MPs clad in eclipse glasses stare at ‘surreal’ celestial event on Parliament Hill

Man stabbed outside shelter dies days later, manslaughter charges laid

A violent altercation outside Winnipeg’s largest homeless shelter turned fatal days later, leaving staff and community members mourning the loss of a man who was well known to them.

Police were called to Siloam Mission around 10:30 a.m. Saturday Oct. 17 after a fight broke out in the shelter’s parking lot on the 300 block of Stanley Street, leaving a 31-year-old man with stab wounds.

Officers found the man in critical condition and rushed him to hospital, where he remained until his death on Tuesday Oct. 20.

On Monday, police identified the victim as Jereth Joseph James Clarke, a member of Norway House Cree Nation who had been staying in Winnipeg.

Lula’s historic Brazilian election victory

This was supposed to go down as one of the closest presidential elections in Brazilian history — until it wasn’t. In the end, 80-year-old leftist President Luiz Inácio (Lula) da Silva of the Workers Party bested (by some four million votes) Flávio Bolsonaro, the hard-right Liberal Party leader and senator, by a lopsided 3.5 per cent of the popular vote.

Police probe weekend vandalism spree as dozens of school buses taken out of service

Vandals used fire extinguishers to damage dozens of Winnipeg School Division buses and an elementary school in a pair of weekend break-ins, disrupting transportation or lessons for potentially hundreds of students.

Several buses were taken out of service, resulting in cancellations or delays on some routes Monday, after 45 parked vehicles were damaged in a lot on Selkirk Avenue, west of Keewatin Street.

“We occasionally will have a fire extinguisher stolen or a little bit of damage, but this was certainly the largest-scale vandalism that we’ve seen in our (transportation) yard,” said Matt Henderson, superintendent of Manitoba’s largest school division.

“The result of that was a number of bus routes had to be cancelled (Monday), which is really problematic. There’s an added stress on families to get their children to school.”

‘Important first step’: Arctic Gateway, CentrePort sign MOU with Dubai ports giant

The Port of Churchill owners say they’re working with Dubai-based logistics giant DP World Inc. to potentially boost traffic to North America’s only deep water Arctic seaport.

Property tax hike included in Gillingham’s costed platform

Mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham says property taxes will rise another 3.5 per cent in 2027, with no set cap on potential increases in each of the following three years, if he is re-elected as mayor on Wednesday.

A new property tax target would instead be determined by city council for the following three budget years, with a goal to keep annual hikes “close to inflation,” respect affordability and protect essential services, Gillingham said while releasing a costed election platform Monday.

“To say today we’re going to set a (property tax hike) target, set an amount without knowing where the inflationary rates would go would be irresponsible,” he said.

In his 2022 election campaign, Gillingham promised to raise taxes by 3.5 per cent per year. However, the city instead imposed a 5.95 per cent property tax hike in 2025, Winnipeg’s largest single-year increase since the 1990s.