Horoscope

The plane truth about a dangerous president

U.S. President Donald Trump has crossed firmly into cutting-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face territory.

Bombers rookies embracing rivalry in lead up to Banjo Bowl

Dante Daniels has been doing his homework on the Battle of the Prairies.

The rookie tight end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers recently went back and studied Labour Day Classics and Banjo Bowl games from previous years to better understand what the annual back-to-back series means to people around these parts.

“I want to know why it’s so important to the fans and why it’s so important in Winnipeg and I want to be a part of that,” Daniels told the Free Press after Thursday’s closed practice.

“I don’t want to be a person that comes in here and goes, ‘OK this is just another game.’ I want to be someone who embraces the rivalry.”

‘We feel lucky — and a bit traumatized’: Tornado confirmed in River Heights Sunday

Tanner Lemieux wasn’t surprised to learn the violent winds that tore through River Heights and reached their peak near his home Sunday night have been classified as a tornado.

While driving back to his Lindsay Street home from a shopping trip with his wife Sunday, it became clear they were not in the middle of an ordinary thunderstorm when rain and wind started coming from every direction and hit every side of their truck.

The forceful wind made it impossible for him to open his door after they had parked. He climbed through the window, over the top of his vehicle, and the couple struggled to fight the whipping winds to make it into the house.

“As we were running in, the wind started pulling me backwards out of the door,” he told the Free Press while cleaning debris from his yard Thursday.

Manitoba has recorded 15 tornadoes this year, roughly twice the annual average

It’s been a whirlwind year for tornado researchers in Manitoba.

“It’s the busiest we’ve ever been, by far,” John Hanesiak, a professor in the department of environment and geography at the University of Manitoba, says.

Hanesiak is a collaborator with the Northern Tornadoes Project, a national research program based at Western University in London, Ont., that aims to better understand tornadoes in Canada.

Since late May, Hanesiak and his team have spent 43 days in the field surveying damage caused by tornadoes and severe weather events across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Previous seasons have required a maximum of 19 days on the road.

All quiet on the Hellebuyck front

Pull up a chair, folks, as we address the elephant in the room. Or, to be more precise, the decorated goaltender who is not in the room. Or on the ice. Or even in the city.

Not surprisingly, the Connor Hellebuyck situation took centre stage Tuesday as members of the Winnipeg Jets held their first media session following an informal, pre-training camp skate.

“We’re definitely going to get asked about it. That’s no chirp to anybody. I think that’s just the reality of the situation,” admitted veteran defenceman Dylan DeMelo, who took part in an hour-long practice at Hockey For All Centre that involved nearly every member of the organization.

With one very notable exception, of course.

Flash, bang … oops: police raid leads to lawsuit

A couple suing the city allege Winnipeg Police Service officers trying to execute a search warrant at their condominium complex rappelled down the side of the building, broke in their glass patio door and fired off a stun grenade before realizing they were in the wrong unit.

Saeid Ghavami and Shahla Shojaei, a married couple who are academics and scientific researchers at the University of Manitoba, filed the lawsuit in Court of King’s Bench last month over the Jan. 31, 2025 incident.

The claim names the City of Winnipeg and several officers involved in the operation, whose identities are, at this point, unknown to the couple, and are referred to as “John Does.”

Officers were attempting to execute the warrant on the third floor of the eight-storey Pembina Highway building, the court filing says. The couple lives on the fourth floor.