Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 06, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B2 B 2 WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I COVID-19 PANDEMIC NOTICE OF INTENDED EXPROPRIATION TAKE NOTICE: The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, hereby gives notice that pursuant to provisions contained in the following Acts: 1. Sections 2, 16(1) and 18 of The Manitoba Hydro Act, C.C.S.M. c. H 190; and 2. The Expropriation Act, C.C.S.M. c. E 190, it intends to expropriate for the purpose of installing, constructing and erecting high voltage facilities and related equipment as part of the St Vital - Letellier Transmission Project Phase II (St Vital to De Salaberry Station), the following lands: RIGHT OF WAY ON PLAN DEPOSIT 1607/2019 except: (a) mines, minerals and named substances which are excepted from or not included in the Certificate of Title of the registered owners of the surface under The Real Property Act or are not owned by the owners of the surface under The Registry Act; and (b) reservations in favour of the Crown as excepted from the title of the owners of the surface or to which title is subject by implication under the provisions of The Real Property Act. The lands are intended to be expropriated free and clear of all encumbrances. FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that an application to the Minister of Crown Services for a Confirming Order is pending. Dated at Winnipeg, Manitoba this 28th day of April, 2020. Available in accessible formats upon request. Legals PARENTS facing the challenge of teaching their children at home can now access virtual homework help from aspiring teachers at the University of Winnipeg. The virtual tutor program uses online video-conferen- cing tool Zoom to pair students learning from home with one of 40 U of W faculty of education students for some one-on- one support. Students are invited to join Monday and Wed- nesday afternoon sessions where they can receive help with a variety of subjects. While the program launched in mid-April, it's now be- ginning to pick up steam. Organizer Kari McCluskey, who works as an occasional instructor and co-ordinator of the U of W's Lost Prizes seminars, said the idea emerged from hearing concerns from community members about the addi- tional stresses families were experiencing. "I thought that this homework club would be kind of a fill- er in the meantime to help support families, and even teach- ers, who now are having to redevelop their whole plan and what that means for access and that one-on-one time and all those extra pieces," she said. After the project was given the go-ahead from university administration, education students jumped at the chance to provide help to parents, McCluskey said. "Within an hour of sending out the email saying, 'this is what we're going to try to do, basically we have no idea what it's going to look like, but let's give it a go,'" she said. "It was amazing, it was awesome to see how many students were quickly like, 'here's my name, here's my major, I'm happy to help any way I can." Breanna Rae Laggo, a third-year education student double- majoring in English and French, is one of the students who took on the opportunity. She said she's mostly worked with middle school students, many of whom have parents who face a language barrier or are facing one themselves. "I think the most common topics that we've seen so far have been French and math, so we're working on that for anyone who wants to come," Laggo said. The project has shifted since that initial email. After the first week's launch, McCluskey set up orientation sessions with parents. "I think that was an important piece too, was inviting the parents to also get involved," she said. "If you want to come and check it out, check it out, ask your questions, if you want to sit with your child. that's totally OK." While the program isn't collecting data on how many stu- dents are involved, McCluskey said about 20 students took part last week and interest from parents continues. "As long as there's need, there's families, there's requests, then we'll keep going," she said. Parents interested in getting their children involved can email McCluskey at ka.mccluskey@uwinnipeg.ca. malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca H UNDREDS of Winnipeg students who started distance-schooling with little to no access to e-learn- ing will soon be able to connect with their teachers and classmates online. A total of 2,766 Chromebooks and iPads - 600 of which will be equipped with internet access - will be handed out in the province's largest division. The Winnipeg School Division an- nounced Tuesday it is starting to de- liver computers, six weeks after the province first suspended classes. While most of the technology in- ventory is from schools, the division also purchased 600 new LTE-cellular enabled iPads as part of its $500,000 pandemic connectivity plan. Recipi- ent families, who will receive at least one device each, are expected to re- turn school computers before June 26. "Our plan was always to get our stu- dents home-learning packages. That was the first priority, because we knew it was not all going to be online learn- ing and it's still not all online learning," said Tony Marchione, acting director of technology at the division, which serves nearly 33,000 students. At the same time, Marchione said he recognizes internet and device access allow students to connect with teach- ers and peers easier than otherwise. In recent weeks, principals have been surveying families and teachers about connectivity needs. Across the province, divisions in- cluding Seven Oaks, Louis Riel and Hanover have already handed out thou- sands of devices to families. Manitoba divisions have also paid service provid- ers to temporarily install routers in stu- dent homes. As for Winnipeg, Marchione said it took extra time to ensure devices would automatically connect students to the internet and filter content. Online ac- tivity on the devices is being monitored through