Young pop artist Helman a little older, a little wiser

Man who robbed tax accounts to pay his own bill given house arrest

A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 15 months of house arrest after he used money siphoned from Canada Revenue Agency accounts belonging to two city businesses and a doctor to pay his own income tax bill.

Mark Revelo, 38, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Income Tax Act in relation to five withdrawals from the victims’ accounts between February 2022 and April 2023 that totalled nearly $43,000.

“There may not be a more public system (in Canada) than the Canada Revenue Agency,” provincial court Judge Wanda Garreck told Revelo at a sentencing hearing Wednesday.

“Everyone is compelled to participate in that system… and when it gets compromised and used by someone it impacts the entire public and breaks down the trust and confidence people have in the system,” Garreck said.

Bisons begin reshaping herd

The Manitoba Bisons turned the page on a storied chapter of the football program on the sidelines last season. This year, another new era dawns on the field.

With quarterback Jackson Tachinski graduated, third-year pivot Cole Anseeuw will take the reins of a younger Bisons offence as it figures out who its core group of playmakers are for the foreseeable future.

“It’s not just (Tachinski),” said head coach Stan Pierre, who enters his second year at the program’s helm. “I think he’s probably the face of this era, but we’re also losing essentially all our offensive backfield production from last year. So that’s really where the challenge lies for us.”

Besides the quarterback, the Bisons also graduated their centre, top two running backs and three of their top receivers. There’s fewer turnovers on defence, but young players will need to step up in the first and third level, as two starting linemen and three defensive backs have left the program.

Physical activity ‘for every single child’

Manitoba is overhauling phys-ed class and requiring all high school students to regularly work up a sweat on school grounds to graduate.

Premier Wab Kinew announced on Thursday that a new curriculum is being piloted across the kindergarten to Grade 12 system this fall.

Changes to phys-ed and health education — which apply to all grades, but Grade 11 and 12 students, in particular — will ensure these mandatory subjects are delivered entirely in-person, starting in the 2028-29 school year.

The policy is called “Every Body, Every Day.”

Young pop artist Helman a little older, a little wiser

An audible sigh could be heard through the phone from pop artist Scott Helman after he confirmed he had just celebrated his 22nd birthday.

“I hate saying that out loud, I just turned 22. Now I’m, like, in my 20’s... I can’t pull the ‘young genius’ thing anymore,” he jokes.

The Toronto-based artist, who plays the Pyramid Cabaret tonight, indeed has been given the young genius classification before. At the ripe old age of 15, he caught the eye of Warner Music Canada, which signed him to a development deal and gave him time to hone his writing chops. In 2014, Helman dropped his debut EP, Augusta; the lead single, Bungalow, remained on the Billboard Canada charts for 22 weeks. He parlayed the EP’s success into opening slots on tour with Walk Off the Earth and Matthew Good and it earned him two Juno nods.

Now, Helman — whose sound has been described often as a mix of Jeff Buckley and Vance Joy — is on the road in support of his debut full-length, Hôtel de Ville, which already has spawned the well-circulated single Kinda Complicated.

Late founder of Canad Inns celebrated with honorary street name

The founder of Canad Inns will be remembered through an honorary street name, alongside his homegrown hotel chain’s Garden City location.

On Thursday, the city installed a sign to mark “Leo Ledohowski Way” on Jefferson Avenue between McPhillips and Watson streets.

“It is a lasting tribute … to a man who devoted so much of his life to this city and province and whose legacy will continue to inspire those who travel the road for years to come … From this day forward, Leo’s name will be part of Winnipeg’s landscape,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West), city council’s acting deputy mayor.

Ledohowski died last year at the age of 81. He started the Canad Inns hotel chain in the 1970s. At an event to unveil the street sign, he was described as a tireless entrepreneur, philanthropist and hospitality leader, as well as a cheerleader for both Winnipeg and Manitoba.

Police chief pulls plug on security shifts at supermarkets, stores

The Winnipeg Police Service is ending its years-long practice of allowing officers to pick up overtime shifts to provide additional security in supermarkets and other stores at retailers’ expense.