What you need to know
Philip Toscano / The Associated Press FilesProfessor Stephen Hawking
Brilliant mind mourned: Famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has died at his home in Cambridge, England, at age 76. He lived for decades with a degenerate disease that left him unable to move a muscle or speak without the help of a voice synthesizer. Hawking became a household name after the publication of his 1988 book A Brief History of Time. READ MORE
Students set to protest: Students across the United States — and here in Winnipeg — will stage walkouts today to protest gun violence, one month after the mass shooting at a Florida high school. At Grant Park High School, participating students will leave their classrooms shortly before 10 a.m. and meet on the front lawn.
Too close to call: Democrats may have pulled off an upset in a special election in Pennsylvania for a vacant seat in the House of Representatives. Conor Lamb claimed victory in a speech to supporters but leads by fewer than 600 votes, with some absentee ballots yet to be counted. The election in a district Donald Trump won by 20 points in the presidential election is seen by many as a bellwether for November’s midterms. READ MORE
Weather
Your forecast: Today will be sunny with a high of -3 C, wind at 20 km/h late this morning and increasing cloudiness early this afternoon.
In case you missed it
AP Photo/Matt Sayles, FILE
Safety alerts coming soon: Smartphone users in Manitoba will soon have access to an emergency text-message system. Some people received messages Tuesday saying Canada’s Alert Ready system will be available on compatible devices in April. The system would be similar to the one in Hawaii used in January to send an erroneous warning about a ballistic missile threat. Carol Sanders reports. READ MORE
May weighs options: British Prime Minister Theresa May is today chairing a meeting of the United Kingdom’s national security council after Russia ignored a deadline to explain how a Soviet-made nerve agent was used on a former spy. May, who said earlier this week Russia is “highly likely” to blame for the attack in England, is set to announce her nation’s response. READ MORE
Around the water cooler
Tom Mihalek / The Associated PressWinnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck has transformed himself into an elite NHL goaltender, and deserves the bulk of credit for the team’s success this season, Paul Wiecek writes.
Tough end to road trip: The Jets lost to the division-leading Predators 3-1 in Nashville last night as a couple of names were added to their injury list. Meanwhile, columnist Paul Wiecek says the team’s most valuable player this season isn’t possible Hart Trophy candidate Blake Wheeler or sniper Patrik Laine. READ MORE
Trending now
#PiDay2018: It’s March 14, also expressed as 3/14, which looks a lot like pi. Handy trick: if you need to keep track of the infinite non-repeating number’s first six decimal places, remember this phrase: “how I wish I could calculate pi.” The number of letters in each word will give you the sequence: 3.141592.
On this date
On March 14, 1975: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that Portugal’s leftist military government had nationalized private banks; hundreds of bank employees in Lisbon demonstrated in favour of the takeover, shouting, “The banks belong to the people!” In Manitoba, 2,800 registed and licensed nurses at five hospitals in Winnipeg and one in Brandon were set to strike. READ MORE
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