‘He was shaping a generation of young artists’: Winnipeg director Rob Herriot has died at 60

Prolific Winnipeg director and performer Rob Herriot has died.

Herriot was well known for his work within opera and musical theatre in Winnipeg and across North America. He died Friday at 60 years old. Loved ones described his death as sudden, and the cause had not yet been determined Sunday.

“He was such an enormous part of the opera community locally here in Winnipeg… as a director, he was shaping a generation of young artists in the community,” Manitoba Opera executive director Michael Blais said Sunday. “I think that’s what the real loss is to the opera community, in that way.”

Herriot’s work in Manitoba included directing productions of Cosí fan Tutte, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Carmen, and, most recently, The Marriage of Figaro for Manitoba Opera, Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast for Rainbow Stage, and Three Decembers, The Walk from the Garden and The House Without a Christmas Tree for the Little Opera Company.

Feasibility study planned for arena on former Kapyong Barracks site

A First Nations development group is hoping to pull in prospective sports teams with plans to build an arena in south Winnipeg.

The Treaty One Development Corp. is exploring the feasibility of a 6,000-person arena in Naawi-Oodena, the former Kapyong Barracks site, on the southeast side at Taylor Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard.

The hope is to give aspiring athletes a large space to practice, and possibly even bring a junior or professional sports team to Winnipeg, said chief development officer Cody Mercer, who listed the Western Hockey League or National Lacrosse League as examples.

“Not just working for Treaty One, but also in our membership of the seven communities, there’s a ton of athletes, and really we see that when they’re getting to that higher level of hockey or anything like that, they’re having to move away,” he said. “We thought this is an idea that we can try to bring (in) a team.”

Swan River lifts mandatory evacuation order as floodwater recedes

Swan River lifted a mandatory evacuation order for residents of flooded homes Saturday, while the military and volunteers from a disaster aid organization prepare to join the response.

Mayor Lance Jacobson welcomed the federal government’s announcement, which came late Friday night, that personnel were being deployed to the Parkland region, following an official request from the Manitoba government.

“This is something we were asking for on Wednesday, and it takes time to mobilize, but we’re pretty happy to hear that,” Jacobson said early Saturday afternoon, when he did not yet have a timeline for the military’s arrival.

Team Rubicon Canada had a liaison officer in the region Saturday to better understand the situation before the arrival of additional volunteers.

Father seeking answers following daughter’s death at Winnipeg Remand Centre

The father of a 25-year-old woman who died after being found unresponsive in a cell at the Winnipeg Remand Centre has unanswered questions about what led to her in-custody death.

Norman Lagimodiere, 48, said his daughter Kiana Everett was rushed to hospital from the downtown pre-trial detention centre June 28. She died a few minutes after she was taken off life support Wednesday.

“How does a 25 year old die in custody?” Lagimodiere said. “It’s very important that I get the true story of what really happened to my daughter. I need answers and I want an inquest because this isn’t the first father or mother that has to deal with this.”

An inquest is mandatory when a person dies in custody in Manitoba. The purpose is to examine the facts surrounding the cause and manner of death. An inquest does not assign blame, but a judge may make recommendations in a bid to prevent similar deaths.

The View from Here: Linus Woods. After the Nest Ice Age in Long Plain Re, 2017

Staycation: The Art of Being Here features more than 100 Manitoba-related artworks from the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq collection, spanning the past 50 years. These pieces reveal how the places around us are layered with memory, story and lived experience. Over the coming weeks, the Free Press will spotlight works from this eclectic exhibition, each one offering a new way of seeing home. Experience it in person and enjoy some staycation time at the gallery, on view until December.

Linus Woods. After the Next Ice Age in Long Plain Res, 2017.

Acrylic, mixed media on canvas. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with funds from the Winnipeg Art Gallery Foundation Kathleen M. Richardson Fund, 2018-12. Photo: Scott Benesiinaabandan.

After the Next Ice Age In Long Plain Res was commissioned for the 2017/18 WAG exhibition, INSURGENCE/RESURGENCE. Woods is a Dakota/Ojibway artist from Long Plain First Nation. This large painting takes a humorous look towards the future and hope for cultural resurgence, as elders surf down the waves of change.

