News briefs for May 20, 2022

RCMP Search and Rescue say they have located Leo Cyr who had been missing.

Cyr was found dead but police said the death does not appear to be suspicious.

Steinbach and St-Pierre-Jolys RCMP continue to investigate.
 

Manitoba Environment has declared a state of local emergency in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

“Rapidly rising water levels are causing deteriorating and dangerous conditions, posing a significant risk to public safety,” it said in a release late Friday.

People were advised to stay out of the park because of flooded highways. Cottagers at Betula Lake were ordered to leave. The commercial area, group use, day use, recreational areas, playgrounds, trails and beaches are off limits.

All park visitors should check www.manitoba511.ca for road closures and potential detours before travelling to parks.

The Pine Falls Health Complex’s emergency department service is being suspended immediately and for the foreseeable future due to a shortage of emergency department nursing staff.

People in the in Powerview-Pine Falls area seeking emergency care should call 911 or visit Pinawa Hospital, a release from the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority said.

Patients currently at Pine Falls hospital, which is about 100 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, will continue to receive care and regular dialysis and laboratory work will continue.

According to the release, Pine Falls physicians will pick up extra shifts in Pinawa to keep up with increased visitors.

The Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority will extend hours of access to primary care at the Pine Falls clinic during the suspension.

A fire has ravaged Easterville’s community hall. 

RCMP said local officers responded to a fire in the hall on Bourassa Street at about 4:15 a.m. on Thursday in the community about 200 kilometres southeast of The Pas. 

When police arrived, the hall was completely engulfed in flames. The local fire department extinguished the blaze. RCMP said no one was inside the hall at the time of the fire, while the cause is still unknown. 

Chemawawin RCMP and the provincial fire commissioner’s office are still investigating. Mounties ask anyone with information to call the local detachment at 204-329-2000 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or online at manitobacrimestoppers.com.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers signed Canadian offensive lineman and 2021 3rd overall CFL draft pick Liam Dobson to a two-year contract on Friday. 

Dobson spent some time in the United States Football League and recently attended mini-camps with the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints.

A Winnipeg man had to be rescued from rising water in his car after he disregarded "road closed" barriers near St. Adolphe.

RCMP said on Friday the 21-year-old man phoned for help after he became stranded in flood water on PR 200 just north of St. Adolphe on Thursday at about 8:15 a.m.

RCMP said the man told them the water was already up to his steering wheel and he couldn’t get out through the doors or windows.

St. Pierre-Jolys RCMP officers and local firefighters responded and rescued him.

RCMP fined the motorist $237 and warned Manitobans it is unsafe to go around barricades on roads.

Homicide detectives have identified a suspect in a slaying outside a West End home in early May, but believe he has fled to Ontario, possibly the Thunder Bay area. 

Scott Matthew Catcheway, 39, of Winnipeg, was found dead outside a home on Young Street between Sargent and Ellice avenues around 9 p.m. on May 4. Police had responded to a report of a disturbance and serious assault. 

At the time, a neighbour told the Free Press a drug dealer or dealers sold down, an illicit mixture of fentanyl, heroin and a cutting agent, out of one of the suites in the two-storey triplex. 

Police recently identified Neigel Ryan Noel, 53, as a suspect in the killing. He’s now wanted for second-degree murder. He’s 5-9 with a heavy build, with "VENI VIDI VICI" tattooed on his chest and "CREAM" on his right arm. Police said he may be armed and ask anyone with information to call the homicide unit at 204-986-6508, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.

The Winnipeg Police Service homicide unit is investigating after a woman was found dead in a common area in a Kennedy Street apartment block early Thursday. 

Officers were called to the apartment at 444 Kennedy St. around 4:30 a.m. Thursday for a report of an injured woman, but she was dead when they arrived. 

Police consider the death suspicious and homicide detectives are now leading the investigation. 

Police ask anyone with information that could help investigators, including video surveillance or anyone who may have heard or seen something unusual, to call 204-986-6508, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477. 

Travellers can once again enter and exit Manitoba to North Dakota and vice versa via the Gretna port of entry.

The Canada Border Services Agency announced Friday that its services at the border crossing have resumed after heavy flooding in North Dakota, which resulted in highway closures, receded.

"The CBSA recognizes border disruptions affect both travellers and industry and would like to thank travellers and commercial partners for their patience," the agency said in a release.

A southbound section of the Perimeter Highway at Portage Avenue will be reduced to a single lane during a road construction project slated to begin after the long weekend.

In a release Friday, the province announced traffic will be delayed along the west roadway (Provincial Trunk Highway 101), southbound at Portage Avenue, as of May 24. 

Between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be only one southbound lane. It will be reopened to two lanes when crews are not on the site. 

Throughout construction, a safety flag crew will be present to direct traffic and the speed limit will be reduced to 60 km/h when workers are present. The limit will be 80 km/h on a milled surface when employees are not present.

The southbound lanes of the west Perimeter Highway to the westbound Portage Avenue exit ramp 42B will be closed periodically during the project. Motorists will be rerouted with a detour at those times.

The milling project — which involves grinding and removing the existing road surface and resurfacing with new asphalt pavement — is scheduled to continue until approximately May 27, weather permitting.

A building on William Avenue sustained major structural damage in a fire on Thursday.

Firefighters were sent to the two-and-a-half-storey building in the 500 block of William at 5:12 p.m.

Occupants of neighbouring properties were advised to remain inside as fire crews used an aerial ladder to douse the blaze. The fire was declared under control at 7:10 p.m.

No injuries were reported, the city said in a news release. The building had already been damaged by at least one previous fire, the city said.

The cause of Thursday’s blaze is under investigation.