Good morning!
Your forecast: What month is this, anyway? You certainly wouldn’t know it’s early December by looking at Environment Canada’s extended forecast for Winnipeg. The weather experts are projecting a stretch of daytime temperatures all above freezing, beginning with a mostly sunny but breezy Thursday and a high of 2 C. The temperature drops to -5 C overnight but the mercury rises to 3 C on a partly sunny Friday. For the weekend, expect sunshine and 3 C on Saturday and a cloudy Sunday and a high of 4 C. And get this: we could get rain, not snow, on Monday.
In case you missed it
Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free PressFamily Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross announces changes to the Child and Family Services Act that will greatly increase community involvement in caring for children through customary care.
Secrecy to be lifted: New legislation expected today could lift the veil of secrecy surrounding the deaths of children killed while in the care of Manitoba’s child welfare system. In the last three years, 41 Manitoba kids have died in care, most from accidents or illness. But those figures also include four homicides and 26 suicides, several of which have made headlines but all of which remain cloaked in confidentiality rules. The new legislation will allow Children’s Advocate Darlene MacDonald to release all or part of her report in those cases under a set of guidelines. READ MORE
Doer getting it done: Former Manitoba premier Gary Doer, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, says water concerns will be one of the top five issues facing the neighbouring countries in the immediate future. A decade after a battle with the Americans over a cross-border water dispute highlighted his term as Manitoba premier, Doer told attendees at the Canadian Economic Club in Ottawa that both countries have to pass co-operative policies to prevent transferring water from one watershed to another. As premier of Manitoba between 1999 and 2009, a battle with North Dakota over the Devils Lake outlet was a constant irritant for Doer’s government. READ MORE
Tragic mass shooting in California: At least two heavily armed attackers opened fire in San Bernardino, Calif., on a banquet at a social services centre for the disabled Wednesday, killing 14 people and seriously wounding more than a dozen others in a precision assault that looked “as if they were on a mission,” authorities said. Hours later, a man and woman with assault rifles, handguns and “assault-style clothing” were killed in a shootout with police. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since the attack at a school in Newtown, Conn., three years ago that left 26 children and adults dead. READ MORE
Up next
In the House: The House of Commons returns today with ceremonial proceedings at noon CST. Today’s agenda includes electing a new Speaker, but the candidates no longer include Winnipeg Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette. He had put his name forward, but withdrew over the weekend after he got in hot water for saying at a town hall meeting in Winnipeg the Speaker job allows for “great influence” with the prime minister, and Speakers have influence because they control debate, and prime ministers want to keep them happy.
Update on rooming houses: A community forum is set for 8:30 to 11 a.m. today about the sorry state of Winnipeg rooming houses. In May 2014, several local organizations partnered to start a conversation about rooming houses in Winnipeg’s inner-city. Today, 18 months later, the forum will hear about work that has happened since, and about what still needs to be done. The forum is at Convocation Hall, University of Winnipeg.
Around the water cooler
Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free PressJulie Gislason with Brody, her 16-month-old son. Brody received donated human milk while staying at the Health Sciences Centre’s neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Moms helping moms: A donated breast milk drop site will be located at the Women’s Health Clinic’s Birth Centre on St. Mary’s Road beginning in January. The announcement Wednesday means that local breast-feeding moms can donate milk and, in a sort of trade-off, those who are not able to breastfeed can access donated milk for their babies. Experts say the feeding of mother’s milk — rather than cow-milk formula — to vulnerable infants can be lifesaving. Manitoba has no mother’s milk bank of its own, so milk left at the new drop-off site must be sent out of province to be pasteurized and stored. READ MORE
Hockey-hero memorabilia: People who are serious about collecting A-list hockey memorabilia will want to attend an auction tonight for treasures donated by the estate of Bob Jefferson of Selkirk. The items include signed sticks and framed jerseys for players such as Bobby Orr, Dustin Byfuglien, Jean Beliveau, Sidney Crosby, Teemu Selanne and Bobby Hull. As requested by Jefferson, proceeds from the sales go to charity. The auction is at Kaye’s Auction House, 263 Stanley St. The viewing of items starts at 2 p.m., and the auction is at 7 p.m. READ MORE
Jets blow away Leafs: It was a tight game for a while – two periods to be exact – but the Winnipeg Jets made it a laugher with four goals in the final frame to hammer the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in NHL action at a packed MTS Centre on Wednesday night. While Toronto goalie Garret Sparks took one on the chin in just his second-ever NHL game, Jets rookie netminder Connor Hellebuyck was solid, making 32 saves in just his second-ever start. Should he get the nod from Winnipeg bench boss Paul Maurice for a much tougher assignment Saturday against Alex Ovechkin and the talented Washington Capitals? READ MORE
Trending now
Clay Enos / Warner Bros. Pictures / DC Comics via The Associated PressGal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, in ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.’
#BatmanvSuperman: The latest trailer for the blockbuster sequel to Man of Steel has been released, giving superhero fans a clearer look at Ben Affleck as Batman opposite Henry Cavill’s Superman — not to mention a glimpse of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Gal Godot as Wonder Woman. READ MORE
#ModernShakespeare: Alas that the Bard of Avon did not live to see this age. Otherwise, he might have written works to answer our modern dilemmas, such as “The Comedy of 404 Page Not Found,” or provide us with such bon mots as “The lady doth Pinterest too much, methinks” and “Better a witty Tweep / Than a foolish Troll.”
Oscar Pistorius: South Africa’s top appeals court ruled Thursday that Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was guilty of murder in the 2013 killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, overturning a lower court’s conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter. Pistorius had been serving a portion of his initial sentence on house arrest but that will now change. A murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. READ MORE
On this date
On Dec. 3, 1901: The Manitoba Free Press reported that when pressed in an interview, Manitoba Premier Roblin refused to give his position on prohibition, despite apparent conflict between the premier’s views and the federal government’s. The man believed responsible for a murder in Cartwright, Man., was reportedly on the run in the rough country of North Dakota. A widow managing her own farm in Orillia, Ont., was shot by a farm labourer when she declined his offer to marry. She survived and the labourer was arrested.
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