http://www.92citifm.ca

The credibility of the Crown’s star witness in a triple murder case is coming under attack. Jeremie Toupin struck an immunity deal to plead guilty to second-degree murder and life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. In exchange, he’s testifying Jérôme Labossière allegedly hired him and Michel Hince to kill his elderly parents and brother. Labossière and Hince have pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder.

A new, updated women’s correction centre will open in Headingley in the next two weeks. The new structure has about 100 cells and 193 beds, 25 to be set aside for federal inmates. The 120,000-square-foot , $79.5 million, facility will provide more space for programming, like addictions counseling, programs to help develop coping skills, life-skills and other education programming.

The uncle of a four-month-old girl who survived a house fire that killed most of her family says doctors have told the family she is brain dead. The fire broke out Tuesday night in the family’s semi-detached home in West Kildonan. Firefighters pulled out the baby, her mother, grandmother and her nine- and four-year-old sisters, but smoke inhalation had caused too much damage. A trust fund has been set up at all ACU’s for the father, Hamid Farooq, who was at work when the fire broke out. The fund name is #Team204

The City of Winnipeg will set up a grant program to help aging community centres upgrade their facilities. Mayor Sam Katz said the city will offer almost a million dollars for community centre renovations every year. The city has set aside 15 per cent of the proceeds from city land sales for the grants. This funding means community centres won’t have to cut back on programming to repair their facilities.

The brother of a Canadian woman found badly beaten inside a Mexican hotel is defending the woman’s husband, saying he’s concerned that a statement could be misinterpreted. Mexican authorities had issued a statement in Spanish that could be translated to suggest the attack on Sheila Nabb was the result of “domestic violence.” The circumstances around the brutal beating are still unknown, but victims of another attack that stayed at the same hotel have come forward to share their story and warning. In their case, the attack was planned to extort money via a fraudulent private medical clinic.

In the same superpipe where Sarah Burke pioneered her sport, a gathering of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders honored the fallen skier with a torchlight parade. Four gold medals in the superpipe. The first woman to ever spin a 720 in competition. The first 900. The first 1080. Burke died last week in a Utah hospital after tumbling in a halfpipe while training on Jan. 10.

The details on the inmate escape for the Health Sciences Centre Sunday night are Stephane Bissonnette — who was being treated after shooting himself in the leg during a robbery last October — asked the female guards to leave the room so he could change his clothing. Bissonnette — who was not restrained in any way — then tossed a makeshift rope he made from hospital bed sheets out the window and climbed to freedom. He had previously broke out of a Montreal jail in 2007.

After the capsizing of the Costa Concordia near Italy, the company has agreed to pay the cost of the cruise, all transportation and $14,500 for items lost and any psychological damages to each passenger who suffered no physical injuries. Passengers injured while abandoning the ship will be dealt with individually. A consumer group that did not sign the agreement is collecting names to file a class action suit asking for ten times that amount.

A 32-year-old man is facing charges of second-degree murder after his wife was stabbed to death Monday night in their downtown apartment. Alche Kidane, 34, had only just arrived in Winnipeg in August last year, after she and her husband made their way from Sudan.

An arrest has been made in the weekend beating of the 88-year-old. Police say Daniel Andrew Campbell, 22, is charged with aggravated assault, break and enter, robbery with violence and breach of probation. The victim remains stable in hospital.

No serious injuries after two downtown fires last night. One was an apartment building fire on Graham, the other in the parkade of CityPlace on Donald where a construction worker was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. This comes only a day after a woman, her daughter and her two granddaughters were killed by smoke inhalation. A baby girl was the sole survivor of that house fire and is in hospital in critical condition.

A man arrested in a string of break-ins in the Stonewall area managed to escape the town’s RCMP detachment ut has been recaptured. Tuesday night, when the man was allowed to call a lawyer in private, they say he escaped through a garage door. An 18-year-old man is now facing a charge of aiding and abetting his escape.

79 dogs are receiving medical care at the Winnipeg Humane Society after being removed from “substandard breeding facility.” The good news is none of the dogs, so far, have needed to be euthanized, but they were thin, thirsty and covered in feces. Some also had gum disease or teeth problems. The animals had been in a 40 by 70-foot shed, some as many as three to a cage.

An escaped cat kept an Air Canada flight grounded yesterday. Air Canada, Flight 603 from Halifax to Toronto, was delayed for a few hours because a cat escaped from a carrying case that a woman had taken on the plane. Spurway says the cat ran into the cockpit, which is usually open at that time, and then somehow got into the wiring in the panels. It took a couple hours for maintenance crews to locate the cat and check the wiring.

