News briefs for October 26, 2020

A case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at the remote Keeyask generating station construction site.

"As per our pandemic protocol at the project, the individual was isolated while awaiting his test results and is being transferred off site," a Manitoba Hydro spokesperson said Monday.

"Manitoba Health officials have been notified and are performing tracing and testing of close contacts, who have also been placed in isolation pending their test results as a precaution."

The Keeyask megaproject is located roughly 725 kilometres north of Winnipeg, on the lower Nelson River. In March, some 1,300 workers were on site; current numbers were not available.

An 11-year-old girl has been missing from the River Heights neighbourhood for six days. 

Nevaeh Roundhead is described as 5’1" tall and weighing 110 pounds with glasses and brown hair that is shaved on one side. The 11-year-old has been missing since Oct. 20, according to the Winnipeg Police Service.

Police are asking anyone with information to call the WPS Missing Persons Unit at 204-986-6250 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 or 1-866-543-8477. 

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Police are investigating a missing-person report on Eric Jamieson, 56, of Winnipeg, last seen Oct. 15 in the Mission Industrial area of St. Boniface.

He is described as a white, about five-foot-seven with a medium build and short, dyed-brown hair. Jamieson was last seen wearing a long black jacket with yellow reflective tape, beige work boots and had a blue construction hard hat.

Police are concerned for his well-being and are asking anyone with information to contact the the missing persons unit at (204) 986-6250.

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A woman in Dauphin faces manslaughter charges in the death of a 26-year-old man early Sunday morning inside a home in that community.

Ramona Tanner, 43, remains in custody.

The investigation continues by Dauphin RCMP and the RCMP major crime and forensic identification units.

RCMP have charged a woman with manslaughter in the death of a 35-year-old man in Garden Hill First Nation this past Friday.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was found in the road at 2:45 a.m. suffering from serious injuries. He later died at the community nursing station.

Madeline Harper, 35, was taken into custody Friday, charged Saturday and had her first court appearance Monday in Winnipeg.

A 32-year-old man is presumed drowned after he reportedly fell off a train bridge near Gypsumville. 

The search is ongoing for the man, who has been missing since his fall around 9:50 p.m. on Oct. 25. He fell into the river as he and his younger sister were walking across the bridge, Manitoba RCMP said in a press release. 

Volunteers, the local fire department and the police are conducting a search of the river and shoreline. 

Public health officials reported 100 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba today and another death. A woman in her 80s who was a resident Parkview Place is the 55th Manitoban to die from the virus.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 7.1 per cent. There are 80 people in hospital with 15 in intensive care. Of the 100 new cases, 73 are in Winnipeg, 11 are in Southern Health, 10 are in the Northern Health region, five are in the Interlake–Eastern Health region and just one case is in the Prairie Mountain Health region.

RCMP are hoping a video – which shows a 16-year-old being struck in a hit and run – will help them find the driver.

The video, released on Monday, shows Morgan Harms jogging along Pieper Avenue in Gretna on Sept. 30 in the evening when she is struck by a passing silver SUV or minivan.

Carman RCMP said there should be minor or significant damage on the front passenger side bumper and possibly along that side of the vehicle.

Harms was rushed to hospital and released a few days later.

While Harms was in hospital several community members near Snowflake – where her family farms –came together and helped harvest a field in just a few hours instead of the days it would have taken her father alone.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Carman RCMP at 204-745-6760.

Winnipeggers are much more likely than other city dwellers to say police get too much funding, according to a survey of 10 major metropolises.

Some 36 per cent of Winnipeggers polled by the Angus-Reid Institute say the police should get less funding. That’s the second-highest ratio, right behind Torontonians, while the national average was 25 per cent.

That’s according to an online survey two months ago of 5,005 Canadians, of whom 304 were from Winnipeg. Two-thirds of the city’s respondents preferred funding social services over ramping up police presence in high-crime areas.

The survey, released Monday, found 45 per cent of Winnipeggers feel police misconduct isn’t taken seriously in their city, compared with 38 per cent of Canadians overall.

Meanwhile, 64 per cent of Winnipeggers say they’re proud of their police force, compared with 72 per cent of national respondents.

As of Monday morning, 34 inmates and 11 employees at provincial facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Headingley Correctional Centre is dealing with an outbreak and 33 inmates and staff at that location have been infected with the virus. 

Two staff at Milner Ridge and one staff member at Brandon Correctional Centre have tested positive. 

An inmate at the Agassiz Youth Centre has tested positive and the facility has gone into outbreak protocol though it has not yet been elevated on the pandemic response system.

Across the province, approximately 470 inmates are in isolation.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and an official with Parkview Place will update the public about an outbreak at the personal care home this morning.

Revera, the company that owns the downtown Winnipeg care home, said this past weekend more than 200 of the home’s residents have undergone testing through a partnership with Dynacare, the private laboratory that handles some of the province’s COVID-19 testing.

Staff surveillance testing of employees at Parkview Place will be conducted this week to help identify asymptomatic carriers. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has provided Parkview Place with an onsite pharmacist, and a nurse practitioner will begin work this coming week, the statement said.

Winnipeg police have identified a 39-year-old man as the latest homicide victim in the city.

Adam Roy Solinger, 39, died in hospital after he was found suffering from serious injuries outside a residence in Winnipeg’s Spence neighbourhood Sunday.

A police report indicates that shortly after 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 25, officers responded to a report of an injured male in the 500 block of Furby Street — where they soon discovered Solinger. The 39-year-old was taken to hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead, according to police. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

Provincial updates on the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba will be held three times a week beginning Monday.

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin will address media and the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the province said. In-person updates will no longer take place on Thursdays.

Both Roussin and chief nursing officer at Shared Health Lanette Siragusa are expected to provide an update at 12:30 p.m. at the Manitoba Legislative Building.

Siragusa was a constant presence in the daily pandemic updates in the springtime; Dr. Roussin began doing solo news conferences in July.

Members of the media are not permitted in the news conference theatre to ask questions and must participate by phone.

Over the weekend, 314 new cases were announced.

The news conference will be streamed at http://news.gov.mb.ca

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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Manitoba’s justice minister is expected to announce support for the province’s corrections services amidst the pandemic Monday morning. 

Minister Cliff Cullen is holding a news conference shortly after 10:30 a.m. at the Manitoba Legislative Building. The conference will be streamed at http://news.gov.mb.ca

Headingley Correctional Centre remains under a critical code, with a current outbreak of 32 cases, including three staff and 29 inmates.