Free Press celebrates launch of art exhibit Headlines: The Art of the News Cycle reflects on the Free Press's past and toasts to the future of local journalism Posted: 11:14 AM CST Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022

Family of slain lawyer offers forgiveness to killer

In voices sometimes choked with anguish, family members of a young city lawyer who died defending a friend from a senseless assault offered forgiveness to his killer Thursday.

“I release you from the unpayable debt you owe for my brother’s life,” Michael Silicz told 22-year-old Keishawn Mitchell at a sentencing hearing Thursday.

Justin Silicz, 32, died on June 2, 2019, after he was stabbed while walking to his car from an after-hours club with friends.

A jury convicted Mitchell of second-degree murder following a trial last November.

Refugees share stories of escape from their homelands and triumphs in their new land

Images of Syrian refugees desperate to get to a safe place have the rest of the world wondering what is going to happen to those people.

Where will they go? What will become of them? Decades later, what stories will they have to tell?

Six Winnipeggers who were forced to flee their home countries over the last 70 years share their personal stories — of tragedy and triumph — of coming to Canada. We asked them five questions:

What and why you were fleeing? What, if any, were the dangers of the journey? What has been your experience since coming to Canada? What does it mean to contribute to Canadian society? What are your thoughts on Canada’s immigration policies? They share their personal journeys and their thoughts on the dire situation in Syria. (Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.)

Getting to Beijing first task in Olympic challenge

When Canada's team of more than 200 athletes are aboard their chartered flights to Beijing, it will feel like the first major Olympic hurdle has been cleared, says David Shoemaker.

The Beijing Games open in exactly one month, but the competition has already started. The challenge: getting the country's top athletes to China without testing positive for COVID-19, an ominous and invisible threat that few could have seen coming just a few weeks ago.

"I think we all will feel like the first discipline in this competition will be completed at that point," Shoemaker said.

The CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee told CBC a week ago that he was "worried" about the Games, a feeling surely shared by athletes.

Wastewater monkeypox testing underway across Canada

Wastewater testing to detect the monkeypox virus has begun in Winnipeg and 12 other Canadian cities as scientists work to determine how accurate the tests are.

Bell MTS plans outage compensation

Bell MTS won’t say how many of its customers have landline outages, but it has told the CRTC it will double its number of service technicians and compensate customers by giving them free enhanced service — if they have a Bell MTS cellphone.

In a letter to the federal regulator this week, the company promised to hire and train more technicians as well as bring in workers from elsewhere.

“By the end of July, we will have doubled the number of line technicians available within the Winnipeg area since Sept. 2021,” wrote Bell MTS assistant general counsel Philippe Gauvin.

“Since our (May 20) letter, extra technicians have been brought in from other provinces as well as other cities within the province of Manitoba and the increased repair load is being managed by a dedicated team under senior executive oversight.