A very sad update. Two young children, both under the age of 10, and two women have died after a house fire and a 6 month old baby remains in critical condition. Firefighters had responded to a call on Sinclair Street, when they noticed smoke from the Woodlark Place home nearby. Crews had to work to revive the people outside the home before they were taken to hospital. It appeared the fire victims were suffering from smoke inhalation.

City police have confirmed detectives are investigating Winnipeg’s first homicide of 2012. A 34-year-old woman was found badly injured in a suite on Assiniboine Avenue Monday night. She was taken to hospital in critical condition but died of severe upper body injuries. The victim had reportedly just moved to Canada within the past year and was originally from Eritrea. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers.

A man who went up on the roof of his house to try and protest its demolition has been arrested. Ed Ackerman is accused of attacking a worker who was there to tear down his house on Bannatyne Avenue. He started throwing glass blocks at workers, went up to the roof of the house, and police blocked off the street, leading to a really strange standoff. It also led to Victoria-Albert School being put in lockup, until the situation was resolved.

A landslide in Papua New Guinea has 40 dead and 20 missing. Local lawmaker told Radio Australia that the landslide completely covered two villages while people slept.
If you opted to watch a movie on a Canadian network, instead of the State of the Union address, Obama focused on income inequality and tax reform. Obama appealed for lawmakers to send him legislation on immigration, clean energy and housing

HERITAGE Winnipeg has given up its campaign to save the city’s old airport terminal from demolition. There had been hope to save the old terminal building, opened in 1964, but now the Western Canadian Aviation Museum plans to build a new museum after tearing down the old building.
Manitobans bring home bronze from the first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games. Adam Brooks, 15, was a member of Canada’s national men’s youth hockey team, while Derek Oryniak, 17, was the second on Canada’s mixed curing team.

Winnipeg police are on the lookout for a robbery suspect, 29 year old Stephane Martin Bissonnette, who escaped custody while at the Health Sciences Centre.  It’s unknown why Bisonette required hospitalization but he was awaiting trial on robbery and firearm offenses.  Anyone with information on Bissonnette is asked to call Crime Stoppers. 

Workers and equipment are getting ready to start pumping out the half-million gallons of fuel from the crashed cruise ship off Tuscany. The Concordia ran aground and capsized on Jan. 13 after the captain ran it into a reef, forcing the evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew. So far 15 bodies have been found.

Brandon firefighters had to deal with a massive fire in the Sturgeon Tire building around 5:15 last night. It was also the reason 500 Manitoba Hydro customers were without power between 6:30 and 7 p.m. They had to shut the power off to protect equipment, and for the safety of the folks fighting the fire. The building was destroyed and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The 9 million dollar International Polar Bear Conservation Centre is now open at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg. It has a research component, an interactive gallery for guests to learn about polar bears and their habitat and will be a nursery for orphaned or injured bears.

Did you see all the emergency vehicles out at the  James Armstrong Richardson Airport last night? The pilot of an Air Canada regional jet, bound for Edmonton, decided to return to  Winnipeg  after a nose indicator light  came on in the cockpit.  The plane landed with no problems  just before 7:30, but there were fire units from the airport and city, and paramedics standing by, just in case.

A fire yesterday afternoon caused an estimated 80,000 dollars of damage to a youth group home on Kent Road. The fire apparently started in a bedroom. There were no serious injuries and the cause is under investigation.

The Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail is expected to open today from The Forks to Churchill Drive. Information on the ice trail can be found online (at rivertrail.ca, or sentierdhiver.ca). Access to all of the skating trails is free. Skate rentals are available at The Forks.

Looking to add a furbaby to your family? Tomorrow, the Winnipeg Humane Society is having a one day Puppypalooza on medium & large puppies where qualified pups are only $100 to adopt.

The Manitoba government is providing nearly $2.5 million to rural communities affected by record flooding last year. Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn says the 42 grants issued to 34 communities will help communities get back on their feet. Projects include restoring damaged tourist facilities, co-ordinating plans for residential and tourism redevelopment and promoting “buy local” campaigns.

 Peter Nygard has won Round 3 of his legal battle with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The case is one of many launched by Nygard relating to CBC’s Fifth Estate documentary, Larger Than Life. Nygard claims the CBC induced and conspired with Nygard employees to breach confidentiality agreements they had signed with the fashion company in the making of the documentary. A separate criminal suit was also launched for defamatory libel. All allegations have yet to be proven.

