A Brandon man accused of stealing from a local Dollarama and kicking an employee who was recording him was sentenced to 16 months in jail after the judge found him not guilty of robbery and convicted him of assault.

“In my view, this case was a very close call … I could almost as easily written a solid, defensible decision in support of a robbery conviction,” Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said on Tuesday.

“Obviously, I’m not doing that because the scrap of doubt that does exist here must accrue to the accused’s benefit.”

Sean Lepine, 27, stood trial on the robbery charge in Brandon provincial court last week.

Jimmy Kimmel: Matthew McConaughey, Pete Buttigieg, Howard Jones

Jimmy Fallon: Kate Hudson (above), John Stamos, Lily Allen, Laufey

Stephen Colbert: Taylor Swift

Seth Meyers: Amanda Seyfried, Andrew Scott

Faouzia on Kelly Clarkson today

Manitoba pop singer Faouzia will appear on The Kelly Clarkson Show today.

The Moroccan-born vocalist, who grew up in Carman, released her debut album, Film Noir, on Nov. 7. Known for her collaborations with such artist as John Legend and David Guetta, she contributed Arabic vocals to a version of Clarkson’s single I Dare You, released in 2020.

She will be performing on the NBC daytime talk show, which will also feature guests Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley — stars of the new film Hamnet — and actor/podcaster Matt Rogers. The Kelly Clarkson Show airs at 5 p.m. on Citytv.

The average family of four is expected to spend $17,571.79 on food next year. Prices will climb even though inflation will drop to about two per cent and some tariffs have been rolled back in the U.S.-Canada trade dispute.

Read the full report (PDF)Meat prices are predicted to jump by five to seven per cent, after a 7.2 per cent rise in 2025 was largely driven by the cost of beef amid a downturn in cattle numbers.

Higher beef prices boosted demand for chicken, but chicken prices are expected to rise substantially in 2026 due to underproduction.

Price hikes are projected across other food categories, including vegetables (three to five per cent), dairy, eggs and baked goods (two to four per cent), fruit (one to three per cent) and seafood (up to two per cent).

Police video

not altered: IIU

Manitoba’s police watchdog has cleared the Brandon Police Service of any wrongdoing after a man claimed he was assaulted by officers and that video of his arrest was altered and cut short.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba said in a report released Tuesday that dashcam video the man obtained through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act had not been tampered with, citing an expert report.

Charge laid in apartment arson

A man was arrested Tuesday after an arson at an apartment building hours earlier caused an estimated $100,000 in damage.

The fire at the five-storey building on the 100 block of Clarke Street started shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday. Crews found a fire in one of the suites and declared it under control at about 11 p.m.

Firefighters helped some residents get out of the building. Damages were primarily contained to the suite, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said earlier this week.

Sheepdogs, July Talk

booked to play the Burt

Four-time Juno winners the Sheepdogs are bringing their guitar-driven barroom rock to the Burton Cummings Theatre on April 17.

Tickets for the show go on sale today for $48-$66 at Ticketmaster.

Munsch to opt for

MAID when it’s time

TORONTO — Children’s book author Robert Munsch says he has chosen a medically assisted death because of his dementia diagnosis.

He made the comments in a profile in The New York Times, saying he hasn’t set a date.

My husband came home from an antique store the other day with a great find.

He paid $5 for an issue of Life magazine that originally cost 10 cents in the United States — equivalent to about $2.50 today. But it felt like a steal when I realized that it’s not just any old back issue of Life, but the very first issue to roll off the press as a magazine devoted to sharing news of the world through photography, on Nov. 23, 1936.

An earlier iteration of Life as a humour magazine had folded during the Great Depression, but this new publication was spearheaded by Time magazine publisher Henry Luce.

Reading it today is like delving into a time capsule. Its pages reflect the state of the world as it was, revealing an enthusiasm for travel, discovery and pushing boundaries, as well as rampant racism and sexism. These were the dark days of Hitler’s rise and the Spanish Civil War, but also a time of technical innovation and the economic and social reforms of Roosevelt’s New Deal.