Fox News aside, blanket TV coverage set for Jan. 6 hearing

Physician watchdog under fire for ‘outrageous’ policy

The Manitoba physician watchdog’s policy of deferring its own investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct while a police probe is ongoing is “outrageous” and is further evidence an independent review is needed into the regulatory body, critics say.

Gas, travel limits in parts of B.C. after storm

VANCOUVER - The British Columbia government is rationing gasoline and restricting travel in southern parts of the province after an unprecedented storm severed highways and cut supply lines.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Friday a limit of 30 litres of fuel per visit to a gas station is an important step to maintaining the supply as the province works to bring in more gas by truck and barge from Alberta, Washington state, Oregon and California.

He said the order would apply for 10 to 11 days, and he trusts that people won't be greedy and will keep critical services in mind as they focus on residents whose communities have been devastated by flooding.

The orders apply to residents of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, southwestern parts of the province and the Sunshine Coast.

‘I wouldn’t change my journey’

Jake Ceresna looks exactly how you’d imagine a professional football player would.

The 6-5, 290-pound defensive end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has a hulking, broad-shouldered frame built on a pair of tree-trunk legs.

But considering where he came from, it’s rather remarkable that he’s been giving opposing quarterbacks nightmares in the pros for a decade.

For starters, he hails from New Fairfield, Conn. The list of pro football players from the town of approximately 14,000 people starts and ends with Ceresna.

Spotty service, U.S. roaming charges leave Somerset woman calling for answers

A southwestern Manitoba woman is voicing her concerns about cell service in the area after she was billed more than $100 in U.S. roaming charges despite never leaving her community.

Teresa Acheson received a notification on her phone Monday at about 7:30 a.m. saying she had entered the United States and would be charged $13 per day for unlimited calls and text messages.

The only problem is that she was not in the U.S. She was laying in bed in her home near Somerset, some 50 kilometres away from the U.S. border.

“People have said to watch if you’re driving close to the border because you’ll get dinged, but I was sitting at home,” she said Wednesday.

Netherlands Canada's top source for illicit meth shipments in 2018

OTTAWA — While Winnipeg was in the midst of its ongoing meth crisis in 2018, quantities of the drug were coming from an unexpected country, and through Canadians' most common mode of delivery.

According to documents obtained by the Free Press, there was an increase in "inbound seizures destined to Winnipeg addresses," of postal mail containing meth in 2018 from a year prior. "However, such shipments are likely for personal consumption,” as they were under 35 grams.

And though Canadian officials have called out meth smugglers in China and Mexico, the mailed drugs came from Europe.

"The Netherlands is the top transit country by number of seizures (of meth), while Mexico is the main transit country by quantity,” reads an internal Canada Border Services Agency report from mid-2018.

Councillors seek new rules for elected officials facing serious charges

In the wake of additional criminal charges laid against Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, several council members say the city should explore options to impose leaves of absence on elected officials who face serious allegations in the future.

Wyatt, 56, was charged Monday with sexual assault and administering a noxious thing with intent to aggrieve or annoy in relation to an October 2023 incident. The councillor was previously charged with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in March, based on allegations tied to a 2025 gathering.

Under the City of Winnipeg charter, a provincial law, a member of city council automatically forfeits their seat if they are convicted of certain serious criminal offences. It does not apply if they are simply charged.

Mayor Scott Gillingham and others have urged Wyatt to step away from his city hall duties voluntarily, while Gillingham has also suggested the province review the legislation.