Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 6, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba winnipeg.ca/yardwaste It's yard waste season! Yard waste is collected every second week and includes leaves, plants, flowers, grass and tree clippings. For more information, visit winnipeg.ca/yardwaste or contact 311 Space provided through a partnership between industry and Manitoba communities to support waste diversion programs. A LANDLORD directed three times by the city to address problems with its vacant and degrading Ex- change District building has been or- dered to pay nearly $500,000 to a neigh- bouring eatery that was forced to close. Miss Browns Hot Press Sandwich and Coffee Corp. — a shuttered shop once at 288 William Ave. — had its law- yer, Peter Halamandaris, file a lawsuit against Bedford Investments in 2021. The suit argued the landlord’s negli- gence and misconduct in allowing its directly adjacent and long-vacant prop- erty at 284 William Ave., to fall derelict and dangerous constituted a breach of its lease. In 2014, Jenny and Steve Tyrell “pur- sued their dreams” of opening a restau- rant and signed a lease with Bedford for 288 William Ave., across from the old Public Safety Building, said Court of King’s Bench Justice Ken Cham- pagne in a decision late last month. “I have concluded the defendants breached the terms of the commercial lease that resulted in Miss Browns be- ing ordered to vacate the premises, ef- fectively ending their business,” Cham- pagne said. He awarded Miss Browns $492,040, plus court costs and interest. The shop opened in 2015 after the couple spent their time and about $100,000 from their savings to ready the space for a restaurant, said the judge. In 2019, the couple opened a satellite loca- tion at the Hargrave Street Market. The couple were forced to vacate William Avenue by order of the city in January 2021 after the building was left in hazardous and unsafe conditions, which they claimed was due to Bed- ford’s negligence and wilful miscon- duct in failing to repair both 288 and 284 William Ave. Bedford’s lawyers, Kevin Williams and Matthew Nordlund, argued the company was not negligent and tried to address their tenant’s concerns. While Champagne found Bedford made efforts to assess issues with the two properties, it took little action to address them. Bedford, which has owned and rent- ed out several commercial properties in the Exchange District for decades, purchased 284 William Ave. in 1988 and sold the property for $25,000 in March 2021 after Miss Browns was forced to vacate 288 William Ave. Bedford was run by Harry Weiss until shortly before his death in 2023. His son, Alan Weiss, took over as dir- ector. Property manager Judy Hansen, a longtime employee, was a witness in court. TUESDAY MAY 6, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS ● CRIME, CONTINUED ON B2 MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Police investigate the scene of a fatal stabbing at the 62M site commonly known as the ‘UFO’ building, Monday morning. A 43-year-old father is dead after be- ing stabbed in Point Douglas, with residents and a landlord telling the Free Press the homicide happened at a flying saucer-shaped condominium building. Winnipeg police identified the vic- tim as Kerry Eastman, who lived in the city and was originally from Sandy Bay First Nation in central Manitoba. Police did not reveal the exact loca- tion of the homicide, but said in a news release that officers were sent to the 500 block of Waterfront Drive at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday. Officers applied chest seals while providing emergency medical care to Eastman, who police say later died after being taken to hospital by para- medics. Winnipeg has recorded 13 homicides this year, according to Free Press data. All but one were identified by police as being members of First Nations in Manitoba or Saskatchewan. A small police presence remained at 62M, a circular condo building elevated by 10-metre concrete stilts next to the Disraeli Freeway, on Monday after- noon. The complex is located at 62 Mac- Donald Ave., just west of Waterfront Drive. While he did not know the full cir- cumstances, Mark Penner, the build- ing’s developer and the owner of some of its 41 suites, said the homicide hap- pened inside a rented unit. Penner said the victim, who did not live in the building, was a friend of one of his tenants, who was not present when the incident happened. “The (tenant) is very distraught about it. It’s a very unfortunate incident that happened in the building. My heart goes out to Kerry and his family,” he said. Family members’ Facebook posts identified Eastman as a father. Some of his relatives declined to comment when contacted by the Free Press. Neighbourhood resident Domin- ick Roulette said he was awakened by “high-pitched screaming” at about 1:20 a.m. Sunday. He didn’t know if the per- son’s screams were connected to the homicide. When he decided to take his dog for a walk about an hour later, he saw po- lice outside 62M. Roulette said he lived in 62M until he moved out about six months ago. “It’s too rowdy,” he said of the com- plex. The Winnipeg Police Service’s foren- sic identification arrived at the scene later Sunday. A resident of 62M said police con- tinued to guard a first-floor suite Mon- day. “There’s a cop standing outside the door,” the woman, who declined to give her name, said outside the complex. “I didn’t know what it was for. I try to keep low-key here, to myself.” She wasn’t home when the stabbing happened. She said the homicide made her feel “pretty