Your forecast
A mix of sun and cloud, with a 30 per cent chance of showers late this afternoon with risk of a thunderstorm. Wind from the southwest at 50 km/h gusting to 70. High 24 C. Humidex 30. UV index 7 or high.
What’s happening today
📖 Winnipeg fantasy author S.M. (Sam) Beiko launches The Sleuth of Ferren City, the third book of her Brindlewatch quintet of books aimed at young adults. Raven’s End Books, (1859 Portage Ave.), 6:30 p.m.

Author and artist S. M. Beiko (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
Today’s must-read
Brian Brown grabbed his wife, Bernadine, and pulled her to the floor with him as a tornado demolished part of their brick farmhouse south of Rossburn on Sunday night.
Bernadine had been putting clothes in a dryer in the northeast corner of the house when her husband noticed a large tree fall outside a window at about 8 p.m.
“I just yelled at her to get away from the windows, and I grabbed her and threw her on the floor,” Brian said from the couple’s property Monday.
The tornado ripped the roof off the century-old house and tore apart the second floor, snapped large trees and flipped vehicles in the Browns’ yard. It was one of two Rossburn-area homes to be damaged by the tornado. Tessa Adamski, Nicole Buffie and Chris Kitching have the story.

The home belonging to Brian and Bernadine Brown south of Rossburn on Monday after a powerful tornado hit the property Sunday evening. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
On the bright side
There was a time when Alofa Tunoa Ta’Amu — though he’d prefer you simply call him Noa — briefly thought football might be in his future.
“I played for one year, my freshman year of high school. I got a pick-six,” the 18-year-old recalled Monday while speaking with the Free Press at Hockey For All Centre.
Ta’Amu was selected by the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday with the seventh pick of the seventh and final round of the NHL Draft. The rugged defenceman heard his name called while watching the live broadcast with his family at their cottage in Penticton, B.C.

Edmonton Oil Kings’ Noa Ta’amu (5) made history Saturday as the first player of Samoan heritage ever drafted into the NHL. (Andy Devlin / Edmonton Oil Kings)
“Just a lot of excitement. Something I’ve been looking forward to since I was a little kid. I’ve been dreaming about it, and it just seemed so surreal,” said Ta’Amu, who holds dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship.
Ta’Amu also made a little history, becoming the first player of Samoan heritage ever drafted into the NHL. His father, Ed, was born in Hawaii and has deep family ties to the tropical island country of Samoa, where ice is generally found only in drinks. Mike McIntyre has more here.
On this date
On June 30, 1950: The Winnipeg Free Press reported U.S. president Harry Truman authorized the use of American ground troops in Korea. In Ottawa, prime minister Louis St. Laurent announced Canadian naval ships on the west coast were being ordered into the Pacific to be ready to go into action in Korea if needed.

Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Free Press.

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