Missing boy, 15, last seen in Fort Richmond area

8:39 AM

Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing 15-year-old boy last seen in the Fort Richmond area on Wednesday morning.

Inuka Gunathilaka is described as six feet tall with a medium build and short black hair. He was last seen wearing glasses, a blue sweater, dark blue jeans and black shoes.

The Winnipeg Police Service is concerned about the teen’s well-being and is asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to call the missing persons init at 204-986-6250.

Train may have sparked fire

9:01 AM

A passing train may have sparked a grass fire early Friday, fire officials said.

Fire crews were sent to the 100 block of Sutherland Avenue at 2:51 a.m. and found a significant grass and brush fire adjacent to a rail line.

“Preliminary observations suggest the fire may have been sparked by a passing train,” the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said in a news release.

The fire was declared under control at 3:32 a.m.

Jerry Seinfeld to perform at Canada Life Centre Sept. 22

10:24 AM

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will bring his famous standup act to the Canada Life Centre Sept. 22.

Tickets go on sale June 2 at 10 a.m., at ticketmaster.ca, with prices starting at $59.50 plus fees.

Seinfeld, the NBC comedy series he starred in for nine seasons alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, continues to have a heavy presence on the television dial a quarter-century after it aired its final episode in 1998.

His next project, Unfrosted, a comedy about the creation of Pop-Tarts that Seinfeld is producing, directing and starring in, is expected to be released on Netflix later this year,

Planning underway for Perimeter interchange at St. Anne’s Road

11:00 AM

Planning for a new interchange at St. Anne’s Road and the Perimeter Highway has begun, the province announced today.

A safer and more efficient free-flowing Perimeter Highway is the Manitoba government’s long-term objective in order to respond to Winnipeg’s residential and commercial growth, a press release said.

The project includes building a railway overpass at the Canadian Pacific Railway crossing the Perimeter Highway and installing a pedestrian crossing under the Perimeter Highway along the Seine River. An estimated completion date was not provided.

A similar interchange project at the Perimeter Highway and St. Mary’s Road is scheduled to open in June 2024. An interchange at PTH 3 and McGillivray Boulevard is in the planning and detailed design phase.

Caterpillar spraying to start Sunday

11:29 AM

The city will begin spraying for tree pest caterpillars on Sunday, weather permitting.

The work is set to begin at 9:30 p.m. Sunday using Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki (Btk), a biological product blasted from high-pressure tree sprayers onto foliage.

The four-week program is scheduled for Sunday and Thursday evenings.

Crews will be spraying boulevards as well as city parks and cemeteries where the caterpillars are high in numbers and where they are starting to defoliate trees.

“Winnipeggers can expect to see moderate levels of defoliation in some parts of the city, based on our observations,” David Wade, the city’s superintendent of insect control, said in a news release.

Assault charge laid after off-duty Mountie spat on, threatened

2:13 PM

A man is facing charges after an off-duty RCMP officer reported being spat on and threatened in Little Grand Rapids, Man.

RCMP said the Mountie was jogging around 3:20 p.m. Thursday when a man approached and spat on the officer, then threatened to throw a bicycle at them.

The officer reported the incident to a local band constable.

A 43-old man was arrested by on-duty RCMP officers and the band constable; he was charged with assaulting a police officer.

Fire risk prompts restrictions in southeastern Manitoba

5:47 PM

The province has imposed Level 1 fire and travel restrictions for a section of southeastern Manitoba due to high fire danger.

Moose Lake, Birch Point, Marchand and Woodridge provincial parks are within the restricted area, which has boundaries of Provincial Road 302, the Trans-Canada Highway, the Manitoba-Ontario border and the Canada-U.S. border.

In that zone, motorized backcountry travel is banned between noon and 7 p.m., permits are required to access a remote cottage via forestry road, private road or trail between those times, and provincial burn permits are cancelled.