The Wrap: Youth crime, Skibicki report, multigenerational homes, Ray St. Germain’s street
Plus: Want a restaurant reservation? Credit card number, please...

Winnipeg police say Project Surge — an initiative aimed at providing social supports to steer youth away from criminal activity — has resulted in a notable decrease in arrests among youths who were repeatedly involved in violent crime.

The project, which launched March 7, identified 117 youths involved in 1,795 police incidents as accused or as victims since January 2023, including homicides, weapons offences and missing persons cases.

Data about the youths is shared among officers to help monitor risks, enforce bail conditions and collaborate with social agencies.

Police said the program has resulted in a a 50% decrease in these youths’ involvement in violent crime.

Admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki says he is a gentle man who doesn’t like hurting people, sleeps well in jail and is generally untroubled by feelings of guilt.

Such claims are included in an 86-page psychiatric report filed in court last week, as the 37-year-old Winnipeg man fights to be found not criminally responsible in the slayings of four vulnerable Indigenous women two years ago.

Court reporter Dean Pritchard reports on the psychiatrist’s observations.

A new housing trend, one with centuries-old roots, is taking hold in suburbs across Winnipeg.

Rows of homes — in the Bridgwater and Sage Creek neighbourhoods in the city’s southwest and southeast, and in Amber Trails, Waterford Green and Aurora at North Point along the city’s northern edges — are being built with one kind of family in mind: families spanning generations.

Writers AV Kitching and Gabrielle Piché team up to take a look at this trend.

More fine-dining restaurants in Winnipeg are asking for pre-payment or credit card numbers to hold a reservation, especially around big events like Mother’s Day brunch.

The move come amid a post-COVID-19 pandemic spike in people not showing up for reservations, says an industry expert.

Business reporter Gabrielle Piché talks to restaurants about the practice.

Métis singer and guitarist Ray St. Germain, 83, owes a lot of his life to Winnipeg’s St. Vital neighbourhood.

His family’s roots ran deep in the area, even before his father built Ray’s childhood home at 27 St. Michael Rd., a modest bungalow fronted by an oak tree.

His maternal grandparents lived across the street and his paternal grandparents lived nearby. His great grandfather, born in 1856, was both area councillor and reeve, with a French immersion school now bearing his surname.

This morning, the musician became even more closely tied to the place he’ll always call his first home. His childhood street was given the title Honourary Big Sky Country Way, a nod to his long-running television variety program.

Ben Waldman was there for the ceremony.