Judge rules police meth search unlawful

Three people accused by Winnipeg police of selling methamphetamine and illegally possessing firearms were acquitted in provincial court Thursday after a judge ruled the search used to secure evidence in the case was unlawful.

Winnipeg Police Service tactical officers arrested Jesse Troy John Lafreniere, 38, Kaya Rose Ramsay, 26, and Thomas Thong Lee, 38, after executing two search warrants on March 23 last year at about 10:30 p.m. at a home on Aberdeen Avenue, where the three were found in the kitchen.

Police also discovered an unspecified quantity of meth, multiple firearms, stolen property and drug-trafficking paraphernalia inside the home.

Each was charged with possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime, as well as several offences for firearms possession and the possession of property obtained by crime.

Writes of Spring: City poets take on the Winnipeg 150 theme: ‘Our shared stories. Our shared future.’

2024 marks a notable year: the 150th anniversary of Winnipeg’s first city council meeting. So, for the ninth edition of Writes of Spring, we asked Winnipeggers to write to the city – travelling from its complicated past to its potholed present. We asked, where we go from here and how do we get there?

Traveller loses, then wins, WestJet compensation game

Jim Mahoney was frustrated when WestJet denied his claim for compensation — despite being eligible — after a return flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Winnipeg was cancelled last month.

He was incredulous a few hours later, when he learned the Calgary-based airline told two travel companions, who endured the same disruption, they were entitled to $1,000 each.

“I was happy for them, but just left with a really bad taste — that we’re out of pocket and we had the exact same experience,” said Mahoney, who went on vacation with his wife Heather and relatives.

“It’s like there’s got to be somebody spinning a wheel, and compensation is randomly done.”

‘There’ll be a lot of people watching’: sell-off of Scott-Bathgate inventory begins

Scott-Bathgate, parent company of the recently shuttered Nutty Club, is selling off its assets via online auctions. Items from its Calgary, Edmonton and Delta, B.C., locations are up first.

Manitoba promises review after school trustee’s comments on Indigenous people

WINNIPEG - A school trustee's comments on Indigenous people and residential schools have led to condemnation from many quarters and a review by the Manitoba government.

Paul Coffey, a trustee in the Mountain View School Division in western Manitoba, told a school board meeting Monday that residential schools started as a good thing.

"They were essential for reading, writing, arithmetic, also enforcement of school attendance," Coffey said in his half-hour presentation, which was posted online.

"It was all nice until its well-documented and openly expressed intention to use schools to assimilate, eradicate Indians' languages, cultures and spiritual beliefs."

Kildonan Park restaurant’s future in doubt with city’s proposed rent hike: operator

The owner of Kildonan Park’s popular Prairie’s Edge restaurant isn’t sure whether the doors will be open beyond next month, when its lease with the city expires.

Doug Stephen, president of WOW! Hospitality Concepts, which has operated the restaurant — in two iterations — for a decade, said a proposed rent increase has jeopardized its future.

“At the end of the day, I said if we can’t do something which gives me a degree of confidence, we will probably just leave,” Stephen said Thursday, adding he couldn’t say much because negotiations are ongoing.

“We don’t get a lot of money there. I do it for the community, Kildonan Park and Rainbow Stage. That park is visited more for family outings than, I think, even Assiniboine Park. Prairie’s Edge is there to help make that park a better attraction.”

Visiting teens allegedly harassed, abused by host students on ‘truth and reconciliation’ camping trip near First Nation

RCMP are investigating a bullying incident after teenagers from a southern Manitoba school were allegedly spanked, slapped, “dry-humped” and threatened by another group of students while on a camping trip near Norway House First Nation.

The allegations stem from a multi-day “truth and reconciliation” student exchange trip to the northern Manitoba community, located roughly 200 kilometres south of Thompson, last fall.

Students from the Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre, a nursery-to-Grade 12 school in Norway House, allegedly targeted boys from Elm Creek School in an act of intimidation while the teens were staying overnight in tents outside the community, said a parent whose child was on the trip.

A video recording of the alleged abuse has since circulated through the school community, the parent said, speaking anonymously to protect their child’s identity.

Lotts fall to Estonia in mixed-doubles shocker

All it takes is one bad game to spoil a great week of curling.

Gimli’s Colton and Kadriana Lott were feeling that way Friday in Östersund, Sweden after being eliminated from the world mixed doubles curling championship.

Team Canada suffered a 6-5 extra-end loss to Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill in the playoff qualification round.

The Lotts went 8-1 in round-robin play but had to settle for second place in their group as their lone loss came against Sweden’s Isabella Wrana and Rasmus Wrana (who also finished at 8-1). As the top seed, Sweden earned a bye to the semifinal.

Jury selected for accused serial killer’s murder trial

A jury has been selected in the trial of accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.

Twenty-one prospective jurors appeared before Court of King’s Bench Justice Rick Saull over the course of 90 minutes Thursday morning; 10 women and four men were ultimately selected for the trial, set to begin hearing evidence in two weeks.

The 14 jurors include two alternates who will step in if any of the other 12 are unable to fulfil their duties.

Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the 2022 killings of four Indigenous woman: Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois, Marcedes Myran and an as-of-yet unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Buffalo Woman.

Stefanson, Manitoba’s first female premier, to leave politics after 23 years

Former premier Heather Stefanson announced in the legislature Thursday she is resigning her Tuxedo seat after 23 years, effective May 6.

The Progressive Conservative MLA, Manitoba’s first female premier with previous top cabinet posts while in government, called it “the honour of a lifetime.”

“These roles allowed me to serve Manitobans and help pave the way for future generations of women in public service,” Stefanson told a surprised house during members’ statements Thursday afternoon.

“Thank you, Manitoba, for the opportunity, the responsibility and the honour,” said the 53-year-old.

Trump’s lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution’s first witness in hush money trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's defense team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.

Returning to the witness stand for a fourth day, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker was grilled about his memory and past statements as the defense tried to poke holes in potentially crucial testimony for prosecutors in the first criminal trial of a former American president.

Pecker’s testimony has provided jurors with a stunning inside look at the supermarket tabloid’s “catch-and-kill” practice of purchasing the rights to stories so they never see the light of day. It's a critical building block for prosecutors' theory that Trump sought to illegally influence the 2016 race by suppressing negative stories about his personal life.

Under cross-examination, Trump's lawyers appeared to be laying the groundwork to make the argument that any dealings Trump had with Pecker were intended to protect Trump, his reputation and his family — not his campaign.