Prairie Update – CP

Source: The Canadian Press – Broadcast wire
Apr 19, 2017 

(Mba-Media-Cameras-Trial)

Several Manitoba media outlets have applied to have cameras in the courtroom during the trial of the man accused of murdering 15-year-old Tina Fontaine.

The teen’s body, wrapped in a plastic bag, was pulled from the Red River on August 17th, 2014.

Her death shocked Winnipeg and prompted renewed calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.

Raymond Cormier is charged with second-degree murder. CTV News, CBC Manitoba, Global Winnipeg and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network have asked the courts for permission to live stream his trial. (CTV Winnipeg)

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(Mba-Pesticide-Ban)

The Manitoba government says it will loosen the province’s cosmetic pesticide ban.

In a statement given to CTV News, Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox said the majority of submissions during a public consultation last summer expressed dissatisfaction with the current regulations.

She said based on that feedback, the province will develop a framework that will clarify application restrictions and retail distribution.

Manitoba’s cosmetic pesticide ban prevents municipalities and homeowners from using certain types of chemicals to treat lawns. The previous N-D-P government brought the ban into effect in 2015. (CTV Winnipeg)

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(Sask-Restaurant-Death)

The widow of a restaurant owner killed during an armed robbery says she is taking solace in the fact her late husband’s organs will be saving six lives.

Cora Laich tells CTV News her late husband Simon Grant’s lungs, kidneys, liver and pancreatic islets are being donated.

The 64-year-old died in hospital less than 48 hours after R-C-M-P responded to an armed robbery at his restaurant, Louisiana’s Bar B Que, and found him seriously injured.

Investigators believe masked men entered the restaurant in La Ronge and assaulted Grant before fleeing the scene with cash. (CTV Saskatoon)

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(Sask-Suspicious-Packages)

Saskatoon police say they believe a bomb threat at a post-secondary school is part of an ongoing investigation into several suspicious packages reported in the city.

Police were called yesterday after a staff member at Saskatchewan Polytechnic received an email with threats of an explosive device. None was found.

Alexa Emerson, also known as Amanda Totchek, is in custody and faces 54 charges that include mischief, uttering threats and identity theft.

Police are also looking for a woman who has claimed in a video that she is the one responsible for the delivery of the packages. (CJWW, The Canadian Press)

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(Alta-Firefighters-Study)

A new study suggests that those who battled the massive wildfire in Fort McMurray continue to suffer both physically and mentally nearly a year after the blaze devastated the community.

Preliminary results of a University of Alberta report say one in five firefighters who attended the wildfire reported respiratory problems.

One in six has been diagnosed with depression or anxiety.

The study analyzed health records of 355 firefighters between six weeks to four months after the fire, which broke out in May 2016. (CTV News)

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(Alta-Stabbing-Deaths)

A Calgary man who was found not criminally responsible after killing five people with a knife three years ago is being granted extra privileges.

Matthew de Grood was suffering from a mental disorder when he attacked and killed five young people at a house party in April 2014.

Family members were notified yesterday that the board will allow de Grood to go for supervised walks on hospital grounds.

He will also be allowed trips for medical appointments and treatment. (The Canadian Press)

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(Prairie Update by The Canadian Press)

(The Canadian Press)