‘A visionary’ with seven decades of volunteer service

A burst appendix may have thrown Pat Guy a life preserver.

It was 1939, she was 18, and she was about to return to Canada after spending a year at a finishing school in Paris.

But, shortly before Guy was to board a ship bound for Canada, she began feeling excruciating pain. She cancelled her booking, went to a hospital and was diagnosed with a burst appendix. She recovered and later returned to Canada on another ship.

The ship Guy originally was booked to go on? That was the SS Athenia, which sunk after being hit by a German U-boat torpedo on Sept. 3, the day the United Kingdom declared war against Germany. There were 1,418 passengers and crew aboard; 98 passengers and 19 crew members died, 54 of them Canadian.

Wildfire smoke measured at dangerous levels in city

Potentially harmful smoke has been blowing through Winnipeg.

Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a special air-quality statement Tuesday for a large swath of southern Manitoba and on Wednesday it was updated to include all of southern Manitoba, and as far north to Grand Rapids and Poplar River First Nation.

Meteorologist Jesse Wagar said that by mid-afternoon Wednesday the weather service’s air monitor, located just west of downtown, was showing a reading of between 15 to 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air, but non-agency monitors in a couple of other areas of the city had shown readings as high as 75.

Levels up to 50 are considered good, but anything higher can cause health problems.

Overland flood warning for southwest Manitoba

An overland flood warning has been issued for southwestern Manitoba.

The two-day alert (Friday and Saturday) comes one day after parts of southern Manitoba (into Winnipeg) reported hail the size of toonies and golf balls.

The province’s hydrologic forecast centre said Thursday a rainstorm forecast to hit North Dakota could cross the international border and bring up to 150 millimetres of precipitation to communities including Brandon, Virden, Souris and Boissevain.

The province said soil in that area west of Provincial Trunk Highway 10 and south of the Trans-Canada Highway is saturated, so incoming rain could create overland flooding or significant runoff.

City restaurateur elected president of federal Liberals

A longtime Winnipeg businessman and restaurateur says it’s been “an absolute whirlwind” since being elected president of the national Liberal party at its weekend convention.

“We started a year ago. I’ve travelled across the country from coast to coast from Halifax to British Columbia and everywhere in between,” said Sachit Mehra.

“I’ve met with Canadians and Liberals across the country. I’m now the chief volunteer and the chief partisan for the party.”

The 46-year-old, who is known in these parts as part of the family which owns the East India Company Pub and Eatery here and in Ottawa, said he has been connected with the Liberal party for more than 32 years.

City needs to pay for driveway repair: property owner

Eugene Osudar doesn’t know which branch of the City of Winnipeg destroyed the end of his driveway, but knows he doesn’t want to pay to repair it.

Osudar is now one of hundreds of residents who annually file claims saying city employees have damaged their property.

A duplex owner on Templeton Avenue, Osudar said he was in shock earlier this month, when he saw a roughly metre-wide stretch of one of the two paved driveways to his building was in pieces.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” he said. “It looks like a heavy truck or vehicle went on the driveway and just chewed it up. I didn’t know until my tenants, on the other side of the duplex, came and said the end of the driveway was destroyed.

Minister says violence upended women’s jail beading venture

Manitoba’s justice minister said a beadwork endeavour by a group of inmates at the Women’s Correctional Centre, who were able to sell their creations and earn cash, had devolved into incidents of violence.

“It had become, what is described to me, as physical assault, intimidation, and bullying because of the economy that had been set up around this and the financial gains the individuals were involved with,” said Kelvin Goertzen Tuesday, one day after the NDP raised the issue.

Women would create the crafts and mail them to a third party, who would sell the pieces. They could spend the cash on items from the jail canteen.

Instead of allowing the items to be sold, the jail will roll out a beadwork program in which all inmates can participate.

Labour seeks law on psychological injuries in workplace

THE Manitoba government has been accused of falling short when it comes to protecting workers from psychological injuries.

While psychological injuries caused by prolonged excessive workload is now recognized as a workplace injury, the Manitoba Federation of Labour wants the provincial government to do more.

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba expanded compensation coverage on May 1 for excessive workload, as long as it is for a prolonged period of time and is not what would be considered daily pressure in the job.

Manitobans chosen to go to England in 1953, write their own fairy tale

Marjorie Laycock was far away from home, having been chosen to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in London in 1953, when she met her prince.

Laycock, of Foxwarren, Man., met Art Woitte, who was studying at United College in Winnipeg, on board the Empress of France on May 25, 1953, as it steamed toward England. They were to be part of the crowd at the Coronation on June 2.

Four years to the day of that meeting, the couple became wife and husband; their 66th wedding anniversary is just weeks away.

“It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it was,” Marjorie Woitte said this week by phone from Windsor, Ont., where the couple live.

Talking trash about Omand’s Creek

Beavers have been busy building dams on Omand’s Creek, but Winnipeggers have been just as busy tossing garbage into it.

Ken Yendrys, who for decades has lived a short way from the creek that flows south through St. James to the Assiniboine River, said the destruction and trash by and in the creek is the worst he has seen.

“The creek system can’t support beavers and that’s where the problem starts,” Yendrys said.

“You start losing some trees and you de-stabilize the creek. It’s just a case of complete destruction.”

Special-interest groups take issue with Browaty’s ‘offensive’ remarks

City council’s most senior member has caused outrage after telling members of special interest groups their views are out of step with what most Winnipeggers want.

North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty, who was first elected in 2006 and is currently finance committee chairman and a member of the powerful executive policy committee, told Marianne Cerilli, a former MLA and mayoral candidate, after she made a presentation to councillors, “I appreciate your advocacy, but I don’t think a lot of these opinions are relevant.”

“I appreciate everybody who comes to city hall, and takes time out of their day to make presentations — people are very passionate,” Browaty said during the East Kildonan-Transcona community committee Wednesday.

“(But) the people who present here really do not represent most Winnipeggers, in my opinion. Each one of us on council represent 45,000-ish people. They’re not looking to blow things up. They don’t have time to come and make presentations all day. They want their street lights timed so they can get to and from work as fast as possible. Or drive their SUVs through Tim Hortons drive-thru to get their coffee on their way to hockey practice.

Urban expert staying out of Portage and Main fray as new city planning, property, development director

A once-vocal advocate for reopening Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic will be staying out of the debate on the future of the historic intersection in her new position.

The city announced Wednesday that urban planning expert Hazel Borys will become director of planning property and development at the end of July.

Borys, an engineer with an MBA and president of Placemakers, an international city planning firm, was a leading voice for the Yes side in the campaign to remove the concrete barriers before the 2018 municipal election, where the issue appeared as a non-binding plebiscite question on the ballot.

“Keeping this corner closed signals to Winnipeggers and the world that we are a car city,” she told the Free Press at the time. “Keeping the intersection closed hurts our economy and well-being.”

Exchange District gets unwanted vacant lot

The city is stuck with an empty lot where a heritage building was demolished in the Exchange District after plans for a three-storey residential and commercial building collapsed.

“We lost the building for nothing,” Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg, said on Wednesday.

“This is why the city shouldn’t allow demolition until a developer is fully ready to go ahead. Why did they allow the demolition?”

The proposal, which involved the triangular corner at 98 Albert St., known to heritage advocates as the site of the Reliable Service Station and in recent years as the former location of Bodegoes restaurant, has been shelved. An increase in construction costs has made it financially unfeasible.

Jeopardy! run comes to an end

It really was final Jeopardy!

A Winnipegger lost her bid Monday for a three-peat on the popular game show.

Emma Hill Kepron, the associate dean of the University of Winnipeg library, lost a tightly fought game when she failed to answer the Final Jeopardy question on Monday’s show.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it a bigger run,” she said on Monday just after her final show was broadcast. It was taped in February.

Red River to crest in city Friday

The Red River is expected to crest in Winnipeg Friday.

