News briefs for January 28, 2022

The 2022 Manitoba men’s curling championship has gotten the green light from provincial health officials.

The Viterra championship will go ahead Feb. 9-13 in Selkirk, according to an email to participating teams from Curl Manitoba.

There will be no opening or closing ceremonies and playoffs will not be televised on Sportsnet.

The reigning champion is Jason Gunnlaugson’s Morris team. They won in 2020 and were appointed as Manitoba champions in ’21.

A Fisher River man has been arrested and charged again in connection with a series of "swatting" calls in the United States. 

The accused was initially arrested and charged in September after hoax calls warning of an active shooter were placed to schools in Tennessee and North Carolina in August. 

A police examination of the suspect’s electronic devices showed the accused had also placed swatting calls to other police departments in the United States. 

The calls ranged from active shooter threats to bomb threats involving large facilities. As a result of the phone calls, numerous law enforcement personnel were dispatched to these locations which were all determined to be false, RCMP said. Sean Murdock, 18, is scheduled to appear in court on March 8 in Peguis First Nation.

A 77-year-old Falcon Lake man is dead after his vehicle collided with an overpass on the Trans-Canada Highway on Thursday . 

A truck with a hydraulic logging crane was attempting to go under the overpass at the turn-off to Falcon Lake at 12:10 p.m., when the vehicle struck the overpass. The driver of a vehicle behind the truck called 911 and gave aid to the truck driver. 

Falcon Beach RCMP, along with emergency medical technicians, arrived and gave the victim CPR, but the man died at the scene. 

Speed and alcohol were not involved in the collision, police say.

Manitoba announced five more COVID-19 deaths and four additional hospitalizations today.

The province’s pandemic death toll is now 1,543.

According to the government’s pandemic dashboard, 715 people with COVID-19 were in hospital, including 52 in intensive care. That’s an increase of four COVID-related hospitalizations in the past 24 hours.

There were 898 new cases confirmed through PCR testing as of this morning. The test positivity rate province-wide is 32.1 per cent. Just 1,722 tests were processed yesterday.

The province is no longer tracking the majority of positive COVID-19 cases because PCR testing is limited and Manitobans using rapid tests are not able to report their results.

A child severely burned in a West End house fire Thursday morning has died. 

Just before 6 a.m. Thursday, firefighters were summoned to the blaze, at 323 Simcoe Street, just south of St. Matthews Avenue. They managed to put it out within a half-hour, but nine people, including the child, had to be taken to hospital. 

The victim, whom Winnipeg police identified as five years old, died of his injuries. Others who fled the fire have had their conditions upgraded to stable. 

The Winnipeg Police Service, along with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, are still investigating the fire. At this point, the fire doesn’t appear suspicious, police said.

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Manitoba Opera’s production of La Cenerentola, which was to take place April 2, 5 and 8 at the Centennial Concert Hall, has been moved to its 2022-23 season.

The opera’s board of directors decided Friday that the risk of COVID-19 spreading among artists, musicians, crew and the audience was too great to mount the large production of Rossini’s take on Cinderella.

In its place, Manitoba Opera will present a concert of opera favourites on April 2 at the Centennial Concert Hall and on a livestream. The number of attendees allowed in the auditorium will depend on provincial health regulations at that time.

A woman in her 50s was assaulted after a suspect asked her for money in the downtown skywalk near Hargrave Street Wednesday morning. 

At about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, officers found the victim, who said she was walking through the skywalk when a man she didn’t know asked her for cash. She said no and was pushed against the wall, threatened and assaulted with a plier-like tool. The weapon didn’t pierce her clothing and the suspect fled. 

Police and private security identified the suspect. Police issued an arrest warrant, and security spotted him Thursday morning near the underground shops around Main Street. 

Jaime Efrain Garcia, 40 from Winnipeg, was arrested and charged with robbery and uttering threats to kill or cause bodily harm. He was detained in custody. 

A Neepawa man is in custody and was charged with 34 counts of child luring. Police fear there may be more vicims. 

Jaime Mari Adri Centeno, 26, was on bail for luring and child pornography offences when police rearrested him last April on suspicion of breaching his release conditions. 

Since then, RCMP have charged him with a total of 88 offences, including 21 counts of making child pornography and five counts each of sexual assault and sexual interference.

Police allege Centeno, posing as a teenage boy, contacted victims through Snapchat using names including: kingmac6675, itsjaaaay1, brandonjay6493, jaime044, privateaccn2021, neepawanoypi20, and jcntno2021.

"We are very concerned there may be other victims," said Const. Gord Olson of the RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit. "We are asking anyone with information to contact their local police department."

Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon said public health orders currently in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 will remain in place until Feb. 8. 

"As we all learn to live with the virus, it is still critical that we stay the course over the next week," Gordon said in a statement. "There are signs of stabilization but we need more data to fully assess our next steps and implement initiatives that support our pandemic response.” 

Current public health orders expire on Tues., Feb. 1 and will be extended until 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 8.

Manitoba remains at the Orange (Restricted) level under the Pandemic Response System. 

Health Minister Audrey Gordon will be joined by chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin at an 11 a.m. news conference.

Dr. David Matear, health system co-lead of the Unified Health Sector Incident Command, will be attending virtually. 

They will provide an update on the public health orders and the status of the health-care system. 

The conference will be livestreamed on the province’s website and YouTube channel. 

William Avenue is closed to traffic in both directions between Sherbrook and Isabel streets after an early morning fire.

The area around the vacant three-storey apartment building is ice-covered and slippery, the City of Winnipeg said. People are advised to avoid the area.

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Firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after 2 a.m. today and used aerial ladders to battle the blaze. It is expected that crews will remain there for most of the day, the city said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No damage estimates are available. The building, which had previously been damaged by fire in July, is expected to be a complete loss.

A neighbouring house was evacuated and sustained water and heat damage.