News briefs for October 12, 2021

There were no injuries in a fire which broke out in a suite in a three-storey apartment building on Troy Avenue on Tuesday morning.

Firefighters rushed to the blaze in the 1000 block of Troy Avenue at about 8:43 a.m.. The fire was contained to the suite and took approximately 30 minutes to put out.

The suite’s residents had safely evacuated before fire crews arrived.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A teen is facing a charge of assault with a weapon after a 15-year-old was stabbed in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation on Saturday.

The victim was taken to a nursing station and then a hospital where he was treated and released, Nelson House RCMP said.

Police were called to a house on the reserve Saturday about 6:40 p.m. after receiving a report about a stabbing. A 13-year-old male suspect was arrested at the scene. 

An 87-year-old Selkirk woman is dead and a 62-year-old Beausejour man has been arrested after a two-car collision in the RM of St. Clements on Monday. 

RCMP investigators determined the victim was driving northbound on PR 206 when she stopped at the intersection with Highway 44. When she drove onto the highway, an eastbound truck struck her. 

The woman died at the scene. The 62-year-old man was arrested for impaired driving causing death. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for minor injuries. 

He’s scheduled for a court appearance on Dec. 17 in Selkirk. 

Manitoba reported 479 new COVID-19 infections and nine new pandemic deaths over the previous five-day period on Tuesday. 

In the first public health update since Friday, the province reported new cases in all health regions including 42 cases in Interlake-Eastern, 106 cases in Northern health, 68 cases in the Prairie Mountain, 161 cases in the Southern Health-Santé Sud and 102 cases in Winnipeg.

There were 66 new cases reported on Tuesday.

Nine new pandemic deaths were also reported, including seven people from Southern Health, one person from Winnipeg and one person from the Northern health region. 

Manitoba’s pandemic death toll is now 1,224.

The five-day test positivity rate provincewide was 3.9 per cent, 1.2 per cent in Winnipeg and 1,920 tests were performed on Monday.

A total of 85 patients were being treated for COVID-19 in hospital, including 16 in intensive care. 

Across Manitoba, 928 cases were considered infectious.

Teachers and maintenance staff in Manitoba’s largest school division have secured new respective contracts in recent months, but members of the Winnipeg Association of Non-Teaching Employees remain without a contract. 

The Winnipeg School Division and WANTE, which represents educational assistants, clerks, crossing guards, library technicians, and interpreters, among other support staff, are in ongoing contract negotiations.

Local 110 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents custodians, tradespeople and mechanics in the central division, announced Friday its members had ratified a new contract.

The wage increases, which are in line with recent teacher negotiations, include annual hikes of 1.6 per cent in 2019; 1.4 per cent in 2020, 0.5 per cent in 2021, and a cost-of-living adjustment in 2022.

Winnipeg rookie forward Cole Perfetti will make his NHL debut Wednesday against the Ducks in Anaheim.

The 19-year-old was on the team’s roster, released today, and informed reporters he’s playing in the Jets season-opener.

Perfetti was drafted in the first round in 2020.

Winnipeg police have arrested and charged two suspects in an early September Portage Avenue nightclub shooting that injured two. 

On Sept. 4 at Spades Lounge and Hookah Bar, 27-year-old woman was struck by flying glass, while a man in his early 30s suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Both were treated in hospital. 

Police now say they believe two groups got into an altercation which led to multiple guns being fired. 

On Sept. 25, investigators arrested a man at a home in South Pointe. Police allege the accused threw a bag from a second-story window, jumped out and tried to flee. Police found the bag which c 28 grams of cocaine and $510 in cash. 

Simalew Tolcha Mammo, 31 of Winnipeg, is charged with possessing the proceeds of crime and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, along with multiple firearms charges. He was detained in custody. 

The next day, police arrested another man at a home in Mynarski. 

Jeffrey Russell Sadiua, 24 of Winnipeg, is charged with aggravated assault and multiple firearm charges. He was detained in custody. 

A traffic stop in Flin Flon last Thursday evening led RCMP to seize crack, cocaine, and cash. 

At about 5:20 p.m., an officer recognized a driver who had an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear in court. 

The officer arrested the man and found a knife, crack cocaine, and cash in his possession.

Officers then searched the vehicle and seized more cash, about 21 grams of cocaine, and drug paraphernalia, including a scale. 

Paul McIntryre, 57 of Schist Lake, is charged with posessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possessing property obtained by crime, carrying a concealed weapon, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and failing to comply. 

Officers also issued several Highway Traffic Act fines. He was remanded in custody. 

An all-Canadian lineup will mark the return of Dauphin’s Countryfest in 2022.

The three-day festival is scheduled for July 1-3, and it would be the first Countryfest held since 2019. Events scheduled for 2020 and 2021 were cancelled, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paul Brandt, Johnny Reid, Dallas Smith, Dean Brody and Terri Clark headline the list of artists announced Tuesday, which also includes Manitoba’s Doc Walker and Don Amero.

Tickets go on sale Nov. 15 at 9 a.m. at Countryfest.ca or by calling 1-800-361-7300.

At a ground-breaking event on Tuesday, Education Minister Cliff Cullen announced the province has started construction on two schools in southwest Winnipeg. 

Construction on the two-storey, 81,400-sq-ft. elementary school began in August and construction is scheduled to begin on the 116,950-sq-ft. high school later this month. 

The elementary school will have a capacity of 800 students and has a target completion date of December 2022, while the high school will have capacity for 1,200 students and is scheduled to be finished in June 2023.

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Lindsay Somers has been named the new executive director for the Osborne Village BIZ, said the organization in a release Tuesday. 

Somers has a background in urban placemaking, urban program development and marketing and communications. 

The Osborne Village BIZ is a non-profit organization that works with local businesses and stakeholders to promote the neighbourhood.