The provincial Hydrologic Forecast Centre reported on Monday it expects water levels on the Red River to rise to its peak Friday and stay at that level until May 4, before beginning to drop.

The river south of the floodway, in St. Norbert, is expected to peak on April 28 and begin receding after May 2.

The centre also says while other major rivers, including the Assiniboine and Souris, are all high, most tributaries have either peaked or are about to peak.

The answer is in: city librarian wins Jeopardy!

A Winnipeg Jeopardy! champion.

Well, if you answered “Who is Emma Hill Kepron?” you have won.

Kepron, whose day job is associate dean at the University of Winnipeg library, was on Thursday’s edition of the long-running game show and, after the buzzers were put down a final time, she had won a cool US$11,400.

“It was all such a blur,” Kepron said after the show aired in Manitoba Thursday afternoon. The episode was taped in Los Angeles in February.

Grocer questions inconsistent inspections

The owner of a Winnipeg food market was sunk by a sink — or the lack of one — and he wants to know why one provincial health inspector’s rules are different from the next. Chihab Adin told the Free Press he spent tens of thousands of dollars on upgrades last year to get his Casablanca Food Market — a butcher shop, deli and grocery store at B-129 Marion Street — up to code after a visit from an inspector, who said nothing about needing an additional sink.

Lifeguard shortage persists as city seeks staff for outdoor pools this summer

It may be tough to get into the swim of things this summer, when there may not be enough people to teach how to be safe in the water.

Whether it is the City of Winnipeg, Lifesaving Society water safety programs at remote communities or reserves, or other municipalities and organizations which have pools, there has been a dramatic drop in the number of lifeguards available, compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

Funeral for teen friends killed in Gilbert Plains car crash celebrates ’beautiful souls and lives’

The night before a horrific collision that killed Le Rouxan (Lenny) Niemann and three of his teenage friends in Gilbert Plains, his girlfriend told him she loved him.

In the spring an old man’s fancy turns to… unplugging street drains

Although many Winnipeggers can’t wait to head to the lake, a good number of city residents aren’t interested in having waterfront properties.

It’s an issue in many neighbourhoods at this time every year when the snow melts, but the water has no place to go because of ice and debris blocking street drains.

So some homeowners spent time on the long weekend addressing the problem.

North Dakota at ‘crossroads’ as major flood fears rise

The Colorado low weather system that recently dumped snow on both sides of the international border, accompanied by snow that hasn’t melted yet in North Dakota, has U.S. forecasters bumping up the risk of a major flood.

Funeral lunch ends with bang

Mourners who gathered at a community centre in Swan Lake were forced to run for cover when the roof began to collapse.

More than 150 people were in the 60-year-old hall for a post-funeral lunch on March 25 when they heard a noise coming from above.

“With this fellow, we can honestly say he went out with a bang,” said Ed Goderis, one of the attendees.

Winter storm raises spring flood fears

A Colorado low laden with snow and bearing down on southeast Manitoba is dampening hopes for imminent warm weather and raising future flood fears.

‘Sad day for democracy’: Peguis burns advance poll ballots

All ballots cast in an advance poll for the Peguis First Nation election have been declared null and void — and burned by its local fire department.

‘Mommy, I need you. Please come and get me’: lone survivor of Gilbert Plains crash recovering in city hospital

Trapped in the wreckage of a car pinned underneath a transport truck — and surrounded by four friends who died in the collision — a Dauphin teen repeatedly phoned her mother for help.

“She was saying, ‘Mommy, I need you. Please come and get me,’” Hannah Yurkiw's mother, Tanya, said Friday from her daughter's hospital bedside.

Smaller bump in alcohol excise tax draws muted applause

Local breweries and restaurants are breathing a sigh of relief after the federal government poured out any plans to implement the largest alcohol excise tax jump in more than 40 years.

Ottawa expands student loan forgiveness to get, keep doctors, nurses in small communities

The federal government is hoping forgiving part of their student loans will encourage more doctors and nurses to work and practice in rural communities.

Manitoba advocates beaming about national dental plan news

Many eligible Manitobans will be smiling about the federal government’s announcement of a national dental care plan in this year’s budget.

Peguis loan debt discussions ongoing: chief

A move to write-down almost $170 million in debt to only $25 million isn’t locked in stone, according to Peguis First Nation leaders — despite it being included in audited financial statements.

Peguis First Nation writes down $145M in debt amid lawsuit

Just days before voting starts at Peguis First Nation for its next chief and council, an auditor’s report shows its current leadership has unilaterally written down the almost $170 million in loans principal and interest it owes a lender to only $25 million.

New rules for foreign waterfowl hunters seek ‘level playing field’

Manitoba sportsmen are smiling — and American counterparts fuming — after the provincial government introduced new rules for private and public land accessibility for resident and foreign waterfowl hunters.

Refugees who lost fingers in winter border-crossing become Canadian citizens

Two refugees from Ghana, who lost their fingers to frostbite after walking across the U.S.-Canada border into Manitoba in 2016, have become full Canadian citizens.

Renal patients on hook for dispensing fees

Martin Solodyuk already needs to spend hours on a dialysis machine at home each week because his kidneys have failed him — he doesn’t want to also make additional payments to keep the machine working properly.

Parents anxious about proposal for two St. Vital schools

PARENTS of students in two St. Vital schools are upset about a proposal to trade young students in one school with older students at the other.

Trudeau Liberals lose traction in Manitoba: poll

A poll shows support for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in Manitoba has shifted to the Conservatives and New Democrats.

Time magazine names Churchill one of ‘world’s greatest places’

The northern Manitoba community known for polar bears, beluga whales and northern lights is now rubbing shoulders with the pyramids of Giza, temples in Kyoto, and elephants and wildlife in Kenya.

Canada Post apologizes for mail not being forwarded

Canada Post has delivered a refund and an apology to a couple whose mail, including negative results of a cancer-screening test, wasn’t forwarded for months.

RM of St. Andrews council lacked authority to take mayor’s power, Appeal Court rules

Councillors in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews didn’t have the power to lead a coup against their mayor to strip her of key responsibilities.

Provincial government pitches retail alcohol sales pilot project

Manitobans may soon be able to put a bottle of rye or scotch into their grocery cart with eggs and bread purchases — or even where they buy lumber or shoes.

‘I’m so proud’: Asper Foundation cornerstone Levy retires

HAD MOSES LEVY decided to become one of the leaders of an Ontario community college, Winnipeg might be missing an internationally renowned museum.

‘I could go completely blind’: delay in promised rural retinal specialist program pressures patient

A rural Manitoba man says he is at risk of going blind because a retina specialist pilot project promised by the Stefanson government to begin last fall in Dauphin still has not started.

Manitoba’s former pandemic visitation pods face varied, uncertain future

As the province steps closer to getting rid of more than 100 shipping containers formerly used as long-term care home visitation pods amid heightened COVID-19 pandemic public health orders, one prominent architect is urging restraint.

RM admits it messed up; couple told to demolish suite anyway

Being right doesn’t cut it when fighting city hall.

Even though politicians admit the municipality was in the wrong, a rural couple has lost the battle to keep a basement suite in their newly built home.

Chantelle Dueck, and her husband Favio, built the house last year in New Bothwell, 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg in the RM of Hanover, after getting approval for a single-family home with a basement suite in Dec. 2021.

Brandon phone scam incidents prompt police warning

If you are a senior and get a phone call saying your grandchild is in trouble and money is urgently needed — the best advice is tough love, police say: hang up.

Liberal MLAs clocking out of TikTok

Manitoba Liberal MLAs have joined federal counterparts in deleting the TikTok app from their electronic devices.

Transit union ad campaign puts soundtrack to top issues

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 is making noise on local radio airwaves in an effort to keep safety and reliability in the spotlight.

Armed suspect sought after person injured on Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation

RCMP are warning the public about an armed and dangerous suspect from the Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation they are looking to find and arrest.

