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Pearson relishing time behind bench

By Massimo De Luca-Taronno 8 minute read Preview

Pearson relishing time behind bench

By Massimo De Luca-Taronno 8 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026

If you asked Ken Pearson when he began his career behind the bench 30 years ago how long he’d last in the business, he wouldn’t have had a clue.

Now, it’s safe to say it’s become more than anything he would have ever expected.

The head coach and general manager of the Neepawa Titans checked off two big milestones on Sunday night after coaching his 1,500th game in the Canadian Junior Hockey League following a 4-2 win over the Dauphin Kings at Credit Union Place. The victory was the Titans 18th of the season and was also the 750th of Pearson’s career in the regular season.

It’s hard to put into words what significance just a pair of numbers means to a person, but for Pearson, it’s rather simple.

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Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026

Neepawa Titans head coach and general manager Ken Pearson coached his 1,500th game in the Canadian Junior Hockey League in a 4-2 win over the Dauphin Kings at Credit Union Place on Sunday night. The victory also gave the hometown product his 750th career regular season win. (Submitted)

Neepawa Titans head coach and general manager Ken Pearson coached his 1,500th game in the Canadian Junior Hockey League in a 4-2 win over the Dauphin Kings at Credit Union Place on Sunday night. The victory also gave the hometown product his 750th career regular season win. (Submitted)

Killer’s release brings fear, concern

By Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

Killer’s release brings fear, concern

By Chris Kitching 6 minute read Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg man convicted of killing two First Nations women more than a decade ago — with charges stayed in a third slaying — is expected to be released from prison Thursday.

Shawn Lamb’s legislated statutory release date — 12 years after he was sentenced — was met with fear and anger from Sue Caribou, an aunt of both Carolyn Sinclair, one of Lamb’s confirmed victims, and Tanya Nepinak, his alleged third victim whose body has not been found.

“I’ve been crying. I’ve been shaking,” Caribou said Wednesday after being told of Lamb’s impending release. “The justice system fails us all the time. I don’t know where the hell he is, and it’s scary.

“We deserve to know where they put Shawn Lamb. I don’t want to be feeling unsafe every day I go out.”

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Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025

“I’ve been crying. I’ve been shaking,” Sue Caribou said Wednesday after being told of killer’s impending release. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press)

“I’ve been crying. I’ve been shaking,” Sue Caribou said Wednesday after being told of killer’s impending release. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press)

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Video footage sought in Souris armed robbery

1 minute read Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025

RCMP are investigating an armed robbery at a business in Souris on Monday and are looking for residents in the area who may have video footage of the suspect.

Souris RCMP were sent to a report of an armed robbery at a business on First Street South at about 8:45 p.m.

Officers arrived at the scene within minutes, and an employee told police that an unknown man with a handgun demanded cash and cigarettes from behind the counter, RCMP said in a news release on Wednesday.

The employee, who was not physically injured, handed over the items and the man ran away, the release said.

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Teens charged after man shot by hunters

1 minute read Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025

Three teens were arrested on Monday after a man in the RM of Victoria was accidentally shot by hunters, Mounties say.

Treherne RCMP received a report of a 66-year-old man with a gunshot wound at his residence on Road 53 North at around 10:45 a.m.

When officers arrived, one of the residents said emergency medical services had already taken the man to the hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the arm, the RCMP said in a news release Wednesday.

The man was released from the hospital later in the day.

Trump’s $1B lawsuit threat casts shadow over the BBC

By Brian Melley 6 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025

LONDON — President Donald Trump ’s threat to bring a billion-dollar lawsuit against the BBC has cast a shadow over the British broadcaster’s future, but it could also be a bluff with little legal merit.

The president’s lawyer sent the threat to the BBC over the way a documentary edited his Jan. 6, 2021, speech before a mob of his followers stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Trump’s history of suing news media companies — sometimes winning multimillion-dollar settlements — is part of a long-running grievance against the industry he describes as “fake news” that has often focused a critical eye on his actions.

But Trump faces fundamental challenges to getting a case to court, never mind taking it to trial. He would also have to deal with the harsh glare of publicity around his provocative pep talk the day Congress was voting to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election that Trump falsely alleged was stolen from him.

Sioux Valley chief charged with sexual assault

Skye Anderson 2 minute read Preview

Sioux Valley chief charged with sexual assault

Skye Anderson 2 minute read Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

Virden RCMP arrested the Chief of Sioux Valley last week after receiving a report of a sexual assault from 1984.

The alleged victim told police the assault took place when she was a teen and under the age of 16, while the man was 24 years old, Virden RCMP said in a news release on Monday.

After an extensive investigation, Mounties arrested Vincent Tacan, 65, and charged him with sexual assault, the release said.

The RCMP said they are not releasing the name of the woman or where the assault took place to protect her identity.

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Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

Two Manitoba Mounties die by suicide on duty in September, October

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

WINNIPEG — The recent suicides of two on-duty Manitoba RCMP officers have renewed calls to address burnout and revamp the force’s policing model.

