Your forecast
Sunny, with fog patches dissipating this morning. Wind up to 15 km/h. High 8 C. Wind chill -8 this morning. UV index 2 or low.
Deleene Clarke was in Winnipeg Tuesday afternoon, but her mind was set on her home town of Santa Cruz, Jamaica, where her parents were bracing themselves against raging wind and floodwater as hurricane Melissa delivered mass destruction to the island.
“I’m concerned, but I believe they are somewhat safe, if the house doesn’t tear down,” Clarke said about her 76-year-old father and mother, 71. “I don’t think they were prepared by this level of what’s happening.”
Reports from Jamaica were grim Tuesday as the hurricane made landfall on the island’s southwestern shore, trapping families in their homes in the coastal community of Black River. Tyler Searle has more here.
People walk along a road during the passing of Hurricane Melissa in Rocky Point, Jamaica, Tuesday. (Matias Delacroix / The Associated Press)
What’s happening today
Tonight’s Wild & Wonderful Words features local authors reading their work at Sookram’s Brewing Co. (479-B Warsaw Ave.) beginning at 7 p.m.
The event, created and hosted by author Sheldon Birnie, will feature readings by S.M. Beiko, Chadwick Ginther, Patrick Johanneson and Darren Ridgley (who is also a Free Press copy editor).
The event is free and all ages, and horror books will be for sale on site courtesy of Raven’s End Books.
Today’s must-read
Water and sewer rates are set to rise again to help pay for a massive upgrade to a Winnipeg sewage treatment facility.
If city council approves, the annual bill for a sample household of four would rise by $44 in 2026 and another $68 the following year, raising the total bill from $1,580 this year to $1,692 in 2027.
The increases won’t drain Winnipeggers’ bank accounts as much as originally feared — but the reduced rate hikes bank on nearly a billion dollars of additional senior government funding. Joyanne Pursaga has the story.
(Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
On the bright side
The city’s biggest Toronto Blue Jays fan is hard to miss — a 14-foot-tall Santa inflatable towering over a backyard fence in south St. Vital.
Santa has traded his Blue Bombers gear for a Blue Jays jersey as Canada’s only Major League Baseball team chases its third World Series title.
Jay Porath, the man behind the festive figure, went all out to help his community get into the World Series spirit. Scott Billeck has more here.
Jay Porath’s 14-foot Santa in St. Vital has donned the colours of the Toronto Blue Jays as they fight to bring Canada its first World Series since 1993. (John Woods / Free Press)
On this date
On Oct. 29, 1945: The Winnipeg Free Press reported a crime wave swept the city over the weekend, citing multiple break-ins and robberies, including one at Weldman Brothers grocery in which $9,000 worth of bearer Victory bonds were stolen. Winnipeg’s police chief blamed the city’s criminal element, ruling out soldiers returning from the Second World War: the robberies and hold-ups were “the work of men who have spent the past six years safely behind bars,” he said. “Many of them are out now, and they are taking full advantage of present conditions.” 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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