Care home apologizes for filthy conditions

The Ontario-based owner of Maples personal care home has apologized to a local family after one of its residents was left in filthy conditions.

Suit seeks millions in ticket refunds

Thousands of drivers caught speeding by photo radar cameras in Winnipeg in recent years may get a partial refund of paid fines — if a proposed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit is successful.

In a statement of claim filed last year at the Court of King’s Bench, William Acheson of Winnipeg says the fine he paid after getting ticketed by photo radar should have been lower, due to the provincial legislation being applied in error from Nov. 20, 2017, to Nov. 12, 2021.

Province investigating couple’s ’tragic, unacceptable’ home-care failure

Manitoba health officials have launched an investigation into a Winnipeg couple’s traumatic experience with promised — but never delivered — home care services.

Woman followed off bus, stabbed

A woman was stabbed after another passenger followed her off a transit bus Saturday evening.

Food banks and shelters feel post-holiday financial pinch

A million cups of coffee, 295,000 meals and 41,152 overnight sleeps for 1,331 people make up the 2022 bottom line of a shelter and soup kitchen that serves some of the most needy Winnipeggers.

Spouse of dying woman angry he had to go to media to get home care

A woman who is dying of pancreatic cancer will begin getting publicly funded home care next week, but her partner, who had to complain to the media to get attention, said the help will come too late.

Eric De Schepper said Katherine Ellis should have been receiving home care since she left hospital five weeks ago, when she decided to have palliative care at home. The only care she has received was from the palliative program.

After finally talking to provincial officials late Thursday and Friday, De Schepper said home care personnel will start going to their residence as of Tuesday to help bathe Ellis, change her sheets, and be with her while he rests or pops out for a bit.

Mounties put spotlight on officer injuries in Shamattawa

RCMP officers have been attacked and injured in multiple incidents at Shamattawa First Nation in the last 10 months, Mounties say.

Manitoba performing poorly in economic indicators

When it comes to our closest provincial neighbours, Manitoba fares worst when it comes to how many citizens leave the province, how much we earn weekly, and how much in income tax we pay.

Occupational therapy degree was her ticket to the world

Barb Granger helped children and adults living with disabilities and mobility challenges around the world, but it was in Winnipeg where she helped the most.

Police probe random attacks on dog-walkers in River Heights

Dog-walkers and people out for a stroll in Assiniboine Park and River Heights have reported being verbally harassed by a man, and in one recent case, it’s alleged he kicked a dog in the face.

A bridge too far… into the future

The City of Winnipeg wants to push replacement of the Arlington Bridge far into the future, even though the structure can’t currently handle a large truck or Transit bus.

Instead of spending about $320 million to replace the 111-year-old bridge that spans the CP railway yards — a proposal that has been before the city since 2019 — this week’s proposed budget shows councillors are now looking at spending $850,000 to rehabilitate the structure and study the efforts needed to keep it functioning for a minimum of another 25 years.

Photo radar on south St. Mary’s called ‘criminal’

Motorists who are ensnared by photo radar in a construction zone near the garden centres on St. Mary’s Road are asking the same question: where is the construction?

Longtime city lawyer Harvey Pollock dies at 89

Veteran lawyer Harvey Pollock, who represented the family of slain Indigenous leader J.J. Harper in Manitoba’s groundbreaking Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, died Sunday at the age of 89.

Council committee to debate free parking for vet plates

Military veterans may soon be able to park for free — year round — on downtown Winnipeg streets.

Residents evacuated, six taken to hospital, in fire at seniors centre

Six seniors were taken to hospital and 25 were assessed by paramedics after fire broke out in an eight-storey North End seniors residence early Thursday.

Peguis faces lawsuit in wake of high-profile Ontario lender collapse

Peguis First Nation is being sued for nearly $170 million, related to loans it took out to build on-reserve housing and buy land in Winnipeg.

Teen murder sentences ‘slap on the wrist’: victim’s family

Danielle Cote never saw her youngest child enter kindergarten. Her four children won’t again see their mother at birthdays, graduations or weddings.

On July 1, 2020, the 27-year-old died after being shot in the back of the head while walking with her cousin to a Winnipeg convenience store to get snacks so they could watch a movie at home.

Two male teens convicted of the Canada Day murder were sentenced Monday: one to an adult sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole for seven years; the other to a seven-year youth sentence.

Food waste pickup program in spotlight

This could be the year Winnipeggers find out if they can be like Brandon residents when it comes to getting rid of potato peelings and expired lettuce.

Drinking in Manitoba was already drying up

In the wake of new national guidance recommending Canadians consider limiting alcohol consumption to two drinks per week, local outlets say Winnipeggers have already changed their habits.

Downtown care home without running water since weekend

Seniors living in a downtown long-term care home have been without running water since the weekend.

Public overdoses spark safe consumption site talk

Two unresponsive people found in Winnipeg bus shelters and revived by naloxone in recent days have pushed the issue of safe drug consumption sites back into the spotlight.

Wrapping up successful Miracle on Mountain campaign

Free Press readers helped scale the mountain once again with their generosity in helping bring cheer to the people who needed it most this holiday season.

Massive Polo Park development plan offers positive change for people instead of cars, architect says

A local architect is hopeful the proposed multi-unit residential development proposed for the Polo Park area can be a showcase for building a development not dependent on vehicles to get people around.

Defective purplish street lights being replaced but aren’t a safety concern, Hydro says

Out of the blue, white street lights are taking on a purplish hue.

Mom who lost baby sues for negligence

The mother of a baby who died shortly before being delivered has filed a lawsuit against her doctor and the Southern Health Authority, alleging they failed to properly treat the liver disorder she had during pregnancy.

Licence to kill: wolf hunt in crosshairs

Wolves are a beautiful animal that should be protected under Manitoba law, animal rights activists say.

Outstanding Manitobans lost in 2022

Jim Carr was a renaissance man.

Carr, who was elected as a Liberal MP in Winnipeg three times, had served as minister of natural resources, international trade, and the special representative to the Prairies.

He died at age 71 on Dec. 12, just days after his private member’s bill passed. The Building a Green Prairie Economy Act is designed to help prairie provinces switch to clean energy from oil and gas.

RCMP, paramedics use snowbulances to rescue woman in remote cabin

It was the ringing of a phone a few hours before the ringing in of a new year that changed an RCMP officer’s evening and saved an elderly woman’s life.

RCMP Acting Sgt. Colin Stark was just settling down to celebrate New Year’s Eve with his wife and two adult children at his home in The Pas when the phone rang.

Minutes later, Stark, another RCMP officer, two paramedics, and a guide were racing on snowmobiles through cold and snow in the wilderness to help an 81-year-old woman in medical distress in a remote trapper’s cabin.

Cocaine killed Santa Lucia Pizza owner, IIU report clearing officers concludes

Cocaine use is being blamed for the death in police custody of a well-known restaurateur more than a year ago.

The province’s police watchdog — the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba — concluded on Wednesday that George Simeonidis Jr., the owner of Santa Lucia Pizza on Corydon Avenue, died on Nov. 4, 2021, because of cocaine intoxication and not because of anything Winnipeg police officers did or didn’t do.

Derelict, vacant property owners could be on the hook for firefighting costs

Property owners of vacant and derelict buildings that catch fire could soon be liable for some of the costs of extinguishing the flames.

Auditor general sounds alarm over province’s accounting

Manitoba’s auditor general says the province has spent hundreds of millions of dollars without using purchase orders — a practice both bureaucrats and opposition parties blame on a high job-vacancy rate.

Frustrated Winnipeg travellers grounded by WestJet’s Vancouver weather woes

Whether they were heading to a honeymoon destination or a long-anticipated family vacation, disappointed travellers had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting on a WestJet flight Tuesday.

Bear spray too easy to obtain: Wilderness Supply owner

The owner of a Winnipeg outdoor supplies store that sells bear deterrent is asking the federal government to restrict sales of the product — after his staff were sprayed during a robbery.

