Your forecast
An extreme cold warning is in effect for Winnipeg. Mainly sunny, with wind up to 15 km/h. High -21 C, wind chill -36 this morning and -28 this afternoon. Risk of frostbite.
School divisions may announce school closures or bus service cancellation for some areas; see this map and click on the relevant school division for the most recent announcements.
What’s happening today
Canada faces Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off at Bell Centre in Montreal, starting at 7 p.m. Mike McIntyre has a preview here.
Today’s must-read
The Manitoba government will spend $2 million on a public inquiry to get to the bottom of the Winnipeg police HQ construction project — which was $79 million over budget and plagued by delays — but there is no guarantee the key players will testify.
“We’re fulfilling our commitments made in the last election and answering the city’s call to launch a full public inquiry,” Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said at a news conference Tuesday.
“This inquiry will get to the heart of the issue and determine what steps need to be taken so that the City of Winnipeg can construct future projects in a cost-effective, efficient and ethical manner.” Carol Sanders has the story.
Justice Minister Matt Wiebe (left) with Garth Smorang, the lawyer hired to lead the inquiry. (Mike Deal / Free Press)
On the bright side
When Malcolm Weale saw the tiny, dirt-covered object he’d unearthed in an English field, he knew it was something special.
In his hand was a silver penny minted during the reign of Guthrum, a Viking commander who converted to Christianity and ruled eastern England in the ninth century as Athelstan II.
For Weale, finding the first silver coin minted by a Viking ruler in Britain was the pinnacle of decades of hunting with his metal detector in the fields and forests near his home in eastern England. The Associated Press has more here.
An early medieval silver penny of Guthrum of East Anglia, the first silver coin minted by a Viking ruler in Britain, is displayed at the British Museum’s annual treasure launch in London, Tuesday. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / The Associated Press)
On this date
On Feb. 12, 1941: The Winnipeg Free Press reported Britain was preparing for a titanic clash with Germany in the ongoing war, and would be calling 19-year-olds into army service, followed by 37- to 40-year-olds, leaving the 18-year-old group till the last. The British government quashed rumours of a peace deal with Italy and would continue its operations against that country without abatement. In a senate foreign relations committee meeting in Washington, D.C., Republican leader Wendell Willkie threw his party’s longstanding policy of American isolationism into discard, advocating not only increased support for Britain during the war but for long-term efforts to bolster democracy abroad after the war. 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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