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Cranberry Portage was evacuated Saturday night, as a wildlife spread close to the northern community. (Heather Charlette / Facebook)

Premier to visit northwest Manitoba, promises support for wildfire evacuees

‘We could be fighting that fire a month from now’: Wildfire Service director

Tyler Searle 6 minute read Yesterday at 1:27 PM CDT

New

Health Sciences Centre (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files)

‘It was horrific’: Patient’s death at HSC sparks probe, renews safety concerns

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:30 PM CDT

SUPPLIED Exhibit 12 - 1. April 30 2022 0812 hrs Jeremy Skibicki Eating with Morgan HARRIS

Videos show serial killer with three living victims, later disposing of remains

Dean Pritchard 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:02 PM CDT

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Roland Rivard, executive director of the Catholic School of Evangelization which runs the St Malo Catholic Camp, a summer camp in St Malo, is photographed at St Boniface Cathedral in Winnipeg Monday, May 13, 2024. Rivard’s program and other summer camp programs in Manitoba are experiencing a cut in funding. Manitoba Camps Association is questioning why the NDP are cutting funding to summer camps. Reporter: Nicole

Province’s sudden funding cuts leave summer camps up creek with inadequate paddle

Nicole Buffie 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:34 PM CDT

City considers heritage designation for Assiniboine Park statue

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

City considers heritage designation for Assiniboine Park statue

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:18 PM CDT

Heritage designations could soon protect a well-known statue, honour a significant peacemaker and keep some greenspace intact.

The Boy With the Boot statue is among several pieces of property nominated for addition to the city’s list of historical resources. If council approves the change, it would be protected against demolition.

The 140-kilogram, 1.2-metre tall bronze statue depicts a small boy holding a leaking boot and served as one of Winnipeg’s earliest public fountains.

A city report notes the statue was first erected in 1898 at a former city hall building but moved to Assiniboine Park by 1913, where it now stands in the English Garden.

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Yesterday at 6:18 PM CDT

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Jackson Grusko, age three, gets a closer look at the Boy with the Boot statue at the entrance to the Assiniboine Park’s English Garden Monday. The statue is one of several structures that are being considered for heritage status.

Evacuees struggle with uncertainty as wildfires inch toward homes

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Preview

Evacuees struggle with uncertainty as wildfires inch toward homes

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Yesterday at 3:09 PM CDT

Uncertainties brought Heather Murray to tears — not knowing where she and her family will stay or if they will have a home to return to, while a wildfire rages on Cranberry Portage’s doorstep.

Murray was staying in a two-bed hotel room in The Pas with her four children, including a 20-year-old son who has special needs and is fed by tube, and their pet dog.

“I’m looking at putting (my son) in the hospital right now, because we don’t have a place,” she said by phone Monday. “We’re running out of supplies. I’m really stressed right now.”

The northern community of about 600 people was evacuated Saturday night, after a wildfire rapidly spread toward it.

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Yesterday at 3:09 PM CDT

SUPPLIED
Heather Charlette (left), and her daughter, Dolly, were forced to flee Cranberry Portage and are staying with family members in The Pas.

Opinion

Fight for Indigenous identity continues Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Yesterday at 8:10 PM CDT
Protest camps and higher learning Editorial 3 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT
Apologies and finger-pointing, but no redress John D. Perrin 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

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No Frills union’s stabbing grievance headed to arbitration

Free Press staff 2 minute read Preview

No Frills union’s stabbing grievance headed to arbitration

Free Press staff 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:39 PM CDT

A union grievance prompted by the stabbing of a No Frills supermarket employee in Winnipeg is being sent to arbitration, after meetings failed to reach a resolution.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832 claims the victim and her colleagues were not provided a safe workplace at the grocery store, violating their collective agreement.

“We have now sent the matter to arbitration and we’re trying to push the employer to make immediate changes, which they are reluctant to do,” said Jeff Traeger, the local’s president.

A hearing date has not been set.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:39 PM CDT

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
The No Frills on Notre Dame Avenue where a worker was stabbed while intervening with an alleged shoplifter.

Latest Order of Manitoba recipients revealed

Free Press staff 2 minute read Preview

Latest Order of Manitoba recipients revealed

Free Press staff 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:26 PM CDT

The latest people set to receive Manitoba’s highest honour include a former senator and judge, a former legislative Speaker and the chief public health officer.

Twelve Manitobans will receive the Order of Manitoba in a ceremony at the Manitoba Legislative Building on July 11. The order honours people “who have demonstrated excellence and achievement, thereby enriching the social, cultural or economic well-being of the province and its residents.” The names of all members are on permanent display in the building.

