Manitoba residential school survivors set Alberta course to see Pope

Grieving families, local leaders want review of Interlake intersection after teens die in crash

A two-vehicle crash that killed four teenage friends in the Interlake Sunday night prompted outpourings of grief in several communities and calls for safety improvements at the intersection, which was also the site of a death in July.

Recent high school graduates Maya Borsa and Chloe Vermette, both 18, were identified by their families as victims of the collision at Highway 8 and Provincial Road 229, just west of Winnipeg Beach.

“(Chloe) was a very bubbly, loving personality. Always giving, always caring. Her friends meant the world to her,” said her mother, Veronique Vermette, who struggled to comprehend the tragedy when she went to the scene Monday. “We sat in the rain for hours, and it blew my mind that four lives were taken.”

The teens’ parents are waiting for RCMP to provide more information about the cause of the crash. Chloe, who graduated from Windsor Park Collegiate in Winnipeg in July, was driving one of the vehicles, her mother said.

Bombers rookies embracing rivalry in lead up to Banjo Bowl

Dante Daniels has been doing his homework on the Battle of the Prairies.

The rookie tight end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers recently went back and studied Labour Day Classics and Banjo Bowl games from previous years to better understand what the annual back-to-back series means to people around these parts.

“I want to know why it’s so important to the fans and why it’s so important in Winnipeg and I want to be a part of that,” Daniels told the Free Press after Thursday’s closed practice.

“I don’t want to be a person that comes in here and goes, ‘OK this is just another game.’ I want to be someone who embraces the rivalry.”

Education minister’s reasons for revoking teacher’s licence ‘not good enough,’ judge decides

A Manitoba judge has rejected the education minister’s decision to end a teacher’s career because he repeatedly messaged with a 13-year-old girl on social media.

‘Huge resource gaps’: judge shortage leads to circuit court cuts

A shortage of judges is forcing Manitoba’s provincial court to slash sittings across the province.

The court announced in a notice to the profession Wednesday that it will be reducing the number of annual court sittings at nine rural circuit locations and St. Boniface provincial court in Winnipeg by 68 sittings, effective April 1, 2027.

The reductions are necessary to balance “access to justice needs with the complement of judicial resources currently insufficient to maintain the current court schedule,” said the notice, signed by provincial court Chief Judge Ryan Rolston.

Affected circuit courts include Altona, Arborg, Beausejour, Easterville, Cranberry Portage, Lundar, Grand Rapids, Moose Lake, and Pine Falls.

Manitoba gains doctors for third straight year, but loses at pandemic-level rate: report

Manitoba is adding doctors at a record clip — but it’s also losing them at a rate not seen since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, a physicians advocacy organization cautioned Wednesday.

Transparency paramount after cyberattacks to prevent future breaches: tech expert

After a ransomware attack, no news isn’t always good news, a tech expert warns.

Little public information has emerged since a cybersecurity breach last month affected door access and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning at Health Sciences Centre.

“It’s critical for all of us to ask for greater levels of communication after events like this so that we can minimize the potential for these events to recur,” said Ontario tech analyst Carmi Levy.

During a ransomware attack, cybercriminals use malicious software to encrypt, steal or delete data, then demand payment to restore it.