Your forecast
Sunny, with increasing cloudiness this afternoon. Local smoke. High 29 C. Humidex 34. UV index 7 or high.
Winnipeg has blazed its way to its smokiest year on record — and there are still nearly three months remaining in the wildfire season.
The city had recorded 306 smoke hours as of Tuesday, compared with 304 in 1961. Kevin Rollason has more here.
Winnipeg recorded its smokiest month ever, with 189 smoke hours in July. (Mike Deal / Free Press files)
What’s happening today
Today at 2 p.m., take a stroll and learn some local history at Poverty and Prosperity: A Walk Down Early 1900s Broadway beginning at The Forks. Tickets are $15 and can be found here (as well as additional dates and times for the tour). This walk takes history-hungry visitors on a trek from the Alloway Arch at The Forks to Dalnavert Museum (61 Carleton St.), the former home of Sir Hugh John Macdonald.
Today’s must-read
For the first time in her 50-plus years in Thompson, Mayor Colleen Smook is hearing residents ask when winter is coming, even though there’s still plenty of summer left.
Some wildfires in northern Manitoba may not be extinguished until snow begins falling later this year, if higher temperatures and dry conditions continue, she said.
“This could go on until we get some decent snowfall and colder temperatures,” Smook told the Free Press Wednesday. Chris Kitching has the story.
Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook is hoping for significant rainfall, and no lightning strikes, in the coming days. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files)
On the bright side
Housing advocates say the province needs more social-housing projects to address the homelessness crisis in Manitoba.
Construction on a 23-unit apartment building at 480 Young St. was underway Wednesday. The aim is to house up to 40 homeless and at-risk individuals and families by the end of 2025.
Ontario-based charity Raising the Roof bought the derelict property in November and began renovations in May. It’s the second project the non-profit has undertaken in Winnipeg. Nicole Buffie has more here.
Leslie Bellingham, director of strategic partnerships and initiatives for Raising the Roof (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)
On this date
On Aug. 7, 1952: The Winnipeg Free Press reported Manitoba premier D.L. Campell called a last-minute meeting between Winnipeg mayor Garnet Coulter and union leader Leon Mitchell as well as the provincial minister of labour to avert a strike by civic workers. Four children died near Gladstone after a sandy cave they had been playing in collapsed. A U.S. embargo against Canadian meat and cattle owing to an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease looked unlikely to be lifted until 1953. 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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