‘People are making really difficult choices’: Manitobans feeling squeeze of inflation

Debbie Waller knows what it is like to tighten her financial belt, amid the rising cost of living and fear of a recession.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries has best year in history

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation’s net income was almost $600 million during the 2021-22 fiscal year — a 40 per cent jump from the year before.

Popular restos run afoul of health inspectors

It gave Winnipeggers a taste of Sri Lanka, but the province’s health department found The Forks’ eatery so unhealthy it was shut down last week.

Labour pushes for enhanced WCB mental health coverage

The Manitoba Federation of Labour is pushing the provincial government to expand Workers Compensation Board coverage of mental health injuries on the job.

Tory MP Dancho ejected from Commons after accusing Liberal of lying

A Manitoba Tory MP was ejected Thursday from the House of Commons, after refusing to apologize for calling a Liberal MP a liar over the government’s controversial gun control legislation.

‘Sad day for our community’: Rennie loses hotel, post office to fire

The hub of the town of Rennie has been destroyed by fire.

Federal firearms bill in crosshairs

Organizations that speak for Manitoba hunters and firearms owners say proposed federal legislation, which will ban dozens of hunting and sport firearms, will do nothing to curb crime.

Bus driver shortage puts pressure on WSD

More than a year after admitting it needed an immediate infusion of bus drivers, the Winnipeg School Division is stuck in a hiring drive.

Smitty’s offers yummy reward for safe holiday-season driving

IF police don’t find alcohol in your blood behind the wheel, they’ll help fill your stomach with pancakes.

Plan to go from hotel to affordable housing

The owner of the St. Charles Hotel, which has been empty for almost two decades, has re-imagined the historic downtown building to fill a desperate need in the city.

Youth for Christ suspected of breaking funding rules

Winnipeg MP Leah Gazan is asking the federal government to investigate if Youth for Christ used Canada Summer Jobs funding to discriminate against the LGBTTQ+ community.

CRTC calls halt to Bell MTS monthly reports

BELL MTS Inc. no longer has to submit monthly reports to the national regulator as the telecom company’s landline outages have been “significantly reduced,” the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says.

Accused in slayings had walked away from Crisis Response Centre: court documents

Within three hours of walking out the front doors of a psychiatric clinical treatment centre in Winnipeg where he had been an involuntary patient, a man allegedly went on a stabbing spree which left his parents dead and a co-worker in critical condition.

Man, woman arrested in separate transit driver, supervisor assaults

A man and a woman have been charged after two Winnipeg Transit drivers and a supervisor were assaulted in separate incidents Thursday.

Former city councillor Al Golden has died

Controversial former city councillor Al Golden — who helped his constituents by buying and cleaning up a notorious local hotel and creating a seniors transportation service but lost his seat after a conviction for failing to declare income — has died.

Child care centres ‘day by day’ amid illness waves

With so many pre-school children and staff who look after them sick, local nursery schools and daycares have been forced to temporarily close their doors or cut hours.

Winnipeg doctor censured for lack of care, poor judgment

A Winnipeg family doctor has been censured for his lack of care and management of a patient who was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer three years after tests indicated her cancer had likely returned.

Weighed down by debt, Forward House raises alarm

A Winnipeg supportive housing agency is in debt and in danger of closing, potentially putting its residents struggling with addictions and mental health out into the streets.

Fisher drowns after breaking through thin Lake Manitoba ice

A longtime commercial fisher drowned last week, after breaking through thin ice on Lake Manitoba.

Cancer amputee takes aim at black belt

Two years after losing his left arm to cancer, a Winnipeg man is attempting to fulfill the goal he set through surgery and rehabilitation: get his black belt in karate.

Late-year byelection leaves candidates out in the cold

Logan Oxenham has been knocking on doors for so long in Kirkfield Park he has watched the seasons change.

No-shows take bigger bite out of restaurant business

Dining and dashing is bad enough, but now restaurant owners are dealing with patrons who don’t even show up.

’Tis the season to help make a Miracle

It’s that time of year again — time to climb the mountain to help Winnipeggers who need our help this holiday season.

Man’s best friend a lifesaver for veterans with PTSD, depression, anxiety

Mark Vandersteen’s battlefield injury isn’t the kind that can be fixed with a bandage, a tourniquet or a surgeon’s scalpel — but it can be helped by the love of a dog.

Math instructor’s expected $30 Uber ride times four (‘surge’ pricing) equals… bus ride from airport

A University of Manitoba mathematics instructor has found Uber’s formula doesn’t always add up to the cheapest ride.

Hartley, Heather Richardson donate $4M to The Leaf at Assiniboine Park

The leaves may be off the trees, but one of Winnipeg’s most prominent families is ensuring The Leaf lives on at Assiniboine Park.

Interlake tall grass ranch added to conservation list

A tall grass prairies property in the Interlake — roughly 10 times larger than Assiniboine Park — will now be protected by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Film vehicle theft puts potential dent in local productions

It will be lights, cameras… but potentially delayed action for local movie and television productions after a camera truck was stolen from a warehouse under construction.

Icy blast, power outage leaves many in the cold and dark

It wasn’t a huge dump of snow, but the first wintry blast of the fall left thousands of Manitobans without power and some in the ditches lining the Trans-Canada Highway.

A name without a face

Thousands of kilometres and less than two years apart both a soldier serving in the Second World War and his wife at home died by drowning.

Child’s specialized bike stolen

A specialized bike used by a child with spina bifida has been stolen — leaving him only his wheelchair to get around.

City care home monitors hMPV cases

Another respiratory virus has joined COVID-19 and influenza on the list of seniors concerns as outside temperatures cool and months of winter loom.

That’s all she wrote for library gift shop

FRIENDS of the Public Library is closing the book on its fundraising gift shop after 17 years.

Online booking program links clients, home care workers

A Winnipeg man with quadriplegia — trapped in bed all day or in his wheelchair overnight several times in recent months when home care was cancelled at the last minute — hopes a new booking system may be the key to help when he needs it.

RCMP ask for help filling gap in Indian family’s deadly trip from Toronto to Emerson

Nine months after a family from India with two young children was found frozen to death near the United States border near Emerson, investigators still have no idea how they got there.

Polar bear makes presence known in Churchill

Residents in two northern Manitoba communities have become even more bear aware, after close encounters with polar bears in recent days.

Seven to vie for AMC grand chief role

Eight days before an election to choose a new grand chief for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs an official list of seven candidates has been released.

Health-care system critically ill, nurses’ union leader tells Gordon

If she didn’t already know how bad things are, Health Minister Audrey Gordon sat down Thursday with the president of the Manitoba Nurses Union and was told the current state of affairs is “dire.”

City, CUPE reach tentative deal — for real

Thousands of City of Winnipeg workers are poised to hit the picket lines in mere hours as the two sides engage in a bizarre dispute over whether or not they had reached a tentative agreement on the long weekend.

MPI claims remain below pre-pandemic numbers

Manitoba Public Insurance continues to report fewer collisions on provincial streets and highways and reduced damage claims paid out than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Environment, Winnipeggers’ health on outdoor enthusiast’s priority list

Rick Shone is hoping to be the mayoral candidate helping Winnipeggers who feel they are up a creek without a paddle when it comes to civic politics.

Former mayor’s prominent supporters standing by their man

Mayoral candidate Glen Murray’s strongest supporters have not been swayed by allegations of sexual harassment against him in a former job.

‘We need to do more,’ MLL admits after buying Truth and Reconciliation shirts from non-Indigenous company

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries says it will do more to reach out to Indigenous-owned companies after buying thousands of orange T-shirts elsewhere.

Stefanson’s Tories ride wave of unpopularity: poll

Premier Heather Stefanson has failed to turn around the sinking ship that is the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, a year after being elected its leader.

Green bin pilot project ends with some high hopes

After two years of throwing everything from spoiled food to coffee grounds to used paper towels and tissues into a green bin for curbside pickup, thousands of Winnipeggers will start throwing them into the garbage again.

