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Free Press Head Start for Aug. 6, 2025

Good morning.

Police are stepping up traffic enforcement in a north Winnipeg neighbourhood after complaints about reckless driving, speeding and loud noise during large parking lot gatherings on Sunday nights. Chris Kitching has the story.

The Canada Goose, a nationally protected bird, has cost one frustrated Winnipeg woman a $300 fine after she admitted to “harassing” a nesting goose, an offence under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. Dean Pritchard and Joyanne Pursaga report.

— David Fuller

 

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Your forecast

Cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of showers and risk of a thunderstorm. Wind from the southwest at 20 km/h gusting to 40. High 27. Humidex 33. UV index 5 or moderate.


The north-central part of the Prairies, including nothern Manitoba, remains under a series of air-quality warnings. Environment Canada says wildfire smoke is contributing to the region’s very poor air quality and could cause reduced visibility today. The Canadian Press has more here.

What’s happening today

The Winnipeg Goldeyes play the Sioux Falls Canaries at Sioux Falls Stadium, starting at 6:35 p.m.

Today’s must-read

Nurses will vote this week on whether to discourage their colleagues from taking jobs at Health Sciences Centre after a string of sexual assaults in and around the hospital last month highlighted ongoing safety concerns.

It’s called “grey listing,” where a union will warn its members an employer is failing to maintain professional standards and advise against taking new positions there.

The grey list is kept in place until requests made to the employer are met. It would not impact the jobs of the 3,000 Manitoba Nurses Union members currently working at HSC. Malak Abas has the story.

The Health Sciences Centre Emergency entrance (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files)

The Health Sciences Centre Emergency entrance (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files)

On the bright side

A team led by researchers in British Columbia has solved the mystery of a gruesome disease that has killed billions of sea stars along the Pacific coast of North America, more than a decade after the die-off.

Melanie Prentice, the lead author of a new study, recalls a moment of “not really believing it” when researchers found a strain of bacteria that was abundant in diseased sea stars and absent in healthy ones.

It felt “incredible” to be part of a discovery that could help make a meaningful difference in the recovery of sea stars and their ecosystems, she said. The Canadian Press has more here.

Sunflower sea stars (pycnopodia helianthoides) and sea vases (ciona intestinalis) are seen in the waters in Rivers Inlet, B.C., (Hakai Institute, Bennett Whitnell / The Canadian Press)

Sunflower sea stars (pycnopodia helianthoides) and sea vases (ciona intestinalis) are seen in the waters in Rivers Inlet, B.C., (Hakai Institute, Bennett Whitnell / The Canadian Press)

On this date

On Aug. 6, 1932: The Winnipeg Free Press reported in Ottawa, police stood guard along the route of Imperial conference delegates to the ceremonial opening of the Welland Canal, owing to threats made by a member of Sinn Fein to assassinate J.H. Thomas, British Dominions secretary. In Winnipeg, city police arrested three men and one woman, alleged members of an international confidence gang whose operations were extensive throughout western and eastern Canada, and whose victims, police said, included a farmer in Virden who’d lost $1,000 to one of their schemes. 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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Top news

Nicole Buffie:

Favourable wind shift pauses northern First Nation’s wildfire evacuation

Favourable winds have paused the evacuation of a northern Manitoba First Nation threatened by wildfire. About 1,300 residents of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, also known as Nelson House, will remain... Read More

 

Maggie Macintosh:

Southern Health region households ignored public health measles directives, May documents reveal

Public health officials are up against brazen rebellion as they tackle a recent resurgence in measles. Newly released government documents shed light on the challenges related to limiting the spread of the highly infectious disease in Manitoba. Read More

 

Kevin Rollason:

Recent cases of missing Manitoba seniors revive calls for silver alert notification system

Quickly issuing public alerts when seniors go missing would improve their chances of making it home safely, says a Winnipeg woman who hasn’t seen her husband in more than 19 months. Brenda Moberg, ... Read More

 

Maggie Macintosh:

Taking on tomorrow’s taters: U of M research chair’s focus is on sustainable spuds

The University of Manitoba has created a special research position dedicated to sustainable spuds. Linda Schott is the province’s inaugural research chair in potato sustainability, U of M announced in a news release Tuesday. Read More

 
 
 

New in Sports

Mike McIntyre:

Drama at the Downs

Plot twists aplenty during Manitoba’s biggest race of the year Read More

 

Zoe Pierce:

Desperate Goldeyes get hot as season hits homestretch

A sentiment Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Logan Watkins has echoed all season is hitting is the key to winning — something the team has been hot and cold with all year, often slumping throughout the lineu... Read More

 

Joshua Frey-Sam:

Collaros looking to turn season around

Only seven touchdowns for Bombers’ starting pivot so far this year Read More

 
 

New in Arts and Entertainment

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press:

Canadian ‘Youngblood’ remake, Charli XCX drama added to TIFF’s international lineup

TORONTO - The Toronto International Film Festival has revealed its lineup of international films, including a Canadian remake of the hockey classic "Youngblood." The reimagined drama ... Read More

 

Curt Anderson, The Associated Press:

Dozens gather at Florida church for Hulk Hogan’s funeral service

LARGO, Fla. (AP) — Dozens of people gathered Tuesday evening at a funeral service for famed wrestler Hulk Hogan, who died last month at 71. The private service was held at the same ch... Read More

 

Jill Lawless, The Associated Press:

A former Rolling Stone says the Met has his stolen guitar. The museum disputes it

LONDON (AP) — It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s messy. A guitar once played by two members of the Rolling Stones is at the center of a dispute between the band’s former guitarist Mick... Read More

 
 

New in Business

Gabrielle Piché:

‘He’s one of the major players’

Honourary Monte Nathanson Way a tribute to transformative East Exchange developer Read More

 

Tyler Searle and Gabrielle Piché:

Canad Inns founder Ledohowski remembered as ‘business giant’

Leo Ledohowski, the founder of the Canad Inns hotel chain, has died, leaving behind an entrepreneurial legacy that helped shape Manitoba’s hospitality sector. Read More

 

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press:

Prime Minister Mark Carney announces support measures for softwood lumber industry

KELOWNA - The federal government is setting up a safety net of loans, product-development grants and market diversification plans for Canada’s softwood lumber industry in an effort to shield ... Read More

 
 

Fresh opinions

Tom Brodbeck:

NDP, living in fiscal fantasy world, must face reality

If you believed the NDP’s promise during the 2023 provincial election that they’d balance the books by the end of their first term in office, you might want to brace yourself for some disappointment. Read More

 

Editorial:

As insect numbers continue to fall, scientists worry

Say hello to a male Hexagenia limbata, one of the burrower mayflies. He’s not a particularly special or handsome creature; the insect, sometimes called the giant mayfly, has a range that’s spread across most of the United States and Canada. Read More

 

Pam Frampton:

Ageism keeps rearing its ugly head

All the seniors’ discounts in the world can’t make up for the ageism that is rampant in our society. Read More

 
 

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