Moony missive calls for curt kiss-off

Renters get break from proposed hikes

A call from Premier Wab Kinew’s office reduced Aidan Wilson to tears Monday after learning tenants of a West Broadway apartment no longer face hundreds of dollars in rent increases next month.

“It’s been a lot to deal with, it’s a lot to push for, and it’s a lot to speak up. All of these emotions just kind of came flooding out,” Wilson, who lives in the building, said Tuesday afternoon at a news conference alongside Kinew.

The premier announced that renters facing massive hikes on Nov. 1 — some exceeding 100 per cent — will no longer be forced to pay the increases before they are approved by the Residential Tenancies Branch, following a policy change announced by the province.

The move comes after tenants at eight Winnipeg apartment buildings owned by Alberta-based Wingspan Properties pushed back against proposed rent increases of between 54 and 125 per cent, arguing they should have the opportunity to challenge the hikes before being required to pay them.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of wounds inflicted on man, murder trial told

The body of a Winnipeg man beaten to death in a North End drug house was outside a Flora Avenue church for nearly a week before it was discovered, a court has been told.

Christopher Kyle Wattman, 38, Hazel Flett, 38 and Victoria Lee Andrews, 28, are on trial charged with first-degree murder in the December 2023 killing of 20-year-old Brooklyn Elijah Hiebert.

Prosecutor Theresa Cannon laid out the Crown’s theory of the case in an opening address before Court of King’s Bench Justice Joan McKelvey on Monday.

Hiebert and the three accused were at a Selkirk Avenue “trap house” on the evening of Dec. 24, 2023, when Hiebert got into an argument with Flett and a number of unidentified people.

Festival celebrates all facets of African artistic culture

Nosa Guobadia saw something missing in Winnipeg’s vibrant arts scene — an absence that struck him deeply.

“As an artist myself, I saw a huge gap and felt there should be a space for African artists in Winnipeg,” says the Nigerian-born Guobadia, who performs as Cozymannos.

The realization dawned on him at last year’s Soca Reggae Festival when he noticed that the audience was predominantly African, despite the event’s Caribbean focus.

“It hit me then. It made me think that we need a festival that truly celebrates African artists — not just as performers, but as the heartbeat of the event,” he says.

Grifols plasma collection centre reopens

One of Grifols’ two clinics in Winnipeg resumed taking plasma donations Tuesday as part of the pharmaceutical giant’s phased reopening in Canada, while the other location remains closed with a suspended licence.

The company temporarily halted paid plasma collections at its clinics across Canada on Aug. 14 amid scrutiny after two people died following donations at the Taylor Avenue and Innovation Drive sites.

Grifols said in a news release the Innovation Drive location, near the University of Manitoba, and a clinic in Edmonton reopened Tuesday with a limited number of appointments that will gradually increase.

Health Canada suspended the Taylor clinic’s licence Sept. 23 for non-compliance with regulations. Terms and conditions were placed on Grifols’ 16 other donation centres in Canada. The Innovation Drive clinic’s licence was not suspended.

Free little libraries dotting the city foster sense of connection, community

Tucked away along a fence on Rossmere Crescent sits a wooden blue and white box filled with books. For those who haven’t seen something like it before, it might look a bit out of place. But for many people in the Fraser’s Grove Park area — and others throughout Winnipeg — these charming little libraries are bringing joy and community spirit to their neighbourhoods, one chapter at a time.

Jones Free