Gillingham wants to bring ‘yes’ culture, better customer service to city hall

MAYORAL candidate Scott Gillingham wants to bring better customer service to city hall.

Family matters in mayoral campaigns

Gordon Alder may be 90 years old and ineligible to vote for mayoral hopeful Scott Gillingham, but he has voluntarily assembled dozens of the candidate’s election signs.

Joseph Ewanchuk’s generosity didn’t end with his death

In life, Joseph Ewanchuk helped many people and, in death, he may help many more.

Thieves ruin brass doors on Exchange heritage building

Thieves have stolen a piece of Winnipeg’s history.

Queen Elizabeth reigns over Polo Park

Winnipeggers who want to remember Queen Elizabeth in a big way can do it while shopping.

Home care turmoil persists despite media attention

A Winnipeg man with quadriplegia thought it was bad when home care aides missed a few of his appointments at home in recent weeks.

No bones about it, Murray’s dialed in

You might not get a pizza, but you could reach a mayoral candidate if you call 444-4444 these days.

Manitoba aids Pakistan

MANITOBA is giving $200,000 to help emergency flood relief efforts in Pakistan.

Lack of ‘essential service’ decried as landline woes continue

The weeks-long loss of their landline has not only hurt their business, a Winnipeg couple says, it has put them in danger.

King Charles has made five visits to Manitoba

It was a frigid day on the snow-covered shore of Hudson Bay as the future king chatted with a dogsled driver.

Bell MTS repair options ring up customer ire

A Winnipeg matchmaker isn’t feeling the love for Bell MTS after the company told her she could pay extra to have her phone fixed faster.

St. Amant victim of cyber attack

St. Amant staff who help support children and adults living with disabilities were locked out of the organization’s email system after its computer network was hacked Tuesday.

Councillor pushes for review in wake of city website crash

A city councillor is calling for a full review after a third-party online booking system crashed, leaving thousands of Winnipeggers treading water while trying to book children’s swim lessons.

Cash-poor visionaries, Jubilee Fund turn parking lot into 55+ housing plan

THE fear of becoming homeless may soon no longer loom over a few dozen senior citizens in a section of inner city Winnipeg.

MPI to allow Sunday road tests to ease backlog

Manitoba Public Insurance says it will conduct testing on Sundays to whittle down months-long driver exam waiting lists.

Woman feels safe only after vacant home hit by arson

Tracy Ball wishes she’d been wrong.

Province seeks input on income support for disabled Manitobans

The province is looking for feedback on a draft of its proposed new income-support program for Manitobans living with severe and prolonged disabilities.

Richardson Building fire leaves WSO box office phones silent

The days-long shutdown of the Richardson Building due to a fire knocking out its electrical system is a sad song for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

The WSO administrative office is located in the downtown building at 1 Lombard Pl. It’s also where phone calls to the box office go to — and those phones aren’t ringing.

When Sunday night’s fire in the concourse below the building damaged the structure’s electrical system, it also knocked out phones, WSO spokeswoman Claudia Garcia de la Huerta said.

“If you call the box office, you’ll just get a busy signal. It has been a hit financially,” she said Thursday.

Mayoral candidate Gillingham seeks EPC reform

Scott Gillingham may be running for mayor but he wants to see city councillors take on a greater role in Winnipeg.

On Wednesday, Gillingham released a platform outlining how he would make changes to the powerful executive policy committee, if he is voted into the mayor’s chair in October.

“I’ve always been a collaborator,” said the St. James councillor (2014-22). “I believe in collaboration and the collective vision of others.

“Everyone around the table brings wisdom. Everyone has been elected. We need all the voices around the table.”

Richardson Building shuttered as fire repairs continue

A weekend fire in the downtown Winnipeg underground knocked two radio stations off the air and has left businesses and offices inside and below the Richardson Building uncertain of when they will be able to reopen.

CBC 89.3 FM and University of Manitoba campus station UMFM 101.5 have been out of service in the aftermath of the fire which broke out in a restaurant in the underground concourse at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The transmitter tower for both stations is on the roof of 1 Lombard Pl., for years the city’s tallest.

As well, everything from the Winnipeg Foundation to CIBC offices and downtown branch to Hy’s Steak House to the head office of Richardson International Ltd. remained closed Tuesday or had staff working from home.

Jared McKetiak, UMFM station manager, said he doesn’t know when it will be back on the air. (The station can currently be streamed through its online site.)

Fogerty concert smokin’ despite fire scare

JOHN Fogerty won’t soon forget his latest concert in Winnipeg.

The California rocker and his band were staying in the Fairmont Winnipeg when fire broke out in a restaurant in the concourse beneath the hotel Sunday night, shortly before the former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man was scheduled to take the stage at Canada Life Centre.

One firefighter had to be treated at the scene for heat-related injuries.

Melissa Dragich, a publicist for Fogerty, said on Monday the band was fine.

Violent crime ticks up in Winnipeg in 2021: police data

The number of violent crimes in Winnipeg rose in 2021, as property and other crimes fell, statistics released Wednesday show.

The Winnipeg Police Service’s 2021 report finds violent crime was up slightly from the year before (10,993 cases, a five per cent increase), while the number of homicides was well above the five-year average (for the third consecutive year).

The city scored 173.3 on the violent crime severity index, which is calculated by taking the volume of crime and the degree of seriousness.

While the latest statistics for the other large Prairie cities were not yet available, Winnipeg is well ahead of the 2020 violent crime index for Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina and Thunder Bay, which scored 78.3, 127.4, 137.5, 135.7, and 159.7, respectively.

Police chief ‘taken aback’ by public criticism from premier

Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth admits he was surprised by the public upbraiding he received from Premier Heather Stefanson, but says he isn’t going anywhere for a while.

“To be honest, I was taken aback a little bit,” Smyth said Wednesday during an interview that focused on the Winnipeg Police Service’s annual statistical report.

On Tuesday, Stefanson took direct aim at Smyth, saying she was “really disappointed” with comments he made after a recent wave of high-profile violence in the city, including the stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee at The Forks on Canada Day.

Smyth’s comments, including an assertion that the violent incidents — some of which were life-threatening — were “nothing new,” came after the union for police officers had urged him to do something about the situation.

MPI seeks 0.9 per cent overall rate decrease

Owners of private passenger vehicles in Manitoba could see their insurance rates drop next year, while commercial truck drivers and motorcyclists will see them drive up.

Manitoba Public Insurance announced Tuesday it is asking the Public Utilities Board to approve an overall decrease of 0.9 per cent for insurance renewals in 2023-24.

Mark Giesbrecht, vice-president and chief financial officer, said, if approved, the new rates would begin April 1, 2023.

“During this time of widespread volatility in financial markets, as well as increasing inflation, we are pleased to be in a position to request a rate decrease for Manitobans as a result of the corporation’s ongoing prudent fiscal management,” Giesbrecht said at a news conference.

Transit ridership up due to high gas prices

The jump in gas prices has resulted in a leap in people getting on the bus.

The latest City of Winnipeg report on the financial implications of COVID-19, says Winnipeg Transit has had roughly a 29 per cent increase in passengers in the last four weeks.

Coun. Jeff Browaty, chairman of the civic finance committee, said Friday that even though ridership is still down about 25 per cent from pre-pandemic levels, it’s a step in the right direction.

“It’s because both the world is opening up again, with people going back to the workplace, and people are going back to old patterns, but the cost of running cars has also gone up,” Browaty said.

Lots of green for Winnipeg’s canopy

Winnipeggers will be able to see the forest — and the trees — thanks to a multimillion-dollar contribution from the federal government.

The city’s parks committee will hold a special meeting next week to approve the acceptance of up to $7.3 million from the federal government for the city’s urban forest renewal capital budget.

It’s anticipated the cash will result in the planting of 70,000 trees, especially in areas devastated by Dutch elm disease.

