News briefs for Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Selkirk RCMP seek identity of knifepoint store robber

10:16 AM

RCMP in Selkirk are searching for a suspect accused of three knifepoint store robberies over the course of a week.

The first robbery occurred at 5:55 p.m. on June 16, when a masked suspect demanded cash from an employee at a store in the 400 block of the city’s Main Street, RCMP said. The same suspect demanded cash at the same store at 11 a.m. on June 20.

The third robbery happened at a different store in the 100 block of Main Street at about 5:25 p.m. on June 23.

Mounties said security video shows the suspect wearing black pants, black Nike sneakers with a white logo, a black hoodie or a blue Winnipeg Jets sweater, and a camouflage tuque.

RCMP are asking anyone who can identify the suspect to call the Selkirk detachment at 204-482-1222 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

Police officer charged after highway crash

11:41 AM

A Winnipeg police officer has been charged with careless driving and making an unauthorized U-turn after a crash on the Trans-Canada Highway this winter.

The collision between a Winnipeg Police Service vehicle and another vehicle happened on a divided, four-lane section of the Trans-Canada in the Rural Municipality of Reynolds on Jan. 31.

The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) notified the RCMP in February that it would investigate the matter “based on additional information received.”

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Ian Case is the officer charged under the Highway Traffic Act.

The IIU said in February that an initial investigation determined a vehicle was westbound on the Trans-Canada when a second vehicle entered the highway from a parked position, resulting in a crash. At the time, the IIU asked for witnesses or anyone with video that might help its investigation to call them.

RRC Polytech receives $10M donation

11:45 AM

Gerry Price and the Price Family Foundation has gifted $10 million to RRC Polytech — the largest donation in the college’s history — to establish the Price Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics.

The founder and CEO of Price Industries — the largest non-residential HVAC company in North America — also re-committed to a scholarship fund for students at RRC Polytech for another five years, a gift that will total more than $11 million.

The new institute will focus on training and research revolving around the integration of digital technologies with the mechanical side of manufacturing — sometimes referred to as mechatronics — which underpins advanced manufacturing.

The province contributed close to $5 million and the federal government, through PrairiesCan, contributed $3 million to bring the total to $17.8 million for the initiative that is expected to increase the number of engineering technology graduates at RRC by 150 per cent.