Joe Paterno, the former Penn State football coach, died yesterday at 85. Only time will tell if he’s remembered as the winningest coach in major college football history or as the man who helped cover up one of the biggest child sex scandals in football history.

Four years after New York stunned previously undefeated New England in the Arizona desert, the Patriots and Giants are going at it again at the Super Bowl — this time in Indianapolis.

A home invasion turned into an assault on Saturday afternoon. After hitting the 88-year-old woman, the attacker took off with some cash and the woman was taken to hospital. No description is available yet, but if you have any information, police are asking you to call Crimestoppers.

A domestic disturbance call led to an illegal gun seizure on Saturday. Charles Matthew Wesley, 22, was arrested and charged with six counts, including breach of probation and possessing a prohibited firearm with ammunition

If you were in the Exchange District at around 2:15 Sunday mornings, that wasn’t a car backfiring that you heard, it was gunshots. No injuries were reported and the investigation is ongoing.

Tec Voc High School was placed into lockdown Friday after administrators received a possible threat. Winnipeg police responded to the school late in the morning to investigate. The threat turned out to be unfounded and doors were unlocked at around 2:30 p.m. Details on the nature of the threat were not released.

The City of Winnipeg agreed to go ahead with widening Kenaston Boulevard earlier this week, but legal arguments over who owns the land have put those plans on hold. The court date is set at end of April to decide if the land belongs to the Canada Lands Company or the seven First Nations tribes who signed Treaty 1 back in 1871. Then, the city will have to buy the land from whichever side is proved to be the owner. The cost of buying that land isn’t included in the 129 million dollar estimate for the project.

A Winnipeg woman, who threatened to sue the city if staff tried to take her dogs away, has reached the end of her one year deadline. Barbara Camara owns 6 dogs; twice the number allowed by city bylaws. She is applying for an excess animal permit to keep all of her dogs. The complaint was originally filed by neighbours who had a problem with all the barking.

Busy weekend for firefighters. The first fire was on Magnus Avenue Friday night, forcing 2 people from their home. Then there was a second fire Saturday morning in an apartment block on Kennedy. And a fire in Point Douglas at 5am Saturday sent one man to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Two Winnipeg men were married in what’s believed to be a Canadian first: they tied the knot at a conservative synagogue.

Winnipeg Jet Evander Kane has been the victim of some gossip saying that he skips out on his bill at local restaurants. All the restaurant owners that were rumoured to have been stiffed have come forward to deny that gossip though.

Canadian skier Sarah Burke has died of injuries from doing the sport she loved. Sarah Burke was an X Games star; a daredevil Canadian freestyle skier, who helped get superpipe accepted into the Olympics. She was 29.

The Forks named Canada’s Great Public Space for 2011.The award was handed out by the Canadian Institute of Planners, and beat out over 6,000 other nominees in the category.

Parents, if you buy President’s Choice Brand infant cereals, check your cupboards. Eight types are being recalled because they may be rancid: the 227 gram Mixed Grains, Oat Cereal and Wheat Cereal, all in green and white packages. There is one reported illness linked to eating them and symptoms to watch for are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. You can return the recalled cereal to stores for a full refund, with or without a receipt.

A Facebook page has been created to remember the victim of Wednesday’s fatal car crash, 19-year-old Kaitlyn Fraser. She was on her way to a job interview when her SUV went through a guardrail on the Disraeli Bridge and hit the ice below. She’s being remembered by her closest friends as a sweet, bubbly young woman who dreamed of becoming a nurse.

Winnipeg Transit driver charged for hitting a passenger. The 42-year old bus driver is charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after the city bus he was driving hit an 84-year-old while he was getting off the bus at a designated stop back on December 20th.

Media reports say Ottawa has expelled four Russian embassy staff in connection with a Canadian naval officer accused of passing secrets to a foreign power. Officials in both countries, however, are keeping their mouths shut – confirming or denying nothing about the growing scandal.

One advantage to this week’s cold weather, part of the river trail at The Forks is now open for ice skating! 

Almost half of Canadians say they are not financially prepared for retirement — including baby boomers who are mere years away from putting their working days behind them. Christina Kramer, an executive vice-president at CIBC, suggests instead of making an RRSP contribution just before the Feb. 29 deadline, we should take some time to review our whole financial picture and decide what changes might be needed to keep making progress in their investments.

