Free Press Head Start for April 3

Good morning!

There is a winter storm watch in effect as a Colorado Low is expected to hit parts of southern Manitoba from Tuesday evening through to Thursday afternoon, with heavy snow between 15-25 cm forecast, along with high winds and poor visibility.

According to Manitoba 511, the Trans-Canada Highway is closed between Austin and the Saskatchewan border.

If you are low on supplies to get through a few days of potentially closed roads and are able to get to a local store, it might be a good idea to stock up — and make sure you know where your shovel is.

— David Fuller

Your forecast

Mainly cloudy with a high of -5 C, low of -11 and 30 per cent chance of flurries this morning. A winter storm watch is in effect.

What’s happening today

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency will introduce the four astronauts who will steer the next stage of an ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the moon. One of them will be Canadian — the first ever to venture beyond Earth’s orbit and around the dark side of the lunar surface. The Canadian Press reports.

And voters in Prince Edward Island will go to the polls today after a nearly month-long provincial election campaign; as The Canadian Press reports, the Progressive Conservatives led by Dennis King are seeking to keep a majority government.

Progressive Conservative supporters in Charlottetown, P.E.I. (Darren Calabrese / The Canadian Press files)

Today’s must-read

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives announced $1.3 million in new funding for a new community-led sexual assault crisis response program Sunday amid criticism over its handling of a similar program at Health Sciences Centre. But questions remain about how — and if — the new initative will close existing gaps in service. Katrina Clarke has the story.

About six to eight people, including nurses, will be hired to support the two sites, said Ayn Wilcox, Klinic Community Health executive director. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free press)

On this date

On April 3, 1923: The Manitoba Free Press reported in Toronto, the federal minister of the interior told the Toronto Canadian Club that there was likley to be a marked increase in immigration from Great Britain, and that there was a tendency in Canada to lay too much stress on emigration to the United States. A new investigative report out of Florida showed that state’s “peonage” system had county convicts bound over to work for private contracters, where they were treated inhumanely. Search our archives for more here.

Today’s front page

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

Top news

Danielle Da Silva:

Security at Manitoba ERs in spotlight

Guards, armed with handcuffs and batons, could begin patrolling province’s largest university in late spring Read More

Malak Abas:

Dirty work: groups mobilize to pick up needles, litter on streets

As the snow slowly but surely melts, a prickly reality surfaces across the city — hundreds, if not thousands, of discarded needles. Read More

Tyler Searle:

Party leaders say they aren’t worried about polls at this point

If there is one thing the leaders of Manitoba’s political parties agree on, it’s that they pay little heed to the results of public opinion polls. Interviews with Progressive Conservative Premier Heather Stefanson, opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew and Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont netted similar responses Saturday, with all three snubbing a recent Probe Research poll. “I frankly don’t put a lot of credence in the polls and what they say out there,” Stefanson said, speaking from the Manitoba Legislative Building after a Sikh Heritage Month event. Read More

New in Sports

Jeff Hamilton:

Jets bedevil New Jersey

Gain critical 2 points in playoff quest Read More

Jeff Hamilton:

Kuhlman cracks Jets lineup, now the trick is to stay there

It’s difficult to watch your team go through an ugly stretch of games. It’s even harder when you’re not on the ice to help make a difference. Read More

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press:

Canada splits games at men's curling worlds

OTTAWA - An opening weekend round-robin game was part of the usual buildup to the playoffs for a perennial curling contender like Canada's Brad Gushue. It was quite the o... Read More

New in Arts and Entertainment

Holly Harris:

Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir delivers choral masterpiece at WSO concert

Out of heartbreaking loss came a choral masterpiece, with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in partnership with the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir presenting Brahms’s “A German Requiem,” last performed on this stage in 2015. Read More

Gary Gerard Hamilton, The Associated Press:

Shamier Anderson savors career rise, role in new ‘John Wick’

New York (AP) — Shamier Anderson is well aware that his Hollywood profile is rising, and he isn’t taking the moment for granted. “I’ve been on the grind for a very long ti... Read More

New in Business

Joshua Frey-Sam:

Price drop expected for Canadian cottages: report

The average cost of a cottage in Manitoba is expected to decrease three per cent in 2023, according to a recent Royal LePage recreational property report. Read More

Gabrielle Piché:

Zellers to open next week in Winnipeg

Zellers will open in St. Vital Centre next Tuesday. The Hudson’s Bay Company announced the discount chain’s revival in Manitoba, among other provinces, last January. Twenty-five Zellers locations across Canada are opening in current Hudson’s Bay Company stores. Read More

Fresh opinions

Editorial:

We deserve to hear it from the horse’s mouth

Winnipeggers expect a degree of transparency regarding the services they pay for, and when something goes wrong, deserve informed answers. But the city’s increasing reliance on all-purpose spokespeople, rather than those directly involved or affected concerning municipal services, does little to provide the public with clear answers. Read More

Shelley Cook:

Indigeneity, identity at centre of questionable claims

The issue of Indigenous identity theft has been in a spotlight lately. It seems like every time I log into Twitter or scan the news, there’s another story about a person’s questionable claims to Indigeneity. Read More

Dennis Hiebert:

Public media promotes collective cultural good

THE CBC was created in the 1930s to continue building Canada and bring our nation together through a common consciousness the way the railway had united our country physically and economically. Its formation addressed the challenges of Canada’s geographical breadth, small population, two official languages, regionalism, multiculturalism and vulnerability to overbearing American media. Read More

Head Start