“This is going to be good news with the federal government coming in,” Coun. Sherri Rollins, the chairwoman of the committee, said on Friday.

Booster denied to vulnerable women

Two immunocompromised women, who were deemed a priority to get the COVID-19 vaccine earlier in the pandemic, are upset they were turned away from getting their second booster shot.

The women said they had booked appointments June 25 to go to the supersite at the downtown RBC Convention Centre, but were turned away because they were told they didn’t appear to meet the province’s criteria.

But last year, when the vaccines first came out, both the 39-year-old woman, who received open heart surgery and a tissue transplant as both a child and adult, and her 40-year-old friend, who recently underwent chemotherapy for cancer, were deemed to be Priority 2, which meant they got the shot ahead of many members of the public.

“I asked my doctor if I needed a prescription and he said, ‘Nope, if you can book it, you can go and they can also look at your past history of vaccinations,’” the 39-year-old said.

Allegations of non-treatment follow Norway House child death

A mother is seeking answers after her two-year-old daughter died one day after staff at a northern nursing station reportedly sent her home without being examined.

Angel Tyo said her daughter, Santaya, was found lifeless on a couch in her home on Tuesday. On Monday, she had sought medical help at the nursing station on Norway House Cree Nation because the child was having trouble breathing and had a temperature.

On Thursday, Tyo didn’t want to talk to the Free Press. However, in a text message to her sister, NDP MLA Bernadette Smith, detailing what happened, she said: “I want justice for (my) baby girl… I want to fight. I wanna put it out there that this is not right and she was only a baby.”

Smith said her sister told her she was so worried about her daughter’s breathing that she slept with the child Sunday night.

Bell MTS overpayment rings clear

A Winnipegger who mistakenly transferred Bell MTS one month of his and his wife’s pension income says he has more than 2,000 reasons to be thankful for calling the Free Press.

George Wootten, 68, says he is on his way to getting most of both pension funds back — more than $2,000 — after the Free Press intervened when he said the telephone company had stonewalled him for a month.

“I admit it: I made a mistake,” Wootten said Wednesday. “I’m an idiot — I hit the wrong button on the computer.

“But when I called, they said I would get it back six weeks. I said it’s robbery; I told them, this isn’t your money, it is ours. But all that happened was they took out a monthly payment from it two days later, and now they’ve taken another payment out.”

Rossbrook House nuns to receive Order of Canada

Roman Catholic Sisters Bernadette O’Reilly and Margaret Hughes will receive one of Canada’s highest honours after spending decades helping children and youth at Rossbrook House.

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon announced Wednesday the pair will join 69 others to be inducted as members of the Order of Canada. Thirteen Canadians will be inducted into the order as officers while one will become a companion.

Contacted by telephone while vacationing in Ontario, the two sisters said they were shocked to receive the honour, but also humbled.

“We share it with hundreds of brave and courageous children,” Hughes said.

Fireworks, drum roll, pro-choice rally also on tap for July 1

There may be no fireworks at The Forks this year, but there are still plenty of places for Manitobans to view pyrotechnics July 1 — and perhaps a chance to set a world record for drumming.

In Winnipeg, the largest venue to launch fireworks will be Assiniboia Downs racetrack and event centre.

Downs chief executive officer Darren Dunn said its 1-11 p.m. festival features, “Manitoba artists and artisans, which includes Indigenous participation, selling their ‘made in Manitoba’ goods… The festivities throughout the day will also include live music, of which there will be multiple Indigenous artists participating. The festival will conclude at the end of the day with fireworks.”

Musicians include Canadian singer-songwriters Hawksley Workman and Cassidy Mann. Tickets are $10; children five and under get in free.

‘Constant crisis’: Peguis floods again, communities keep wary watch as Lake Winnipeg continues to rise

More than two dozen homes damaged in spring flooding and subsequently repaired have been hit yet again, as Peguis First Nation issued its second state of emergency this year.

Meantime, communities and cottage owners anxiously watch the high water levels on Lake Winnipeg — and it hasn’t peaked yet.

Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson said his community (some 200 kilometres north of Winnipeg) is busy sandbagging, after the Fisher River once again spilled its banks after rain last week and weekend.

“And there is more (rain) coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. We don’t know where we will be after that,” Hudson said Monday.

The Forks addresses Canada Day backlash

After days of controversy related to its decision to remove Canada Day references from July 1 celebrations, The Forks has issued a statement saying it never intended to eliminate the idea of Canada Day.

Instead, in a statement posted on its website Friday, the board says The Forks simply wants to reimagine the celebration at the historic gathering place.

After days of support and criticism from citizens to mayoral candidates, to former federal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy, the board admitted “controversy has arisen over the plans for a reimagined Canada Day at The Forks.

“This new day of programming, developed by management and fully supported by the board of directors, represents Canada Day as a new and important day where everyone can participate in many rich multicultural experiences throughout the site that reflect our diverse city and our country.

‘In shock’ about inaction on transgender slurs

A transgender teen’s first job after high school has become the learning experience they didn’t want, after they were the target of slurs from co-workers and the employer did nothing about it.

Trinity Wolf, 19, was pumping fuel at a local Co-op service station bar, taking a year off to raise money for post-secondary education, when two co-workers began hurling the slurs at the teen last month, culminating with: “All trans people should be burned alive.”

“I wasn’t scared — I was more just in shock,” Trinity (who uses they/them pronouns) said in an interview. “You hear stories a lot about this and in movies, but you never think it would happen to me personally.”

After talking to their parents, Trinity went back to the co-workers to tell them how they felt. The meeting didn’t go well. “They just brushed it off,” Trinity said. “They didn’t care at all. I was hoping for a little bit of something, like an apology of some kind.”

Canada Day backers perpetuate colonialism: grand chief

An Indigenous leader has accused people who want The Forks to keep celebrating Canada Day of perpetuating colonialism.

Northern Grand Chief Garrison Settee said he commends The Forks for re-branding July 1 into A New Day and removing Canada Day from the festivities.

“The Forks is a well-loved meeting place in Treaty One territory, Winnipeg,” Settee said in a statement released on Wednesday. “I commend The Forks for making space for the important conversations that we need to advance reconciliation.

“Those who wish to criticize the actions of The Forks demonstrates a mindset that perpetuates colonialism. This reflects a superiority complex we are trying to get away from and it is unfortunately not conducive to reconciliation.”

Wildwood Park residents seek answers on missing mail

No one wants to get a bill in the mail, but some Wildwood Park residents are wondering why some aren’t even reaching their mailboxes.

At least 10 residents in the Winnipeg neighbourhood are reporting they have had credit card bills go missing, as well as paperwork from Manitoba Hydro, Bell MTS and City of Winnipeg property tax bills.

Kathy Allen said her family began noticing certain pieces of mail hadn’t been delivered last month when waiting for a credit card bill which never arrived.

“About four days before the due date I phoned and asked have you sent it out, and they said yes,” Allen said, noting she was able to pay the bill in time.

Pothole damage claims skyrocket

Manitoba drivers have already made a whopping 1,914 pothole-related insurance claims this year — almost four times higher than the total number in 2021.

Where normally Manitoba Public Insurance would have logged between 200 to 300 such damage claims by now, 2022 has brought an avalanche, as vehicles plunged into open spaces on streets that often resembled lunar landscapes.

In April alone, MPI received an astonishing 871 pothole-related damage claims — 1,200 per cent higher than the average of 64 for the month.

Of the 1,914 total, 1,699 are from Winnipeg.

The Forks scraps traditional Canada Day celebrations

The Forks has decided to ditch traditional Canada Day celebrations after holding them for decades.

Instead, it will hold an event called “It’s a New Day at The Forks.”

Sara Stasiuk, CEO of The Forks North Portage Partnership, said the switch was made after consultations with community members, specifically Indigenous people, newcomers, and youth.

It was decided to hold a day that showcases “a culturally rich opportunity for gathering with the intent to acknowledge what we heard in those engagements while bringing people together to learn from each other and celebrate our connectedness,” Stasiuk said.

