News briefs for Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Winnipeg dancer, actor, singer Catherine Wreford Ledlow and best friend, fellow performer, Craig Ramsay, of Windsor, Ont., emerged as the winners of Season 8 of The Amazing Race Canada.

After travelling across five provinces, 24 cities, and more than 20,000 kilometres from coast to coast, Wreford Ledlow and Ramsay were one of four teams that advanced to Tuesday night’s finale.

Wreford Ledlow was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2013, and was given two to six years to live. She and Ramsay met at Winnipeg’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet over 25 years ago, and it was Ramsay who convinced her to see a doctor. The pair, who have performed on Broadway, wanted to race to show that life doesn’t need to be limited by a diagnosis.

Winners receive Chevrolet Silverado ZR2s, a trip around the world, and a $250,000 cash prize.

Long-time receiver Joe Poplawski has been selected as the newest member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Ring of Honour, the CFL club announced early Wednesday.

Poplawski spent his entire nine-year CFL career in Winnipeg, beginning in 1978 before his retirement following the 1986 season. He named the CFL’s most outstanding rookie, and was twice awarded the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian (1981 and 1986).

Poplawski ranks third all-time in receptions (549) in Bombers history, as well as receiving yardage (8,341), behind only Milt Stegall and James Murphy. A five-time CFL All-Star (1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986), Poplawski was inducted into the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

Poplawski’s name will be formally added to the Ring of Honour during a halftime ceremony on Friday, Oct. 28, the Bombers final regular-season game, against the B.C. Lions.

Manitoba’s justice minister wants the federal government to amend the criminal code to make it more difficult for criminals who use bear pepper spray in assaults to receive bail.

Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen also said in a statement Wednesday that he wants the federal justice department to amend the code to classify bear spray used in criminal acts as a prohibited weapon.

Goertzen said the Winnipeg Police Service has seen a “startling increase” in the use of bear spray in violent offences recently. He said Chief Danny Smyth told him police expect a “record-setting year” for crimes committed with bear spray, with “nearly 1,200 incidents” anticipated.

He said he has written to his federal counterpart, Justice Minister David Lametti, about his bear spray concerns, on top of his recent request for the federal government to make it more difficult for people accused of using knives in violent offences to receive bail. Goertzen is meeting with Lametti next month.

Norway House Cree Nation is using ground-penetrating radar to search for unmarked graves at two former residential schools.

Norway House Chief Larson Anderson said in a statement on Wednesday the search is needed to give community members peace of mind and help residential school survivors and their families move forward in their healing journeys.

Stantec, a professional engineering firm, is conducting the search which begins today.

The reserve had two residential schools: one run by the Methodist Missionary Society of Canada starting in 1899, and the other by the Roman Catholic Mission.

Two people were accosted and assaulted while walking near the intersection of Logan Avenue and McKelvey Street Tuesday night, Winnipeg police say.

Officers were called to nearby Keewatin Street and Logan Avenue just before 10 p.m., where they found a man in his 20s at a nearby restaurant who had been stabbed several times and attacked with bear pepper spray. Officers applied three tourniquets to stem the flow of blood from his limbs, police said. He was taken to hospital in unstable condition, where he was later stabilized.

Officers also found a woman in her 20s who had been assaulted, but her injuries were minor, police said.

Police said the pair, who are acquaintances, were confronted by a group of people at McKelvey Street and Logan Avenue and assaulted. Major crimes investigators are handling the case and ask anyone with information to contact the unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477. Police have announced no arrests.

All Manitoban adults are now eligible to receive a fourth-dose booster of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, Manitoba Health says.

Appointment booking begins Sept. 22 at 9 a.m. online or by phone at 1-844-626-8222. It’s recommended individuals get the bivalent vaccine six months after their last vaccine dose, or at minimum, three months after.

The provincial government announced the expanded eligibility Wednesday.

