Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 11, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba cn.ca COMMUNITY NOTICE ANNUAL VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Each year, CN is required to manage vegetation on its right-of-way. Managing this vegetation contributes to mitigating fire risks and enhances the efficiency of inspection of track infrastructure. To ensure safe railway operations, the annual vegetation management program will be carried out on CN rail lines in the province of Manitoba. A certified applicator (Davey Tree Expert Company Ltd., 1-800-465-6367) will apply herbicides on and around the railway tracks (primarily along the 24-foot graveled area/ballast). Product requirements for setbacks in the vicinity of dwellings, aquatic environments and municipal water supplies will be met. The names of the products are Arsenal, Detail, Esplanade, Telar, Navius, Credit Xtreme, VP480, Vision Max, Overdrive, Clearview, Torpedo, Payload, Gateway and Hasten. CN only uses herbicides that have been approved for use in Canada and in the province within which they are applied. The program will take place from May to October 2024. Any person may, within 15 days from today, send a written submission regarding the control program or register their written objection to the use of pesticide next to their property to: Manitoba Environment and Climate Change, Environmental Approvals Branch. Box 35, 14 Fultz Boulevard, Winnipeg MB R3Y 0L6 Visit www.cn.ca/vegetation for more information or to make an inquiry, contact the CN Public Inquiry Line at contact@cn.ca or 1-888-888-5909. MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND HAVE A GREAT TIME DOING IT Celebrate with us as we mark 50 years of DASCH's dedicated support for children, youth, and adults with intellectual disabilities at the Possibilities Gala! When: Saturday, April 27th at 6PM Where: RBC Convention Centre What: Cocktails, Dinner, Dancing, Live and Silent Auctions, and a special Fund-a-Possibility segment! Buy your tickets now at dasch.mb.ca or contact foundation@dasch.mb.ca Until there’s a cure for deme there’s Deer Lodge Centre. DeerLodgeCentreFoundation.com | 204.272.8 PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY. ntia, 911 WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● A5 BRANDON — Co-ordination was key in the response to the deadly Carberry bus crash last year, the chief medic- al officer for STARS Air Ambulance says. Dr. John Froh, in town for this week’s Association of Manitoba Muni- cipalities’ spring convention at Bran- don’s Keystone Centre, said 20 per- sonnel from STARS were mustered in response to the event during a Wednes- day interview with the Brandon Sun. STARS dispatched two helicopters, one from its base in Winnipeg and the other from Regina, to Carberry after the June 15, 2023, tragedy that claimed the lives of 17 people. STARS’ personnel included 13 health-care providers dispatched to help at Brandon Regional Health Cen- tre. “The local first responders, the local paramedics, the local health-care fa- cilities did an amazing job there,” Froh said. “We were part of a co-ordinated effort to provide care in an area that was pretty much overwhelmed with a number of casualties.” In a mass casualty event in Mani- toba, Froh said STARS’ involvement is provided through the Medical Trans- portation Co-ordination Centre, which is based out of Brandon. As a non-profit, Froh said STARS is primarily funded through government contracts, but it also fundraises to sup- plement its resources. “That is very important for us, it al- lows us to continue to push the bound- ary in terms of care, also to pivot when we need to,” Froh said. “We’re a much smaller organization and so that kind of ability to be nimble is also somewhat entrenched in our funding model.” In order to work with STARS’ med- ical teams, Froh said nurses and para- medics go through a 20-week-long academy training program to prepare. Factors they have to deal with in the air ambulances include changes in atmospheric pressure and altitude, noise and vibration. Because of the nature of its work, STARS staff frequently deal with some of the sickest patients in the provinces they serve, Froh said. The doctor said STARS has a pres- ence at the convention to enhance municipalities’ awareness of what the organization does and how it connects into Manitoba’s health-care safety net. A poster next to STARS’ booth in the trade show portion of the convention showed how many times the organiza- tions had teams dispatched to various Manitoba municipalities in the 2022-23 fiscal year. In that time frame, STARS teams were sent to Brandon 40 times. Froh will deliver a keynote address today at 2:15 p.m. in the Keystone Cen- tre’s UCT Pavilion. — Brandon Sun NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 MAN CHARGED IN FATAL SHOOTING A man has been charged with second-degree murder after Winnipeg’s latest homicide. Jordan Tyler Trachilis, 32, was arrested Tuesday for the killing of Edison Leslie Erskine, 46, that morning. Police believe the victim and the accused became involved in an argument that led to the fatal shooting. “The details of their relationship are still being investigated,” Winnipeg police said in a news release Wednesday. Police previously said officers heard gunshots at about 12:45 a.m. A man suffering from a gunshot wound was found outside near Furby Street and Cumberland Avenue. The homicide unit is again asking anyone with