Good morning!
Your forecast: Don’t let the clouds get you down today. The weekend is shaping up to be a beauty. Today, it will be mainly cloudy with a 30 per cent chance of showers this afternoon. Expect a high of 23 C. There will be a 30 km northwest wind this afternoon. Then, it’s clear sailing. On Saturday, the skies will be sunny with a high of 26 C. On Sunday, the forecast also calls for nothing but sun and a high of 26 C.
In case you missed it
Michael Poliza photo
Review launched: The Pallister government is launching a province-wide review of beach safety practices after two children drowned at Grand Beach Monday. The review is to begin almost immediately and could lead to more beach safety officers on duty, more provincial beaches with safety patrols, and even some form of limitation on how many people could be on a beach at any given time, Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox said. The two children who drowned were identified Wednesday as Jhonalyn Javier, 11, and David Medina. Only three of Manitoba’s 83 provincial beaches have beach safety officers — Grand Beach, Winnipeg Beach and Birds Hill. They are the province’s most heavily used beaches. READ MORE
Message sent: Winnipeg police have arrested two people who they say were scalping Tragically Hip tickets, with one trying to sell them for nearly four times their face value. The iconic Canadian band performs tonight at MTS Centre as part of a cross-country tour arranged in May after lead singer and lyricist Gord Downie announced he has incurable brain cancer. Tickets sold out almost immediately. The accused scalpers were each advertising pairs of floor tickets online. A 30-year-old man and 31-year-old woman were issued provincial offence notices for breaching the Amusement Act and were released. They could face fines set by the court up to $5,000. READ MORE
Park possible: The Pallister government hopes further consultations will melt away continued opposition to a polar bear provincial park in the North. The plan for a designated, protected park along the coastline of the Hudson Bay near Churchill was first announced in the 2013 throne speech under the former NDP government. The park was seen not only as a way to boost tourism in the area, but as a means to protect the denning habitat of the polar bears and caribou habitat. At least 128 bird species also breed in the area. “The long term sustainability of polar bears is important to Manitobans and definitely important to all of us, so we want to move forward with it, in conjunction with First Nations people,” Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox told the Free Press. READ MORE
Up next
Hometown heroes: The opening ceremony for the 2016 Rio Olympics takes place tonight. Manitoba is sending a contingent of 10 athletes to the Games, the most since 15 Manitobans participated in Sydney in 2000. You can watch the opening ceremony on CBC television tonight beginning at 5:30 p.m. READ MORE
Hip concert: The Tragically Hip performs tonight at the MTS Centre as part of a cross-country tour arranged in May after lead singer and lyricist Gord Downie announced he has incurable brain cancer. Needless to say, the concert is a sellout. READ MORE
Around the water cooler
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESA Nigerian woman, who the Free Press is identifying as U.O., awaits a ruling from the Refugee Board of Canada. Her hearing continues Aug. 22.
Fate still up in the air: The fate of a lesbian from Nigeria who has applied for refugee protection in Canada rests in the hands of an appointed adjudicator. The 32-year-old woman, who asked to be identified only as U.O., fears persecution in her home country, where homosexuality is a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. She’s been in Winnipeg for three months, arriving here for a conference and abandoning her plans to return to Nigeria after finding out her girlfriend was jailed and police were looking for U.O. The Free Press was barred from a hearing Thursday as U.O. pleaded her case even though she had given written consent for a reporter to be there. The adjudicator decided she needed more time to hear U.O.’s case. The hearing is set to continue Aug. 22. READ MORE
No sweat on contract: University of Manitoba professors aren’t sweating over warnings from their colleagues at the University of Winnipeg of looming government austerity. U of M Faculty Association president Prof. Mark Hudson says he doesn’t share the concerns that led to the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association accepting a 7.5 per cent raise last week over 4.5 years, a deal running until September of 2020. Both schools saw their previous contracts expire this past March. The U of M faculty association says it’s not worried about a potential wage freezes imposed by the Pallister government. READ MORE
Trending now
Jason Franson / The Canadian PressWinnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols looks through the rain for an open receiver Thursday night against the Eskimos during first-half CFL action in Edmonton.
#Bombers: Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans are still buzzing after the team won its second consecutive game this week, defeating Hamilton 37-11. READ MORE
#Rio2016: All eyes will be on Rio de Janeiro tonight as the 2016 Summer Olympics kicks off with its opening ceremony. Millions of television viewers from around the world are expected to watch the three-hour event, which comes as the country is reeling from political and economic turmoil. Concern has also been expressed about the adequacy of security at the Games. READ MORE
On this date
On Aug. 5, 1957: The long weekend was a dangerous one, with 2 killed and 10 hurt in traffic accidents, Rainbow Stage was preparing to present the Pitfalls of Pauline and a man from Montreal traveled to Venice to save his captive niece – considered Romania’s ‘Marilyn Monroe’. READ MORE
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