News briefs for April 12, 2022

The city’s six school divisions announced late Tuesday all schools and division offices would be closed Wednesday and Thursday due to the incoming blizzard.

 Schools in the Pembina Trails division were to move to remote learning.

Manitoba RCMP and Winnipeg police are searching for a 50-year-old man charged with arson and three counts of second-degree murder following a fire in a Portage la Prairie duplex that killed three people on Sunday. 

Police were called to the blaze early Sunday, finding the three dead. RCMP have since identified the victims as a 32-year-old mother, her six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son. Police say they were murdered. 

Trevis McLeod, 50, was charged Tuesday. He was last seen in Winnipeg on Monday and Tuesday. Police asked anyone with information on his whereabouts to call 911. 

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is cancelling performances of Calpurnia at the John Hirsch Mainstage and The Runner at the Tom Hendry Warehouse on April 13 and 14 ahead of the snowstorm forecast to arrive Tuesday night.

Ticket holders will be contacted directly by the box office. RMTC expects to resume performances on Friday, April 15. 

The Western Hockey League has postponed Thursday’s game between the Winnipeg Ice and Regina Pats at Wayne Fleming Arena due to extreme weather conditions that are expected to arrive in Winnipeg later today.

The teams are still scheduled to play again on Friday night in Winnipeg but no rescheduled date for the Thursday game has been announced.

Rise Against, the Chicago punk group, announced on Twitter Tuesday that it is cancelling its Thursday night concert at Canada Life Centre owing to the impending snowstorm coming to southern Manitoba.

In the Twitter post, the band said refunds are available at point of purchase and said "we’ll get back to you as soon as we can."

The city will put into force its extended snow route parking ban starting on Wednesday at midnight because of the impending blizzard.

Starting Wednesday at midnight, the ban will keep parked vehicles off designated snow route streets until Thursday at 7 a.m., and then every night from midnight to 7 a.m., until the city declares it over.

Anyone who parks on a snow route during the extended parking ban could face a $100 ticket or $75 if paid early.

The Manitoba Moose will still host the Rockford IceHogs this weekend, although the impending late-winter storm has altered the dates.

Friday’s evening AHL game has been switched to Sunday at 2 p.m. at Canada Life Centre. Saturday’s game between the two sides remains a go at 2 p.m.

Tickets for Friday’s game will be accepted for the rescheduled game on Sunday.

The Winnipeg Jets game against the visiting Seattle Kraken Wednesday night has been postponed, owing to extreme weather conditions expected to hit Winnipeg this week.

The Jets, in conjunction with the National Hockey League, made the announcement Tuesday afternoon, adding the game has been rescheduled for Sunday, May 1, at 1 p.m. at Canada Life Centre.

A major spring storm warning has been issued for southern Manitoba beginning overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning and lasting until Friday morning. The province is expected to get hit with between 30-50 cm of snowfall, accompanied by northerly winds gusting 60-70 km/h giving zero visibility at times in snow and blowing snow.

In order to ensure safe travel for an upcoming four-game road trip, the Jets will travel to Florida Tuesday, where they will play back-to-back games Friday and Saturday against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Two women and a man have been charged in connection with the discovery of human remains found by a dog in the RM of Woodlands last week.

Winnipeg police announced on Tuesday the human remains found have been identified as 26-year-old Brandon Brust. Brust has been missing from Scanterbury since February.

An investigation has determined Brust was attacked and killed inside a Pritchard Avenue residence on Feb. 11, police said. A woman was later seriously assaulted there.

Kenneth Andrew Edwards, 29, has been charged with several offences including second-degree murder, sexual assault and forcible confinement. Billie Erin Kozub, 38, and 18-year-old Emily Rae Fontaine, have been charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

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Winnipeg police are announcing arrests have been made in the wake of last week’s discovery of human remains by a dog in the RM of Woodlands.

Police said on Tuesday they will be making an announcement at 1 p.m.

Last week, RCMP announced it was starting a homicide investigation after a dog took bones to its owner on a farm west of Highway 6 after snow began melting.

Before Winnipeg police became involved, RCMP had not said if they knew who the victim was or how they died.

School bus travel is cancelled in all Winnipeg school divisions Wednesday and Thursday owing to the winter storm expected to begin tonight. 

Brian O’Leary, the superintendent for the Seven Oaks School Division, confirmed Tuesday morning the buses will not operate before or after school during these days to keep students safe. 

O’Leary said he will meet with fellow superintendents this afternoon and early tomorrow to discuss which other precautions the divisions may take. No decision has been made at this time to close Winnipeg schools. 

Winnipeg’s school divisions include Louis-Riel, Pembina Trails, River East Transcona, Seven Oaks, St. James-Assiniboia and Winnipeg. 

An RCMP officer was injured after a motorist allegedly began fighting with him after being pulled over in Niverville.

RCMP said on Tuesday the officer received minor injuries while trying to arrest a motorist on 6th Avenue South in Niverville on April 7 at about 2 p.m.

RCMP said after the officer pulled the vehicle over, the driver began acting aggressive and threatened the officer. When the officer told the driver he was being arrested for uttering threats, the driver allegedly  resisted and began fighting him, with the pair ending up on the roadway. A passerby stopped and helped the officer subdue the driver.

Lyall James Hudson, 51, of Niverville, has been charged with assaulting a police officer, uttering threats, and resisting arrest.