Sun’s top 25 stories of 2015

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This article was published 04/01/2016 (3779 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Stories printed in The Brandon Sun this year included tragedy, humour, hope and even a bit of the bizarre.

As a reminder of the year that was, the newspaper’s editorial staff put together this top 25 list of their favourite and most important stories of 2015.

They appear under headlines as they were published, but the accounts include details later provided by further reporting.

• March 16 — Velvet Dip ice cream stands the test of time

Landmark Brandon business, the Velvet Dip ice cream shop, opened its doors for its 50th season.

The walk-up ice cream shack on Victoria Avenue was built in 1965 by Bruce Ferguson, and its opening celebrated with one-cent cones.

The shop’s name referred to an important ingredient in the ice cream — special “velvet” cream shipped in from the Neepawa Creamery.

Over the years, bands have played on the roof of the business, now owned by Sam Oke and Jackie Kamann-Oke.

When Jackie’s parents previously owned the shop, the Velvet Dip survived an effort of a grocery store to have it moved.

Jackie’s dad, Dale Kamann, steadfastly refused and development grew around the beloved business.

• March 18 — Woman charged with murder

Bradley Dean Harris, 51, was stabbed numerous times outside his city apartment on the afternoon of March 16.

Tennants and visitors of the Westman Youth for Christ apartment complex on the

100-block of First Street tried to help Harris.

However, a woman armed with a knife kept them at bay.

Police and paramedics arrived within minutes and the woman was arrested at the scene.

Corinne April McKay, 45, was charged with first-degree murder. Harris’ family said McKay was his former common-law partner of 22 years.

She remains in custody and her next court date is in January.

• May 15 — Shots fired during standoff in Kemnay, man arrested: witness

RCMP were responding to a domestic assault at a Kemnay house on May 15, when an officer was shot by a suspect.

Residents were sheltered in their homes while RCMP blocked off the general area.

Those who were away from the community when the situation began, remained at the side of the highway until the ordeal ended.

According to witnesses, it ended with a man walking out of the home and being arrested at gunpoint.

The wounded officer was later identified as Cpl. Mark Hume, who was struck in the arm and leg with pellets from a shotgun blast but wasn’t seriously injured.

Clayton Ewert is charged with two counts of attempted murder for shots fired toward Hume and another RCMP officer. He remains in custody.

• March 17 — Deleau woman survives hit and run

A Westman woman lost three fingers after the truck she was driving was run off the road by a man behind the wheel of a stolen car.

Jen Raposo of Deleau was driving southbound on Highway 10 with her 19-year-old nephew when a speeding car rammed her from behind.

The impact caused her Ford Ranger to flip about six times and slide on its roof while her left hand was caught between the road and her truck.

She and her nephew crawled out through the broken windows.

The driver of the Acura got out of the car, walked into the darkness toward a nearby service road and drew a dark sweater hood over his head. Raposo recalls him “walking kinda funny.”

• March 21 —Truck driver rescued after load of bread spills into river

The driver of a bread truck that crashed into a river can thank the members of a little-used water rescue team for saving his buns.

Late one evening, an eastbound semi-trailer left the Trans-Canada Highway, hit a guard rail of the Grand Valley bridge west of Brandon and rolled down the bank into the chilly Assiniboine River.

The trailer tipped onto its side, spilling hundreds of loaves of bread and buns onto the ice and into the water.

The cab landed upright in the water, trapping the driver mid-river in the cab of his truck.

The cab was well out of the water, but firefighters realized they couldn’t reach the stranded driver safely, so they called in the water rescue team.

Police say it appears the semi driver was trying to pass another vehicle at the time of the crash. Alcohol and speed weren’t factors.

• March 27 — Cops investigate Sioux Valley deaths

The bodies of George Shakespeare, 27, and Rayannin Branth were found inside a Sioux Valley Dakota Nation home where Shakespeare lived with his mother.

The bodies were reportedly found by Shakespeare’s mom when she returned from a hospital stay.

A witness said the bodies of Branth and Shakespeare were lying in bed together. In the living room was a medical needle and bloody knife, he said.

Shortly after the discovery, RCMP deemed the deaths “suspicious” but didn’t release further details.

Widely, the case has been described as a possible killing-suicide.

However, police are still waiting for the results of toxicology tests before releasing their findings.

• April 27 — Man in critical condition after hit-and-run

Thirty-three-year-old Jason Gross was rushed to Winnipeg by air ambulance in critical condition after being hit by a truck just after midnight on April 25.

Gross was struck as he crossed the road in the 1000-block of 18th Street, leaving him lying in the street unconscious and unresponsive.

Police say a pickup truck was speeding north on 18th Street when it hit Gross. It briefly came to a stop, drove around the victim and fled.

Investigators issued a detailed description of the truck, and released an image of the suspect truck captured by surveillance camera.

However, there has been no word of any arrests or suspects at this point.

• July 20 — WestJet will double flights from Brandon to Calgary

The news broke on Twitter when a WestJet manager announced that, starting in January 2016, the airline would raise the number of daily flights between Brandon and Calgary from one to two.

