Alert-system operator asks CRTC to consider ‘device-based geofencing’ to avoid unnecessary weather warnings

The Weather Network’s parent company wants Canada to consider changes to how it warns the public about dangerous weather after Manitobans received a landslide of emergency alerts in the midst of a massive June thunderstorm.

City wants short-term rental unit property owners to report all emergency-service responses

New rules could require the owners of short-term rental units, such as Airbnbs and VRBOs, to tell the city every time an emergency responder is called to their properties.

Suspension on the horizon for Hellebuyck as pre-season set to start

In this high stakes game of chicken, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Connor Hellebuyck or any of the potential suitors for the Winnipeg Jets franchise netminder appear ready to blink.

Astronaut’s solo photo exhibition is for the birds

Roberta Bondar’s solo exhibition Patterns and Parallels: The Great Imperative to Survive is on now at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery at Canadian Mennonite University until Oct. 10.

Health system would suffer during extended Dynacare strike, board told

A prolonged strike at Dynacare labs would lead to unsustainable pressure on the public health-care system alongside testing and treatment delays for some patients, the Manitoba Labour Board was told Tuesday.

Dr. AbdulRazaq Sokoro, chief operating officer of diagnostic services at Shared Health, outlined the potential effect on blood, urine and other tests if the provincial authority has to implement a strike contingency plan that would give priority to patients deemed more vulnerable.

“We know from evidence and we know from medical fact that any patient that has complaints will get a worsening of their disease if they’re unattended to,” Sokoro said during a labour board hearing to determine whether unionized employees of Dynacare — a private, American-owned company — provide an essential service.

“We also know that in order for physicians to attend to complaints, they need to be able to diagnose the patient’s disease.

Police cracking down on gangs, organized crime in bars and lounges

Patrons can expect to see more police officers in and around bars and lounges in the coming months as the Winnipeg Police Service plans to crack down on gangs and organized crime.

Uniformed officers will be patrolling bars, lounges and other licensed establishments, targeting gang members and people associated with organized crime. Priority will be given to those who pose the greatest risk to public safety, WPS said in a news release Tuesday.

“We’ve seen — time and time again — where people involved in gangs, in organized crime, attract violence or commit violence, on people who they would perceive as their rivals,” Insp. Josh Ewatski, who heads the service’s organized crime unit said, noting the plan was in the works for a while.

He said while there was no specific incident that resulted in the new push, but said violence — including stabbings, assaults and shootings — over the years is behind the move.

Manitoba mineral production set to triple, premier says

Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday Manitoba plans to triple mineral production in the next five years “to unlock a new era of wealth creation and growth.”

“We’re going to make sure that opportunity is spread throughout the province,” he told a news conference at the Canada investment summit in Toronto.

The province is working with industry and Indigenous governments to send a message to investors that “we’re going to do mining right in Manitoba,” the premier said.

For too long, Manitoba has lagged behind neighbouring provinces, Kinew said.

Seven years sought for serial harasser

Alexander Beaton finished serving a two-year jail sentence for criminally harassing six women and didn’t last two days in the community before he was back at it, sending unwanted obscene messages and videos to a dozen women.

Now prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for the 30-year-old Winnipeg man, whose latest string of victims includes a police officer who investigated his earlier crimes.

“He essentially continued (offending) unabated,” Crown attorney Brett Rach told provincial court Judge Malcolm McDonald at a sentencing hearing Friday. “It caused more than a nuisance to these victims — it caused them to fear for their safety.”

Beaton pleaded guilty to 14 charges of criminal harassment, sending indecent communications and breaching court orders for a campaign of harassment waged between 2015 and 2025.

MPI looks into motorcycle safety

Manitoba Public Insurance is probing how to make regional roads safer for motorcyclists.

The public insurer is seeking feedback about restrictions on powerful bikes for new riders, mandatory training for older motorcyclists and limiting registrations to drivers who have a motorcycle licence (Class 6).

The Coalition of Manitoba Motorcycle Groups, which is set to gather at its regular meeting in Winnipeg Wednesday, will weigh in.

President Mary Johnson said some of the questions — such as those that relate to restricting new riders to bikes with engines under 500 cubic centimetres — are non-starters.

Man, 21, killed in animal attack on Manitoba First Nation

The family of “a kind and gentle giant” is grief-stricken as officials try to determine what kind of animal killed the 21-year-old man in western Manitoba.

Moses Campeau was walking on a road to a friend’s house in Sapotaweyak Cree Nation, about 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, when he was fatally injured Sept. 9, his mother, Paula Campeau, said Monday.

“Moses was a kind and gentle giant,” she said. “He was a person who (people) would ask to come and help them, and he would go without even hesitating.”

Manitoba RCMP said officers from the Swan River detachment responded to a report of a suspicious death at about 3:10 a.m. The scene was held and the RCMP’s major crime services took over the investigation.