Winnipeg police and Mounties are searching for an unmarked RCMP vehicle stolen from a repair shop on Weston Avenue Tuesday morning.

RCMP said city police were called about the theft of the vehicle, which was in for maintenance, just after 11 a.m., Tuesday. A suspect entered the business at 10:55 a.m., took the keys and made off with the vehicle, an unmarked black 2017 Ford Explorer with license plate number HYA 548. A second suspect was also in the area.

The vehicle has red-and-blue emergency lights on the front and back, but no other police equipment was in the vehicle, RCMP said. According to Mounties, the theft appears to be a crime of opportunity rather than an attempt to impersonate police. However, RCMP said, the public should be on the lookout for the vehicle and call 911 if it’s spotted. RCMP said drivers that are concerned about the “legitimacy” of a traffic stop should also call 911.

The first suspect, who entered the business, is a man with short dark hair. He was wearing grey pants, a navy jacket with a hood and blue-and-white running shoes. The second suspect is a man with dark hair who was wearing a red-and-black plaid jacket, black sweatpants, red shoes and a dark baseball cap.

RCMP ask anyone with information on the pair of suspects or the vehicle to call city police at 204-986-2426.

A prisoner is on the run after RCMP say someone went into a cell trailer and unlocked the cell door.

Thompson RCMP are asking the public for help to find 21-year-old Lyle Samuel.

RCMP said on Wednesday that officers arrested Samuel in Northlands Denesuline First Nation (Lac Brochet) on Tuesday and charged him with assault.

Later, while officers were interviewing community members in an office in the trailer, someone entered and unlocked the cell door. Officers discovered Samuel was gone at about 3:30 p.m.

Samuel is described as 5-7 in height, weighs about 150 pounds, and was last seen wearing all black. RCMP said Samuel isn’t wearing a jacket or shoes because they were taken away when he was arrested.

Anyone with any information is asked to call RCMP at 204-677-6909 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.Manitobacrimestoppers.com

A 75-year-old cell guard at the Steinbach RCMP detachment had to be taken to hospital after an assault Sunday.

RCMP said the guard was taking a drink to a prisoner in a cell around 4 p.m., when the prisoner grabbed the guard’s arm and “pulled it forcefully” through the slot in the door meant to pass food to prisoners.

The 75-year-old man, a civilian employee of the Corps of Commissionaires, was left with “substantial injuries,” Mounties said. He was treated in hospital and released.

A 20-year-old man from Selkirk has been charged with assault causing bodily harm. He was already detained on a remand warrant related to a mischief charge, RCMP said. He remains in custody.

The Winnipeg Jets have added three individuals to their scouting staff — including the first female in the department — prior to the 2022-23 NHL regular season.

Sydney Daniels, a former assistant coach with the Harvard University women’s team, joins the Jets as a college scout.

Also coming aboard are Jari Kekalainen (European scout) and Tony Martino (U.S. scout). Kekalainen, brother of Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, spent the last 20 years with the Florida Panthers, including the last five as director of European scouting. Martino was with the Toronto scouting staff for seven years.

Winnipeg police arrested two people accused of a gunpoint robbery on Queen Street on Tuesday.

Officers were called to the 200 block of Queen Street near Portage Avenue at about 10 p.m. about a robbery. They found two victims, a man and a woman, both in their 20s. The two friends said they had been confronted by two suspects and robbed, while the man was hit with the gun, police said.

The officers were led to a residence on the 300 block of King Edward Street, where they found two suspects, the victims’ bank cards and a sawed-off .22 calibre rifle. Major crimes detectives then connected one of the suspects to a robbery on Monday near Berry Street and Ellice Avenue, in which a man showed off a gun in his waistband when robbing two victims of their cash.

A 32-year-old man from Winnipeg is charged with two counts each of armed robbery with a firearm and robbery, as well as a number of weapons charges. A 24-year-old woman from Winnipeg is charged with two counts of armed robbery and one count of use of a credit card. Both were detained in custody.