Your forecast
Sunny, becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. Wind becoming north at 20 km/h early this afternoon. High 28. Humidex 33. UV index 7 or high.
This summer’s latest barrage of severe thunderstorms caused widespread property damage and power outages for more than 30,000 Manitoba Hydro customers, mostly in Winnipeg, as winds of up to 133 km/h wreaked havoc. Chris Kitching has more here.
A tree crushed Jake Falk’s truck. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
What’s happening today
🏀 Find delicious eats, local shopping, live entertainment and basketball-themed fan experiences downtown this weekend as the Winnipeg Night Market returns in a collaboration with the Winnipeg Sea Bears, who will finish their regular season this weekend before heading to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.
The Sea Bears’ final regular-season home game is Friday night at Canada Life Centre, where they will take on the Ottawa BlackJacks. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $33.75 at Ticketmaster.
Today’s must-read
A Manitoba law meant to provide financial support to survivors of child sexual abuse that was recorded and distributed online has never once been used in its 15 years of existence, the Free Press has learned.
Passed in 2011, the Justice for Victims of Child Pornography Act allowed the province to seek court orders against people convicted of crimes involving child sexual abuse material.
If a court approved, offenders would be required to pay into a provincial fund meant to compensate individual victims, as well as to support the work of organizations and law enforcement agencies addressing child exploitation.
Monique St. Germain, general counsel for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)
The idea was that the government — not victims — would take on the work of extracting damages from offenders.
Among the organizations that likely would have benefited is the Winnipeg-based Canadian Centre for Child Protection, a nationwide charity that facilitates the removal of child sexual abuse material from the Internet and supports survivors. Marsha McLeod has the story.
On the bright side
At 6:40 a.m., while most of Winnipeg is still sleeping, or perhaps just starting to think about making the morning coffee, a patch of shade and sun just south of the Perimeter Highway is already humming with life.
For almost 40 years, the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market has thrived here, on the side of Highway 75. When it began in 1988, it was just eight farmers coming together to sell their produce in what was then a grassy field. Today, the market’s co-operative includes more than 200 members; of all the farmers’ markets in Manitoba, it’s the largest.
Each Saturday in the summer, it hosts well over 100 vendors, displaying everything from vegetables and pickles to jewelry and gourmet homemade dog treats. Since 2015, it’s kept operating straight through the winter, with about 60 tables under the permanent canopy at the market’s core. Melissa Martin takes an in-depth look here.
Shoppers approach the main entrance of the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market. (Mike Sudoma / Free Press)
On this date
On July 31, 1984: The Winnipeg Free Press reported in Los Angeles, Canada claimed its first Olympic gold medals in swimming in 72 years when Alex Baumann won the 400-metre individual medley in record time and Ann Ottenbrite scored a suprise victory in the women’s 200-metre breaststroke. In The Pas, prime minister John Turner apologized for telling a national television audience that unemployment in Manitoba was so low because 2,000 people a month left the province.
Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Free Press.
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