Good morning!
Your forecast: Weather-wise, it’s a toss-up today whether the most useful implement will be a snow shovel or an umbrella. There’s a 60 per cent chance of rain showers today as the temperature climbs to a high of 2 C. To make matters blustery, wind will blow from the south at 30 km/h, gusting to 50. The weekend weather should be unseasonably warm, with a high of zero on Saturday, and a high of -2 C on Sunday.
In case you missed it
Colin Corneau / Brandon Sun filesManitoba Government Employees Union members loudly applaud mention of their contract negotiations at the 2015 Manitoba Federation of Labour conference last year in Brandon.
MGEU workers safe from layoffs: Manitoba’s public servants don’t have to worry about getting laid off. The Manitoba Government and General Employees Union (MGEU), which represents 14,000 provincial public servants, voted Thursday to ratify a new five-year collective agreement with the province that includes a no-layoff clause covering all regular employees hired on or before April 1, 2015. READ MORE
One night in jail for man who exploited teenager: Bruce Frost of Winnipeg was sentenced this week to 18 months jail for sexually exploiting his wife’s teenaged assistant but is back home after just one night behind bars. Frost, 51, was granted bail on Thursday pending an appeal of his guilty finding. The Crown was opposed to his release. The decision means his sentence is on hold pending a hearing before the high court. READ MORE
Up next
Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press FilesDriver Cam McQueen and his truck Northern Nightmare
Today’s quiz: What is four metres tall and about four metres wide, weighs a minimum of 10,000 pounds and can jump a distance greater than 14 cars side by side? If you guessed Monster Trucks, you’re in luck because the travelling truck show is at the MTS Centre for shows on both Saturday and Sunday. READ MORE
At The Forks: The temperature will be as high as zero this weekend, making it a great time to walk the river trail. On Sunday, The Forks grounds will be traversed by horse-drawn wagons, passing by two teepees reserved for baking bannock and sharing stories. And if that’s not enough, The Forks is also hosting The Great Ice Show, a display of world-class ice art by Chinese artists who spent several weeks on the project.
Around the water cooler
COURTESY OF HOOKED MEDIA INC.Byfuglien was asked about his ice-fishing trip on Wednesday.
Byfuglien turns angler: Dustin Byfuglien squeezed in some ice fishing during the NHL all-star break even though he’ll be part of the festivities which started Thursday in Nashville. The Winnipeg Jets defenceman, and his agent Ben Hankinson from Minneapolis, spent much of Wednesday hunkered down in a fishing hut on the west side of Lake Winnipeg near Matlock. READ MORE
Right to die: Former Manitoba MP Steven Fletcher implored the federal government’s Special Joint Committee on Physician Assisted Dying Thursday to act quickly on developing legislation or regulations to respond to the Supreme Court ruling legalizing assisted suicide. Fletcher, who is quadriplegic after a road crash in which his vehicle hit a moose, said opponents need to “be more empathetic to the people who are suffering.”
Trending now
Andrew Estey / Invision / The Associated Press FilesZayn Malik
#PillowTalk: The new single by Zayn Malik (One Direction fans know who we’re talking about) from his solo album is trending in Canada. The album is titled “Mind of Mine.”
#CatSongs: With reimagined hits such as “Can’t Fight This Feline,” “Careless Whiskers,” and “Once Kitten, Twice Shy,” this hashtag is the cat’s meow. Get it? Eh? GET IT–
On this date
On Jan. 29, 1951: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that nine Chinese Trappist monks, who found refuge at Notre Dame de la Prairie monastery in St. Norbert, were eager to return home to China. But, they said through an interpreter, after being granted permission to speak despite vows of silence, “it may be two years — may be 10 — before we can return. It may be never.” The monks, from Our Lady of Joy monastery in Cheng-tmy in north China, had escaped torture and death at the hands of Communist China, according to the newspaper.
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