Good morning!
NDP fired up: Wab Kinew and Steve Ashton inspired the NDP convention on the weekend with passionate campaign-style oratory. Neither has yet declared candidacy for the party’s leadership, but if it walks like a candidate and talks like a candidate… Nick Martin reports. READ MORE
Your forecast: With today the first day of spring, it’s tempting to hope we’ve already had winter’s final snowfall. But snow flurries are possible later today and overnight. The high today is expected to be +1 C, with wind from the west at 30 km/h, gusting to 50. Tonight’s low will be -19.
In case you missed it
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe second floor is home to the Winnie the Pooh Gallery.
Heart of the park: The iconic pavilion at Assiniboine Park got tender loving care with a $2.3-million renovation, all the better to display the largest collections of works by Manitoba artists Ivan Eyre, Walter J. Phillips, and Clarence Tillenius. Columnist Jen Zoratti visited the historic landmark as the latest instalment in a series on Assiniboine Park. READ MORE
Jets win again: It seems no one has told the Winnipeg Jets they are almost certainly not making the playoffs. Playing like it matters, the Jets beat the New York Islanders on Thursday and, in Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon, they topped the Minnesota Wild, a team that has beat the Jets during their four previous meetings this season. Jason Bell reports. READ MORE
Up next
Busy day at legislature: The legislators beneath the Golden Boy will be hopping busy today, which is the deadline for the government to table legislation and have it pass during the session. Bills could include: controlling public-sector wages, letting the ride-booking company Uber operate here, removing the cap on post-secondary tuition increases and dealing with the hazards of legalized marijuana.
Campsite reservations begin today: Telling tales around a campground fire is a summer pleasure for many Manitobans. Today is the first day when the province will accept this summer’s reservations for cabins, yurts and group-use areas as well as the Birds Hill Provincial Park campground. Contact prs.gov.mb.ca, 204-948-3333 (in Winnipeg) or 1-888-482-2267 (toll-free). Reservations for other camping facilities will be accepted on future days.
Around the water cooler
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSFaith Sobotkiewicz (left) and Lyric Lupichuk chow down on a Saltzberg and Sleeping Beauty as they get the first taste of summer at the Bridge Drive-In (BDI) Sunday.
Free ice cream: In Winnipeg, a sure sign of spring is the opening of Bridge Drive-In, the iconic ice cream stand on Jubilee Avenue that’s been stuffing cones for 60 years. On Sunday, local DJ Peter Takis, 22, plunked down $200 to buy ice cream for 100 lucky strangers. Kevin Rollason reports. READ MORE
Who will lead the NDP?: Political columnist Dan Lett is alarmed the NDP limped through its weekend convention with Michelle McHale, a relative unknown, as the only declared leadership candidate. “Thanks to a measure of organizational procrastination on a truly profound scale, the NDP have left leadership candidates only about 90 days to sell memberships and build a base of support to challenge for delegates.” READ MORE
Trending now
JAMES A/ FINLEY / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILESChuck Berry in 1986
Chuck Berry: The iconic guitarist, who revolutionized music as a founder of rock and roll, died Saturday. Among many others who paid tribute to the legend, Bruce Springsteen tweeted, “Chuck Berry was rock’s greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock ‘n’ roll writer who ever lived.” Berry was 90.
On this date
On March 20, 1978: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that the United States had asked the Soviet Union to begin negotiations to ban hostilities in outer space such as destroying satellites. Manitoba celebrated the return of spring, despite snow falling in some areas. In Winnipeg, a policy meeting of the national Social Credit party wound up, but Quebec party members opposed holding a national leadership convention in Winnipeg in May. France’s centre-right coalition, which had governed for 20 years, prevailed in national elections despite a strong challenge from the Socialist-Communist alliance. READ MORE
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