Bell MTS plans outage compensation

Bell MTS won’t say how many of its customers have landline outages, but it has told the CRTC it will double its number of service technicians and compensate customers by giving them free enhanced service — if they have a Bell MTS cellphone.

In a letter to the federal regulator this week, the company promised to hire and train more technicians as well as bring in workers from elsewhere.

“By the end of July, we will have doubled the number of line technicians available within the Winnipeg area since Sept. 2021,” wrote Bell MTS assistant general counsel Philippe Gauvin.

“Since our (May 20) letter, extra technicians have been brought in from other provinces as well as other cities within the province of Manitoba and the increased repair load is being managed by a dedicated team under senior executive oversight.

Wilderness Committee relocates to St. Mary’s Road

The Wilderness Committee is celebrating a new headquarters — not in the wild, but in St. Vital.

Eric Reder, wilderness and water campaigner, said the non-profit officially opened its new storefront location (553 St. Mary’s Rd.) Thursday night because it not only needed more room, but there had also been changes at its former location in the downtown Mountain Equipment Co. building.

“It is no longer a co-op,” Reder said Thursday. “It’s not the same organization any more.” (MEC and all its assets were purchased in 2020 by a private investment firm.)

As well, Reder said, with four other environmental organizations working with Wilderness Committee side-by-side in a small office, it made more sense during the COVID-19 pandemic to move somewhere larger where the ventilation is better and its volunteer canvassers get to walk into the office off the sidewalk instead of going into a retail outlet and taking an elevator up three floors.

No reason given for CEO’s departure from Building Trades

The CEO of Manitoba Building Trades has left his job and no one will explain why.

Sudhir Sandhu’s last day was June 8.

Acting executive director Tanya Palson would only say Sandhu has left and also no longer works for its affiliates Manitoba Building and Construction Trades and the Allied Hydro Council of Manitoba.

“We don’t have anything further to add,” Palson said.

Stefanson dogged by low popularity

Heather Stefanson remains the country’s least popular premier.

Stefanson, who has ranked last in the three Angus Reid Institute polls taken since she became premier last fall, has dropped two percentage points — to 23 per cent support in the poll released on Tuesday.

Alberta’s Jason Kenney is second-least popular at 32 per cent while Nova Scotia’s Tim Houston is most popular, at 62 per cent.

Stefanson’s approval rating reached a high point — of 25 per cent — in March after dipping to 21 per cent in December.

Questions linger for family of woman found dead in field

Lori Ann Mancheese’s dream was to have her own house at Ebb and Flow First Nation, instead of being homeless in Winnipeg.

Tragically, that dream came to an end last week, when the body of the 53-year-old mother of five and grandmother of seven was found in a farmer’s field near Highway 8 and Grassmere Road in West St. Paul.

“It’s what she always wanted: a house,” her sister Norma said by telephone Monday from the reserve 235 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg on the west side of Lake Manitoba. “We need more housing on our reserve. Our chief and council try do do their best, but there could be two or three families living in one home. The federal government needs to do more to get more housing.

“If she had a home here, she would still be alive.”

Patio season delayed for some amid closer scrutiny

Restaurants and bars are opening doors to seasonal patios, but some are finding the City of Winnipeg wants to keep them closed for just a bit longer.

While hospitality businesses are still trying to make up lost ground and revenue from more than two years of COVID-19 pandemic fallout, some owners and managers say city bylaw and liquor inspectors aren’t being as lenient about patios as they were in the recent past.

Jason Hooper, artistic director at the West End Cultural Centre, said it has been told its outdoor venue, tucked behind the Ellice Avenue building with its entrance on the side off the sidewalk, can’t yet open its bar inside a converted shipping container. Instead, this weekend, the WECC will have to use another temporary bar outdoors.

“The only hiccup from the city this year is they’ve asked for structural drawings of our shipping container bar,” Hooper said Friday.

Together nearly forever

COVID-19 and cancer may have taken away a couple, but the love that began on a high school volleyball court almost 60 years ago was never extinguished.

Sharon Zarychanski, 74, died March 26 shortly after contracting the virus. Her husband of almost 54 years, Larry, died of prostate cancer just 13 days later. He was 77.

“We watched cancer chip away at my father over the years — we knew he would succumb to his illness, but we weren’t prepared for what were the events that would unfold,” says their son Ryan Zarychanski. “We didn’t realize there was some sort of race to the finish, either.

“It’s a painful reminder how our lives and the trajectory of them can be upended in an instant.”

City mulls property tax grant for former Bay building project

City of Winnipeg administration is recommending council forgo millions of dollars in future property taxes to help turn the downtown former Bay building into a multi-use facility, including Indigenous housing and assisted living for elders.

In a report to next week’s civic executive policy committee, the city is proposing to assist the project by giving it a grant worth 80 per cent of what the property tax for the building would be over the next 25 years — about $9.7 million in total — as well as a $350,000 grant on what would normally be the cost of permit and planning fees.

The report says any additional work to be agreed to by the city, including repairs to sidewalks and streetscaping, will be brought back to council sometime in the next two years.

The former Bay store, the retail company’s flagship at the time of its opening in 1926, once boasted six floors for retail. It has sat empty, with plywood covering many of its main floor windows, since the company closed its doors in November 2020.

Top cop wants contract extended: union

The Winnipeg police union has accused the chief of working behind the scenes to get his contract extended just as crime has soared and morale among the rank and file has hit rock bottom.

Moe Sabourin, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, said the union has it on good authority Danny Smyth is trying to get the Winnipeg Police Board to extend his contract without public scrutiny.

“In a city facing rising crime, and with an independent expert report outlining the very clear and serious concerns regarding the mental health and wellness of (police) members, the police board has a duty to act in a manner that puts the interests, safety and well-being of Winnipeggers first and foremost.

“It is my duty, as president of the (union), to express concerns on behalf of our members when it appears that another extension of Chief Smyth’s contract may happen, without any consultation, even as all of these serious problems persist.”

Sunshine Fund, summer camps back in action after long hiatus

For a long two years, COVID-19 has slammed the doors of overnight summer camps and kept children from being able to experience activities such as horseback riding, kayaking and swimming.

But this summer, the only thing stopping children from experiencing summer camp is being able to afford to go — and that’s where you come in.

For the 42nd time, the Winnipeg Free Press Sunshine Fund is seeking donations from readers to help these deserving children, who wouldn’t normally be able to afford the costs of attending summer camp.

Summer 2022 comes after the dropping of public health orders, which for two years completely closed overnight camps and barely allowed day camps to operate.

Leaked police HQ audit sparks inquiry talk at city hall

Several city councillors are again calling for a public inquiry into the controversial downtown Winnipeg police headquarters project, after news a draft audit putting more blame on cost overruns at the feet of police was changed before submission.

At the same time, Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth says his department shouldn’t be blamed for construction budget issues caused by alterations to design plans.

Coun. Scott Gillingham (St. James), who is currently running for mayor, admitted he was “concerned” about the audit changes. It is one more reason for the province to call a public inquiry, he said.

“An inquiry will provide Winnipeggers with the facts on the project — and Winnipeggers deserve to know the facts on every aspect of the project,” Gillingham said Friday.

New allegation of sex assault against AMC grand chief

As a new allegation of sexual assault surfaced against the grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the organization’s executive council says it will make no decision on Arlen Dumas until the original investigation has been completed.

In a statement released Wednesday, the AMC executive council said while its constitution allows for the removal of a grand chief from office, “removal cannot occur for rumours or unsubstantiated allegations.”

“The executive council of chiefs received an update that the investigators’ report will be completed by the end of June. The results of this report will provide the chiefs with the information needed to determine whether disciplinary action or removal from office proceedings will occur.”

Dumas was suspended earlier this year after a woman who worked at the AMC alleged the grand chief had sexually assaulted and harassed her.

