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Free Press Head Start for Feb. 9

Good morning.

Manitoba’s health minister has promised to increase access to HIV prevention and treatment medication, but there’s no word yet on when 100 per cent coverage might be a reality in the province. Katie May has the story.

Statistics Canada is set to release January job numbers this morning. The Canadian Press reports.

— David Fuller

 

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Your forecast

Periods of light snow and blowing snow, with wind from the northwest at 30 km/h gusting to 50. High -7 C, wind chill -20 this morning and -14 this afternoon.

And while recent mild weather has made for treacherous conditions on some city sidewalks, as Tyler Searle reports, outside the city, “the winter that wasn’t” descended on southern Manitoba with a vengeance Thursday. Nicole Buffie has that story.

A section of the northbound sidewalk near Rue St. Jean Baptiste in the Central St. Boniface neighbourhood was covered in slick ice and pools of water Wednesday afternoon, forcing pedestrians onto the roadway. (Tyler Searle / Winnipeg Free Press)

A section of the northbound sidewalk near Rue St. Jean Baptiste in the Central St. Boniface neighbourhood was covered in slick ice and pools of water Wednesday afternoon, forcing pedestrians onto the roadway. (Tyler Searle / Winnipeg Free Press)

What’s happening today

Vancouver singer-songwriter Harper K. Smith has teamed up with Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba (AANM) for a concert tonight at 7 p.m. at the Output, a second-floor performance space at the Artspace building at 100 Arthur St., which will serve as the official launch of Thirty Candles, her debut EP. Admission is free. Alan Small has more here.

Harper K. Smith (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Harper K. Smith (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Today’s must-read

More school leaders across Manitoba are asking students to unplug themselves entirely during lesson times and requesting staff to be role models around positive phone-use.

Tuxedo’s Laidlaw School, Collège Béliveau in Windsor Park and West Kildonan Collegiate are among those that have announced stricter guidelines surrounding personal devices in 2024. Maggie Macintosh has the story.

Grade 12 students put their cell phones in a storage pouch before their pre-calculus class at West Kildonan Collegiate Thursday. (Brook Jones / Winnipeg Free Press)

Grade 12 students put their cell phones in a storage pouch before their pre-calculus class at West Kildonan Collegiate Thursday. (Brook Jones / Winnipeg Free Press)

On the bright side

Seven royal artifacts looted 150 years ago by British colonial forces from Ghana’s ancient Asante kingdom and kept by a United States museum have been returned and presented to the kingdom on Thursday, the latest of a series of stolen treasured items being repatriated to several African countries. The Associated Press reports.

Artefacts returned from UCLA's Fowler museum are carried to Asante King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, Ghana, Thursday. (Misper Apawu / The Associated Press)

Artefacts returned from UCLA’s Fowler museum are carried to Asante King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, Ghana, Thursday. (Misper Apawu / The Associated Press)

On this date

On Feb. 9, 1988: The Winnipeg Free Press reported the Metropolitan Theatre could soon be in new hands if the city agreed to foot the costs of refurbishing the Donald Street landmark. In Des Moines, Iowa, former preacher Pat Robertson scored a surprising second-place finish to Kansas senator Bob Dole in the first contest for the Republican presidential nominee; vice-president George H.W. Bush placed third. Most of Manitoba’s Tory MPs joined those in other Western provinces in opposing Ottawa’s bid to strengthen the Official Languages Act. Read the rest of this 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

Joyanne Pursaga:

Residents, councillors unhappy with pool closures in proposed city budget

A plan to shut down city pools is triggering waves of shock among area residents who fear it will eliminate well-loved amenities. The 2024-2027 preliminary city budget proposes to close the Happyla... Read More

 

Chris Kitching:

Police, victims applaud federal crackdown on auto theft

Amy Wang has been cycling to and from work in temperatures as cold as -30 C since her car was stolen outside her Winnipeg home on a frigid day last month. Her Toyota hybrid was taken in a way that ... Read More

 

Joyanne Pursaga:

Eyebrows raised over what’s not in the City of Winnipeg budget

Three significant infrastructure projects are notably absent from the City of Winnipeg’s proposed multi-year budget; no funding was earmarked for the now-closed Arlington Bridge, Kenaston Boulevard (R... Read More

 
 
 

New in Sports

Mike McIntyre:

Flyers flatten slumping Jets

Connor’s late goal only bright spot as Winnipeg’s winless streak stretches to five Read More

 

Jeff Hamilton:

Bombers win some, lose some

Blue and Gold lock up key pieces, bid farewell to others Read More

 

Mike Sawatzky:

Junior A facing further upheaval if NCAA changes eligibility rules

Speculation about the feasibility of a prairie super league to stabilize the MJHL, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the remaining 11 members of Alberta Junior Hockey League may only be talk at the moment, but even an bigger change could threaten the long-term viability of those same leagues. Read More

 
 

New in Arts and Entertainment

Alan Small:

All their lovin’

Winnipeggers come together on anniversary of Beatles’ TV debut Read More

 

New music: The Last Dinner Party, Pylon Reenactment Society, Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, Nikita Mndoyants, Prokofiev

The singalong refrain to Nothing Matters, the irrepressible first single from the Last Dinner Party, is “I will f--- you, like nothing matters,” and it’s been giving network TV producers fits. Read More

 
 

New in Business

Gabrielle Piché:

Allied forces on green economy front?

British High Commissioner to Canada pitches professional, mineral connections to Manitoba Read More

 

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press:

Local news cuts at Bell come after it was granted $40M in regulatory relief: St-Onge

As Bell Media blamed regulators and policymakers for its decision to announce a fresh round of layoffs Thursday, federal and provincial politicians accused the company of unnecessarily killing off local journalism. Read More

 
 

Fresh opinions

Editorial:

Driving high is impaired driving, period

For the past half-century at least, pop culture has been replete with references — mostly of the comedically inclined persuasion — of squint-eyed stoners left slack-jawed clueless by whatever variation of cannabis they’ve smoked or swallowed. Read More

 

Tom Brodbeck:

Knowing about Manitoba’s history vital before making decisions arising from it

Col. Garnet Wolseley was an anti-French, anti-Catholic, anti-Métis bigot. The decorated British military commander, who led some 1,200 troops to Manitoba during the Red River Expedition in the summer ... Read More

 

Peter Denton:

Asking for trouble — and finding it

Whenever I overhear someone in public exclaiming “things just couldn’t get any worse,” I want to duck and look for cover. Read More

 
 

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