Hanover School Division apologizes for reopening old wound

A rural Manitoba school division has apologized after Grade 9 social studies students were asked to name two positive aspects about residential schools.

An assignment sent home with Steinbach Regional Secondary School students in early April asked them to “make a list of what you think are two positive and two negative effects of residential schools” as per a learning activity on the legacy of residential schools.

The assignment caught the attention of Bambi Bertholet.

“It’s exactly questions like this in our curriculum that perpetuate those kinds of stereotypes… and influence people about how they feel about Indigenous people,” said Bertholet, who is Cree and has lived in Steinbach for seven years.

St. Vital site latest community club to be hit by thieves

Baseball games frequently feature stolen bases, but the youth teams at a community club in St. Vital are dealing with stolen… everything.

Thieves recently cut through a batting cage fence and swiped a pitching machine and baseball equipment from the Worthington Avenue site of the Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre.

It’s not the only community centre in Winnipeg that’s been hit by bandits. Tyndall Park, at 2255 King Edward St., and Chalmers, at 480 Chalmers St., have been the target of thieves and vandalism in recent months.

“Whoever did this doesn’t care about the kids,” said Michael Andersen, who coaches one of the Norberry-Glenlee centre’s youth baseball teams. “What kind of losers do this?

City set to eliminate parking spots on Burrows

The City of Winnipeg will remove a few dozen parking spaces from Burrows Avenue to prevent vehicles from blocking drivers’ sight lines, despite residents’ fight to save the spots.

A city report notes the intersection of Burrows Avenue and Charles Street was evaluated after 311 complaints reported frequent T-bone (right-angle) collisions at the site.

City officials then found a “pattern of similar collisions at numerous intersections with Burrows Avenue,” the report notes.

“Between 2016 and 2020, 180 collisions occurred at unsignalized intersections on Burrows Avenue. More than 60 per cent were right-angle in configuration. Around two-thirds of the right-angle collisions were severe and resulted in injury,” wrote David Patman, the city’s manager of transportation planning, in the report.

Seven-year-old witness to beginning of mother’s fatal beating fears father will return to kill her, court hears

A child who witnessed the onset of her father’s fatal attack on her mother lives in fear her father will return to kill her, a court has heard.

“Me and my brother were jumping on the bed screaming for help,” the now-seven-year-old girl said in a victim impact statement provided to court Thursday at a sentencing hearing for 31-year-old Justin Robinson.

“I’m scared that my dad will find out where I am,” the girl said. “I am scared that my dad will hurt me, and I don’t want to pass away like momma Tessa.”

Robinson pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder for a 45-minute-long assault on May 30, 2022 that took the life of Tessa Perry, a 31-year-old mother of four.

Urgent apartment block evacuation triggers provincial, municipal talks on policy changes

The municipal and provincial governments are discussing the potential for policy changes in the wake of the emergency evacuation of the Birchwood Terrace apartment block.

“There is ongoing discussion between the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba related to this site … to see if anything needs to change, needs to change in legislation, needs to (change) in city bylaws,” Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters at an unrelated press conference Wednesday.

“This is an opportunity for us to take a look at what we do.”

Some 250 residents living in the five-storey apartment complex at 2440 Portage Ave. were given 12 hours notice to move out May 9, after engineers identified rotting structural support beams placing the building at risk of collapse.

Heavy rain in forecast, flooding possible in Interlake

A heavy rainfall warning was in effect for Winnipeg and other parts of southern Manitoba on Thursday, with 40 to 70 millimetres of rain expected Friday. That region is expected to get the most rain, along with the Interlake and Whiteshell lakes areas. Flooding is possible if there is a particularly heavy amount of precipitation in a short time, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s hydrologic forecast centre said in a news release. Levels on rivers and streams will increase, but most major rivers are expected to remain with their banks, including the Red and Assiniboine, the province said. Soil moisture is […]

Manitoba government plans new rules for rent increases and incentives for new housing

WINNIPEG - Some Manitoba landlords may have a harder time raising rents above inflation and could be ordered to phase-in increases over years if a bill introduced Thursday by the Manitoba government becomes law.

The bill would set down conditions for landlords who want to raise rents above the annual provincial guideline, which is tied to inflation. Currently, landlords can apply to a residential tenancies director for a higher rent increase for any reason and make their argument.

The bill would limit such applications to cases where landlords face a sharp rise in taxes, utilities and security costs, or where they invest in capital projects such as plumbing and heating.

"It's just to ensure that those applications are made for significant capital projects, significant expenses to landlords, and that folks aren't being charged above-guideline rent increases because there's new paint," Lisa Naylor, the minister for consumer protection and government services, said

Mayor’s office confirms police board member resigned

The mayor’s office has confirmed a member of the Winnipeg Police Board has resigned.

A motion to replace Kyle Mason will be reworded to better reflect the need for the change, Scott Gillingham’s office said Thursday morning.

A motion that passed at executive policy committee Wednesday called to officially revoke Mason’s appointment, alleging he had breached the board’s code of ethical conduct, though it noted no details.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Mason told the Free Press he had already resigned after the board questioned him about a driving offence.

Sea Bears focused on ironing out wrinkles for home-opener

Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson hasn’t played basketball in front of a hometown crowd in almost 10 years.

That will change Friday when the 32-year-old Winnipegger leads his hometown Sea Bears onto the court at Canada Life Centre for their home opener against the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s defending champion Scarborough Shooting Stars at 7:30 p.m.

Could the spectacle of playing in front of family and 9,116 of his newest friends — the game has been sold out for two weeks — be a distraction?

“I don’t think so,” said Garden City Collegiate grad Thursday afternoon.