Later in 2015, ground was broken on a project that will see the airport terminal expanded to three times its current size to accommodate WestJet and attract more air service.

The cost of the $7.4 million expansion and redevelopment is to be split between the city and federal and provincial governments.

• July 26 — Soldier dies during training at CFB Shilo

Pte. Kirby Tott, 25, died on July 25 during training. According to military officials he was learning to reinforce a trench when he suddenly collapsed. No weapons or vehicles were involved.

Tott joined the Armed Forces in 2012 as a reservist with the Rocky Mountain Rangers in Prince George, B.C.

His father said his son, a former correctional officer, wanted to become an RCMP officer.

On Facebook, friends described him as funny and caring.

• July 29 — Manitoba tornado ranks in top 5 for storm chaser

Professional storm chaser Greg Johnson dubbed a twister that ripped through southwestern Manitoba on July 27 as the largest and most interesting he’s seen.

Johnson described it as ranking in his Top 5 for tornadoes he’s seen in Canada and the United States.

The tornado developed just north of Pierson and headed north. It was on the ground for an extraordinary 2.5 to three hours.

The resulting damage consisted mainly of toppled trees, fences, power lines and farm buildings. There were no injuries.

• Aug. 7 — Explosion in Virden levels one home, another gutted by blaze

A man was rushed to hospital after being dug out of a Virden home that was turned to rubble by a large explosion.

It was believed that a contractor working on a fence made accidental contact with a gas line which caused it to leak.

An initial report indicated the line was severed when metal stakes were being pounded into the ground.

The injured man was on the main floor of his home at the time of the explosion. The blast threw him into the basement, and the house collapsed. His injuries were serious, but non-life-threatening.

The fire from the explosion engulfed two homes, and glass and debris were scattered throughout the area.

• Aug. 12 — Child locked in hot car rescued by tow company owner

The owner of a city tow truck company smashed his way into a locked car to rescue an 18-month-old boy trapped alone inside.

The child was just starting to pass out from the heat when Full Tilt Towing and Transport Ltd. owner, Jeff Hogg, arrived. The electric door locks were broken and kept locking automatically when Hogg used a tool to squeeze past the window to press the button.

Hogg smashed a window to get in and saved the boy who was taken to hospital as a precaution, but was expected to be fine.

• Aug. 14 — Drug dealer preyed on girls in CFS care for sex

In August, a convicted drug trafficker who preyed on girls in CFS care by giving them cocaine and marijuana for sex was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison.

The four victims, aged 13 to 15 years, were girls in CFS care living at Brandon group homes.

Joshua Allan Duff, 30, pleaded guilty to harbouring children in care, four counts of sexual interference and to procuring sex from three of the girls.

The case was later included in a Brandon Sun feature on exploited runaway girls.

• Aug. 30 — Dennis Quaid spotted at local Latin restaurant

What does a Hollywood star do when he finds himself in Brandon? He dances and orders pupusas.

Dennis Quaid was in the Wheat City this summer to film the movie, “A Dog’s Purpose.”

Rumours that Quaid was about town turned out to be true when he was spotted at the Sabor Latino restaurant on Ninth Street.

A restaurant owner said Quaid ordered pupusas — hand made tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans and pork. Mid meal, he stood up and started dancing to the music playing on the sound system.

• Sept. 1 — Man grabbed neighbour’s penis by mistake

In one of the more bizarre court cases of the year, a man spent time in jail after he mistakenly grabbed his neighbour’s privates.

Aden Huessien had been drinking on April 19 when he forgot his key and climbed through a window into the bedroom of the wrong apartment.

A man and woman were asleep in the bedroom, and somehow in the dark, Huessien mistakenly grasped the resident’s penis.

Huessien remained in custody after the incident, and on Aug. 31 he was sentenced to time served and probation for break, enter and commit assault.

• Sept. 11 — Carberry homicide victim was ‘good guy’

On Sept. 9, RCMP were called to the Carberry Motor Inn and found a severely injured Garnet Baptisté.

Baptisté, 26, who was from the Ebb and Flow First Nation, was transported to hospital where he died from his injuries.

Three men — Raymond Jamie Bonser, Robert Edward Louie Laba, and Regan Matthew Carlson — were subsequently charged with manslaughter and remain before the courts.

Baptisté’s employer, Bob Martin, said that Baptisté and a friend were injured in a confrontation in the motel parking lot.

Martin described Baptisté as a “happy-go-lucky” and a “good guy.”

• Oct. 16 — Woman allegedly fabricated story about abduction, human trafficking

The mystery of an unidentified woman and her daughter, who turned up at the Westman Women’s Shelter in August had an unexpected ending.

Neither had identification, and the mother claimed that she’d been abducted as a child, held in captivity for years and forced into the Winnipeg sex trade which she recently escaped.

She claimed not to know her true identity, as she’d been abducted at a young age.

After an extensive investigation, that included issuing a media bulletin about the pair, it was learned that the mother had fabricated her story.

In reality, she had fled Ontario with her daughter in the midst of a custody dispute. On

Oct. 26, she was fined $2,000 and put on probation for two years.

• Oct. 22 — 19 charges laid in fatal crash

A Winnipeg man was charged with 19 offences in connection with a crash that killed 20-year-old Taylor Renwick of Napinka.

