Perfumer battling city hall to keep his shop open

Michael O’Malley has been here before — fighting the City of Winnipeg to keep his business open.

He usually spends his days concocting scents. He’s owned La Parfumerie, a Wolseley shop, since 1993.

Twenty-seven natural perfumes line shelves on 145 Evanson St.’s bottom floor. O’Malley lives above the space.

Now, he’s required to change the home’s zoning or shut out walk-in customers. Either would kill the company, O’Malley said.

Khan steps down as Tory leader

Manitoba’s Leader of the Opposition is stepping down.

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan announced the news late Monday afternoon at the legislature.

Khan survived a confidence vote among his caucus Friday. Caucus communications director Alison Sutherland said earlier Monday Khan still has “the full confidence” of the PC caucus.

Khan said during a news conference that he became aware party members were meeting in secret to subvert that confidence.

Crown seeks two years for mother convicted of failing to provide necessaries of life

A mother whose infant child died with methamphetamine in her bloodstream should serve two years in jail, the Crown argued Monday.

Alison Kimberly Muise, 43, was found guilty in February of failing to provide the necessaries of life in the 2022 death of Layla Mattern-Muise after a trial last year.

On Feb. 2, 2022, Muise and the child’s father awoke to find Layla, three months, not breathing and called 911.

The child was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead that day. Her blood was later found to contain methamphetamine.

Province helping youths leaving CFS system with three-month EIA ‘unconditional income’

The province is making it easier for youths transitioning out of care to access employment income assistance.

Conditions on benefits will be waived for three months, to create a “time-limited, unconditional income,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Monday.

The changes will allow for direct enrolment on income assistance upon aging out of care, Fontaine said.

“The data tells us young adults exiting care disproportionately experience homelessness and insecure housing,” she said. “Financial insecurity is a key contributor to housing insecurity.”

Kinew adds portfolio to focus on first responders

Premier Wab Kinew shuffled his cabinet Monday and created a new portfolio that will oversee first responders in the province.

Kinew appointed David Pankratz, the MLA for Waverley, as minister responsible for first responder initiatives.

Tuxedo MLA Carla Compton was appointed minister responsible for accessibility, taking over the role from Nahanni Fontaine.

The new ministers were sworn in at a ceremony at the Manitoba legislature Monday afternoon.

Bathhouse owner upset after judge grants bail to man accused in foiled bombing

The owner of a Notre Dame Avenue bathhouse is troubled after a man accused of planting a pipe bomb outside his club was granted bail.

Erik Lymen Olson, 59, was granted release following a contested bail hearing last Monday.

“I don’t think he should have got out with something like this — at all,” said Christopher Gregoire, owner of AQ Sauna.

Olson was arrested Sept. 12, one day after allegedly planting a pipe bomb outside the sex and lifestyle club.

Jets pick up netminder as relatively new 23-man roster announced

Let’s get the caveats out of the way: Nothing is set in stone, nor written in permanent ink, and what you see right now could change in the blink of an eye.

With that being said, allow us to introduce you to the 2026-27 Winnipeg Jets — where change is very much in the air.

The 23-man roster submitted to the NHL offices by Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline includes seven players who were not on the team at this time last year. In fact, there could be as many as 10 new faces in the opening-night lineup on Friday against Boston when you factor in three regulars didn’t start the 2025-26 campaign due to injury.

That’s a lot of turnover, which isn’t surprising for a team that finished 26th overall in the standings and was — to most fans and pundits — too old and too slow.

Bauer ‘better and better every year’

Tyrel Bauer makes no apologies for the pugilistic piece of his path.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman is ready to drop the gloves and throw down when the situation calls for it and he takes great pride in protecting his teammates.

It’s a big part of the reason Bauer will be among the 23 players submitted by the Jets on the opening-day roster on Monday.

“I’ve fought and clawed, both metaphorically and literally and now I just want to show that I can play as well,” Bauer said during a chat with the Free Press during training camp. “(Toughness) is always something that I have, it’s always something in my back pocket and something that I take a lot of pride in doing, for my teammates, for the city and the people who invest in this hockey club. That will never change.

Manitoba PC leader Khan survives confidence vote

Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan survived a confidence vote last week.

Caucus communications director Alison Sutherland confirmed the vote was held Friday and that Khan still has “the full confidence” of the PC caucus.

She did not provide further details.

The party under Khan’s leadership is floundering, a recent poll suggests.

Saviour of the slopes

It’s not yet winter but that hasn’t stopped Lori Natuik from preparing for when snow hits the ground.

Winter is her favourite season and she’s ready to strap on her skis, not only for pleasure but also as part of her duties as a Canadian Ski Patrol (CSP) volunteer.

Natuik, 69, is one of more than 4,500 CSP volunteers across the country.

CSP volunteers are often the first responders when skiiers get into difficulty on the slopes. The non-profit organization was established in 1941 to provide advanced first aid services for more than 200 alpine and Nordic ski areas nationally. In the off-season volunteers provide services at non-skiing events such as marathons, bike races, fundraising events, sporting tournaments and concerts.

Word test

TESTING

Premier Wab Kinew is an imported Manitoban, born in Kenora and raised on Onigaming First Nation in Treaty Three (in northwestern Ontario) before his family moved to Winnipeg. He’s the son of well-known Anishinaabe leader and traditional knowledge keeper Tobasonakwut Kinew and Kathi Kinew.

These are the words we provided feedback on: Boniface, Cockburn, Dauphin, Dene, Hellebuyck, Iafallo, Íslendingadagurinn, Kinew, Kildonan, Malak Abas, Métis, Newfoundland, Orlikow, Pembina, Portage la Prairie, Premier, Regina, St. Vital, Samyn, Schiefele, vínarterta, Wiebe, Generation Z.

Special teams woes hurt Bombers in loss to Argos

THEY’VE been the most consistent of the three phases in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers arsenal this season.

A port in the proverbial storm, throughout this topsy-turvy campaign of ups-and-downs, the special-teams units have been supplying strength to a group that is still searching for consistency with only four games left in the regular season.

That’s what made this momentary lapse so costly in a 30-28 loss to the Toronto Argonauts on Friday at Princess Auto Stadium.

“We didn’t keep up our end of the bargain. And that hurts our football team, hurts our chances of winning games,” said Blue Bombers special teams ace Tanner Cadwallader. “And if we want to win close games. we’ve got to be a whole lot better than that. And we will. We’re going to come in (on Saturday for the film session) and go through it with a fine-tooth comb and just work a little bit harder.”