Jets Roster Cuts, Bombers QB Out & Overdose Spike — Winnipeg Wednesday

🏈 Sports

1. Jets cut 12 players from training camp, leaving 31 healthy players. The club loaned eight players to the AHL Manitoba Moose (including goalie Isaac Poulter and defenceman Alfons Freij) and released four on professional tryouts (Lukas Gustafsson, Dysin Mayo, Davis Burnside, Ashton Sautner). The team must name a 23-man roster by Monday and plays its final preseason game Friday in Colorado ahead of the Oct. 2 home opener vs. Boston.
2. Blue Bombers rule out QB Zach Collaros for Friday's game with a head injury. Collaros missed a third straight day of practice and will miss his fifth game of the season after a head injury in the Banjo Bowl; coach Mike O'Shea confirmed Dru Brown will start, marking Brown's fifth start since being re-acquired from Ottawa.

🏥 Health

1. Opioid-related calls hit 4,040 so far this year, highest on record for Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service. WFPS reports 4,040 opioid calls from January–end of August versus 3,270 for all of 2025, and paramedics have administered 5,712 naloxone doses so far this year compared with 4,900 in 2025. Deputy chief Tom Wallace said opioids have surpassed alcohol for call volume (3,408 alcohol-related calls so far).
2. Health Canada suspends licence to collect plasma at Winnipeg Grifols location. The federal action pauses plasma collection at the Grifols site in Winnipeg while Health Canada’s suspension order is in effect, per the public notice from the regulator.

🚨 Crime & Public Safety

1. Former University of Manitoba law dean Jonathan Black-Branch arrested in France on an extradition request. Winnipeg police confirmed Black-Branch was detained and that a Canada-wide arrest warrant on a charge of fraud over $5,000 remains in effect; the alleged misappropriation reported to the Law Society involved about $600,000 between April 2017 and February 2020.\
2. Missing Chemawawin Cree Nation man, 39, found dead, RCMP say. Manitoba RCMP reported the 39-year-old man from Chemawawin Cree Nation had been located deceased, according to the police notice.

🚑 Breaking & Incidents

1. Fourth fire in two years destroys vacant home in Centennial neighbourhood. Fire crews responded to the blaze that fully destroyed the vacant property on Wednesday, marking the fourth fire affecting the same house over a two-year span, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service reports.\
2. 13-year-old girl last seen in central Winnipeg early Wednesday is reported missing. Police issued an alert after the 13-year-old was last seen in central Winnipeg early Wednesday, according to the missing-person bulletin.

🏛️ Government & Politics

1. Groups urge next city council to submit Winnipeg utility rates to the Manitoba PUB within 180 days. The "This PUB's For You Pledge," backed by MSEAC, CARP Manitoba, the Consumer Association of Canada (Manitoba) and Harvest Manitoba, asks councillors to start the PUB approval process by Oct. 13 to remove Winnipeg’s exemption under The Public Utilities Board Act. Lucille Bruce of MSEAC spoke at City Hall on Wednesday.
2. Manitoba compensates two men switched at birth in 1955 with $250,000 each. The provincial settlement awards $250,000 to each of the two men who were switched at birth in 1955, per the government compensation documents.

📰 Also Today

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• Former U of M law dean faces Canada-wide warrant for fraud over $5,000, court process ongoing in France.
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• 12 candidates complete process to get on Winnipeg mayoral ballot, nominations finalized.
• Manitoba announces funding for ASL education and Indigenous women training, new provincial support.
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• Two injured after small plane malfunction during takeoff in Portage la Prairie, RCMP say, two casualties reported.
• Manitoba First Nation asks licensed moose hunters to return tags to province, appeal issued.
• Gillingham promises North Main strategy; Klein raises Transit Plus concerns on nomination deadline day, campaign updates.
• Manitoba pays $4M to men wrongfully convicted in 1973 killing, financial document shows, payment recorded.
• Manitoba Labour Board hears closing submissions in Dynacare case, tribunal proceeding.
• Man, 62, dead after semi-truck collides with SUV in rural Manitoba, fatal crash reported.