Heavy rain puts soggy bow on Manitoba spring

If Winnipeg didn’t break its 126-year-old spring precipitation record on the final day of May, it wasn’t for a lack of Mother Nature’s effort.

The meteorological milestone for the total amount of snow and rain from March 1 to May 31 is 325.4 millimetres, which fell in 1896. As of noon Tuesday, Winnipeg was roughly 13 mm away from surpassing it.

“It all depends what happens the rest of the day,” Natalie Hasell, a meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, said at mid-day.

“I’m not saying it will happen, but we are in the realm of possibility… and it isn’t just the rain and the snow before that, it is the wind.”

Bell blames out-of-date phone network for outages

Band-aid maintenance practices and an out-of-date copper telephone network Bell acquired from MTS are to blame for widespread landline outages in Winnipeg’s wet weather this season, the telecommunications giant told the CRTC.

Winnipeg’s copper telephone network is more vulnerable than most to rain and melting snow, wrote Bell Canada’s assistant general counsel Philippe Gauvin.

“Simply put, MTS’s practices involved very short term solutions that left the network vulnerable to water penetration in the face of heavy rainfall. Since acquiring MTS, we have invested more than a billion dollars in maintaining and improving networks in Manitoba,” he stated, going on to write that the current state of the copper network can’t handle extreme weather.

“Unfortunately, given the state of the copper network we inherited, this is not an issue that can be overhauled and corrected within the few years we have owned the network,” Gauvin wrote to the CRTC in a May 20 letter.

Some relief for tired Manitoba flood fighters

In a sign the tide is changing, floodwater from the swollen Morris and Red rivers has dropped enough to expose the railings of the bridge on Highway 75 into the town of Morris.

Ralph Groening, reeve of the RM of Morris, said water levels are beginning to subside following the crest of the Red a few days ago.

“It’s dropping a couple of inches a day,” Groening said on Friday. “The bridge railings are just starting to show.”

As many as 170 residents remain evacuated from their homes and municipality workers have started cleaning up.

City alleges kickbacks in new filing for police HQ construction lawsuit

The City of Winnipeg claims kickbacks to its project manager and overpayments to contractors resulted in millions of dollars in taxpayer money being scammed during the building of the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters.

In additional documents recently filed in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench as part of its lawsuit against individuals and companies involved in the construction of the downtown HQ, the city claims Ossama AbouZeid, and his company, Dunmore Corp., received a $105,000 kickback from Mountain Construction, a company controlled by Armik Babakhanians.

Babakhanians-owned Caspian Construction was the main contractor for the project to convert the former Canada Post building into WPS headquarters.

The kickback to AbouZeid “and the promise of further kickbacks,” the statement of claim says, was made in May 2011 — a month before AbouZeid was hired by the city to manage the construction project and given an untendered $263,000 contract.

Driver of fake RCMP cruiser charged

The driver of a look-a-like RCMP cruiser has been charged by police in Manitoba with operating a counterfeit police vehicle.

A 23-year-old man was charged under the Highway Traffic Act after officers spotted a private vehicle equipped like an unmarked RCMP vehicle, including having a push-bar, spotlight and roof-mounted antenna, RCMP Westman Traffic Services said Wednesday.

The only difference between a real RCMP vehicle and the one pulled over on May 7 on a service road off Highway 10 in the Rural Municipality of Minto-Odanah was the make, said. Sgt. Mark Hume, unit commander.

“Police no longer use (Ford) Crown Victoria cars, but the general public may not realize this,” Hume said in a statement.

Flood threat forces Minnedosa schools into remote learning

The flood-swollen Little Saskatchewan River is forcing hundreds of Minnedosa students into remote learning, with their schools “two little islands right now.”

Jason Cline, superintendent of Rolling River School Division, said teachers were being bused to Tanner’s Crossing School and Minnedosa Collegiate — located beside the river — so they could retrieve and prepare educational materials, as well as get any electronic devices students will need during the displacement.

“When we left school on Friday, we didn’t know we would be moving to remote learning,” Cline said Tuesday. “The high school is surrounded on three sides. It is a safety issue.”

The move online will offer “a bit of consistency for the kids,” he said. “Next week is only four days (due to the Victoria Day holiday) and at the end of next week, we will take guidance from emergency resources and other officials to make our decision for (the week of May 30).”

Floodwaters cut unforgiving path

Recent rains and flooding in the Parkland region have left local municipalities with numerous washed-out roads and damaged bridges.

While flooding in many areas of Manitoba occurs either when rivers rise over days and weeks until they spill their banks or when water with no place to go floods fields and houses, in areas such the Municipality of Ethelbert, water goes through in fast-rushing torrents.

Ethelbert councillor Larry Dudar, who is also a cattle producer, said it’s what happens when you’re located in an area downhill between the escarpment and the lakes water eventually flows to.

“Because of that angle, when the water is coming down, it is taking everything out,” Dudar said Monday.

Wind puts added pressure on flooded southern Manitoba

Wind gusts Friday in flooded areas of the Red River Valley were eroding dikes, pushing water across roads and creating whitecaps on what were normally fields.

For one Rural Municipality of Ritchot resident, who in recent days has a home on an island created by overland flooding, it meant getting the family up early to get his wife to work by boat.

Kyle Langlais had to roust four-year-old son Cooper out of bed at 6 a.m. The pair, along with Trina Blight, piled into their 16-foot outboard and piloted it across submerged farm fields to a nearby road where they had parked a vehicle so Blight could then drive to work.

“My wife is working today and she is a nurse,” Langlais said Friday by telephone. “But the only way to get her out is to boat out. My daughter (10-year-old Avery) is at a sleepover and doesn’t have school today, so we didn’t have to get her up, too.

Twelve Manitobans to receive provincial honour

Mohamed El Tassi’s path to the Order of Manitoba began by selling blue jeans and mopping a floor.

The 35-year-old is one of 12 Manitobans who will receive the province’s highest honour from Lt. Gov. Janice Filmon this summer.

He began working at Sargent Blue Jeans when he was 15; his duties were to sell pants there and clean the place.

By age 20, El Tassi was a co-owner of the business and that’s when he was able to begin helping others. He is being honoured for championing vulnerable people, including people with disabilities and the homeless.

Senior dialing up pressure on Bell MTS over failing phone line

A 90-year-old Winnipeg woman and her neighbours are calling on Bell MTS to fix their broken land line phone connections but it seems no one hears them.

Sella (who didn’t want her last name used) lives on a block in the Crescentwood neighbourhood where she and neighbours on either side of a shared back alley have had no telephone service since early April. Service was off and on for almost a year before that, the senior said Monday.

The connection is vital: Sella needs it for her Lifeline medical alert device to work if she has an emergency.

“I’m just getting tired of it,” the senior said Monday, borrowing an area resident’s telephone to talk to the Free Press.

Personal-care homes across city dealing with COVID outbreaks

It will be a quiet Mother’s Day weekend at a north Winnipeg personal-care home that has been battling stubborn COVID-19 outbreaks for the past six weeks.

Six residents at Holy Family Home have died and 112 have tested positive since the first two cases appeared March 23.

There are currently six different active outbreaks spread through various units in the sprawling 317-bed facility located on Main Street between Redwood and Aberdeen avenues, CEO Tara-Lee Proctor said, adding 30 staff members who have also tested positive are isolating at home.

Holy Family is restricting access to designated family caregivers, putting a damper on many planned Mother’s Day celebrations.

Investigators haunted by cold case files

Three years after his disappearance, Eduardo Balaquit’s body still has not been found.

But now that a jury has convicted Kyle Pietz of manslaughter in the 59-year-old family man’s death, investigators will return their focus to finding his remains, Winnipeg Police Service Sgt. Wade McDonald said Wednesday night following the verdict.

Balaquit’s disappearance is one of many cases that continue to haunt investigators.

McDonald, head of Winnipeg police’s homicide unit, said of the 175 deaths police have investigated in the last five years, 16 remain unsolved.