Free Press Head Start for March 18

Good morning.

Some south Winnipeg children have been washed out of their daycare for days and they don’t know when they’ll get back after an underground sewer pipe broke. Kevin Rollason reports.

Skylar Park was six years old when she told a reporter she planned to be an Olympic athlete one day. That item was checked off her to-do list three years ago. The role-model piece and becoming the public face of taekwondo in Canada has been part of a natural evolution. Mike Sawatzky has the story.

Cho Venevongsa couldn’t help but feel starstruck when Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan walked through the door of his Winnipeg restaurant Saturday night. Tyler Searle has more here.

— David Fuller

Your forecast

A mix of sun and cloud, with wind becoming south at 20 km/h gusting to 40 then increasing to 40 gusting to 60 near noon. High 6 C, wind chill -18 this morning.

What’s happening today

Hearts of Freedom: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees, is on now at Festival Hall, Manitoba Museum, 190 Rupert Ave., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Between 1975 and 1985, after the fall of South Vietnam to Communist forces, more than 100,000 refugees fled to Canada from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. It was the first time in Canada’s history that private sponsorship of refugees was allowed, with thousands of individuals, groups and teachers contributing to the resettlement of the vulnerable and displaced.

Today’s must-read

An elected official representing thousands of Métis people living in St. Boniface says they are unhappy about proposed plans to close the Happyland Pool.

Andrew Carrier, vice-president of the Winnipeg region of the Manitoba Métis Federation, is urging the mayor and councillors to reconsider closing the pool at Marion and Archibald streets.

“If I have to, we can get people to go to city hall to express our opinion,” Carrier said on Friday. Kevin Rollason reports.

Happyland Pool at 520 Marion St. opened in 1962. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files)

On the bright side

Manitoba Theatre for Young People opened its latest show Friday, and that means Heather Mann-O’Hara was working hard behind the scenes.

The Transcona resident has volunteered at the company, which stages professional productions for children and families, for more than two decades. Aaron Epp has more here.

Longtime Manitoba Theatre for Young People volunteer Heather Mann-O'Hara (second from right) with fellow helpers Sonia (from left), Tim, Anisha and Anu. (Supplied)

Longtime Manitoba Theatre for Young People volunteer Heather Mann-O’Hara (second from right) with fellow helpers Sonia (from left), Tim, Anisha and Anu. (Supplied)

On this date

On March 18, 1924: The Manitoba Free Press reported the first of large arrivals of 3,000 people from Czechoslovakia, coming to settle on farms or engage in farm work in Western Canada reached Winnipeg. W.H. McIntyre, general manager of one of the largest cattle ranching operations in Alberta, told the Free Press he was optimistic for the region’s prospects in 1924. 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

Tyler Searle:

Nuclear organization seeks decommissioning licence renewal

The organization overseeing decommissioning efforts at Manitoba’s former nuclear facility is seeking to renew its contract with the federal government. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has appli... Read More

Kevin Rollason:

RRC Polytech student gives back to college

A student nurse, whose studies were interrupted for two years by pandemic-related struggles and mental health challenges, is helping other students even before she graduates. Sophie Walker, who is ... Read More

Free Press staff:

Manitoba changes funding for non-profit housing

The Manitoba government has introduced a new funding model for non-profit housing operators that will stop housing projects from being sold to the private sector without due process. The model is i... Read More

New in Sports

Mike McIntyre:

A St. Paddy’s pulverizing

Jets cruise past Jackets 6-1 Read More

Free Press staff:

Bison rebound to grab volleyball bronze

It wasn’t the storybook ending they hoped for but the Manitoba Bisons took pride in their finish at the U Sports women’s volleyball championship in Hamilton, Ont. The No. 1-seeded Bisons, who dropp... Read More

Taylor Allen:

Scoreboard watching now more fun at Goldeyes games

The home of the Winnipeg Goldeyes is undergoing a makeover. The most prominent change at Blue Cross Park on opening day will be a new state-of-the-art video screen in right-centre field. Previou... Read More

New in Arts and Entertainment

Jen Zoratti:

Seeing red

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder’s roller-coaster of rage and depression is often left to careen off the rails due to missed diagnosis, stereotyping and lack of straightforward treatments, severely impacting mental health and relationships Read More

AV Kitching :

Culture’s saving grace

For ‘Indigenous Baddie,’ reconnection with her Cree traditions and its creative endeavours was a true lifeline, and one she wants to share with others Read More

Ben Waldman:

Premières aplenty on PTE stage next season

New Canadian Curling Club playwright returns, Prairie Theatre boss responds to criticism Read More

New in Business

Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press:

Economists expect inflation rate ticked up above 3% last month amid higher gas prices

OTTAWA - Economists say inflation likely flared up again in February amid higher gasoline prices, reinforcing the expectation that the journey back to two per cent inflation will be a b... Read More

Joel Schlesinger:

Fraudsters’ new best friend

AI has consumers rightfully concerned about scams Read More

Fresh opinions

Editorial:

The scams just keep on coming

Last week in this space, on Monday in fact, we wrote about how common, and how convincing, internet and text scams can be. But scams — especially electronic ones — are now so common they’re coming two to a single news story. And on a weekly basis to boot. Read More

Tom Brodbeck:

Empty promises aside, province’s payroll tax a permanent fixture

Political parties in Manitoba have for decades promised to eliminate the province’s so-called payroll tax. The reason they never do it is because once they get into government, they find out one of th... Read More

Gregory Mason:

AI will revolutionize education — and reality

On a recent test, a student submitted a perfect paper. I recognized that he had used OpenAI’s Chat GPT to produce the answer, so I gave him full marks. Read More

Head Start