Politicians Put Kibosh on Police Brutality
A long month of police crackdowns, strong-arming, and arrests has come to a sudden end this week, as politicians and media call on law enforcement officials to "back off".
When gang violence in the West End erupted over four weeks ago, police officers engaged in a spree of arrests and patrols that some citizens have called "disturbing". Some high level city hall politicians have been less generous, referring to the force's activities as "overreaching at best, and downright brutal at it's worst!" But opposition to the city-wide crackdown was few and far between, as many saw it as a long overdue clean-up of Gimli's gang ridden streets.
However, two weeks ago, a couple officers were charged with fabricating evidence and obstruction of justice. Just this week, there's a was legal mudhole, as police followed up several anonymous tips and arrested two or three innocent individuals they were middle-class drivers and assistants, and they described they incarceration as "rough, unwelcome, and uncivilized!"
Since then, higher-ups in the Gimli Police Department have been keeping a closer eye on what their officers have been doing, and they have not been impressed. Along with the mayor and some city councillors, they held a press conference announcing the immediate end to the police's "clean-up of Gimli".
"There have been some oversteps," a spokesman read from a prepared statement, "and they will stop. Though noble in intent, the police department and city hall recognize that limits need to placed and recognized. The abuses we do not tolerate of vandals and criminals, we must not tolerate in the people we charge with serving and protecting us."
Northern Lights Ice Hotel Returning
The Northern Lights Ice Hotel will return to Gimli next winter. Planning has already begun, and officials with the hotel say that it will be at least twice as big as the 2009 hotel. There could be many new additions to the hotel, including theme suites, a restaurant, outdoor hot tubs and a sauna. Activities may also be expanded, and could include skiing, snowshoeing, tabogining, ice sculpting, and perhaps even a luge run.
One official was quoted, saying "We're the only ice hotel in North America outside of Quebec. Our climate here is colder, so we'll be able to be open longer. We're linked with tourism in Churchill, which allows us to offer polar bear tour packages, and we friendly Manitobans are famous for our hospitality. I expect we'll be booked solid before Labour Day."
The ice hotel was a welcome addition to Gimli's tourist attractions this year, proving that along with events such as The Festival Du Voyageur, that the city is an all year destination. Applications are already being accepted for artists who wish to take part in next years hotel construction. Bookings for rooms and special events are being taken at (xxx-xxxx).
