Community club, daycare back in business
7:09 PM
It’s back to the daycare for children left without a place to go for two weeks thanks to a broken sewer pipe
In an email to the South Winnipeg Community Club, where the Waverley Heights Child Care Centre is housed, a spokesperson said the repair “has been successfully completed.”
The underground sewer pipe broke on March 13, forcing the daycare to close and for all events in the community centre to be cancelled.
Sex offender a high risk to reoffend: police
2:53 PM
Police are notifying the public about a sex offender who is expected to live in Winnipeg after being released from Headingley jail Wednesday.
Cecil Junior Houle, a.k.a. Chubby or Junior, was serving time for four counts of failing to comply with conditions of a probation order. Police said all people, particularly females, are at risk of sexual violence.
Houle, 47, is subject to a lifetime weapons prohibition order and two probation orders that expire this year.
He was convicted of manslaughter in the killing of his common-law wife and sexual assault causing bodily harm in connection with an 18-year-old woman in 2006.
“This information is provided to enable members of the public to take suitable measures to protect themselves,” the Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit — a joint forces unit of the Winnipeg Police Service and the RCMP — said in a news release Wednesday. “Any form of vigilante activity or other unreasonable conduct directed at Mr. Houle will not be tolerated.”
Province to open clinic in Brandon
2:21 PM
The Manitoba government will open the first minor-injury-and-illness clinic in Brandon as part of $17-million earmarked in this year’s budget to open new sites.
Premier Wab Kinew and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara held a news conference in Brandon on Wednesday afternoon.
“When your child needs stitches or you have the flu, a crowded ER should not be your only option,” Kinew said in a news release.
The Brandon clinic will be staffed by doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses who will provide primary health-care services and support for minor health-care concerns. Patients will be able to book same-day appointments and connect with providers via virtual care. It will be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. An interim location will open in Brandon in September while Prairie Mountain Health works to find a permanent home for the clinic.
“Expanding primary care is key to improving health outcomes for Manitobans and reducing the pressure on our emergency services,” Asagwara said in the release, adding it’s estimated more than 700 people will visit the clinic every week.
Park reservations open April 8
12:36 PM
People can begin booking cabins, yurts and group-use areas in provincial parks on April 8.
Camping reservations will be staggered over five days to accommodate demand. Online and call-centre services will open at 7 a.m. on opening day. Walk-in reservations and in-person payment arrangements can also be made at 1181 Portage Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, starting April 8.
No campsites are available until Tuesday, when booking opens for such sites at the Birds Hill, Winnipeg Beach and Grand Beach campgrounds.
More information is available here.
Man charged in Pimicikamak slaying
11:27 AM
A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of a woman in Pimicikamak Cree Nation.
Shawn McKay, 23, who lives in the First Nation, was arrested at the scene and charged Tuesday.
The man and the 45-year-old victim knew each other, RCMP said Wednesday.
Mounties from the community, also known as Cross Lake, were sent to a home on Sawmill Road and found the body of the woman at about 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Humane society launches trap trade-in
11:07 AM
The Winnipeg Humane Society is asking people to turn in lethal animal traps in exchange for a chance to win a $200 gift card to its pet shop.
The society said pets are getting injured in traps targeting wildlife, adding it knows of two cases where cats were injured in traps in the past several months.
Winslow, a two-year-old cat, was taken to the shelter’s clinic with severe injuries after he was caught in an illegal body-hold trap. The cat was found in Charleswood last month. Such traps are used for animals such as raccoons, beavers and coyotes.
Another cat, Enzo, lost her leg after being tangled in a snare. Both animals are recovering well.
Traps accepted as part of the campaign include body grip/Conibear traps, both of which are illegal to use in Winnipeg, as well as leg-hold traps, snares and other makeshift lethal traps.
Traps can be dropped off at 45 Hurst Way until April 10.
Fire in St. Mary’s Road commercial building extinguished
9:57 AM
Crews extinguished a fire in a commercial building on St. Mary’s Road early Wednesday.
Firefighters were sent to the single-storey building on the 700 block of St. Mary’s at 1:58 a.m. and saw heavy smoke and flames coming from the building. Crews fought the fire from outside before conditions improved enough for firefighters to enter the building.
The fire was declared under control at 2:48 a.m.
No one was inside the building.