The union representing RCMP members confirmed one officer died by suicide in September and a second suicide death occurred last month.

Both Mounties were on duty when they died.

“Suicide and related rates in RCMP are just so incredibly high,” said Bobby Baker, the prairie director for the National Police Federation.

Manitoba teens honour war victims during trip to Europe

By Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

Manitoba teens honour war victims during trip to Europe

By Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

WINNIPEG — Jamella Hernandez was so overcome with emotion upon learning this summer that she’d been nominated for an all-expenses-paid trip to visit Anne Frank House, among other historical sites in Europe, that she started bawling.

Three days into the 10-day journey, the 11th grader said it was proving emotional for numerous reasons — one of which remains gratitude.

The Sisler High School student is among the Manitoba teenagers who are honouring veterans and victims of the world wars overseas as part of a new provincial program.

During a phone interview from Amsterdam on Saturday, Jamella reflected on how moving it was to hear firsthand the creaks in the floors of the Frank family’s hideout during the Second World War.

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Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

A group of roughly 30 students from Manitoba arrived in Amsterdam late last week to begin their 10-day trip to world war sites and museums across Europe. (Photos supplied)

A group of roughly 30 students from Manitoba arrived in Amsterdam late last week to begin their 10-day trip to world war sites and museums across Europe. (Photos supplied)

Winnipeg drug detox centre expected to open this month

By Tyler Searle 6 minute read Preview

Winnipeg drug detox centre expected to open this month

By Tyler Searle 6 minute read Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

WINNIPEG — A detox centre capable of holding people intoxicated on meth and other drugs for up to three days is expected to open in Winnipeg’s Point Douglas neighbourhood before the end of the month.

The provincial government passed legislation Wednesday with near-unanimous support allowing for the enhanced, temporary detention of people experiencing drug-induced psychosis.

Getting the law approved was among the final steps before the 72-hour detox facility can open at 190 Disraeli Fwy., Premier Wab Kinew said Thursday.

“You’re going to see this facility open in the next two weeks in terms of accepting people,” he told reporters at an unrelated news conference.

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Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

The planned detox centre at 190 Disraeli Fwy, in Winnipeg is expected to open later this month. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)

The planned detox centre at 190 Disraeli Fwy, in Winnipeg is expected to open later this month. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)

NDP offers tax credits to boost rentals

By Carol Sanders 3 minute read Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government will spend more than $176.5 million over the next five years through a new incentive program to build rental housing.

“This is how we’re going to make Manitoba more affordable — more affordable for you, more affordable for your kids and grandkids, more affordable for people in all walks of life,” Premier Wab Kinew said Thursday as he announced the rental housing construction incentive at a new seniors residence in the Sage Creek suburb.

The province is offering refundable tax credits of $8,500 per new rental unit, with an additional $5,000 available for affordable units, to private and non-profit developers to build new rental units, including affordable housing.

“When we look at what’s going on in other parts of the country, we can’t let what happened in Vancouver — the housing prices and the rents — happen here in Manitoba,” Kinew said.

Union supports further expansion of bereavement rules

By Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Union supports further expansion of bereavement rules

By Carol Sanders 4 minute read Monday, Feb. 2, 2026

WINNIPEG — A new contract with expanded paid bereavement leave at Red River College Polytech would be a “good thing” for all Manitoba employees, says the head of the union that negotiated it.

“We’re hopeful that we’ll see more of it,” said Kyle Ross, Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union president.

Last Monday, the college celebrated its new collective agreement with Local 73 representing close to 1,800 staff members at the college. The three-year deal involved reconciliation efforts, including broadened bereavement leave.

The eligibility for a three-day paid leave was expanded to include the loss of a parent’s sibling or a sibling’s child, as well as grandparent or grandchild deaths.

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Monday, Feb. 2, 2026

1,800 staff members at the Red River College Polytech celebrated its new collective three-year agreement last Monday. (Mike Sudoma/Winnipeg Free Press files)

1,800 staff members at the Red River College Polytech celebrated its new collective three-year agreement last Monday. (Mike Sudoma/Winnipeg Free Press files)

NDP pushes for probe into former PC HQ sale

By Chris Kitching 4 minute read Monday, Feb. 2, 2026

WINNIPEG — The NDP wants Manitoba’s elections commissioner to investigate the Progressive Conservatives over the sale of the Tory party’s former headquarters in downtown Winnipeg.

In a complaint to commissioner Bill Bowles, the New Democrats said there would be a “clear violation” of the Election Financing Act if proceeds from the eventual sale of 23 Kennedy St., which is owned by a corporation, are transferred to the PCs.

“Despite this, (Tory Leader Obby) Khan has publicly stated that it is the Progressive Conservative Party’s intention to illegally receive the proceeds of this sale,” Evan Krosney, the NDP’s provincial secretary, wrote in the letter to Bowles on Friday.

Krosney asked Bowles to investigate Khan’s public comments. The complaint cited a CBC News report that quoted the PC leader as saying property owner Nocorp Investments Ltd. is a trust that intends to donate the sale proceeds to the Tories.

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