One of the twelve incoming members is Murray Sinclair, the former senator who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and was the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba. Myrna Driedger, who was an MLA for 25 years and served two terms as Speaker, will also be joining the order. Dr. Brent Roussin, the province’s chief public health officer, became well-known to Manitobans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other people being invested include Dr. Marcia Anderson, who served as the public health lead for Manitoba’s First Nations COVID-19 response team; Métis/Saulteaux elder Mae Louise Campbell, who has spent 45 years working with Indigenous women and two-spirit people; and David Johnston, who founded the benefit plan company Johnston Group and developed the Johnston Family Foundation.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:26 PM CDT

Murray Sinclair speaks during a public safety summit at the RBC Convention Centre on April 30. (MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES)

SciMar seeks U.S. retail investors amid cash crunch

Martin Cash 5 minute read Preview

SciMar seeks U.S. retail investors amid cash crunch

Martin Cash 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Dauphin-based biotech company SciMar Ltd. has been working on a game-changing way to treat diabetes for more than a decade. It has all sorts of patented technology and has raised close to $20 million over the years.

This month, after spending close to two years getting the necessary work done, the company started raising money from retail investors through a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission process called Regulation A, which lowers the threshold for “qualified investors” and allows the company to remain private and unlisted.

However, in the meantime, it has laid off most of its staff — about 10 people — and its senior executives may be working without pay.

Mick Lautt, CEO of SciMar, acknowledged the company’s current cash crunch and the challenging environment when it comes to raising capital.

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2:00 AM CDT

Two accused plead guilty to second-degree murder in shooting death

Erik Pindera 3 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

TWO men who were slated to begin their first-degree murder trial in front of a jury for a fatal 2022 shooting on Burrows Avenue instead pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder.

Mario Nippi and Fransisco Flett, both 25, were arrested for first-degree murder weeks after the April 12, 2022 ambush shooting of Brandon David Thomas Richard, 28, of St. Norbert.

The men entered their guilty pleas before Court of King’s Bench Justice Richard Saull.

Flett’s lawyer Ryan Amy said the Crown and defence arrived at a plea bargain agreement late Friday afternoon. The jury had already been selected, court heard Monday.

Indonesian rescuers search through rivers and rubble after flash floods that killed at least 50

Kasparman Piliang, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Indonesian rescuers search through rivers and rubble after flash floods that killed at least 50

Kasparman Piliang, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 1:13 AM CDT

TANAH DATAR, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers on Tuesday searched in rivers and the rubble of devastated villages for bodies, and whenever possible, survivors of flash floods that hit Indonesia’s Sumatra Island over the weekend.

Monsoon rains and a landslide of mud and cold lava from Mount Marapi caused rivers to breach their banks. The deluge tore through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight Saturday.

The floods swept away people and 79 homes and submerged hundreds of houses and buildings, forcing more than 3,300 residents to flee to temporary government shelters, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

Muhari said 50 bodies had been pulled from mud and rivers by Tuesday, mostly in worst-hit Agam and Tanah Datar districts, while rescuers are searching for 27 people who are reportedly missing.

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Updated: 1:13 AM CDT

Rescuers search for victims of a flash flood in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, Indonesia, Monday, May 13, 2024. Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano's slopes on Indonesia's Sumatra island triggered flash floods causing a number of people dead and missing, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/Ali Nayaka)

Battle for O-line opening

Taylor Allen 4 minute read Preview

Battle for O-line opening

Taylor Allen 4 minute read Yesterday at 8:42 PM CDT

The Blue Bombers couldn’t afford to pay everyone this off-season.

That led to Winnipegger Geoff Gray not being re-signed as the club already had two younger and cheaper guards under contract in Liam Dobson and Tui Eli.

“I just miss Geoff. He’s a one-of-a-kind guy and I felt I had a really unique relationship with him in the best kind of way,” said Bombers centre Chris Kolankowski after Day 2 of training camp. “We would rag on each other, and it was all love. As a friend, I’m really going to miss him. As a player, I felt with our double teams, we’re going to miss him.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea praised Gray’s play, but also referred to him as a “glue guy” as he would host the O-line and their families at his place for weekly dinners. The group will likely have to figure out a new tradition now.

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Yesterday at 8:42 PM CDT

Heywood Yu / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Liam Dobson would appear to be the favourite in the competition to replace Geoff Gray on the Blue Bombers offensive line.

Jeffcoat’s retirement leaves hole on Bombers defensive line

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

Jeffcoat’s retirement leaves hole on Bombers defensive line

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Yesterday at 7:06 PM CDT

It sunk in on Day 1 of training camp for Willie Jefferson.

After terrorizing quarterbacks with fellow Blue Bombers defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat for five seasons, he now needs a new partner in crime.

Jeffcoat, who played his entire six-year CFL career in Winnipeg and recorded 38 total sacks, retired during the off-season at the age of 33.

“It’s not me and Jackson no more. It’s not going to be the dynamic duo, the Twin Towers, the Texas Boys, and everything that everyone called us. Now, it’s just me,” said Jefferson, also 33, after Day 2 of training camp on Monday.

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Yesterday at 7:06 PM CDT