Two charged with drug possession
Portage la Prairie RCMP pulled over and arrested four people on Boxing Day for being in possession of drugs.
Police were patrolling 20th Street SW around 3:25 a.m. when they made the stop. The officer saw an item indicative of drug use and placed all four under arrest. A search of the vehicle and the people inside resulted in the discovery of not just drug paraphernalia, but also weapons including a taser.
PCI students celebrated at Portage School Division board meeting
The Portage la Prairie School Division held its last board meeting of 2022 on Tuesday night. The meeting went over a variety of topics, including:
Portage RCMP charge a man with numerous weapons charges
Officers from the Portage la Prairie RCMP attended and surrounded a residence in the city last Friday after getting word of a weapon-related incident.
The call came down to Police on November 4th at 9:25 a.m. regarding a report of a 37-year-old man from Portage pointing a loaded firearm inside a residence on Queen Avenue.
Officers immediately attended the residence, and the man was arrested after exiting the Queen Avenue address without incident.
Police say that they did seize the firearm as well as ammunition.
Crime stats say Stolen Goods calls double in September
The RCMP had to deal with a lot more calls regarding theft in September of 2022.
The Manitoba RCMP released their crime stats for the month, which compares September 2022 to September 2021. The West District, which includes Portage la Prairie, saw an overall increase of four per cent, from 4,821 to 5,862.
Crimes against Property saw a 33 per cent increase, from 720 to 961. Possession of Stolen goods reports jumped dramatically, from 20 to 48, for a 140 per cent increase. The most notable decrease came from Arson calls, which only fell by one call, from 15 to 14.
Knox knocks it out of the park, wins Portage Mayoral race
Sharilyn Knox is the new Mayor of Portage la Prairie.
The City of Possibilities newest mayor won the election with 2,199 out of 3,393 votes.
Mayor Knox's first thought after winning was to show appreciation to those who voted for her.
"I just want to say thank you to all my supporters in the City of Portage," says Knox. "I'm very excited to have the confidence of the people in the city to lead this city and very excited to see what the next four years are going to bring."
Portage man charged after attempted Break and Enter at Keystone Sports
RCMP released further information about the break-in at Portage's Keystone Sports Excellence on October 21. Investigation determined that Daniel Francis, 30, from Portage, had climbed to the roof of the building and damaged a vent grill to gain access to the venting system. He then entered the vent and got stuck.
Once removed from the vent, Francis was arrested and charged with Break and Enter and Mischief Over $5000 due to the extensive damage caused to the building.
Francis has been released with a court date.
UPDATE: Portage RCMP locate suspect in connection to robbery and kidnapping
The RCMP reports that Jesse Myles St. Paul has been arrested as of Wednesday morning. (October 19th)
Update- Jesse Myles St. Paul has been arrested. The #rcmpmb thanks the public and the media for their assistance. pic.twitter.com/PR4gPjtCJH
Pair of driving incidents last week in Portage
Portage la Prairie RCMP had their hands full last week after two separate road incidents resulted in drivers being fined, as well as one facing charges.
RCMP says on October 14th, at 7:04 a.m., they received a report of a two-vehicle collision at the corner of 3rd Street NE and Dickens Avenue. A vehicle was at the stop sign on Dickens Avenue facing east when they were sideswiped. The travelling car then hit a ditch.
Portage la Prairie fire chief talks Fire Prevention Week
Fire Prevention Week is upon us, and Portage la Prairie's fire chief, Brad Bailey took the time to talk to PortageOnline about the importance of this week.
Bailey says this year's topic is for households to plan their escape route if a fire were to take place.
Portage looks to fix bike theft problem
The City of Portage la Prairie is advocating for its citizens to sign up for their Bicycle Registration in hopes of identifying owners of stolen or abandoned bikes.
The City has been heavily promoting the use of this assistance and says that this free service gives police the means to help return your bike if it ever goes missing or is lost.
The registration asks for your name, address, phone number, email, bicycle make, model, serial number, colour, size and other details such as a picture of your bike and the year you purchased it.