Good morning!
Your forecast: The next few days are not going to be pretty. Environment Canada is calling for a 30 per cent chance of freezing rain or flurries — the price we pay for above-normal temperatures, folks. Expect a wind from the southeast, with gusts up to 30 km/h. The high today is 1 C, while Friday’s high is 2 C with a 30 per cent chance of (we are not making this up) rain showers that could turn to flurries late in the day. Expect a cloudy Saturday and a high of -5 C, while the sun returns Sunday and temperature falls to -10 C during the day.
In case you missed it
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The family of Elizabeth Lafantaisie assembles on the steps in front of the Law Courts building following the guilty verdict. In middle of the crowd are the victims’ two daughters, Lise Gosselin (in red) and Anna Maynard (in grey).
First-degree murder conviction: Thomas Brine, 29, was found guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday for the February 2011 rape and strangling of Elizabeth Lafantaisie, 73. Jurors needed less than three hours of deliberations to decide his fate. Outside the downtown courthouse, the woman’s daughter spoke about her family’s ordeal. “We’ve waited five years for this. And we’re just so happy that there is justice for my mother,” an emotional Lise Gosselin said. “We’ll never know why. It could have happened to anyone. But it happened to our mother.” READ MORE
Search for Cooper: Community members joined friends and family on Day 3 of the search for missing teen Cooper Nemeth on Wednesday. The search continued in North and East Kildonans but, by late in the day and into the evening, expanded to the downtown. Another search is planned for 10 a.m. today. Justice sources and friends of the 17-year-old River East Collegiate student fear he might be the victim of a violent set-up that began with a planned drug transaction last weekend involving a number of other people. Police are trying to locate two people, identified as Brittany and Derek. READ MORE
Long-awaited project: The $155-million Waverley underpass project passed another test Wednesday, with the endorsement of the City of Winnipeg’s executive policy committee. The project will be voted on by all of council next week. READ MORE
Up next
CPThis January 2016 image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that has been linked in Brazil to a large number of cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect. Infants with microcephaly have smaller than normal heads and their brains do not develop properly. (Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC via AP)
Zika 101: The International Centre for Infectious Diseases is holding a Zika virus information session for health professionals today at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne Campus from 11 a.m. to noon at the Frederic Gaspard Theatre. Dr. Joel Kettner, the centre’s director and a community health professor at the U of M, and other health experts will address concerns about the potential effects of Zika virus on pregnant women that have led to travel advisories and increased research.
Fair trade sharing: The fourth annual National Fair Trade Conference kicks off today at the Fort Garry Hotel. The three-day conference brings together about 350 delegates from Canada and across the globe to discuss issues like marketing fair trade, climate change, fair trade and sustainability, and building fair trade communities. Tonight, an evening reception at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights features Tukwini Mandela, the granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, who owns House of Mandela Wines – a fair trade product that will be showcased at the conference.
Jets down south: The Winnipeg Jets continue a four-game road trip tonight in Tampa with a battle against the Lightning. The Jets are coming off a rather uninspired effort in a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes and occupy last place in the NHL’s Central Division. Tampa, meanwhile, fell 4-2 to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday and are in a dogfight for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Around the water cooler
Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press FilesPremier Greg Selinger
Selinger so sorry: Free Press columnist Dan Lett has a doozy today, uncovering the provincial NDP’s new advertising campaign prior to the April 19 election. Starting today, Premier Greg Selinger offers Manitobans something pretty unusual: a qualified apology for the mistakes he and his government have made over the past few years. Taking the form of television, print and radio ads, the campaign is built around the admission that in leading Manitoba, Selinger and his NDP teammates simply, “haven’t always gotten it right.” READ MORE
Tank talk around Jets: You had to know it was coming. The Winnipeg Jets’ 2015-16 NHL season is essentially a lost cause with rapidly fading playoff hopes. The only thing to do now is talk about tanking — losing with a purpose — to get a shot at a franchise-changing player through the draft lottery. Free Press sports writer Ed Tait paints that picture in a column today. READ MORE
Trending now
David Zalubowski / The Associated PressMontreal Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov, left, celebrates scoring a goal with defenceman P.K. Subban against the Colorado Avalanche in the first period on Wednesday in Denver.
#Subban: The Montreal Canadiens’ all-star defenceman is feeling the wrath of some fans and sympathy from others this morning after his ill-timed play late in the game resulted in the winning goal for the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. Canadiens’ head coach Michel Therrien didn’t play Subban the last two minutes of the game with Montreal pressing to even the score, and then threw his blueliner under the bus in a post-game press conference.
#MythologicalSongs: These lyrics are hit or myth: “Thor Than A Feeling,” “The Eye of the Hydra,” “Live and Let Dionysus,” and “Stop Dragon My Heart Around.”
On this date
On Feb. 18, 2005: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that the awarding of a contract to Salisbury House to build a restaurant on Esplanade Riel was facing a backlash from residents in St. Boniface. The city’s recreation facilities were, in many areas, old and in poor repair and major upgrades were needed. Residents upstream of Winnipeg were concerned by plans for expansion of the existing floodway around the city.
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