Man charged in hate-graffiti spree arrested again after Crescentwood break-in

Winnipeg’s mayor says public safety must come first in decisions about releasing accused individuals, but stresses that protecting the public doesn’t mean ignoring mental-health issues or simply locking people away.

Man banned from bus used head to break windows

A 30-year-old Winnipeg man accused of smashing the windows of several buses last weekend has been convicted seven times of doing the same thing in a case his lawyer argued criminalizes mental illness.

Police arrested the accused Jan. 11 after security video captured a man smashing the windows on four different buses between 1:36 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., causing an estimated $3,000 in damage. He remains in custody.

In August, the man pleaded guilty to four counts of mischief to property and related offences and was sentenced to 105 days served and two years probation, during which time he was banned from riding on Winnipeg Transit.

Court heard on six days between October 2024 and March 2025, the man was sitting in a city bus when he forcefully and repeatedly banged his head or hands against a window, breaking or shattering them.

Manitoba Grade 8 scores up but remain below national average

MANITOBA science scores are still lagging behind national averages, but local boys and girls have logged improvements over the last decade.

The latest results of the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program, a national initiative that tests real-world understanding of science, math and literacy at the end of Grade 8, was released this week.

The 2023 test focused on science, and students were assessed based on their ability to undertake scientific inquiry, problem solve and engage in scientific reasoning.

“It’s about application — how you’re interpreting data, how you’re explaining information and how you’re utilizing whatever you’re learning in the classroom,” said Anju Bajaj, a Grade 7 and 8 science teacher at Holy Cross School in Winnipeg.

Vacant Main Street hotel ‘total loss’ after overnight fire

An overnight blaze Wednesday that destroyed a dilapidated hotel, forced the evacuation of about 150 people from a shelter next door and shut down Main Street traffic in both directions is being described as “just another day in Winnipeg.”

Nick Kasper, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said the blaze that reduced the vacant Manwin Hotel to thick ice and rubble is an example of the sad reality in the city.

“It’s just another day, another news story,” Kasper said. “We’ve normalized deviance here in Winnipeg so significantly, where people come to expect this. They’re not outraged, they’re not shocked because it is our typical. That is concerning. This isn’t normal across the country, right?

“A city the size of Winnipeg with a population of 850,000 people should not be having more structure fires than… major, major Canadian cities with populations that vastly exceed ours,” Kasper said. “That is a concern, and it’s not a good reputation to have.”

Police arrest man accused of giving teen booze, drugs and sexually exploiting her over 11 months

Police have arrested a man accused of giving a teenage girl drugs and alcohol and sexually exploiting her during multiple encounters over the course of nearly a year.

Winnipeg Police Service counter-exploitation investigators began a probe earlier this month after the teen told a trusted adult about one of the assaults she suffered.

They arrested a man at his Winnipeg home last Friday, where the incidents are alleged to have happened on several occasions from February to December 2025.

During one of the encounters, the teenager suffered a “potentially fatal” drug overdose, police said Wednesday. She was also assaulted physically and choked on several occasions, causing minor injuries.

First Nation’s power-outage misery ‘frozen like a rock’

An army of plumbers, engineers and members of the Canadian Armed Forces are continuing to assess damages after a lengthy power outage at Pimicikamak Cree Nation froze water and sewage pipes.

Chief David Monias said it is going to take months to repair damage to homes and years to install new water and sewage treatment plants and systems.

“They have frozen pipes — the sewage plant is completely frozen,” Monias said Wednesday. “The raw sewage has frozen like rock, it is as hard as rock. There is enough (methane) gas in there that we can’t even enter the building. So they are trying to figure out a way how to air out that building so that they can assess the sewage problem.”

Monias said the experts are going to try to get the water and sewage systems up and running while the community works with government on a longer term solution. He said the plants will eventually need to be decommissioned.