Gallery: City celebrates cultural diversity with the Folklorama spirit Posted: 5:12 PM CDT Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022

Trump touts USMCA win in state of the union

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump declared his scorched-earth political style an unmitigated success Tuesday in a fiercely partisan, made-for-TV state of the union speech that made it clear he expects to be back in the White House next year on the strength of the U.S. economy and his trade deals with Canada, Mexico and China.

Trump, addressing a joint session of Congress in the very chamber where House Democrats voted to impeach him less than two months ago, became only the second president in American history — Bill Clinton was the first — to deliver a state of the union while standing trial in the Senate.

Unrepentant, he pointedly refused to shake the offered hand of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the dais before singing the praises of what he billed as "the great American comeback," pointing to strong job growth, a soaring stock market and low unemployment as evidence of his leadership. And when he was done, Pelosi ripped up the speech in full view of the television cameras.

"America's enemies are on the run, America's fortunes are on the rise, and America's future is blazing bright. The years of economic decay are over," Trump declared, taking full credit for the country's "roaring economy," including what he billed as seven million new jobs and the lowest jobless rate in half a century — a "blue-collar boom" that he's counting on to help his re-election chances in November.

Health officials ponder next steps as COVID cases surge in Southern Health region

Public-health officials say they're trying to avoid ordering another lockdown in southern Manitoba, where COVID-19 infection rates are surging.

Deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal told a news conference Wednesday he doesn't anticipate more lockdowns and suggested he will prioritize keeping schools open when considering future restrictions.

But he couldn't say what the next step will be in an area of the province where hospitalizations among unvaccinated residents are on the rise.

Average daily case counts in the southern part of the province are higher now than they were before lockdown measures went into effect last November, and officials are still figuring out what to do.

A fond farewell to the Hercules

Fans at the NHL’s outdoor Heritage Classic game last weekend were no doubt thrilled by the sight and sound of two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets conducting a flyover at Princess Auto Stadium shortly before the puck was dropped for the much-anticipated Winnipeg Jets/Montreal Canadiens matchup.

Flyovers such as these always create a spectacular scene, as the speed and power of the jets are on full display for the brief moments they’re in view above the stadium bowl. But fans who maintained their skyward gaze for a few seconds after the Hornets’ blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance were treated to a much more poignant aeronautical exhibition, as a CC-130H Hercules aircraft passed over the stadium in the fighter jets’ wake.

Compared to the supersonic CF-18s, the massive, propeller-driven transport plane probably seemed to be doing more of a “crawl-over”; what most folks at the outdoor game probably didn’t realize, however, was that this was almost certainly the last time they’ll see one of these ubiquitous Canadian Forces aircraft in the sky.

The CC-130H is being retired after more than half a century as the RCAF’s combat, rescue and transport workhorse. The “Herc” will be replaced by more modern aircraft, including the smaller and more nimble CC-295 Kingfisher, which will be used for search-and-rescue missions out of 17 Wing Winnipeg, beginning next month.

Waiting for Cormier verdict the ‘calm before the storm’

As the jury room door closed behind the seven women and four men who are now deliberating on the evidence against Tina Fontaine’s accused killer, Thelma Favel rose from the chair she’s occupied for most of Raymond Cormier’s second-degree murder trial.

Almost every day over the past three weeks, Favel, the woman who raised 15-year-old Tina, has sat right up front, directly across from the jury box, listening, sobbing and soaking in disturbing details of the teen’s last days that have come to light over the course of Cormier’s second-degree murder trial.

On Wednesday afternoon, after Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal instructed the jury and sent them off to be sequestered until they decide whether 56-year-old Raymond Cormier is guilty of killing Tina, Favel got up and hugged Crown prosecutor Breta Passler. It was one of many moments, this one shielded from jurors, that have long since proven the emotional impact of the case and the lasting power of Tina’s legacy.

Tina’s death sparked a public outcry that renewed calls for a national inquiry into disproportionately high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada, and the criminal trial for the man accused of killing her hasn’t happened in a vacuum.

Shooting, stand off net nine year prison sentence

Daniel Larsen had been out of prison just five days when he shot up a Point Douglas house and sparked a 10-hour armed standoff with police that shut down a portion of the Disraeli Freeway.

Larsen, sentenced last week to nine years in prison, believed residents of the Grove Street home had sold fentanyl to his son, court heard.

“The speed with which Mr. Larsen was able to obtain a firearm, formulate a plan and become criminally involved is… horrifying from a public safety standpoint,” Crown attorney Amy Wood told provincial court Judge Malcolm McDonald.

Larsen, 37, pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm for the June 14, 2025, incident and two related weapons offences.

Neo-Nazi group members plotted to kill Free Press reporter

Disturbing details of a plan to kill a Free Press reporter who had infiltrated a white nationalist hate group were revealed for the first time Wednesday.