Good morning!
The Winnipeg Free Press debuts its new design June 16.
New-look Freep: Hopefully, you’ve already seen the redesigned Winnipeg Free Press while sipping your coffee this morning. If you haven’t, we encourage you to purchase a copy today and dive right in. We believe we’ve come up with a redesign that freshens up our pages with more colour and makes it easier to read. We look forward to hearing your thoughts. READ MORE
Your forecast: We’re in for another beauty of a day. So says Environment Canada, which projects a partly sunny day with a light breeze and a daytime high temperature of 27 C for the Winnipeg area. We could get some rain tonight and into the morning, however, the clouds will clear Friday morning and the temperature should hit 27 C by midday. Expect a sunny Saturday and a high of 25 C.
In case you missed it
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSWinnipeg Councillors Russ Wyatt (left) and Shawn Dobson were two of the eight councillors refusing to sign the non disclosure agreement.
Land deal done: Winnipeg city councilors finally approved a controversial $20.4 million land purchase with Manitoba Hydro on Wednesday, meaning work to complete the southwest transitway corridor can begin next month. Council voted 11-5 to approve the land deal, after first defeating an attempt to delay the purchase and a move to cancel it completely The completion of the southwest transitway will largely be built along a portion of Hydro’s transmission corridor — a total of 16 acres that skirts the Parker lands, west of Pembina Highway, then runs straight southeast between two industrial parks and a south Fort Garry residential area to CN Rail’s Letellier line just north of Bishop Grandin Boulevard. Construction is supposed to begin in July and the route will be operational in early 2020. READ MORE
And we’ll never be royals: Or so says the song by New Zealand singer Lorde; but we can certainly welcome the royals to Manitoba with open arms. Prince Edward, the youngest of four children of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and his wife, Sophie, will visit the province on June 22. The couple — the Earl and Countess of Wessex — has a busy schedule planned, visiting the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada before meeting with Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon and Premier Brian Pallister. The countess will also visit with veterans, residents and staff of the Deer Lodge Centre at 1:15 p.m. READ MORE
DNA key to homicide case: The killer had a shirt pulled over his face and wore gloves, but DNA profiles from the clothing are playing a big role in a murder trial of a man accused in a deadly 2012 shooting inside a Fort Garry restaurant. Devin Hall, 30, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the September 2012 shooting death of 23-year-old Jeffrey Lau inside the Salisbury House restaurant, and the attempted murder of one of Lau’s five friends who was sitting at the table with him. On Wednesday, Crown witness Michelle Scott-Mascioli, a civilian member of the RCMP biology lab in Ottawa, took the stand to explain to jurors how seven different samples produced a compelling link to Hall. READ MORE
Up next
ALEXANDRA DE PAPE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSWinnipeg Police Chief, Devon Clunis, addresses volunteers at the second annual Restore Our Core cleanup weekend.
Good job, chief: The good folks of North Point Douglas have planned a reception for this morning to show their gratitude to outgoing Winnipeg Police Chief Devon Clunis. The chief announced in March he is retiring after 29 years with the Winnipeg police. He hasn’t indicated when his last day on the job will be. All residents of North Point Douglas are invited to the reception at 11 a.m. at Barber House, 99 Euclid Ave.
Honouring elders: Tonight, the Ka Ni Kanichihk organization holds its annual event to honour indigenous elders for their efforts to preserve traditional culture and knowledge. The 15th annual “Keeping the Fires Burning” Grandmother and Grandfather gala banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. at the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg (Main Floor Ballroom).
Targeting skeeters: After a spike in the number of mosquitoes in all areas of Winnipeg, the city’s Insect Control Branch will begin a fogging operation tonight. Because trap counts were at a city-wide average of 140 on Wednesday, and the city-wide Adulticiding Factor Analysis (AFA) rating moved from medium to high. As a result, the city will start fogging tonight between 9:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. in the northwest region of the city, although specific exact areas won’t be announced until later today. READ MORE
Around the water cooler
SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILESExpanding the Canadian Pension Plan may do nothing for some low-income seniors and have little for others, the Fraser Institute says.
Expanding CPP: Financially vulnerable seniors won’t be helped by an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan, argues the Fraser Institute in a new study, saying that increased contributions would not have a measurable impact and a large share of low-income seniors don’t receive any income from CPP in the first place. READ MORE
Orlando in context: The mass killing of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., is not an aberration, according to today’s editorial, but part of a prevalent homophobia and discrimination that has repeatedly proven deadly. Other mass killings in the United States have targeted indigenous people, African-Americans, and children — people who were already marginalized. And often, the killings took place in places those people expected to be safe. READ MORE
Trending now
#DadSongs: Put your feet on the ottoman (and don’t strain your back) as you listen to such hits as: “You Can’t Touch This… Remote Control Because the Football Game is On,” “Papa Don’t Preach, He’s in Technical Support,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine GO TO BED!” and “The Heat is On. Why?”
Taylor Swift: The singer has made waves by moving on in her love life, with pictures of her kissing British actor Tom Hiddleston hitting social media.
On this date
On June 16, 1931: The Manitoba Free Press reported that a Winnipeg doctor was killed in a car crash on the Macdonald highway, making it the third fatality on that road in two days. Conservative MP for Portage la Prairie, William Burns, suggested in Parliament that the government begin an investigation into the cost of farm machinery. Two new islands formed by volcanic activity off the coast of Brazil were the subject of international attention as Brazil, England and potentially France showed interest in claiming sovereignty over them.
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