Where’s the money from Phil Sheegl and others? councillor asks

Show him the money.

Coun. Jeff Browaty is wondering where to find millions of dollars owed to the city by key players in the protracted Winnipeg Police Service headquarters saga.

Disgraced former city chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl — who accepted a bribe in 2011 from the owner of the construction company contracted to transform a downtown warehouse into the police HQ — has been ordered to pay the city approximately $1.1 million.

And Caspian Construction, owner Armik Babakhanians and 10 other Caspian-related defendants named in a city lawsuit settled for a minimum of $21.5 million last year; the amount could rise to $28 million, depending on the length of time it takes to get the money.

Woman shaken after 90 pounds of untethered ‘pure muscle’ attacks her dog while owners watch

Suzanne Pothe’s heart skipped a beat Monday morning when she saw an uncontrolled, “90-pound dog that was pure muscle” bounding toward her German shepherd Sophie, sparking a frightening attack that has left her shaken.

The Fort Richmond resident was walking Sophie southbound on Dalhousie Drive when she noticed what looked like a Rottweiler-mix “dragging its leash along the ground” on the other side of the roadway.

The animal’s owners, a couple, were nearby, she said.

“I was already tensing up because I knew something could happen,” Pothe said.

Trustee’s remarks ‘racist and discriminatory,’ chief says

BRANDON — Manitoba Grand Chief Cathy Merrick has accused a school trustee of making “racist and discriminatory remarks” at a board meeting in Dauphin Monday night.

Merrick, of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, is demanding the removal of Ward 2 trustee Paul Coffey from the Mountain View School Division board of trustees.

“Paul Coffey’s remarks demonstrate a deep ignorance that is counterproductive to the goals of reconciliation,” Merrick said Wednesday in a news release. “Continuing to provide a platform for someone with such profoundly racist beliefs is as irresponsible as it is violent, and this rhetoric has no place in any public education system.”

Coffey’s comments were part of an almost-30 minute presentation he gave to the board called “Racism/Anti-Racism” and subtitled “Nice Until It Isn’t” that dealt primarily with Indigenous issues and was critical of many government policies.

Carey to take skipping reins from iconic Jones

Jennifer Jones’ old curling team has a new skip. Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine, who reached the last two Scotties Tournament of Hearts finals with Jones, are sticking together and announced Wednesday they’ve added veteran Chelsea Carey to the lineup.

Compensation board rife with its own workplace problems: source

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba is struggling to process a mountain of outstanding claims as it grapples with a rising number of vacancies and a corresponding increase in workload for staff who remain, the Free Press has learned.

A source, who has decades of experience at the board, said the last 12 to 18 months have been some of the most difficult of his career due to the high level of turnover, problems with hiring and retaining case-management workers, and recent changes to policy that have resulted in more claims being accepted.

“The current workload levels are unmanageable and it’s taking a toll on employees in case management,” he said.

The board provides injury and disability insurance for workers and employers in the province.

MPI trims management in wake of scathing audit

Manitoba Public Insurance has eliminated 18 per cent of its management positions after an external audit criticized the Crown corporation for having too many bosses.

MPI cut 32 management positions — to 142 from 174 — following recommendations outlined by the audit, spokesperson Kristy Rydz confirmed to the Free Press Wednesday.

While the Crown corporation “parted ways” with a small number of leaders, Rydz said the majority of the reduction was done by maintaining vacancies and rightsizing roles.

“These changes respond to many of the recommendations put forward by (Ernst & Young) following last year’s organizational review and align with commitments made by MPI’s board of directors to revise our structure in support of our strategic direction,” Rydz said in an emailed statement.

Peguis First Nation sues Canada, Manitoba, RMs for $1B over inaction on repeated floods

Manitoba’s largest First Nation is suing the federal and provincial governments and two rural municipalities for $1 billion in damages after repeated severe floods displaced residents and caused “widespread” damage.

Chief Stan Bird said Peguis First Nation was left with no choice but to pursue court action after failing to get adequate permanent flood protection despite discussions with senior levels of government.

“We’ve come to the table in good faith. We’ve yet to see any results of those meetings,” Bird told the Free Press. “We’re tired of that. How do you put a dollar amount to human suffering? Because that’s what has been happening to our people.”

The statement of claim, filed Tuesday in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench, names Canada’s attorney general, the Manitoba government and the rural municipalities of Bifrost-Riverton and Fisher as defendants.

Tories ‘strayed’ from values, seek ‘way back’

As it prepares for a leadership race, Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party is asking its members for guidance after it got walloped in the fall election and “strayed from its values.”

A six-page values survey asks members to choose the five most important traits for the next party leader to have from a long list, including accountable, competence, empathetic, engaged, ethical and integrity.

“Many of you have expressed that you did not feel the 2023 provincial election campaign aligned with your values or the values you believed aligned with the PC Party of Manitoba,” the survey said as the PCs prepare to elect a new leader April 26, 2025.

“While we may have strayed during the election, we are here now to find our way back and invite you to provide guidance to that process.”

New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.

“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes," the court's 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”

The state Court of Appeals ruling reopens a painful chapter in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures — an era that began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein. His accusers could again be forced to retell their stories on the witness stand.

The court's majority said “it is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behavior that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them.”

Trump is in New York for the hush money trial while the Supreme Court hears his immunity case in DC

NEW YORK (AP) — A reluctant Donald Trump returned to a New York City courtroom Thursday as his hush money trial resumed at the same time that the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in Washington over whether he should be immune from prosecution for actions he took during his time as president.

Jurors will hear more witness testimony from a longtime tabloid publisher, and Trump faces a looming decision over whether he violated a gag order imposed by the judge. But he had asked to skip out on his criminal trial for the day so he could sit in on the high court’s special session, where the justices will weigh whether he can be prosecuted over his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

“I think the Supreme Court has a very important argument before it today," Trump said has he walked into his trial. “I should be there.”

His request was denied by New York state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial on the hush money scheme that was allegedly meant to prevent harmful stories about Trump from surfacing in the final days of the 2016 campaign.