Good morning!
ALEXIS DEVITO PHOTO FILESStunned onlookers watch as a girl donned a white mask and wandered through traffic at Portage and Main with a firearm that turned out to be a black-painted BB gun.
Portage and Main spectacle: Drivers near Portage Avenue and Main Street just before 10 a.m. on July 19 will remember the sight of a masked woman in the middle of the intersection, holding a replica gun to her head. “I just wanted to put on a show for the city,” said the woman, who appeared in court on Wednesday. Katie May reports. READ MORE
Your forecast: If you have complained about the recent frigid cold, well, suck it up, buttercup, today’s weather is expected to be exactly like yesterday: a high of -21 C and wind of 15 km/h that will make it feel like a flesh-freezing -38.
In case you missed it
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSWinnipeg police investigate on Thames Avenue near Watt Street on Wednesday morning.
First homicide of 2017: Police responding to a report of gunshots in Elmwood on Tuesday about 10 p.m. found a man lying in the roadway on Thames Avenue near Watt Street. Police won’t say who the victim was, how he died or whether the killer has been caught. But social media has identified the victim as Tyler Kirton, 25. Ashley Prest reports. READ MORE
Avoiding clinic crowds: Patients looking to avoid long waits at Winnipeg walk-in clinics will soon be able to go online to learn how long it’ll take to see a doctor at various locations. A company called Medimap Systems Inc. already offers the online service in three other provinces and is signing up the 52 clinics here. Larry Kusch reports. READ MORE
Up next
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESFinance Minister Cameron Friesen talks about the deficit forecast outside his office at the Manitoba Legislative Building during a news conference on Dec. 20.
State of the unions: While it’s likely union leaders did not exchange Christmas cards this year with Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government, they will meet at a boardroom table today. Finance Minister Cameron Friesen has invited the leaders of some of the province’s largest public-sector unions to his office. Union leaders have recently complained they haven’t been consulted as politicians speculate about wage freezes and possibly reopening contracts. READ MORE
Snowed In 2017: Thumbs up to members of the University of Winnipeg Students Association, whose school spirit won’t be deterred by a minor inconvenience like this week’s wind chill of -30 C. The group plans activities today and Friday called Snowed In 2017, involving an Ice Bike Obstacle Course, student fair, discussions about divestment, free soup/stew in The Hive and a party with music by Retro Rhythm Review, where dancing is sure to break out.
Around the water cooler
PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESMembers of the public can now make reports involving non-urgent traffic or manner-of-driving complaints in a new phase of the Citizen Online Police Reporting System.
Reporting the scofflaws: Citizens can now electronically report to police traffic complaints such as stop-sign and red-light infractions, excessive speed, careless driving, speeding in school zones or illegally passing a stopped school bus. The catch? People who lodge the complaint must be prepared to appear in court as a witness. Ashley Prest reports. READ MORE
Hate crime: Homeowners in Wolseley arrived home at around 10 p.m. on Dec. 31 to find a red gift bag near their front steps. Inside the bag was a large rock with a swastika along with an anti-Semitic message painted on it in large uppercase letters: “DIE JEW BITCH. EINSATZGRUPPEN.” The Einsatzgruppen was a Nazi death squad responsible for the mass killings of Jews. Ben Waldman reports. READ MORE
Trending now
PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESSCanada’s Carter Hart (31) makes a save on Sweden’s Tim Soderlund (29) Wednesday.
#CANvsSWE: Team Canada beat Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Championships 5-2, advancing to the gold-medal game against the United States. READ MORE
#MonkeyMovies: It’s stretching the definition of “monkey,” but here are some primate-friendly takes on Hollywood blockbusters: To Gorilla Mockingbird, Village of the Damned, Dirty Apes, Howler Lose A Guy In Ten Days and A Clockwork Orangatan.
On this date
On Jan. 5, 1925: The Manitoba Free Press reported that about 100 worshippers at the Icelandic Good Templars Hall on McGee Street and Sargent Avenue were driven into the street by a fire during a service; damage was estimated at $10,000. A “desperate struggle” between the British and Soviet Russia was unfolding in the Balkans, as Britian encouraged those countries to quash communist organizations even as Britain was alarmed at the spread of revolutionary propaganda in India, Persian, Afghanistan and Mesopotamia. READ MORE
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