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Free Press Head Start for Dec. 14

Good morning.

We’re in store for a cold day, about 6.5 C below the average high for today’s date. The second part in a Free Press series on the destructive legacy of sex offender and former hockey coach Graham James will be published on our website later today. Via Rail passenger service from Winnipeg to Vancouver resumes tonight. Former prime minister Brian Mulroney was released from hospital after he had emergency surgery. The European Union’s chief negotiator says a Brexit trade agreement is still possible. U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday night that he quashed a plan for White House staffers to be vaccinated early. And spy novelist John le Carré and country music legend Charlie Pride died over the weekend.

— Adam Treusch, assignment editor

 

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What’s happening today

CPShipments of initial doses of COVID-19 vaccines are unloaded late Sunday in Canada. Department of National Defence officials would not disclose the airport or city. (Cpl. Matthew Tower/Canada's Department of National Defence)

CPShipments of initial doses of COVID-19 vaccines are unloaded late Sunday in Canada. Department of National Defence officials would not disclose the airport or city. (Cpl. Matthew Tower/Canada’s Department of National Defence)

Vaccines arrive in Canada: Quebec is set to become the first province or territory to administer the COVID-19 vaccine today, after doses arrived in Canada on Sunday. Residents of two long-term care homes in Quebec will be the first to receive the vaccine. The first vaccinations in Manitoba are expected to take place Wednesday. Reporter Maggie Macintosh spoke with local doctors who said their booking experience was frustrating. “This is a useless system,” one said. “After a while, I just gave up.” READ MORE

COVID-19 crisis: The Manitoba government will announce the latest COVID-19 numbers this afternoon. Seven deaths were reported Sunday, the first day with single-digit deaths since Dec. 4. Meanwhile, a new walk-in COVID-19 testing site opens at the Garrick Centre later this morning. READ MORE

Formally picking president: The Electoral College — the process in which the president of the United States in formally chosen — is taking place today in all 50 states. President-elect Joe Biden is planning to make an address, while President Donald Trump is refusing to concede the election despite numerous failed legal challenges. READ MORE

Voting starts for Senate seats: Early voting begins today in Georgia, where two runoff elections will decide control of the U.S. Senate. READ MORE

Assisted-dying debate: Debate on the Liberal government’s bid to expand access to medically assisted dying begins in the Senate, where the bill will face amendments from those who think the bill goes too far or doesn’t go far enough. The Canadian Press reports. READ MORE

Weather

Your forecast: Sunny with increasing cloudiness this afternoon, a high of -16 C, a daytime low of -22 C, wind chill as low as -30 and wind from various directions at 10 km/h.

In case you missed it

photos by MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSResearch co-ordinators Nora Choi, outside Grace Hospital, and Quinn Tays, outside St. Boniface General Hospital (below), are working with a team of researchers from other Winnipeg hospitals co-ordinating clinical trials with COVID-19 patients.

photos by MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSResearch co-ordinators Nora Choi, outside Grace Hospital, and Quinn Tays, outside St. Boniface General Hospital (below), are working with a team of researchers from other Winnipeg hospitals co-ordinating clinical trials with COVID-19 patients.

Revolutionary research: Malak Abas reports on the COVID-19 trials being done in Manitoba hospitals. The scientist in charge says he thinks the trials will revolutionize how health care is administered. “We’re embedding clinical trials into care, and that’s totally new,” Dr. Ryan Zarychanski said. “We’re using novel trial designs that have never been used before that are likely to change the face of clinical research forever, and it’s come out of Manitoba.” READ MORE

Diagnosis through data: A University of Manitoba professor is seeking volunteers for two research projects aimed at making it easier to diagnose the coronavirus and keep track of its after-effects. All you need is a smartphone. Kevin Rollason reports. READ MORE

Virus spreads in Red Sucker Lake: The first case of COVID-19 in Red Sucker Lake First Nation was identified Thursday. As of Sunday afternoon, 18 cases had been confirmed. Chief Samuel Knott and his family are among those who tested positive. Maggie Macintosh reports. READ MORE

Political poll: A poll conducted for the Free Press found support for the federal Conservatives in Manitoba has dropped from 40 per cent three months ago to 37 per cent, while the Liberals are down one point to 32 per cent. The NDP went from 21 per cent support to 24. Dylan Robertson reports. READ MORE

Moniker move: Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians are changing their name after decades of protest, the New York Times reported Sunday night. An announcement might come this week, the Times reported. READ MORE

On this date

On Dec. 14, 1917: The Manitoba Free Press reported that ships could not be built fast enough to replace those sunk by German submarines in the ongoing Great War. Men were urged to vote in the federal election early in the day, so as to allow more time for women to vote. In the wake of the disastrous Halifax explosion, the Free Press relief fund had raised nearly $31,000, of which $26,000 had already been sent to the treasurer of the relief fund in the stricken city. In Russia there were “varied reports” concerning the state of the revolution in that country.

Today’s front page

Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Winnipeg Free Press READ MORE

 

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