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Winnipeg-grown marijuana: A Winnipeg company has received Health Canada’s approval and will be Manitoba’s second licensed marijuana producer. The first batch of seeds will arrive next week at the undisclosed inner-city location. CEO Jeff Peitsch says: “Our vision at the outset was not just to be a producer of cannabis for the local market but, in fact, a global leader of cannabis and cannabis-derived products.” Martin Cash reports. READ MORE
Your forecast: An umbrella will be a useful implement to keep handy tonight and through the Easter weekend. There will be a 30 per cent of showers this evening, a 60 per cent chance on Friday, a 40 per cent chance on Saturday, and 60 per cent on Sunday. Today’s high is expected to be 16 C.
In case you missed it
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESManitoba Soccer Association executive director Héctor Vergara said the association has a shortage of referees.
High-school soccer suspended: League play in Manitoba high school soccer has received an indefinite suspension due to a lack of referees. The season is supposed to start in May but the Manitoba Soccer Association said it doesn’t have enough officials and the regular-season games are currently cancelled. Ashley Prest reports. READ MORE
Pregnant women’s companions: It was all very well for Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott to announce a new federal plan to pay for companions to accompany pregnant indigenous women flying to Winnipeg to give birth, but who will pay for it? Not Manitoba, says Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen. Manitoba is embroiled in a dispute over $37 million the province has paid for First Nations medical transportation that the federal government has refused to reimburse. Larry Kusch reports. READ MORE
Up next
Casey Curry / InvisionBrian Wilson
Pet sounds: Brian Wilson, the mastermind behind the Beach Boys, performs at Burton Cummings Theatre on Saturday. His performance will include selections from the 1966 album Pet Sounds, regarded as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest albums. READ MORE
Around the water cooler
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSGrand Chief Shelia North Wilson says calling the province racist applies equally to the previous Selinger government.
Most racist province in Canada?: That was the accusation levelled by Sheila North Wilson, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, about Manitoba on Tuesday. We asked the Manitoba government for reaction. Larry Kusch reports. READ MORE
Manitoba Hydro buyout offer: A buyout offer for Manitoba Hydro employees features two weeks’ pay for every year of service to a maximum of 30 weeks’ pay. The corporation wants to reduce its workforce by 900 people. The buyouts continue for six weeks, after which, Hydro warned Monday, it could lay off workers. Nick Martin reports. READ MORE
Trending now
#StanleyCup: Trending across Canada as the San Jose Sharks took the lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup playoffs, winning 3-2 in overtime, while the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1.
On this date
On April 13, 1950: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that a human leg and hand were discovered in the yard behind a Washomat on Ellice Avenue, and police were investigating. The Red River continued to rise, though its level was still 11.5 feet below official flood stage. Grand Forks, N.D., already undergoing flooding, was also hit by a snowstorm. In Copenhagen, Denmark, searchers feared that a U.S. navy privateer plane that had crashed and sank in the Baltic Sea might have been shot down by Soviet fighters. READ MORE
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