In the –40 C to –47 C range: exposed skin can freeze in five to 10 minutes.Dress in layers of warm clothing, with a wind-resistant outer layer; Cover all exposed skin; Wear a hat, mittens or insulated gloves, a scarf, neck tube or face mask and insulated, waterproof footwear; Stay dry; Keep active

The 19-year-old woman in the SUV that went off the Disraeli Bridge yesterday afternoon died, Winnipeg police confirmed. She was the lone occupant of the vehicle that crashed through the railing on the bridge and landed upside down on the bank of the Red River.

Jérome Labossière was upset with members of his family in the weeks before his parents and brother were murdered at their Manitoba farmhouse, according to his brother-in-law, Bernard Grenier, who took the witness stand yesterday. The trial has now been adjourned until Monday.

Ex-coaches in Manitoba hockey hazing get a longer suspensions. A report by retired Winnipeg police detective Ron Bell concluded that veteran members of the Neepawa Natives picked on rookies in at least four separate hazings. Head coach Bryant Perrier resigned from the team last year and remains suspended from coaching until April 1. The suspension of former assistant coach Brad Biggers has been extended to July 1. The suspensions mean the men cannot work for any team anywhere in the country that is part of Hockey Canada.

A Winnipeg restaurateur has filed a court motion asking Mayor Sam Katz to step down from office or repay all costs paid by the City of Winnipeg to Hu’s Asian Bistro. In December, Katz held a taxpayer-funded Christmas party at Hu’s Asian Bistro, a restaurant he owns, for the second year in a row. Previously, the mayor has defended his decision, saying many places are booked up over Christmas and he can get a big discount there.

Parole has been denied for a Haitian-born murderer at an aboriginal hearing. The girl’s father says the killer should not have been allowed to have an aboriginal hearing because, although he’s a Canadian citizen, he was born in Haiti and is not aboriginal. He says it makes a mockery of First Nation, Inuit and Metis people.

With the U.S. killing the Keystone proposal, for now, the government says this increases the likelihood that China will become a major new buyer of Canadian oil. $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast,was bitterly opposed by environmentalists and endorsed by Republicans, who say it will create needed jobs in the U.S.

Facebook is adding 60 new apps that let users share everything from photos of what they cooked for dinner, to what concert they scored tickets to. They call it “frictionless sharing,” meaning once you sign up for the apps, they automatically share your Ticketmaster purchases or Rotten Tomatoe reviews on your timeline. That said, you can still limit who can sees what when you sign up for the apps, the same as any other Facebook updates.

Wouldn’t it be nice to go over last year’s budget and find out you’ve got some extra cash?

The City of Winnipeg will close the books on 2011 with a surplus of more than $3.6 million! We saved money by not fogging for mosquitos last summer and not needing to use much of our December snow-clearing budget. The surplus will be applied to this year’s operating budget.

Slow down. Winnipeg police are just reminding everyone that the cold weather has made city streets especially icy with bridges and overpasses are the worst affected. We had a whole whack of minor collisions yesterday morning. Drivers are encouraged to keep a safe distance back from the vehicle ahead of them.

With this cold, Winnipeg’s assistant fire chief is advising people against plugging in vehicles inside garages or running heaters.Bill Clark says anything from a frayed cord to something falling on the element of an in-car heater could spark a fire. Garages are usually enough shelter to make sure a vehicle will start even in the coldest temperatures.

Have you heard the tape from the cruise ship sinking in Italy? The captain of an Italian cruise ship that ran aground off Italy made excuses and resisted a coast guard officer’s repeated orders for him to reboard his stricken liner and aid passengers, an audio recording released Tuesday reveals. Prosecutors have accused Capt. Francesco Schettino of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his vessel before all passengers were evacuated

Scientists has said yes, a piece of Mars has landed. 6.8 kilograms of Martian meteorite fell over Morocco last summer — the first time in 50 years such an event has occurred. It is only the fifth time newly fallen Martian rocks have been confirmed chemically by experts. Known Martian meteorite falls have happened only once every 50 years or so

This year’s Genie Award nominations didn’t give a lot of love to Winnipeg movie makers. Heather Neale’s costume design work for gangster flick  Keyhole, was nominated.

Former Winnipegger Ryan Ward got the nod for best original screenplay as co-writer for Son of the Sunshine. And The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, mostly filmed in Manitoba, received a nomination for best editing.

The awards will be broadcast on March 8 at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has confirmed that he and Steven Tyler will play The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Friday

It may be cold out, but even that was a welcome relief to a Canadian couple
who survived their luxury cruise ship sinking off the Italian coast.
Laurence and Andrea Davis, after swimming to shore, were among 12 Canadians
aboard, all of whom survived. Updated numbers now have six dead and
twenty-nine still missing.

The Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, was arrested early Saturday
and faces charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck.

Speed and alcohol are believed to be factors in a snowmobile crash early
Sunday morning that killed a 21-year-old man. RCMP said the man and a
23-year-old woman were riding in the Thicket Portage area when the man lost
control and both riders were thrown.

The driver was taken to the local nursing station where he was pronounced
dead. The woman was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Police said neither rider were wearing helmets.

It sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, but a member of the
Canadian Forces is facing espionage charges. That’s right! They say he’s a
spy and alleging passed protected government information to a “unknown
foreign body.” Jeffrey Paul Delisle, will be in court today for a bail
hearing, but it’s all very hush hush. They’re not saying what his rank and
service is, what the information was about or who he was passing it to.

He is the first person in Canadian history to be charged under a section of
the act prohibiting the passage of sensitive information to a foreign
entity or terrorist groups.

Starting next Monday, Tim Hortons has a new cup size system.
So, if you used to order a small – that’s going to be an extra small,
medium will be a small, etc. and for the really thirsty customer, the new
extra large 24-ounce cup will be the biggest the chain has ever offered.
And, don’t worry – prices per cup size stay the same,

Winnipeg Conservative MP Steven Fletcher is temporarily leaving his post as
minister of state for transport while he undergoes medical treatment.

It will cost you 2 cents more to mail a letter today within in North America. Now to mail a first-class letter within Canada its .61 cents and letters to the US now cost $1.05. Letters overseas jumped up a nickel to $1.80. Canada Post says the increases are part of a 5-year pricing strategy initially announced in 2009.

2 men and a youth have been charged with setting that massive apartment fire on Sherbrook on Saturday. The trio has been charged with arson with disregard for human life, as well as arson with damage to property. Numerous people were treated in hospital, but all are now listed in stable condition. The $1million blaze completely destroyed the build and left several folks homeless.

RCMP is warning people with rural mailboxes to check for mail more than usual. A rash of mailbox vandalisms and robberies has hit the province. Over the past few months as many as 48 mailboxes have been damaged which is a criminal offence. 

A Winnipeg group opposed to photo radar says it will release police documents today that it obtained through a freedom of information act. The city recently removed a sign posted by the group on Highway 75 that complained about the poor signage on the road and the slow speed limit. “Wise Up Winnipeg” will be joined by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for the release at a news conference at 10am this morning at Canad Inns Polo Park.

Prime Minister Harper doesn’t expect 2012 will be much easier on the country economically than last year. He warned in a letter to Conservative MP’s yesterday that with Europe on the verge of a new recession and the rest of the world facing economic uncertainty, this year will likely be just as challenging as last year.

2 men and a youth have been charged with setting that massive apartment fire on Sherbrook on Saturday. The trio has been charged with arson with disregard for human life, as well as arson with damage to property. Numerous people were treated in hospital, but all are now listed in stable condition. The $1million blaze completely destroyed the build and left several folks homeless.

Get ready to pay a little more if you’re mailing a letter today. The cost of mailing a first class letter in the country is going up to 61 cents….2 more cents increase. It’s now going to cost 1.05 to mail anything to the States. The post office says the hikes are part of a 5 year pricing strategy first announced in 2009 to offset losses as, more and more people use things like texting, e-mailing and social media to get their messages out.

The black and white film, “The Artist” was the big winner at the Golden Globes last night. It took home 3 awards, the most this year. The family drama “The Descendants” claimed 2 awards….including one for best actor for George Clooney. No surprise, Meryl Streep took home best dramatic actress honors for her role as “The Iron Lady.” And, on the t.v. side, “Modern Family,” won best comedy….while “Homeland” won for best drama.

So far, 6 bodies have been recovered and the search continues for 15 people still missing in Friday’s shipwreck off Italy’s Tuscan coast. Authorities have some pretty important questions for the captain who was seen fleeing the scene during the evacuation. All 12 Canadians aboard the cruise ship survived.

The Canadian Cancer Society says it is fighting back against cancer by urging folks to butt out this week. Its National Non-Smoking week, which includes Weedless Wednesday. (Only in Canada) The Cancer Society points out that even relatively light smoking can cause lung damage because smoking is repetitive and the damage adds up over time.

And Kiss rocker, Gene Simmons has lent a hand to help open a facility near Vancouver that will help children facing abuse. Both Gene and daughter Sophie, whom the center is named after were on hand at an event on Sunday.  Sophie’s Place, will officially open in Surrey next month.