News briefs for October 14, 2020

Manitoba public health officials warn the following schools had possible exposures to COVID-19 last week: 

• Mitchell Middle School (203 Third St. in Mitchell) from Oct. 7 to 9. 
• Margaret Park School (385 Cork Ave.) in Winnipeg on Oct. 5 and 7.
• Acadia Junior High (175 Killarney Ave.) in Winnipeg on Oct. 5 and 6. 

In all three cases, officials said the risk of exposure was low and the infections were not believed to be acquired at school. Close contacts who need to self-isolate will be contacted by public health officials.

Parents of students at Clearspring Middle School in Steinbach were also informed by email Wednesday evening that an individual at that school has been diagnosed with COVID-19. More details on that case are expected Thursday.

An exposure also occurred on Westjet flight WS204 on Oct. 2, Edmonton to Winnipeg, in rows one to five. People in the affected seats have been told to self-isolate for 14 days following the flight, and monitor for symptoms.

The Western Hockey League has pushed back its intended start date to Jan. 8, the league announced today.

The major-junior loop had originally said it would begin the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 season on Dec. 4.

Players are expected to report to training camps following the Christmas break. 

Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has crossed another restricted free agent off his to-do list.

Defenceman Nelson Nogier signed a two-year, two-way contract Wednesday that would pay him $725,000 in the NHL. Terms of the AHL salary were not disclosed.

The 24-year-old has skated in 11 career games with the Jets, but none since December 2018. He played 58 games for the Manitoba Moose last year, with one goal, eight assists and 45 penalty minutes.

Nogier, who is from Saskatoon, was picked by the Jets in the fourth round (101st overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.

Nogier joins fellow RFAs Mason Appleton and C.J. Suess in recently inking new details. That leaves forwards Jack Roslovic and Jansen Harkins, and defenceman Sami Niku, still to come to terms.

Police are seeking the public’s help in finding a 19-year-old female from the Leaf Rapids community last seen Oct. 11 in the area of Miknak Bay.

Gwyneth Gegenfurtner, who was reported missing Oct. 12 at 5:35 p.m., is described as 5-foot-6 and around 140 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with any information on her whereabouts should call Leaf Rapids RCMP at 204-473-2469.

Tina Keeper will be awarded with the University of Winnipeg Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award during her alma mater’s fall 2020 convocation ceremony on Oct. 22 and 23.

Keeper was the first Indigenous woman to serve as a Member of Parliament in Manitoba, serving for the federal riding of Churchill from 2006-08. Keeper is also a film, television and theatre producer and an actor. Her advocacy work includes serving as an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and as a member of the Manitoba MMIWG Coalition.

She was also the first Indigenous woman to receive a Gemini award for a leading role on a Canadian TV series and is a recipient of the Order of Manitoba.

A railyard fire Wednesday morning involved a refrigerated insulated boxcar and over 400 adjacent rail ties, according to the Portage la Prairie fire department.

The fire, which started at around 8:05 a.m. Wednesday just south of the 400 block of 7th Street NE in Portage la Prairie, was declared under control by 11:30 a.m. There were no injuries reported.

Selkirk RCMP are seeking public assistance in locating 26-year-old John David Roy, who was last reported missing Sept. 16 in Selkirk.

Roy is described as 5’9", 180 pounds, with brown and and brown hair worn in a bun.

Police believe Roy was last seen in Winnipeg on Oct. 3. Anyone with any information on his whereabouts should call Selkirk RCMP at 204-482-3322.

A Brandon lawyer already required to have no non-work related contact with female lawyers has had additional restrictions placed on his practice. 

According to a notice of undertaking posted on the Law Society of Manitoba website, Ryan Fawcett has agreed not to have any non-work related contact with any female members of the law society, female legal asistants or female employees of the courts, Manitoba Justice or Legal Aid Manitoba.

The undertaking, put into effect Oct. 8, can be contravened with permission of the law society. Fawcett entered a similar undertaking in August restricting his contact with female lawyers in the province. 

According to the notice, the undertaking will remain in effect pending the completion of an investigation and any subsequent disciplinary proceedings.

Manitoba reported 146 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and two more people have died from the disease. 

