Your forecast
Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness this morning then a 60 per cent chance of flurries this afternoon. Wind from the south at 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming northwest 30 gusting to 50 this morning. High 1 C, wind chill -19 this morning. UV index 1 or low.
What’s happening today
🏒 The Winnipeg Jets face the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center, starting at 7 p.m.
Today’s must-read
An overnight blaze Wednesday that destroyed a dilapidated hotel, forced the evacuation of about 150 people from a shelter next door and shut down Main Street traffic in both directions is being described as “just another day in Winnipeg.”
Nick Kasper, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said the blaze that reduced the vacant Manwin Hotel to thick ice and rubble is an example of the sad reality in the city.
“It’s just another day, another news story,” Kasper said. “We’ve normalized deviance here in Winnipeg so significantly, where people come to expect this. They’re not outraged, they’re not shocked because it is our typical. That is concerning. This isn’t normal across the country, right?” Scott Billeck has the story.
Firefighters battle the blaze at the vacant Manwin Hotel on Wednesday morning. (Mike Deal / Free Press)
On the bright side
Manitoba’s newest student-designed warming hut doubles as a public awareness campaign for a child advocacy centre.
Bison Run School has partnered with the Toba Centre for Children and Youth to create “Cozy Up With a Book.”
The triangular structure, which mimics an upside-down novel, is being decorated with information about the local charity that supports young victims of abuse and their families.
“Toba Centre gives a kid a voice when they feel like they don’t have one,” said Arya Samim, one of the Grade 7 students who’s spent the better part of the 2025-26 school year working on the project.
The 12-year-old said she and her co-designers want students who visit their warming hut on the Nestaweya River Trail to know they are loved and not alone. Maggie Macintosh has more here.
From left: Bison Run School’s Arya Samim, Gabriela Londono and Tamilore Akinyele collaborated with other Grade 7 students to create a warming hut that will be installed at The Forks. (Maggie Macintosh / Free Press)
On this date
On Jan. 15, 1965: The Winnipeg Free Press reported the Progressive Conservative party’s 10 Quebec MPs issued a direct challenge to opposition leader John Diefenbaker by calling for a national convention to test his leadership of the party. In London, Sir Winston Churchill’s doctors announced the 90-year-old statesman had suffered a stroke. 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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