The charges against Manuel Britney Cowley, 27, included criminal negligence causing death, impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and flight from police causing death.

RCMP had located a driver suspected of impaired driving, but the suspect drove off. The chase that followed was called off by police due to excessive speed.

Shortly after, the suspect’s vehicle collided head on with Renwick’s vehicle on Highway 2 east of St. Claude.

Renwick was on her way home for Thanksgiving. She was a University of Manitoba student, and was just a few months shy of her 21st birthday.

• Oct. 29 — DNA evidence reveals suspect in abduction, sexual assault of 5-year-old boy

The Brandon Police Service announces that advances in DNA testing helped lead to the arrest of a suspect in the abduction and sexual assault of a five-year-old boy.

News of the arrest came nearly four years after the boy was taken while playing near his Stickney Avenue home.

Police believe the boy entered the stranger’s vehicle willingly. He was then driven to a spot near the Assiniboine River, sexually assaulted and let go.

Thirty to 45 minutes after he went missing, police found the child wandering near the south side of the river.

Samples of bodily fluid were taken from the boy’s clothing, sent for testing, and ultimately got a “hit” on the National DNA Databank.

Hugh Alexander McCurry, 38, is charged with abduction, sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.

• Nov. 5 — Couples killed in crash fondly remembered

Two families are trying to come to terms with the loss of loved ones after a single crash took the lives of two couples.

Delaney Houle-Pelletier and her common-law partner Denis Baptiste Jr. of Ebb and Flow First Nation were in one vehicle.

Gladys and Wayne Gork of Birnie were in the other. RCMP were called to the two-vehicle, head-on collision near Neepawa on Highway 5, about four kilometres north of Highway 16.

The vehicles both had front-end damage, and both couples were declared dead at the scene.

According to police, 68-year-old Gladys was the driver of the northbound SUV, and her 70-year-old husband Wayne was the passenger.

Police say that Baptiste, 19, was the driver of the southbound van that also carried Houle-Pelletier, 20. The cause of the collision has not been disclosed.

• Nov. 5 — Westman youth faces terrorism charge

A 16-year-old boy was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly using social media to encourage violence on behalf of the Islamic state.

The arrest came as the result of an investigation that involved the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP’s National Security Enforcement Section.

The teen’s computer, books and notebooks were seized from his rural home. Investigators also found child porn on a seized computer.

The boy is charged with counseling assault causing bodily harm at the direction of, or in association with, a terrorist group. He’s also charged with possessing and accessing child porn.

He currently remains in custody.

• Nov. 16 — New school to be built in Brandon’s south end

During the throne speech, the province announced that a new school will be built in the city.

The announcement came as the Brandon School Division faced overcrowding of students, with the number of pupils at some schools expected to double over the next five years.

The division had lobbied for a new school for about four years.

The division also has plans to redistribute students among some schools to address the crowding.

A division report pointed at the province’s Small Class Size initiative, which lowered the acceptable class size.

While overcapacity, schools aren’t necessarily over-crowded or unsafe, the report stated.

• Dec. 2 — Stabbed police officer recovering at home

A Brandon Police Service officer was wounded when he was stabbed multiple times while arresting an arson suspect.

The events of Nov. 30 began when a resident set a fire in a suite at the Youth for Christ building downtown.

The fire was put out and nobody was hurt. A witness guided police to a suspect at the corner of 20th Street and Lorne Avenue.

Const. Marc DeDecker was arresting the suspect when the man stabbed him five or more times. He was stabbed multiple times in the leg and at least once in the torso.

Despite that, he held the suspect until backup arrived. DeDecker was treated at hospital and released to recover at home with his family.

William Jonathon Mini, 19, was charged with arson with disregard for life, aggravated assault of a police officer and mischief.

• Dec. 4 — Firehouse ready to get cookin’

In local business news, the hot story of the year was the highly-anticipated opening of Prairie Firehouse.

The business transformed the city’s historic 104-year-old fire hall on Princess Avenue into a bar and eatery.

Known as Central Fire Station No. 1, the fire hall was built in 1911 and designated a municipal heritage site in 2000.

It was left vacant when Brandon Fire and Emergency Services moved into a new building on 19th Street North in 2010.

The new restaurant pays tribute to the building’s firefighting history with photos and artifacts, including old fire extinguishers.

• Breaking Faith, The Runaways, and A Brother’s Secret

In 2015, The Brandon Sun introduced longform features tailored for the web.

Three were released this year — Breaking Faith, The Runaways, and A Brother’s Secret.

Breaking Faith told the story of Henry Lawrence’s battle with asbestosis, and how his family took up his crusade against the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba after his widow was denied death benefits.

The Runaways examined the dangerous cycle of troubled teenage girls repeatedly running from home into a world of drugs, alcohol and sexual exploitation.

A Brother’s Secret looked at the life of a man who struggled with a hoarding disorder.

Breaking Faith won an international journalism award with writing by Matt Goerzen, web development by Andrew Nguyen, photos by Bruce Bumstead and editing by Jim Lewthwaite.

» The Brandon Sun