Powerful thunderstorm spawns tornadoes, large hail in Westman

BRANDON — Cellphones in western Manitoba rang out with emergency alerts on Wednesday afternoon as a powerful thunderstorm from Saskatchewan brought tornadoes and loonie-sized hail.

Tornadoes were reported near Rivers, north of Brandon and in La Rivière, Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Dave Carlsen told the Brandon Sun.

“This storm started in Saskatchewan just around noon today and it progressively moved eastward into southern Manitoba,” Carlsen said. “There’s been some large to very large hail reported with the storm and a few reports of tornadoes.”

He said it was too early to determine the exact number of tornadoes that touched down, but said reports had been received from storm chasers who are considered trusted sources of information.

Health infractions close resort, restaurants

Resort-goers in Hecla hoping to take a dip in the whirlpool at the end of April were out of luck after the Interlake resort’s operations were shut down due to an “extensive growth of mould.”

In its latest list of health protection establishment closures, the province reported the Lakeview Hecla Resort was forced to shutter its cold plunge, spa pool, hot tubs, mineral spa and slide pool between April 18 and May 2.

The resort, located in Gull Harbour about 182 kilometres north of Winnipeg, did not provide adequate ventilation to prevent mould growth, the report states.

A list of health-related infractions at restaurants, swimming pools and water recreational facilities and body-modification parlours is released regularly by the province.

Thrift stores issue plea for donations as demand rises

Maria Sanchez walks out of the Salvation Army Thrift Store on McPhillips Street pushing a green cart that contains a silver juicer machine.

The 73-year-old shops at the second-hand store up to three times a week in search of a bargain.

“It means a lot because it means I can save,” Sanchez said. “(Then) I can use the money for my medicine.”

Sally Anns in Winnipeg experienced a 13 per cent jump in sales from the fiscal year 2022-23 to 2023-24.

Nick Lowe can still shake and pop (when he wants)

As a highly lauded tunesmith who has penned dozens of memorable songs over a decades-long recording career, Nick Lowe isn’t usually lost for words.

But when he is informed that nary a weekend goes by in this corner of the world when his 1985 smash I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ’n’ Roll) doesn’t have people filing onto the dance floor at one wedding social or another, the most he can come up with is, “Well, I’ll be.”

He asks a reporter to explain the concept again when reached over the phone at his home in West London, a week ahead of an abbreviated Canadian tour that includes a June 15 stop at the Burton Cummings Theatre.

It’s called a social and it has become tradition to play a canned version of his old chestnut?

Lawyers of wrongfully convicted man blame each other in lawsuits

Two law firms accused of bungling a man’s compensation case after he was wrongly convicted of murder are pointing the finger at each other in their own court filings.

Frank Ostrowski, now in his mid-70s, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1987 after being accused of orchestrating the cocaine-trafficking-related shooting death of 22-year-old Robert Nieman. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

His conviction was stayed in the Manitoba Court of Appeal in 2018, nine years after he was released on bail pending a federal review of the case.

He filed a $16-M wrongful-conviction lawsuit against multiple defendants in 2020, but the suit was turfed in 2022 after a Court of King’s Bench judge ruled Ostrowski had taken too long to pursue legal action against nearly all of the people he sued.

Indigenous mom accuses police of physical, verbal abuse

An Indigenous mother was left shaken after a confrontation with several Winnipeg police officers who she alleges were physically and verbally abusive after they entered her home without cause.