GoGuardian software, a simi- lar setup to school Wi-Fi-monitoring systems. Also among the division's priorities: setting up a help desk to answer student and parent technology-related ques- tions. Laura Tribe, executive director of OpenMedia, praised the province's school divisions for taking steps to fill in the digital divide during the pan- demic. "This is definitely a critical and im- portant band-aid solution, but it is just that: a band-aid," said Tribe, a propon- ent for universal internet access. Every day a student has been with- out a device connected to the inter- net has affected their connection to both e-learning and communication, she said, adding these students likely didn't just get unplugged six weeks ago. While she argues all levels of govern- ment have a responsibility to tackle the divide, Tribe said divisions can extend help by allowing students to borrow de- vices throughout the summer. "If we really want to make sure these students and these families can keep up, we need to make sure they can do that far be- yond the 10 months in school." For the time being, Winnipeg moth- er Dawn Gregory is picking up paper packages for her children on a weekly basis. The mother of four requested a couple of devices from the division because she doesn't have a reliable one at home. On Tuesday afternoon, Gregory had yet to hear if her children would receive a computer to borrow. "I'm just patiently waiting," said Gregory, who has school-aged children in grades 4, 5 and 12. The devices will be distributed this week, with help from the division's In- digenous education and newcomer ser- vices staff, based on a priority system. Soon-to-be graduates are at the top of the list. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie THE city expects Winnipeg Transit's losses will fall by about $1 million per month with a newly reduced bus sched- ule, which officials say is being closely monitored to ensure remaining buses still allow for physical distancing. Passenger counts and driver reports are being closely checked to determine bus demand, especially if that could interfere with the health directive for passengers to stay at least two metres apart, said Jason Shaw, Winnipeg's as- sistant chief of emergency manage- ment. "If we start to see overcrowding pat- terns develop, efforts will be made to adjust the service to spread out the pas- senger loads," said Shaw. "The first day of reduced transit saw some overcrowd- ing on some routes. However, Transit had a number of spare buses available and took immediate steps to put spare buses into those routes to alleviate the overcrowding." Shaw said he didn't know how many times backup buses were used to ad- dress overcrowding incidents, once Transit switched to a reduced service schedule on Monday. Mayor Brian Bowman noted Win- nipeg Transit schedules were adjusted after ridership plummeted due to COVID-19. Bowman said the service cuts will still see Transit lose about $5 million per month, instead of the $6-million monthly loss that was ex- pected with regular service levels. "If we wanted to think of only the bot- tom line, the reductions could be more severe. We're trying to balance the physical distancing and we're trying to support the province's efforts to ensure that there's safe spaces on the buses," said Bowman. But the union for Winnipeg Transit's drivers says complaints of overcrowd- ed buses have begun to pile up since the changes took effect. James Van Gerwen, vice-president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, said drivers have reported dozens of complaints about overcrowded buses since the changes took effect Monday. The city has yet to release its own num- bers. For a standard bus during the pandemic, Van Gerwen said the union deems overcrowding to occur any time more than 15 people are on board at the same time. Van Gerwen repeated his union's call for the city to reverse the service fre- quency cuts and a related layoff of 253 drivers. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Hundreds of students in the Winnipeg School Division are receiving digital devices from the division so they can have access to e-learning tools and connect with teachers and classmates. Digital device delivery underway Winnipeg School Division providing gear to students MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER U of W tutor program offers kids help with homework MALAK ABAS City monitoring buses for signs of overcrowding JOYANNE PURSAGA WINNIPEG bylaw officers have handed out their second ticket for a public health order offence related to COVID-19. Jason Shaw, Winnipeg's assistant chief of emergency management, said a man was charged for allegedly failing to keep a physic- al distance of at least two metres from others, a rule meant to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Shaw said the man is accused of gathering with about 10 people at the Sargent Park skate park around 8 p.m. on April 29. "Officers advised that the skate park was closed and all (other) individuals began to immediately pack up and leave," said Shaw. "The accused adult male then became ver- bally aggressive and defiant. He continued to use the facility and at one point came within approximately three feet of the officer, violat- ing social-distancing orders." Shaw alleged the man also refused to pro- vide his identification to bylaw officers and eventually got in a vehicle and drove away. He said Winnipeg Police confirmed the man's identity and bylaw officers delivered a sum- mons to his home. The penalty for the offence is a fine of up to $1,000 and/or six months in jail. Mayor Brian Bowman said most Winni- peggers are complying with health orders. On May 4, Bowman said community service ambassadors and bylaw officers recorded 642 "positive interactions" and gave out 40 verbal warnings for failing to follow physical-distan- cing rules, joining large groups and attending closed city facilities. - Joyanne Pursaga City hands out second ticket for public health order violation B_02_May-06-20_FP_01.indd B2 2020-05-05 9:33 PM ;