Good morning!
OT lucrative for transit mechanics: We begin the day with a Free Press exclusive story about salaried mechanics and other unionized staff in the Winnipeg Transit maintenance division cashing in bigtime when they worked overtime in 2014 and 2015. Broken buses and major staffing issues opened the door for a handful of bus mechanics to ring up OT that more than doubled their pay — with a handful earning well over $100K, reporter Aldo Santin discovers. READ MORE
Your forecast: Get out and enjoy a near-perfect Friday in southern Manitoba. Environment Canada is promising sunshine, a light breeze from the northwest and a daytime high temperature of 29 C in Winnipeg. The evening cools down to 17 C, so open those windows but be ready to close them up by Saturday morning. The weekend begins on a soggy note, with showers and a risk of a thunderstorm Saturday and a high of 24 C. The sky clears Sunday and the mercury should hit 25 C.
In case you missed it
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESAndrea Giesbrecht, 42, pictured in April leaving the Winnipeg law courts.
Giesbrecht trial delayed: The question of spousal privilege forced another delay in the trial of a Winnipeg mother accused of hiding the remains of six dead babies in a storage unit. Andrea Giesbrecht, 42, is charged with six counts of concealing a child’s body. The remains of five boys and one girl were found inside a McPhillips Street storage unit in October 2014. Her husband, Jeremy Giesbrecht, 43, testified against her in court Wednesday, but his testimony was halted Thursday during cross-examination by defence lawyer Greg Brodsky when concerns arouse about his legal obligation as a spouse to answer questions. READ MORE
Bombers’ woes continue: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers started slowly, finished with a mighty push but, ultimately, came up short again Thursday night. Down 20-3 at halftime, the Blue Bombers got to within eight points in the fourth quarter before falling 33-18 to the Calgary Stampeders at Investors Group Field. Winnipeg now has just one victory in five CFL starts this season, while the Stampeders raised their record to 2-1-1. READ MORE
Seeking refuge in Winnipeg: A lesbian from Nigeria, visiting Winnipeg in May for an HIV/AIDS conference, has remained in the city and will appear before the Immigration and Refugee Board in early August seeking refugee status. Her reason for seeking protection in Canada? Homosexuality is a crime in Nigeria punishable by prison time and the police there are looking for her and her partner is already behind bars. READ MORE
Up next
Mounted police, indeed: The RCMP’s famous musical ride is one of the main attractions at the Manitoba Stampede and Exhibition this weekend in Morris, performed by a full troop of 32 riders and their horses, takes to the show ring Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and again Sunday at 2 p.m. Head south down Highway 75 for a terrific weekend also highlighted by the rodeo and agricultural fair.
Protest by Greene family: A third vigil in less than three months is planned for Saturday as family members publicly raise concerns about how Errol Greene died in early May at the Winnipeg Remand Centre. Greene suffered an epileptic seizure and died on May 1. His family says he had requested his prescription medication from staff at the centre but was denied it. The rally goes Saturday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in front of the remand centre, 141 Kennedy St.
Around the water cooler
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESSRepublican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump
Sights set on Oval Office: Donald Trump put the cap on the Republican Party convention Thursday night with an hour-long speech attacking the political establishment, warning voters of the dangers of foreigners and painting a picture of a U.S. economy in turmoil — which would only get worse with rival Hillary Clinton winning the presidency — before making big promises to fix it all. READ MORE
Hip kicks off tour: Canadian band The Tragically Hip begins its cross-country farewell tour in Victoria tonight. The tour, promoting the band’s latest album “Man Machine Poem,” was planned following the announcement in May that lead singer Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The band is making a 15-date tour, which includes a sold-out show in Winnipeg on Friday, Aug. 5. READ MORE
Texting for important answers: Forget checking your mailbox for future Statistics Canada questionnaires and instead be ready to check the text-message inbox on your cellphone. Texting questions to Canadians is one of several options the agency is considering to confront an alarming drop in response rates to surveys — declines that are “threatening the quality of official statistics” and could “soon lead some to question the usability of the data itself,” The Canadian Press reports. READ MORE
Trending now
Myles Aronowitz / Netflix / Tribune MediaMike Colter plays Luke Cage.
Luke Cage: The first African-American superhero, first published in the 1970s by Marvel comics, has already appeared in Netflix’s “Jessica Jones” series, but Luke Cage, also known as Power Man, debuts in his own eponymous series this fall. A trailer released today has seen the character’s name start trending. READ MORE
#TrumpSpeechInFourWords: How best to epitomize the address given by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to the party’s national convention? How about: “No Policies Just Doom,” “Goodbye, Grand Old Party,” or “I just want power.”
On this date
On June 22, 1963: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that Canada would be exempt from U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s proposed new taxes on American purchases of foreign securities. Soviet Russia and Communist China agreed to meet at some future point to make another attempt to settle their ideological differences. In Europe, an east-west agreement involving Russia that would ban the testing of nuclear weapons in space, underwater and in the air had been worked out; testing would still be allowed underground. READ MORE
|
