Free Press Head Start for June 7

Good morning.

Northbound and southbound lanes on Main Street are closed to all traffic this morning between Kilbride and Hartford avenues, according to the Winnipeg Police Service.

The City of Winnipeg says it is not responsible for conducting a workplace investigation into the death of an international student who was hit by a contract snowplow operator hired last December, but says it is the responsibility of the independent contractor. Erik Pindera reports.

Three people facing charges of first-degree murder in the killing of in Trevor Dorion have, in a plea bargain with prosecutors, agreed to admit to manslaughter and were sentenced to 12 years, 14 years and eight years in prison, respectively. Dean Pritchard has the story.

And a spike in work-related injury and illness claims among City of Winnipeg staff comes amid concerns over some relatively new dangers on the job, according to the head of its largest union. Joyanne Pursaga reports.

— David Fuller

Your forecast

A mix of sun and cloud with a 30 per cent chance of showers this morning, and a risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Expected high is 29 C, low 18, with a humidex of 33 and UV index of 9 or very high.

What’s happening today

The Bank of Canada is set to announce its interest rate decision this morning as speculation about another rate hike heats up. The Canadian Press reports.

(Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press files)

Today’s must-read

Autopac customers paid $19,000 for the chief information and technology officer of Manitoba Public Insurance — who has since quit — to commute to Winnipeg from his home in Ontario over the past eight months. Danielle Da Silva has the story.

Chief information and technology officer Siddhartha Parti resigned from Manitoba Public Insurance Friday. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

On this date

On June 7, 1951: The Winnipeg Free Press reported a bomb threat to the Playhouse theatre forced police intervention at a public meeting held by city alderman Jacob Penner and sent 600 people rushing to the exits; Penner had just returned from a five-week visit to the Soviet Union and various European countries and was speaking on his experiences. No bomb was found on the premises. Two British foreign office officials, mysteriously missing from their posts in London since May 25, were the subject of an international police search in western European capitals; the pair were rumoured to be heading for Moscow. Read the rest of this day’s paper here. Search our archives for more here.

Today’s front page

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

Top news

Kevin Rollason:

Exotic butterflies’ escape closes The Leaf attraction two days after heat shutters entire facility

Construction deficiencies allowing butterflies to escape their indoor garden enclosure have forced The Leaf to close the popular attraction just six months after its opening. The Assiniboine Park C... Read More

Maggie Macintosh:

Religious program in public school sparks St. James debate

St. James residents are putting pressure on trustees to reject a faith-based group’s request to use a local public school to conduct non-compulsory Bible lessons for children whose parents want them to study elementary theology during the week. Read More

Chris Kitching:

Heat wave gives rise to calls for increased city cooling resources

An early, record-setting heat wave has prompted calls for more public cooling centres in Winnipeg, especially in core neighbourhoods or areas with higher populations of vulnerable people. For those... Read More

New in Sports

Mike McIntyre:

Fast smashes another barrier

Winnipegger named head coach of U18 Indigenous women’s national football team Read More

Jeff Hamilton:

Revamped Tiger-Cats a contender

Off-season moves have Hamilton favoured as beasts of the East Read More

Taylor Allen:

Allen leads Sea Bears past Bandits

The Winnipeg Sea Bears aren’t your average expansion team. Read More

New in Arts and Entertainment

AV Kitching:

Tasting — and testing — nature’s bounty

The ancient practice of foraging gains popularity and prickly pushback Read More

Tool gears up for Oct. 29 show

Tool, the Los Angeles metal band that has picked up four Grammy Awards since forming in 1990, plays the Canada Life Centre Oct. 29. Read More

Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press:

Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. settles civil sex abuse case, averting trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Just as a trial was to begin, it was revealed Tuesday that Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled accusations that he raped a woman in a New York City hotel a decade ago, accordin... Read More

New in Business

Gabrielle Piché:

Significant number of Manitobans struggling or financially uncomfortable, poll shows

Manitobans are increasingly missing their loan and credit payments, data from credit reporting agency Equifax shows. The average Manitoba account carried $16,805 of debt, excluding mortgages, in th... Read More

Gabrielle Piché:

Province passes legislation to regulate most human resources practitioners

The entity regulating most Manitoba human resource practitioners now has its own provincial legislation, and more power to enforce the profession’s rules. “We want the public to know that CPHRs (ch... Read More

Fresh opinions

Editorial:

A complicated election in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won re-election on May 28 for a new five-year term, is a useful but difficult ally for Canada and the other western democracies. His nation of 85 million is a military and industrial great power in the Middle East region but he is not much interested in the secular ideals and liberal values that propelled Turkey’s modernization in the 20th century. Read More

Tom Brodbeck:

Reach-for-the-bottom allies offer whiff of foul election recipe desperate Tories might cook up

“Can’t afford these two? Imagine adding Kinew,” an electronic billboard flashes on Portage Avenue, across the street from Polo Park shopping centre. It features an image of Prime Minister Justin Tr... Read More

Erna Buffie:

Trees fall, while bylaws fail

I was relieved when the city applied for and received money from the federal Two Billion Tree Fund to catch up on our 80 per cent tree replacement backlog. I was over the moon when I read that replanting public trees on a two-to-one ratio and pruning them on a seven-year cycle were part of the city’s new strategic priorities. Read More

Head Start