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Commons faces closure: An indigenous-owned-and operated Main Street grocer may be sold after falling behind on loan payments. Neechi Commons owes about $3.8 million and is scheduled to be auctioned off next month unless the co-operative can reach a new financial arrangement with the lender. Murray McNeill reports. READ MORE
Your forecast: It will be cloudy today, with a few showers starting early this morning and ending this afternoon, and a high of 22 C. There’s a risk of a thunderstorm in the morning.
In case you missed it
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESA Beach Safety Officer keeps an eye on some kids at Grand Beach in August 2016.
Disturbing distinction: Manitoba has the highest rate of drownings of young children, a new report states. After children age four or younger, adults between the ages of 20 and 24 are at the next-highest risk. Jane Gerster reports. READ MORE
Blissfully bug-free: The Canada Day long weekend should be relatively mosquito-free, and a historic low is possible. The city-wide average for mosquitoes caught in traps rounds to zero. It could be the best rate the city has seen at this time of year since the 1970s. Stephanie Lasuik reports. READ MORE
Language warning: Abdoul Toure will be studying advanced English at Red River College this fall, but worries about other newcomers after Ottawa cut funding for Stage 2 English as an Additional Language classes. Toure, a father of three from Mali, knows the frustration of not being proficient in English and says it has a significant impact on newcomers and the community as a whole. Carol Sanders reports. READ MORE
Up next
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSSteve Ashton
Ashton running again: Steve Ashton, the former longtime cabinet minister in Manitoba’s NDP government, is expected to officially announce today he will again be seeking to take the helm of his party. He has run for the leadership twice before. First-term MLA Wab Knew is the only other candidate.
Special event at stadium: A citizenship ceremony in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday is taking place at Investors Group Field this afternoon, with 101 people being sworn in. The event is at 1 p.m.
Around the water cooler
Political peril: The gap between the Progressive Conservative government’s austerity agenda and the gentler approach to fiscal prudence promised by Premier Brian Pallister is widening, Dan Lett writes in his latest column. The provincial government froze applications to the Child Care Inclusion program before reversing its position this week. READ MORE
Is Fleury forbidden? Theoren Fleury deserves to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame based on his statistics alone, columnist Paul Wiecek says. As Fleury fails to make the cut year after year, one can’t help but wonder whether some believe his personal story of struggle and survival somehow disqualifies him, Wiecek writes. READ MORE
Trending now
#CanChamp: It was Toronto FC vs. Montreal Impact at the BMO Field in Toronto Tuesday evening for the title in Canadian Championship soccer. Toronto won 2-1. READ MORE
On this date
On June 28, 1980: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that the city of Winnipeg’s new labour contracts with police, transit and civic workers would cost the average taxpayer $57.20 in the coming year. The U.S. Senate approved $9.7 million in federal funding for the controversial Garrison Diversion irrigation project in North Dakota. Canada officially had a national anthem, as MPs officially recognized “O Canada.” READ MORE
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