Your forecast
Periods of light snow ending near noon then clearing. Wind from the northwest at 30 km/h gusting to 50. High -7 C, wind chill -22 this morning and -16 this afternoon.
The mild winter with light snowfall has led to widespread dry conditions across Manitoba — cause for concern and celebration: the danger of wildfires has jumped, but the risk of flooding is pegged at low to moderate.
The Manitoba Wildfire Service has advised that in addition to raising the risk of wildfire, there’s concern grass fires will pop up as the snow melts. Kevin Rollason has the story.
A forest fire near Pauingassi First Nation on May 28, 2019. (Province of Manitoba)
What’s happening today
Two men indicted for their alleged roles in a human-smuggling case linked to the deaths of an Indian family of four near Emerson will be in court separately today.
Today’s must-read
Weeks before exams are set to begin, students and faculty at one of Manitoba’s largest universities are scrambling to access academic files after a weekend “cyber incident” knocked out network access and forced the institution to cancel classes.
Lessons at the University of Winnipeg resumed Tuesday after a one-day hiatus, but many educational services remain unavailable, including Nexus — the school’s learning-management system, in which many professors store and disseminate the bulk of their curriculum.
“Right now, I have no way of contacting students. They’ve lost access to all of the course materials,” biology professor Scott Forbes said. “We are just about to start exams, so this is just about as bad as it gets…. Basically, I am dead in the water right now, and so are my students.” Tyler Searle has the story.
The University of Winnipeg (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
On the bright side
Travellers through Maine’s biggest airport can now get a close look at the moon — well, a part of it at least. Portland’s airport is now home to the second largest piece of the moon on Earth, according to moon rock enthusiasts who installed the extraterrestrial chunk. The moon piece is a little bigger than a rugby ball and is on loan to the Portland International Jetport from the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum. The Associated Press has more here.
An installation at Portland International Jetport in Maine features the second largest piece of the moon on Earth. (Darryl Pitt via The Associated Press)
On this date
On March 27, 1945: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that in Europe the German retreat from the Rhine turned into a rout along a 250-mile from from Karlsruhe to the Dutch border, and Gen. Eisenhower said the Allies had won a crushing victory. Meanwhile, reports of Nazi broadcasts calling all troops to report to their units or local authorities were seen as signs of a German military breakdown. Manitoba’s earliest spring floods on record covered large areas of low-lying ground while rain turned to snow in Winnipeg. 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.
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