News briefs for Tuesday, November 29, 2022

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have signed linebacker Adam Bighill to a two-year contract extension.

The three-time Grey Cup champion has played in Winnipeg for the past four seasons.

Bighill was scheduled to become a free agent in February 2023.

The Winnipeg Foundation has announced it has received a $500 million donation through the will of late philanthropist Miriam Bergen,  the largest gift ever donated by an individual to a Canadian charity.

Bergen, the owner and president of Appleton Holdings — which operates as Edison Properties — left the unrestricted donation as a bequest in her will. She also left private shares of Appleton to the Foundation, a first for the organization.

The second-largest single donation to The Winnipeg Foundation is $150 million from the Moffat family.

Manitoba Hydro is seeking a reduced electricity rate hike after the province told the utility it will take a smaller cut of water rental and debt guarantee fees.

On Tuesday, the Crown-corporation informed the Public Utilities Board that its general rate application from Nov. 15 will be updated. The utility is now asking for a two per cent electricity rate increase in both 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Earlier this month, the corporation had requested a 3.5 per cent rate increase for those years. On Nov. 23, Finance Minister Cameron Friesen announced the government would retroactively reduce water rental and debt guarantee fees by half, or about $190 million.

At a two per cent increase, residential customers with electric heat will see bills rise by about $4 per month and customers without electric heat will see their bills increase by about $2 per month, according to Hydro.

The utility is still seeking confirmation for the interim 3.6 per cent rate increase that took effect in January 2022.

Steinbach RCMP is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing man.

Ryan Cody Maynard, 29, was last seen at a home on Cedar Crescent in Steinbach on Nov. 24, RCMP said in a Tuesday release.

Maynard is 5’11, 165 lbs, with brown hair and hazel eyes. No clothing description was provided.

His family last spoke with him on Nov. 20 and are concerned for his safety, police said.

Anyone with information on Maynard’s whereabouts is asked to call the Steinbach RCMP at 204-326-1234, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

The province is warning that gusting winds may create hazards near Lake Manitoba’s south basin and on the east and west sides of Lake Winnipeg.

Northwest wind gusts, some as high as 75 kilometres an hour, could create waves and raise water levels by more than five feet, resulting in ice pileups along the shorelines near Gimli and Victoria Beach.

“Property owners are advised to take precautions,” the province said in a release Tuesday.

The winds are projected to develop Tuesday afternoon and continue into Wednesday. A map showing the affected areas is available online.