matter from being heard.

Coun. Russ Wyatt, who continues to attend city hall while facing criminal charges, began participating in the 9:30 a.m. East Kildonan-Transcona community committee meeting at 10:35 a.m.

A resident who hoped to speak at the meeting about a development plan in south Transcona noted the tardiness led the committee to bump the topic down on its agenda, while dozens waited to speak on it.

Christina Pyra eventually opted to leave city hall instead of waiting for her turn to make a presentation, to avoid missing a work commitment.

Opaskwayak restorative justice court to give offenders opportunity to ‘heal’

The Manitoba government, provincial court and Opaskwayak Cree Nation are signing a memorandum of understanding today to establish a community-led court focused on Indigenous restorative justice principles.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe is in the northern First Nation, which neighbours The Pas, to attend this week’s Opaskwayak Indigenous Days summer festival, ahead of the signing of the nation-to-nation agreement after a pipe ceremony today.

“This is really a pivotal marker on the path to reconciliation for our justice system and an incredible opportunity to begin the process of reconciling the two systems of justice, that being the traditional Indigenous justice system with our colonial system,” Wiebe told the Free Press on Wednesday.

“I’m just excited to be here to have the opportunity to formally mark the collaboration, but really to listen and to hear from community about the best ways, the best path forward.”

PCs say Hutterite colonies singled out by Bill 21

SOURIS — Members of Hutterite colonies in the province took aim at the NDP government’s proposed changes to drinking water legislation during a public meeting Thursday in Souris.

The meeting was hosted by Progressive Conservative MLA Colleen Robbins (Spruce Woods) to hear from rural residents about their concerns over Bill 21, which the government says will improve oversight on wells and other water systems in the province.

“There’s not enough clarity, but I feel that the overreach that this bill will bring is not clearly defined, and it could have a lot of negative consequences,” attendee Gilbert Hofer, a member of Green Acres colony near Wawanesa, said after the meeting, which drew about 20 people.

The legislation would allow public health officers to designate the type of water source based on its intended use, water quality and use duration rather than solely the number of connections it has.

Inman launching new album at WECC

Give Richard Inman a moment and a surface, and he’ll cover it with a story.

“I’ve scribbled down lyrics on paper plates, McDonald’s bags — whatever you got,” says Inman, who grew up in southern Manitoba but now lives in a three-bedroom ranch house near Twin Butte, Alta., so close to the American border that he says he can spit into Montana from his backyard.

“The other day I had a line in my head for seven hours before I wrote it down,” says the songwriter, who managed to remember the phrasing after driving home from a music festival in Idaho. “That certainly was lucky.”

Though Inman, 35, first starting sharing his Americana concoctions with crowds at Winnipeg’s Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club in the late 2000s, learning how to play his compositions with his band, the Mad Trappers, he has spent the bulk of the past decade out west, splitting time between the stage and the sale barn.