Gem Studio puts new shine on handmade experience

In recent weeks, some restaurant-goers headed to a Winnipeg eatery have found themselves looking at jewels and charms before ordering their meals.

The Gem Studio opened at the end of May in the same Corydon Avenue building as Kevin’s Bistro and Stella’s Cafe. Occasionally, patrons of the joint restaurants pick the wrong door and walk into the new business — which offers customers a hands-on jewelry-making experience guided by professional silversmiths.

Their mistake turns into a marketing opportunity, according to Dylan Forest, studio manager. “Everybody kind of takes a … discount code or coupon and says they’ll come back later when they have some time with their friends or family,” he said.

Forest hopes they do. It’s the franchise’s first Gem Studio location in Western Canada.

More cans off city streets, more money in pockets

Empty beer cans on the street may be litter, but to some they provide income to afford basic necessities.

“It pays for stuff that we need, something to eat, something to drink and other stuff like personal hygiene,” said Darius Campbell, who picks up the empty cans and returns them to the Northern Hotel on Main Street each day.

As of July 1, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries changed guidelines on its container deposit program. Deposits are paid for cans of coolers, cocktails, ciders, sodas and seltzers containing alcohol that are returned to vendors. It’s worth 10 cents for a regular bottle, up to $40 for a keg over 19 litres.

“That’s more money in our pocket than it being littered on the ground all over the city,” said Campbell, who lives in the West End.

Flooding leaves rail line near Roblin teetering

Richard Suidak said it will be a long time before the trains near Roblin get rolling again after a portion of CN Rail track was left hanging following severe flooding in Manitoba this week.

Suidak, a 67-year-old land owner who has a cattle herd, had a front-row seat Tuesday as the earth beneath the railway track, located between Roblin and Deepdale, gave way in front of him.

“I was just watching the waterfall coming over … and then I heard this bang,” he said. “I looked at the water, and I just jumped on my quad, put it in high and got out of there as fast I could.”

He said floodwater filled the valley where the track had been established and said he saw kilometres of water being held back by the earth before it gave way.

Waiting for the river to recede hits Swan River residents hard

Days after torrential rain caused the Swan River to breach its banks and pour into the streets and homes, residents of the flood-ravaged town could do little more than wait for the water to recede.

“It’s this limbo period where we’ve done everything we can, and there’s not much more we can do because we can’t make the river disappear,” resident Morgan Buck said Friday.

“I feel like I could use a vacation once this is all done. It’s overwhelming.”

Several streets in the town of Swan River were subject to mandatory evacuation orders on Wednesday, marking the second time the community has flooded in recent weeks. Data from Environment and Climate Change Canada shows nearly 270 millimetres of rain fell on the area in June.

Welcome to Viggopeg

Viggomania ran wild this week. And the Winnipeg Jets latest first-round pick did everything in his power to keep the hype train rolling.

By the time Viggo Bjorck skated off the ice on Friday at Hockey For All Centre and signed a bunch of autographs and posed for photos, it was abundantly clear that the eighth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft had left a positive impression on the Jets fan base.

Although it’s important to remember where we are in the calendar, Bjorck showcased his skillset on numerous occasions, whether it was making a deft pass up the middle to Jacob Julien to open the scoring during the scrimmage or burying a dish from Alfons Freij to show off his finishing ability.

Bjorck also provided a glimpse of his competitive nature when he got involved in a discussion over whether or not the goals scored during the shootout held between periods would count in this battle between Team White and Team Blue.

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.

Military on the way: federal minister

The mayor of a flood-hit town in western Manitoba is urging the federal government to move swiftly on aid for weary victims, who are seeking assurance more help is on the way.

Federal and provincial officials were scheduled to meet Friday after Premier Wab Kinew on Wednesday asked Ottawa to send military personnel to the Parkland region to assist with the response and cleanup of floods that have been described as unprecedented.

“In the days to come, and this may be within five days, the residents down there are going to need help,” Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson said about neighbourhoods that remained under water Friday.

“They are going to need help with the cleanup. There will be volunteers, there are companies that will help to do this, too, but it’s going to be limited, and this is the reason why I said we need some military support.”