Josh Duhamel helps Minot flood victims

Adorable accoutrements for the school year

By now, with only a handful of days left before summer holidays draw to a close, the back-to-school essential kit lists will be landing in inboxes throughout the province.

Klein put on defensive as mayoral run made official

Kevin Klein faced a barrage of attacks from the city’s incumbent mayor and largest union as he officially entered Winnipeg’s mayoral race Thursday.

While the former city councillor and Progressive Conservative cabinet minister was registering to run at city hall, Mayor Scott Gillingham’s team sent out a news release noting Klein was one of two councillors to vote against pursuing legal action against participants in the Winnipeg police headquarters scandal.

Shortly after, Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 accused Klein of blaming Canada for its ongoing trade war with the U.S. and called him an “unfit” candidate who would “bend a knee to American interests” in a news release of its own.

Klein defended himself outside city hall after putting in his papers.

Class delayed a day after mould found in Tyndall Park school

The first day of school has been postponed at École Stanley Knowles School after teachers discovered mould on chairs, rugs and other items when they were setting up their classrooms.

Families were alerted Thursday afternoon that an “HVAC malfunction” required extensive cleanup and, as a result, a one-day delay to the new year.

“I called it a couple weeks ago — it smelled really strong of mould,” said Amanda Bell, a mother who’s gone to the building regularly all summer to drop off and pick up her children from the on-site daycare.

Bell recalled she and her partner got a whiff of “wet mould” in a first-floor hallway near the library in mid-August and flagged it to an employee who told them they’d contact a custodian.

Man who pleaded guilty to killing three cats dies before sentencing

A Winnipeg man awaiting sentencing after admitting he strangled three cats to death and dumped two of their carcasses under a city bridge, has died, the Free Press has learned.

Randy Jensen, 25, pleaded guilty on May 13 to one count of wilfully causing injury or suffering to animals in connection to the 2024 killings.

He was scheduled to be sentenced in January.

“That’s not something that anybody wanted,” said Kristy Zamonsky, founder of Project Artemis Animal Advocates. “We were all hoping for justice through the courts.”