uneasy.” Police had not announced any arrests as of Monday. People with information were asked to call the homicide unit at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers an- onymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS). Police did not reveal what is suspect- ed to have led up to or factored into the homicide, or the life circumstances of anyone who was involved or present. Penner said the owners of 62M’s suites, which are all rental units, are facing an “uphill battle” to create a safe building for tenants and visitors, while some people in the surrounding area “are fighting their own battle.” He said condo owners do their best to screen potential tenants before signing leases, and to prevent problems such as drug trafficking or other types of crime inside the complex. Private security guards were hired to walk through the hallways and stair- well multiple times per day, he said. “We’re concentrating so hard on cre- ating a community for our tenants so that they feel safe,” Penner said. 62M, which opened in 2017, is located in an area where issues such as poverty, drug addiction, homelessness and vio- lent crime are well-documented. The complex is located near a building that could end up being home to Manitoba’s first supervised drug consumption site. When the Free Press visited 62M on Monday, a person was curled up in a sleeping bag on the ground next to an outside wall. A few people occupied tents at a small encampment nearby. A pedestrian looked through the contents of the complex’s dumpster before mov- ing on. The police department, meanwhile, is planning to release crime data for 2024 this week. Ahead of the release, a social media post said total reports of crime dropped for the second year in a row thanks to larger decreases in property and violent crime. Reports of violent crime dropped for the first time in four years, while prop- erty crimes are now below what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, police said. chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca Uphill battle to keep Point Douglas building safe, developer says CHRIS KITCHING TYLER SEARLE Frustrated by vandalism, shoplift- ing and break-ins, West End business owners gathered Monday to discuss grassroots crime-prevention strategies. The inaugural Small Business and Retail Crime Prevention Conference drew a modest crowd to the West End Cultural Centre throughout the mor- ning. Entrepreneurs and residents were offered a full day of networking and educational programming, including speeches from city police and political leaders. “It’s not just about people taking stuff, but smashing stuff, breaking stuff; the lack of respect,” said Michael Paille, who arranged the event in re- sponse to crime at his Sargent Avenue store, which retails comics, games and toys. “We’re small businesses; we should be worrying about staff, rent, utilities. We shouldn’t be worrying about cam- eras, alarms and whether a person is stealing.” Paille, who launched the Sargent Avenue Business Community group about four years ago, estimated theft in his store has doubled during that time. Product losses continue to cost him about $2,000 every month, despite numerous security upgrades, including cameras and metal window coverings. “It starts to add up. I have to start raising up prices, but then, at the same time, people don’t want to pay more,” he said. Staff safety also remains a primary concern, he said, describing an incident last summer in which he was assaulted and suffered a concussion after con- fronting a suspected shoplifter. Paille hopes the conference sends a message of solidarity to retailers, staff and shoppers. He believes they can help address the problem by bolstering com- munication with each other and police. “If you see something, don’t be afraid to report it. I get so many people who say, ‘Oh, well, that’s not my problem,’ but it’s all of us. Working together is the only way we are going to make a differ- ence,” Paille said. Tyler Slobodgian, a senior policy analyst for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said crime, safe- ty and operating costs are the primary concerns of its membership. A recent survey of the group’s 4,500 members found about 51 per cent re- ported crime or safety issues within the past year, up from 42 per cent the year prior, he said. According to federation data, it costs Manitoba small business owners an average of $2,500 per year to keep up with vandalism and theft, Slobodgian said. “For some, we’ve heard of way more than that,” Slobodgian told the Free Press. “It’s increasingly more difficult for business owners and their employees to go about their day-to-day business.” Like Paille, Slobodgian urged busi- ness owners and the public to report any crimes to police so the issue can be accurately tracked and presented to authorities. Notre Dame MLA Malaya Marcel- ino spoke during Monday’s conference about how the provincial government is addressing crime in her constituency. She said area residents have con- sistently asked for improvements to cleanliness, safety and affordable rec- reational programming in the neigh- bourhood. The province has partnered with the Downtown Community Safety Partner- ship to fund an $800,000 cleanup pro- gram that employs six former offend- ers from the Headingley Correctional Centre, she said. Tenant’s friend killed while visiting circular condo Crime-weary business leaders discuss costly problems, seek solutions ERIK PINDERA Landlord ordered to pay former eatery owners Restaurant forced to close due to hazardous buildings ● LANDLORD, CONTINUED ON B2 ;