Commuter’s ‘delay scarf’ bought by German train company

Firefighter accused of violating protection order jailed for past harassment

A Winnipeg firefighter accused of violating a protection order this week has been jailed two times in the past decade for criminally harassing two different women, court records show.

In each case, Christopher Goethals was allowed to return to his job with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Goethals, 59, was arrested July 21 after breaching a protection order requiring he not come within 200 metres of a named protected person, police said.

Police allege Goethals was in full uniform and on “modified duties” driving a WFPS fleet vehicle at the time of the offence.

Author of haunted-venue tale on unique joys of live theatre

Though David Jón Fuller has been called a staple of Winnipeg’s theatre community, it is safe to say that he has spent most his spare time over the last decade writing.

He’s published speculative short fiction in anthologies while polishing longer manuscripts. One novel, set in Selkirk, is about Icelandic huldufólk, trolls and a secret vínarterta recipe, and a second revolves around werewolves and vampires running amok in 1980s North Kildonan and listening to a lot of hair metal.

But Venue 13, the debut novel for Fuller (who works as a Free Press web editor) brings together all his interests: it’s a ghost story set at a BYOV — bring your own venue — production at a fringe festival.

It was released by Turnstone Press just in time for this year’s edition of the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, on to Sunday.

Vacant Bay store on road to redevelopment, St. Vital Centre owner says

Entertainment attractions are coming to fill the former Hudson’s Bay space in St. Vital Centre.

Montreal-based real estate firm Leyad, the south Winnipeg mall’s owner, says it is finalizing an agreement for the vacant property. Further details should appear in the next couple months, said president Henry Zavriyev.

“We’re looking at what other types of experiences we can bring to the mall that aren’t just typical retail,” he said during a visit to Winnipeg this week.

“We want to create an experience where you can just come to the mall, hang out here for hours, no matter if you’re a kid, an adult, a retiree.”

Carillon bats dominate in MJBL Final opener

The Manitoba Junior Baseball League has a familiar match-up in the finals. The best-of-five series this year features the Carillon Sultans taking on the Elmwood Giants for the third consecutive year.

The Sultans, based out of Steinbach, have won the past two championships and cruised to first place in the regular season in their attempt to round out a three-peat.

The best-of-five series kicked off in Steinbach at A.D. Penner Park on Friday night, with Carillon’s offence the difference, as they racked up 13 hits and in a 15-5 mercy rule victory as darkness fell on the diamond.

The Sultans took a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning but let Elmwood back into the game when they got within two in the top of the fifth. Carillon responded by hitting around in the bottom half, scoring six runs and sealing the victory.

Bridgwater residents fed up with Manitoba Housing eyesore

A weed-covered plot of land in Bridgwater has been left to grow wild all summer, raising the ire of neighbours who say they were told the property is owned by Manitoba Housing and bylaw officers cannot intervene.

Telecom on defensive after about 90 emergency calls fail over several hours

Bell Canada — Manitoba’s 911 service provider — is facing questions about reliability and redundancy measures after an hours-long outage outside Winnipeg, caused by a severed fibre optic cable, prevented dozens of calls from getting through Wednesday.

Bell spokeswoman Elise von Scheel said backup systems that reroute 911 calls when an outage occurs due to equipment damage also experienced “issues” after a third party cut the cable during construction “near Winnipeg.”

“Manitoba’s 911 system relies on legacy architecture that does not support the failsafes that newer systems have, which is why Bell is in the process of upgrading the ecosystem to next generation 911,” von Scheel wrote in an email.

“All Manitoba public safety answering points are planned to be migrated to the new system by the end of 2026. Migration to NG911 is the fastest and most effective remediation to prevent instances like this in the future.”