According to the province, a man in his 80s and woman in her 70s, both from Winnipeg, died after being diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Thirty-seven Manitobans have now died from COVID-19. 

Provincial public health officials said the province wide five-day test positivity rate is at 4.4 per cent and 2,200 tests were processed at the lab on Tuesday. 

New cases are in the following regions: 

• Winnipeg, 114.
• Prairie Mountain, two. 
• Southern Health-Sante Sud, 17. 
• Interlake-Eastern, 9. 
• Northern, 4.  

According to the province, of the 146 news cases, 39 were identified Monday and 107 were identified Tuesday. 

There are 1,374 active cases and 1,514 individuals have recovered from COVID-19. On Wednesday, 27 people are in hospital with COVID-19, including three in intensive care.

Four suspects are currently in custody after two people were robbed and one was stabbed on Oct. 13 and just past midnight Oct. 14 in the Lord Selkirk Park area.

At approximately 9:50 p.m. Oct. 13, two females were robbed by a group of people at knifepoint. At approximately 12:05 a.m. on Oct. 14, a male was stabbed by a large group in the 600 block of Manitoba Avenue. He was sent to hospital and is now in stable condition. Another female in the same area reported being robbed by a group of people at knifepoint.

Police are investigating after a woman was robbed at gunpoint in a North End home early Wednesday morning.

It happened inside a home in the 500 block of Stella Avenue at 7:39 a.m., the Winnipeg Police Service said.

Police took several people into custody and the investigation is ongoing. No other details were released.

RCMP is confirming that a body found on the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation is Bud Paul.

Paul, 56, of Winnipeg, was last seen Aug. 1 with a man and woman in a Neepawa liquor store. He was reported missing to Winnipeg police on Aug. 7.

RCMP said on Wednesday that Paul’s body was found in deep brush at Roseau River on Aug. 11, one day after his torched SUV was discovered on Queen Street in Winnipeg.

RCMP said they believe those responsible for Paul’s slaying used his bank account after his death and threw out evidence into a nearby garbage can before setting the vehicle on fire.

Anyone with any information about the matter is asked to call the tip line at 431-489-8551.

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A city union could soon secure a new four-year collective agreement with five small wage increases.

City council will be asked to ratify the tentative deal for Winnipeg Association of Public Service Officers (WAPSO) members, which is expected to cost the city about $6.9 million between now and Dec. 31, 2023.

If given final approval by the city and the union, wages will rise 0.5 per cent in July 2021, 0.5 per cent in January 2022, 1.0 per cent in August 2022, 0.75 per cent in January 2023, and 1.25 per cent in August 2023.

Members of the bargaining unit would also receive a $500 signing bonus in January 2021, if the deal receives final approval.

Online learning will remain the norm at the University of Winnipeg throughout the winter term. 

In a community update on Tuesday, Jan Stewart, interim vice-president academic, announced the winter 2021 term will be delivered similar to the fall term, with only a small number of classes on campus.

“The majority of fall-term courses are being delivered remotely, with only a few in-person classes to accommodate learning that can’t happen effectively from a distance,” Stewart wrote to staff and students. 

“Due to the ongoing public health situation — and so we may continue to safeguard the well-being of the UWinnipeg community — we have decided the winter 2021 term will function in the same way.” 

The announcement mirrors plans at the University of Manitoba and Brandon University.

Thompson RCMP have charged a man and woman with several firearm offences.

On Oct. 10, a resident of an apartment building on Princeton Drive in Thompson found a bullet in their suite that had been fired from another suite.

“The bullet had travelled through the wall, through a cupboard and was found on the floor,” the RCMP said in a press release.

Officers located the suite and seized a handgun and ammunition. The tenant, a 39-year-old woman, was arrested and is facing multiple firearm charges.

A second suspect, a 30-year-old man from Winnipeg, later turned himself in to police while suffering from a gunshot wound. Investigators believe he was handling the gun in an unsafe manner when it discharged.

The man faces three firearm charges.

Manitoba RCMP will hold a press conference Wednesday morning to provide an update on a case where human remains were found.

The remains were discovered Aug. 11, 2020 on Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation. 

Mounties searched there again Tuesday as part of their ongoing investigation. 

The press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at RCMP headquarters in Winnipeg.