‘A great pity’: Ukrainian village faces a churchless Easter

Kinew adds cabinet portfolio to focus on first responders

Premier Wab Kinew shuffled his cabinet Monday and created a new ministerial position that will oversee first responders in the province.

Kinew appointed David Pankratz, the MLA for Waverley, as minister responsible for first responder initiatives.

Tuxedo MLA Carla Compton was appointed minister responsible for accessibility, taking over the role from Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.

The new ministers were sworn in at a ceremony at the legislature Monday afternoon.

Completely separating inmates unrealistic, inquest judge says in report on three Stony Mountain slayings

Nothing short of keeping inmates separated at all times could have prevented three unrelated prisoner-on-prisoner killings several years ago in Stony Mountain Institution’s maximum-security unit, an inquest judge has found.

Provincial court Judge Lindy Choy made the finding after overseeing an inquest earlier this year into the slayings of Adrian Fillion, 42, Michael Monney, 27, and Nolan Thomas, 26, all of which occurred at the hands of fellow maximum-security inmates in the federal prison just north of Winnipeg. The killings occurred when cells were unlocked, allowing inmates to briefly move around to other areas in the cell block.

“The overall impression I was left with from the (Stony Mountain Institution) witnesses was that management of inmates in a custodial facility is a very complex undertaking. There are clearly multiple levels of oversight involved in any decisions that are made and it is all done in a very structured manner,” Choy wrote in her report on the inquest, which was made public Tuesday.

“While maintaining complete physical distance between inmates at all times would have prevented the homicides from occurring, we know that from a social and psychological perspective, this is not generally realistic nor acceptable.”

Furby Street residents fed up with inaction on drug houses

Anxious Furby Street residents contacted the city and their elected officials Friday to — once again — report people coming and going from a boarded-up house they call a dangerous “drug centre” and “den of thieves” that’s just steps away from a house under construction.

Linda Zak, who was holding a yard sale with a group of neighbours Friday morning, described the trouble the home attracts, while a woman slumped on the front steps and a man standing in the yard yelled to someone inside it.

“It is a drug centre,” said Zak, 77. “We know that. A couple of days ago, a person lit the front on fire. Now, as you look at it, you can see where the facade was burning and they were trying to harm people inside.”

“We’re very concerned about it being next to the home this man is building,” she said, pointing to the two-storey that’s nearly completed. The boarded-up house is in the 500 block of Furby.

Now-independent ex-Tory leader skips legislature’s first question period in four months

Crime rates, the cost of living and the state of health care were on the agenda Tuesday when the legislature’s fall sitting began a day after Obby Khan’s abrupt resignation from the Tory caucus.

Jets defenceman spent whole summer working on getting to the next level

Tyrel Bauer makes no apologies for the pugilistic piece of his path.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman is ready to drop the gloves and throw down when the situation calls for it and he takes great pride in protecting his teammates.

It’s a big part of the reason Bauer will be among the 23 players submitted by the Jets on the opening-day roster on Monday.

“I’ve fought and clawed, both metaphorically and literally and now I just want to show that I can play as well,” Bauer said during a chat with the Free Press during training camp. “(Toughness) is always something that I have, it’s always something in my back pocket and something that I take a lot of pride in doing, for my teammates, for the city and the people who invest in this hockey club. That will never change.

'A great pity': Ukrainian village faces a churchless Easter

Shelf life: Metro vs Empire