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Suspect in Main Street slaying has lengthy criminal history

A man wanted by Winnipeg police for his alleged role in a Main Street slaying has a lengthy history of violent crime and weapons offences.

Aaron Wayne Azure, 38, was named as a suspect in the May 10 death of Vincent Brian Kipling, 31, last week.

Kipling, who sustained serious injuries after an assault just before 11 p.m., was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Homicide detectives obtained a warrant for Azure, who is wanted for manslaughter in the killing.

Body of drowned boy found

The body of 12-year-old Winnipeg boy feared to have drowned in Whiteshell Provincial Park has been found, RCMP said.

The body was found and recovered at about 1 a.m. Monday, RCMP said in a news release later in the day.

On Sunday, the boy’s family was in shock and praying he would be found. Nida Zeeb said her nephew Usaid Habib was camping with his parents and three brothers when he slipped and fell into the water at Sturgeon Falls on Saturday morning.

“He was very excited to see the water, and he just slipped,” she said Sunday while travelling from Edmonton to Winnipeg to be with relatives at Usaid’s home.

Trash in and around encampments along Red River piling up in east Exchange

Along Waterfront Drive, garbage from abandoned encampments and current residents has grown into a mess that creeps in from all angles, washing up on the riverbank and spilling onto the bike trail and sidewalk opposite condos and apartments lining the street.

NDP MLA’s bill mandating anti-racism training for provincial workers gets government backing

Manitoba lawmakers are poised to mandate annual anti-racism training for more than 12,000 people on the provincial government’s payroll.

NDP MLA Jamie Moses’s Bill 241 is on deck to receive third reading and royal assent before the legislature rises on June 1, after receiving support from the Progressive Conservative government.

If passed, the legislation would require all government employees to take training “that aims to eliminate systemic racism and to advance understanding of human rights” each year.

The training must address implicit bias, how to challenge racism, and the discriminatory and unequal treatment of people based on ancestry or ethnicity.

St. James Assiniboia School Division superintendent no longer ‘acting’

Trustees in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division have chosen a new permanent leader to oversee operations across 26 schools in Winnipeg.

Jenness Moffatt has been appointed superintendent of the division in which approximately 8,300 public school students are enrolled. She has been working under an “acting superintendent” title throughout 2022-23.

“Jenness is a proven leader with over two decades of experience in the division. She also played a critical role in assisting the board navigate the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Cheryl Smukowich, chairwoman of SJASD’s board of trustees, in a news release.

Board members officially selected Moffatt, a career educator, during a special board meeting last week after a formal search for candidates and interview process.

Election day: Voters go to the polls in Alberta

It’s election day in Alberta in what polls suggest could be a nail-biter finish between the province's two dominant parties.

Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party is fighting to win a second consecutive majority government, while Rachel Notley’s NDP is trying to regain the government it lost to the UCP in 2019.

Both leaders have been premier and leaders of the official Opposition.

Advance polls suggest voter turnout will be heavy.

Manitoba Métis Federation facility to welcome families of patients undergoing medical treatments

The suffocating feeling that overcomes a family member while their loved one lies in a hospital bed is one Will Goodon knows all too well.

The Manitoba Métis Federation’s minister of housing experienced it in spurts over the better part of a decade while his son, Hunter, received medical treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a life-threatening type of cancer in the bone marrow.

The cost of staying in a hotel room each night certainly became an unwelcome financial burden, as well.

While his son has since been cured of the disease, it’s hardly a surprise why the MMF’s latest housing project is so important to Goodon.

Free Press photographer wins two national awards

A Free Press photographer has received national recognition for her photo of Charlie Bittern, a residential and day school survivor, at Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Jessica Lee won two News Photographers Association of Canada awards over the weekend.

On Sunday, NPAC announced the winners and runners-up of its 2022 prizes. There were more than 40 nominations in total.

Lee, who began working for the Free Press full time in the fall of 2021, won the portrait and photo-of-the-year categories.