Flights canceled and schools closed as Taiwan braces for Typhoon Koinu

Osborne Village violence sends two people to hospital, one in critical condition; two people arrested

Two people are in hospital and another two are in police custody after a serious assault in Osborne Village early Monday morning.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Pat Saydak said officers were called to the assault scene on Osborne Street near River Avenue just after midnight.

Two people were rushed to hospital, one in critical condition and the other in stable condition.

Two individuals, both adults, were arrested by police. There’s no word yet on charges.

The election of our discontent: City at a crumbling crossroads, grumbling residents say in poll

There’s an undercurrent of unhappiness running through the Winnipeg electorate as the municipal election day approaches.

One-half of Winnipeggers believe the city is heading in the wrong direction, according to a new Abacus Data poll, with nearly one-third unsure if Winnipeg is regressing or progressing.

Only 21 per cent of residents believe the city is on the right track, the Free Press-commissioned poll found.

That discontentment extends to how the city spends its tax dollars, with four in 10 Winnipeggers believing they receive poor value for what they pay in property taxes.

Mayoral hopefuls trade accusations

Two mayoral hopefuls traded accusations about meddling in each other’s campaigns as the incumbent rallied supporters for his re-election bid on the eve of advanced polls opening across Winnipeg.

A social media post made by Mike Vogiatzakis, one of 12 nominees in the Oct. 28 race for the top job at city hall, caught the attention of rivals Sunday.

The funeral director took to Facebook midday to criticize Kevin Klein — a competitor he said he thought of “as a friend” until the former Tory cabinet minister made a U-turn after pledging to back the Vogiatzakis campaign.

“Good speaker? Yes. Good looking guy? Sure. Someone I trust now? Absolutely not,” he wrote in a lengthy post.

Hydro Québec faces issue we should avoid

You might be tempted to call it a canary in an electric power generation coal mine.

Klein vows city ombudsman would bring transparency

Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein is promising to build public trust in city hall, if elected, with a new municipal ombudsman.

Klein expects the change would ramp up transparency and ensure complaints are thoroughly reviewed.

An independent municipal ombudsman would receive reports from whistleblowers and the public, then publish findings. That person would not answer to city staff or the mayor, Klein said.

“It will make hiding a bad file much harder. And it will make having meetings behind closed doors very difficult,” he said.

Rifles win the battle, but lose post-season push

The Winnipeg Rifles huddled around a television in their hotel meeting room in Saskatoon on Saturday, hoping for an outcome that would lend them control of their fate come Sunday afternoon.

The junior football club had scratched and clawed to give itself a fighter’s chance at the playoffs entering the final week of the Canadian Junior Football League regular season, but needed some help to set up a win-and-in scenario.

That wouldn’t come to fruition. The Rifles held their collective breath in suspense for the better part of three hours as the Edmonton Huskies pushed the Edmonton Wildcats to the brink before ultimately falling 35-31, ending Winnipeg’s season.

“It was a very anxious feeling. I think everyone was on edge the whole time, throughout the dinner, throughout the day. But that’s just kind of normal travel days in general, in the (Prairie Football Conference), it’s just such a tight conference,” said Rifles fifth-year right tackle Jaden Sawatzky.