Good morning!
Midwifery program costs mount: So, school’s out for the summer, right? Well, we begin the day with a story about a classroom that’s been unoccupied for more than two years — and it’s costing more than $177,000 annually to lease the space. The University College of the North midwifery program, which runs on considerable public money, shells out the money for renovated classroom space in the University of Winnipeg that it never uses. On the surface, it looks like a textbook case of wasted taxpayer money, Free Press legislative journalist Nick Martin reports. READ MORE
Your forecast: There’s simply no sure thing when it comes to the weekend weather forecast. Potentially, we could see a whole lot of sunshine and warmth across southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg, today through Sunday. Just as likely, though, are sporadic rain showers that could come as early as tonight. Environment Canada is calling for a mainly cloudy Thursday, with rain beginning late in the day. The daytime high temperature is 20 C. While Friday begins on a gloomy note, the sun should peek out by late morning and the temperature should rise to 26 C. Expect a mix of sun and cloud and a high of 26 C Saturday, while Sunday’s forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud, with a 40 per cent chance of showers, and a high of 27 C.
In case you missed it
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSFamily and friends 26-year-old Cyril Quentin Weenusk gathered to remember the father of four at Portage Avenue and Donald Street, where Weenusk was attacked and died early Tuesday.
Father of four dead: Cyril Quentin Weenusk’s four young sons gathered with their mother, Lori, and other family and friends at a candlelight vigil for their dad Wednesday night — a day after he was killed by as many as three attackers in downtown Winnipeg. Police continue to search for multiple suspects after the 26-year-old man from Oxford House was seriously assaulted after “a chance encounter” near Portage Avenue and Donald Street about 3 a.m. Tuesday. He died in hospital. READ MORE
Victim sues ex-priest: A 22-year-old Winnipeg man is suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface, the priest who sexually abused him and the religious order Clercs de Saint-Viateur du Canada for $2.1 million in damages. Rev. Ronald Leger, former pastor of Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street, was convicted of sexually assaulting the young man when he was a boy as well as two other boys and sentenced in February to two years in jail. READ MORE
Bowman tight-lipped: Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman refused Wednesday to acknowledge a link between his decision to suspend the city’s acting chief administrative officer, Deepak Joshi, in January 2015 and the more than half-a-million-dollar payout Joshi got when he left city hall. READ MORE
Up next
Teeing it up: The Players Cup golf tournament kicks off today, with the first players off at 7:30 a.m. at Niakwa Country Club. It’s the annual Winnipeg stop on the MackenzieTour-PGA Tour Canada, and it wraps up Sunday.
Cost of devastating wildfire: The Insurance Bureau of Canada is to announce later today its estimate of total insured damage caused by the wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alta. The fires in May forced the evacuation of almost 90,000 residents and destroyed about 2,400 homes and other buildings.
Bombers game day: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers look to tame the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats tonight in CFL action at Tim Hortons Field. Game time is 6 p.m. CDT and it’s on TSN TV. Winnipeg is 0-2 to start the 2016 football season. READ MORE
Around the water cooler
DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSA Boeing B-17 Bomber (Flying Fortress) is one of only 13 aircraft of its type still flying.
The flying fortress: There are some perks to the journalism gig, after all. Free Press reporter Kevin Rollason got the rare opportunity to fly on a vintage B-17 bomber from the Second World War. The name of this plane is Aluminum Overcast, in honour of the large shadow it likely made when hundreds flew together on a bombing mission over Europe during the war. READ MORE
Blue Jays rolling: The Toronto Blue Jays are in a groove. The major-league baseball squad, battling it out in the American League East division with the likes of the powerhouse Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox, registered its fifth straight victory Wednesday night, dumping visiting Kansas City 4-2 for a three-game sweep of the Royals. The Jays begin a four-game series with the Detroit Tigers tonight in Toronto, before a few days off for the MLB all-star game. READ MORE
Postal labour dispute: Canada Post is extending its lockout notice to Monday at 11:01 a.m. CDT and says it is willing to submit to binding arbitration in an effort to resolve the ongoing labour dispute. In a statement late Wednesday, the Crown corporation said it was extending its deadline, which had been Friday, in the hopes the Canadian Union of Postal Workers would also agree to binding arbitration. READ MORE
Trending now
Leila Navidi / Star TribuneInvestigators search a car at the scene of a police involved shooting on Wednesday in Falcon Heights, Minn. A Minnesota officer fatally shot a man in the car with a woman and a child, an official said.
#FalconHeightsShooting: A black driver reaching for his ID was shot and killed by a white police officer, according to a witness. Philando Castille had informed the officer he had a permit for a firearm and was carrying it, and said he was reaching for his ID when the officer shot him. The aftermath was captured on video by his girlfriend, who was in the car at the time with their four-year-old daughter. READ MORE
#PhilandoCastille: The name of the man fatally shot during a police check stop is also trending across Canada this morning.
On this date
On July 7, 1927: The Manitoba Free Press reported that five U.S. airmen had perished in three crashes. In New York, a man posing as “Lord Beaverbrook” had swindled 47 women out of a total of $250,000 through bogus marriage proposals. In London, King George of England met with King Fuad of Egypt. In St. Stephen, N.B., a man died after a lit pipe in his pocket ignited his clothing and burned his body.
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