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Portage & Main: The campaign to reopen the iconic Portage and Main intersection got thumbs up from city council on Wednesday, with councilors approving a $3.5-million plan to revamp areas around the intersection. Carol Sanders reports. READ MORE
Your forecast: It’s a good day to have an indoor job. The day is starting with a miserable mix of wind-blown rain and snow, with the temperature falling to 0 C in the afternoon, and wind from the northeast at 50 km/h, gusting to 70. The overnight low is -5.
In case you missed it
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESThe auditor general found the 2015 emissions reduction plan “was not supported by comprehensive analyses of the benefits, risks and costs of different approaches and policy tools.”
Climate-change scofflaws: Manitoba’s auditor general said Wednesday the previous NDP government was aware by the fall of 2009 that a greenhouse gas reduction target set the year before would not be met, but it did not update the plan until December 2015. “As of July 2017, Manitoba had no updated emissions reduction target or concrete plan for reducing emissions,” Norm Ricard said. Larry Kusch reports. READ MORE
New $100-million dairy plant: A new 80,000-square-foot, $100-million dairy processing plant that officially opened Wednesday in Winnipeg will boost dairy-processing capacity in the province by nearly 40 per cent and eliminate the need for local farmers to haul their excess milk out of the province to be processed. One official said: “When we see this kind of processing happening here, we’re ensuring that there will be a viable and sustainable (dairy) industry here into the next generation and beyond.” Murray McNeill reports. READ MORE
Up next
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John WoodsWinnipeg Jets’ Matt Hendricks in an NHL pre-season game against the Edmonton Oilers in September. Hendricks appears ready to return to action in Thursday’s game against Pittsburgh.
Students protest: Students will march from the University of Winnipeg to the legislature at noon today to demonstrate their opposition to Bill 31, which will increase tuition 5 per cent plus inflation and deregulate course-related fees.
Jets in Pittsburgh: Veteran center Matt Hendricks could be in the lineup when Winnipeg takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Hendricks, signed as a free agent in the off-season, has missed all seven regular-season games this far with a lower-body injury. READ MORE
Around the water cooler
MIKE DEAL/WINNIPEG FREE PRESSWinnipeg Firefighter Manuel Ruiz, a 3rd Degree Black Belt Instructor, is accused of having sex with underage girls and has been granted bail.
Jiu-jitsu instructor released: A Winnipeg firefighter, Manuel Ruiz, 52, who is accused of having sex with underage girls, was granted bail on Wednesday. Ruiz is also a martial arts instructor who owned a jiu-jitsu studio on Sherbrook Street, where it is believed he allegedly abused girls. Katie May reports. READ MORE
Olympic disappointment: Who will be Manitoba’s leading gold-medal hopes when the Olympic Games begin in Pyeongchang in less than four months? Curlers, probably. And a small group of very talented female hockey players. Columnist Paul Wiecek argues that “Manitoba, in some important ways in recent years, has turned its back on grooming our future Olympians.” READ MORE
Trending now
Fats Domino: The rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, known for hits such as “Blueberry Hill” and ”Ain’t That a Shame,” regarded as a godfather of the genre and who inspired both Elvis Presley and The Beatles, died Wednesday at the age of 89. READ MORE
On this date
On Oct. 26, 1965: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that China and Canada would soon sign an agreement that China would buy roughly 187 million bushels of Canadian wheat for $336 million, equal to its purchase in 1963. Rhodesian premier Ian Smith and British prime minister Harold Wilson began a new round of talks on Rhodesia’s independence. Indian representatives walked out of a UN Security Council meeting at which the U.S. and the Soviet Union were at odds on how best to avoid the revival of the India-Pakistan war. READ MORE
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