Free Press Head Start for Feb. 3

Good morning!

It’s another day of cold weather, but it looks like things will warm up over the weekend.

Tyler Searle has an in-depth look at how outreach organizations, often strapped for funding, are saving lives of Winnipeg’s homeless population around the clock as temperature plummets.

The Liberal nomination to replace the late Winnipeg MP Jim Carr just became a race, and for one of the contestants, it’s especially personal — Jim’s son Ben Carr has decided to challenge Winnipeg city councillor Sherri Rollins for the Liberal nod in Winnipeg South Centre. Carol Sanders reports.

And a Winnipeg man who held his wife and children as virtual hostages during a violent, two-year reign of terror has had his prison sentence reduced by four years. Dean Pritchard has the story.

— David Fuller

Your forecast

Sixty per cent chance of snow late this morning and early afternoon, with a high of -15 C and a low of -33 C. An extreme cold warning is in effect for Winnipeg.

What’s happening today

The music of Joe Strummer and the Clash will live on through the performances of four local groups tonight at 8 p.m. at the Park Theatre. Two bands taking their names from Clash songs, the Guns of Wolseley and the Crackdown, are on the bill, as well as the Mariachi Ghost and Death Cassette. For ticket information, click here.

Today’s must-read

Manitoba is topping up education funding by six per cent — its largest increase in at least 25 years — in response to the rising cost of teaching and transporting students, but public-sector leaders say the welcome change cannot undo years of underfunding damage. Maggie Macintosh has the story.

Education Minister Wayne Ewasko (Ruth Bonneville/ Winnipeg Free Press)

On this date

On Feb. 3, 1964: The Winnipeg Free Press reported U.S. engineers tried to discern why the craft for the Ranger VI lunar photo mission failed to capture any images of the moon. In Ottawa, embattled Tory leader John Diefenbaker emerged from weekend meetings of the Young Progressive Conservatives and the PC Students’ Federation with only small votes of confidence in his leadership. In New York, an estimated quarter of the city’s total student population of 100,000 boycotted the largest school system in the U.S., demanding total racial integration. 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

Katie May:

Hospital staff will ask Manitobans to self-identify race in effort to reduce health-system discrimination

Starting in April, Manitoba will become the first province to ask hospital patients to identify their race. The collection of racial data is aimed at tackling systemic discrimination of patients and health-care workers and could lead to changes in triage and worker retention, Dr. Marcia Anderson hopes. Anderson, executive director of Indigenous affairs at Ongomiizwin, the Institute of Health and Healing within the University of Manitoba’s faculty of Health Sciences, has been working on the idea for years as an extension of the Truth And Reconciliation Commission’s call to action for the health-care system. Read More

Danielle Da Silva:

Western Manitoba town hiring recruiter to find two doctors willing to work there

Travelling MDs, international medical graduates have filled vacancies at local health centre, ER for nearly a year, mayor says Read More

Malak Abas:

‘Why are we not doing it?’: father runs for full-scale newborn CMV screening

Congenital CMV infections can cause hearing loss, vision loss and developmental delays in infants. Manitoba, unlike its neighbouring provinces, doesn’t screen every newborn for it. Read More

New in Sports

Taylor Allen:

Wesmen triumph over Bisons

Women’s volleyball team earns River City bragging rights by defeating crosstown rivals in four sets Read More

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press:

Soccer star Andrea Neil calls for judicial inquiry into sports abuse in Canada

A former captain of Canada's women's soccer team is calling for the federal government to launch a full judicial inquiry into abuse in sports across the country. "Nothing... Read More

New in Arts and Entertainment

Eva Wasney:

Love is in the air

Go beyond Hallmark moments to celebrate Valentine’s Day with flair Read More

Alan Small:

Museums exhibit solidarity with Black History Month programming

Black History Month has not gone unnoticed by Winnipeg’s major museums. Read More

Deborah Schnitzer:

Travelling more difficult with emotional baggage

At the beginning of this new year, I travelled to Ontario hoping to spend some time with my son and his husband, two of my most favourite people, a couple I married. (How often does a mother get to do that?) Read More

New in Business

Gabrielle Piché:

Raise a glass

Market selling non-alcoholic drinks opens in Exchange District Read More

Martin Cash:

New laws, incentives needed to foster employee ownership

Glenda MacPhail, a book project specialist at Friesens Corp. in Altona, was one of about 550 employees at the sprawling printing operation who got a share of $5 million in company distributions last year, on top of their regular pay. Read More

Fresh opinions

Editorial:

New guidelines shift the conversation on alcohol

Health agencies have for years been telling us to eat more fibre, consume less red meat and keep a close eye on the amounts of sodium and sugar in our diets. Read More

Tom Brodbeck:

Leadership selection changes should be at top of provincial Tories’ to-do list

Candice Bergen’s resignation Wednesday as the Conservative MP for Portage-Lisgar was a friendly reminder to Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party that it may want to change its leadership election rules before the end of the year. Read More

Royce Koop:

Cabinet shuffle could help Stefanson

The 2023 Manitoba election is scheduled to take place on Oct. 3. With the election looming, almost every decision made by Manitoba politicians is interpreted as some kind of pre-emptive strategic move. Read More

Head Start