Your forecast
Sunny, hazy, with wind becoming northwest at 20 km/h this morning. High 30 C. UV index 9 or very high.
Hot, dry conditions with the odd chance of rain are likely to greet crews battling wildfires that have forced thousands out of their homes from Alberta to Manitoba. The Canadian Press has more here.
Scientists say 4 billion people, about half the world’s population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025. The Associated Press reports.
What’s happening today
Winnipeg author Nisha J. Tuli launches her latest contemporary romance novel Not Safe For Work tonight at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location, where she’ll be joined in conversation by romance-fantasy author Briar Boleyn (also known as Fenna Edgewood) and local content creator Kaila Anttila.
Today’s must-read
Tents, tarps, and makeshift shelters line the beaten path along the Assiniboine River near Balmoral Street in West Broadway — a community hidden in plain sight.
At first glance, the scene could be mistaken for a Manitoba summer festival: there are colourful tents, birds chirping overhead, and geese with their goslings feeding nearby. The natural beauty of the river view masks the harsh truth.
The mattresses, shopping carts, broken glass, empty naloxone kits and food wrappers break the illusion. This isn’t a weekend retreat. This is home.
For many in Winnipeg’s encampments, the path to housing is far from straightforward. Trauma, addiction and complex life circumstances often stand in the way of simply finding a bed. Scott Billeck has the story.
A large encampment along the banks of the Assiniboine River at the end of Spence Street at Balmoral Street. (Mike Deal / Free Press)
On the bright side
Scientists have identified a new pod of ancient hunter-gatherers who lived near the land bridge between North America and South America about 6,000 years ago.
Researchers are still charting how human populations spread across the Americas thousands of years ago, arriving first in North America before veering south. Groups that split off developed their own collection of genes that scientists can use to piece together the human family tree. The Associated Press has more here.
The high plains in Bogota, Colombia where a newly discovered group of humans lived 6,000 years ago. (William Usaquen, Andrea Casas-Vargas via The Associated Press)
On this date
On May 30, 1975: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that legislation that would relax the one-drink-at-a-time rule for alcoholic beverages served in licensed premises was introduced for second reading in the Manitoba legislature. Vice-presidents of the Manitoba Government Employees Association were to meet to consider a government offer of a 20 per cent pay increase in a one-year contract. Manitoba’s industry minister said no decision had yet been made on the carrier to provide air travel service between Brandon and Dauphin, Man., and Yorkton, Sask. 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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