information about the killing, including security video, to call investigators at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS). PROVINCE FREEZES PARK PASS FEES THE province has put a freeze on provincial park fees for this camping season. The former Progressive Conservative government signed a contract with Texas-based service provider Aspira to administer the park pass program in 2020. The NDP government said Wednesday the fees associated with the contract were scheduled to increase this year. The cost of an annual park vehicle permit is $44.50, while three-day and daily passes cost $16.50 and $9.50, respectively. Campsite reservations for the 2024 season opened this week. CITY CONSIDERS OPTIONS FOR MOSQUITO FIGHT THE City of Winnipeg will study three options to help battle mosquitoes, since it can no longer buy its current fogging agent, DeltaGard. On Wednesday, council’s community services committee ordered a staff report on options to expand the city’s larviciding program, find alternatives to traditional fogging and engage with experts about alternatives to DeltaGard. A report is expected back in about six months. The decision follows a city report that notes DeltaGard is no longer being sold in Canada and Winnipeg’s current stock will only last about two to four more years. It notes a viable replacement isn’t available right now and could take years to find. IIU clears officers in incident at CFS office T HE province’s police watchdog says officers were justified in shooting foam rounds and a Tas- er at a man who was holding a pencil to his neck at a Child and Family Ser- vices office in January. The incident happened at 222 Pro- vencher Blvd., on the morning of Jan. 3. Police released some details about the incident the next day, when Winni- peg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth held a news conference and defended his officers’ handling of mental health calls. CFS staff members alerted police when a 30-year-old man with a history of mental health issues tried to drag his female partner, who is in her 30s, outside. The Independent Investigation Unit report released Wednesday said police told the watchdog the man wanted his partner to drive him home and that the woman was asking CFS staff to take her to a shelter. The man grabbed a pencil off the front counter, held it to his neck and threatened to stab him- self when heavily armed police tactic- al support team officers arrived. Police told the IIU an officer fired two rubber-tipped foam rounds in an attempt to subdue the man. The rounds hit the man in his left leg but had no immediate visible effect. Another member of the tactical team fired a Taser at the man, but the probes did not connect with his body, the IIU was told. The man fell to the ground, grabbed an object that turned out to be a mark- er and tried to “stab” himself with it, police told the IIU. “The male then appeared to have a seizure or may have been attempting to harm himself,” police are quoted as saying in the IIU report. The man was taken to Health Sci- ences Centre and held under the Men- tal Health Act. He suffered bruising from the foam rounds but did not re- quire medical treatment, police are quoted as saying. The IIU said a man calling from a blocked phone number and claiming to be the man contacted investigators a few days later and declined to meet with them. “This has nothing to do with WPS. It was my actions. I acted irrationally,” he said. The IIU said police tried to de-escal- ate the situation and prevent the man from harming himself and that the use of force was reasonable and necessary. Smyth said in January that the man’s partner did not want to go through the criminal process and that he would not be charged. A judge sentenced a North Dakota woman Tuesday to 19 years in prison in connection with the death of a baby and injury of another boy that author- ities tied to her unlicensed home child- care centre. Patricia Wick, of Jamestown, was charged last year. She pleaded guilty in January to felony charges of mur- der and child abuse and a misdemean- our of operating an unlicensed day- care centre in Carrington. On the murder charge, state District Judge James Hovey sentenced Wick to 40 years in prison, with 20 years suspended and credit for over a year already served. She must register as an offender against children and serve 10 years’ supervised probation. The judge also imposed lesser, concurrent sentences on the other charges. Wick must also pay $810 in court fees on the child abuse charge. Wick’s public defender, Samuel Gereszek, and Foster County State’s Attorney Kara Brinster did not return phone messages left Wednesday. Prosecutors alleged Wick caused head and neck injuries to the five- month-old boy, who died Sept. 28, 2022, according to Carrington Police Chief Christopher Bittmann’s affidavit. An autopsy found the infant died from “complications of blunt force head and neck trauma,” with his death de- termined a homicide, according to the affidavit. Wick told authorities she “may have put (the baby) down too hard,” was not gentle with him and was frustrated with him that day, according to the af- fidavit. — The Associated Press N.D. woman who ran unlicensed daycare gets 19 years in baby’s death IN BRIEF TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN Dr. John Froh, chief medical officer for STARS, at its booth at the AMM spring Convention in Brandon, Wednesday. Co-ordinated response vital in Carberry crash aftermath: STARS COLIN SLARK ;