Louise Bridge rehab out for tender

The initial phase of construction on the aging Louise Bridge is moving forward.

The city is seeking bids to rehabilitate the important transportation link’s substructure and stabilize the riverbank around it.

A new document to tender the project notes the city has budgeted about $12.7 million for that work.

While some have called for the 116-year-old bridge to be replaced, city council approved an overall $40-million preliminary design to repair it in 2024, aiming to extend the bridge’s life by at least 30 years.

Bids for the current round of work are due Aug. 18.

Man charged in road rage incident

A 29-year-old man is facing an assault with a weapon charge after he allegedly brandished a handgun during a road rage incident on St. James Street early Monday.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were called to St. James Street and Ness Avenue at about 6 a.m., where they spoke with a 53-year-old man.

The man reported that another driver pulled up next to his vehicle and began arguing with him about his driving.

Police said the fight soon escalated and the accused brandished what appeared to be a black handgun.

The 53-year-old drove off, but the man followed him, forced him to stop by pulling in front of him, and then got out of his vehicle while still brandishing the gun, police said. He got back in his vehicle and peeled off after he saw the victim calling police.

Officers identified and arrested the 29-year-old man at a home in Bridgwater Forest in south Winnipeg.

Police spokesman Const. Pat Saydak said officers have not recovered the weapon.

Police seek witnesses to shooting

The Independent Investigation Unit is appealing for witnesses after an 18-year-old woman was shot by police early Monday.

A Winnipeg police officer was near Aikins Street and College Avenue at 2:27 a.m. on Monday when he heard multiple gunshots and drove toward the sound, said the IIU.

The officer encountered an 18-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy. The officer shot the woman in the lower body and she was taken to hospital. Police said Monday she was in stable condition.

The IIU, which investigates all police shootings, has asked any witnesses or anyone who may have relevant information or video footage to call their office at 1-844-667-6060.

Police recovered a gun from the suspects and investigators later linked the woman and the teen to a shooting outside a home in the 300 block of College Avenue.

The 16-year-old was arrested. Police have not said whether the woman will face charges.

Mountie attacked

in Portage hospital

A man has been charged with trying to take away pistols from two RCMP officers in the Portage hospital early Monday.

RCMP say a Mountie was guarding a prisoner in the emergency room waiting area when he was suddenly attacked by another man.

The officer called for backup and fought with the man. Hospital staff stepped in to help.

RCMP said the suspect tried to take the Mountie’s gun.

More officers arrived and helped get the suspect under control, but he tried to take a firearm from another officer’s holster. The officers managed to get him into handcuffs and took him to the Portage detachment.

One of the Mounties was treated at the hospital for minor injuries.

Dylan Twovoice, 25, is charged with assault on a police officer, two counts of disarming a police officer, mischief under $5,000 and resisting a peace officer. He was held in custody.

Alberta man missing in Manitoba’s north

RCMP are searching for an Alberta man who may have drowned in the Nelson River in northern Manitoba.

The Thompson rural RCMP detachment — which polices outlying northern communities that don’t have a permanent detachment — was called at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday about a man missing in Kelsey, south of Split Lake.

When Mounties arrived, they were told that James Redmond, a 60-year-old man from Alberta, was known to fish from the shore of the Nelson River.

Officers searched the shore near his cabin and found his gear about 200 metres upstream from the dam at Manitoba Hydro’s Kelsey Generating Station, which is where police believe Redmond may have entered the river.

RCMP flew drones and called in a private diving company to search the river on Tuesday.