Your forecast
A mix of sun and cloud, with a 30 per cent chance of showers early this morning. Clearing this morning. High 19 C, UV index 5 or moderate.
What’s happening today
The Manitoba Fibre Festival starts today from 3-9 p.m. at Red River Exhibition Place, 3977 Portage Ave., and continues Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
The annual event, now in its 12th year, features a host of vendors showcasing their works and wares, from pottery, handwoven tapestries and fibre sculptures to supplies and tools for fibre artists. Admission: $5 to $20
Today’s must-read
Manitoba schools are undergoing kitchen renovations, hiring food co-ordinators and stocking up pantries as they roll out expanded meal programs.
Premier Wab Kinew and Education Minister Nello Altomare shared lunch with elementary students at Donwood School on Thursday to celebrate the launch of the NDP government’s “universally accessible” nutrition program.
The expansion will feed students who show up to school hungry and thereby limit disruptive behaviour in classrooms, Kinew said.
The province earmarked $30 million in this year’s budget to make healthy meals more widely available to students across the public school system. Maggie Macintosh has the story.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Education Minister Nello Altomare hand out free lunches to students on Thursday at Donwood School in Winnipeg to launch the province’s school nutrition program. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)
On the bright side
Three years ago, when Team Canada appeared at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the athletes were dressed in sleek white jeans. They may have looked good, but for some Paralympians on the team, they were a challenge.
For Alison Levine, for example. The para athlete, who competes in the sport of boccia, couldn’t wear jeans because in a wheelchair, they dug into her skin. They lacked an elastic waistband, and were difficult to take on and off.
Things are different this year. At the Paralympics opening ceremony in Paris, Levine and teammates wore bright red jackets with features like magnetic closures that make it easier for everyone, disabled or not. And there was an option of a seated carpenter pant that was designed with Levine in mind — even called the “Alison pant.” The Canadian Press has more here.

Canadian athletes parade during the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, France. (Emilio Morenatti / The Associated Press files)
On this date
On Sept. 6, 1967: The Winnipeg Free Press reported George Wyatt Leclerc, serving a seven-year sentence, had escaped from Stony Mountain Penitentiary and was still at large; a year earlier, Leclerc had been wounded and recaptured by U.S. police after a mass breakout at Headingley Jail. In Toronto, Nova Scotia premier Robert Stanfield and Manitoba premier Duff Roblin garnered cheers ahead of the Progressive Conservative party leadership vote; both were among the nine candidates for the job. Read the rest of this day’s paper here. Search our archives for more here.

Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Free Press.

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