Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper Archives Apr 29 2015, Page 15

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 29, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B3 winnipegfreepress. com CITY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015 B 3 NE044G215 * This savings offer excludes items with prices ending in .97, cosmetics and fragrances, Nygard SLIMs , fine jewellery, watches, luggage, men’s & women’s 59.99 Levi’s ® jeans, Dockers ® Signature Fit khakis, Jockey ® , boxed bras & briefs, kids’ socks & underwear, OshKosh ® & Carter’s ® , Geox ® , Mephisto ® & Birkenstock ® brands, Outlet/ Liquidation store and sears. ca/ outlet purchases and clearance items. See sears. ca for online exclusions. † On approved credit. Sears Financial Credit Cards are also known as Sears Card, Sears ® MasterCard ® and Sears ® Voyage TM MasterCard ® and are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N. A. © Sears Canada Inc., 2015. All rights reserved. SAVE 30% THURSDAY ONLY! APRIL 30, 2015 SAVE 40% with any other forms of payment OFFER VALID IN STORES AND ON SEARS. CA on regular priced * fashions & accessories, footwear, sleepwear, handbags, and selected women’s intimates when you use your Sears Financial TM Credit Card † OR Car Ione Thorkelsson: a rare art THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS & FIRST FRIDAYS PRESENT F R I D AY | M AY 1 | 6 PM $ 20 PER PERSON PLUS TAX Call 204- 697- 7069 to reserve your spot 237 McDERMOT AVE. First Fridays tour of the 6: 00 PM Dinner Includes 7: 45 PM Exchange District art galleries and studios coffee/ tea ART TALK ART WALK Please join us for an intimate discussion with reowned glass artist IoneThorkelsson. Host Sarah Swan interviews the artist about her extraordinary journey with this beautiful and temperamental medium. A man has been convicted of impaired driving after the ATV he was operating flipped, resulting in the death of a passenger. But Justice Chris Martin of Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench found 30- year- old Adam Burdett not guilty Tuesday of impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death. Burdett will be sentenced later this week. Colin Weir, 30, died after suffering head injuries when he fell off an ATV that rolled on Highway 6, about 10 kilometres south of Lundar in the RM of St. Laurent on Nov. 2, 2012. Weir and others were in Burdett’s home celebrating finishing Manitoba Hydro entrance exams when they decided to go to a nearby bar. Some walked to the bar, but Weir and two other men jumped on the ATV, which Burdett drove until it flipped. None of the men was wearing a helmet. Burdett admits going home to phone 911, but while there he said he pounded back the rest of a bottle of Southern Comfort, rendering him impaired. He had said he wasn’t drinking before the collision. Martin said while he believes Burdett drank alcohol before the collision, there was no evidence his driving was impaired by alcohol or was dangerous. The other two men on the ATV said Burdett was driving about 30 km/ h and was not steering erratically before it flipped. “ It is likely if the RCMP had observed these man before the accident... the police would have stopped them, given them tickets for no helmets and charged Mr. Burdett with driving over .08,” the judge said. “ I can’t envision Mr. Burdett would be charged with dangerous driving.” Martin also said he can “ imagine many scenarios where a group of riders on an ATV such as here, all completely sober, including the driver, could have just such a fatal accident.” The judge also acquitted Burdett on a charge of leaving the scene of a collision. Burdett testified he went home to call 911 before returning a few minutes later. kevin. rollason@ freepress. mb. ca T HE Winnipeg man whose Alzheimer’s disease shone a light on what can happen when the system and families can no longer handle dementia’s demands has died. Joe McLeod died Sunday. He was 74. His funeral is being held in Winnipeg today. McLeod made national headlines when he was jailed after assaulting his wife and again when he was moved to a care home, where he pushed a resident who died from his injuries. McLeod had been living at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre since March 2011, following the death of fellow Parkview Place resident and Alzheimer’s patient Frank Alexander, 87. An inquest into the death of Alexander began in January 2014. It raised questions about whether adequate care is available to the most vulnerable among us. The families of both men said at the inquest they felt the system failed them. The inquest heard how Alexander died after being pushed to the floor by McLeod, then 70. Months earlier, McLeod was moved to Parkview Place from the Winnipeg Remand Centre, where he was being held for assaulting his wife. Mc- Leod’s family was afraid to take him and he was admitted to the downtown care home. There, in the main- floor recreation area where a lone staff member was running a bingo game, McLeod pushed Alexander, who fell backwards to the floor and died days later from head trauma. The inquest into Alexander’s death concluded in November. Judge Michel Chartier was tasked with recommending how to prevent a similar death but has not yet filed his report. The Alzheimer Society of Manitoba estimates more than 20,000 Manitobans have Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, and almost 4,400 new cases of dementia were reported in 2013. By 2038, if nothing changes, there will be 34,000 Manitobans with dementia and the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba has predicted a “ crisis.” McLeod’s family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba. His funeral is at 10: 30 a. m. today at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Transcona. The retired railway worker will be buried at a later date in Camperville, where he grew up and felt most at home, said his daughter, Faye Mc- Leod Jashyn. “ The bush was where he loved to be,” said Jashyn. She’s hoping those who knew her dad before he got sick will remember him as he was. “ He loved to laugh, loved to joke around with people. You could always hear him laugh a mile away,” she said. “ I think the people who did know him, who worked with him, his community and his church, will share those memories of him.” Her father didn’t know or remember assaulting his wife, Rose, before going to jail or what happened at Parkview Place, she said. “ What happened wasn’t him,” she said. As a very private man, she said her father wouldn’t have liked knowing his family went public about him being housed in the Winnipeg Remand Centre. But he would have been glad an inquest was held into Alexander’s death to try to prevent more families’ suffering, she said. “ He was very big into helping people if he could,” said Jashyn. carol. sanders@ freepress. mb. ca Man who shone light on Alzheimer’s dies Would have been glad for inquest: daughter By Carol Sanders Driver in ATV fatality was impaired: judge By Kevin Rollason Clear path ahead It was a foggy start to the day for this visitor to Assiniboine Park Tuesday morning, but the sun eventually broke through. Expect lots of sun and warm temperatures for the rest of the week. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Joe McLeod died Sunday. He was 74. B_ 03_ Apr- 29- 15_ FP_ 01. indd B3 4/ 28/ 15 10: 09: 56 PM