Good morning!
Premier forgoes wage hike: When Premier Brian Pallister and other politicians volunteered Wednesday to forgo a 1.6 per cent wage hike, columnist Dan Lett fumed at the “stunt.” He notes Pallister and his cabinet accepted a 20 per cent salary increase shortly after taking office. “It undermines his hard-line message on fiscal prudence and it makes his commitment to repaying the upcoming 1.6 per cent hike seem more than a little hollow.” READ MORE
Your forecast: By Thursday, many people are longing for the weekend so they can drop the work-week masquerade and set free their playful persona. Good news about that. The forecast predicts a warm weekend ahead, with highs of +3 C on Saturday, and -1 on Sunday. Today will be colder, with a high of -16 that will feel like -37 with the wind chill.
In case you missed it
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSConstables Ashley Thompson and Trevor Bragnalo rescued six people from a burning house over the weekend.
Heroic cops describe rescue: Two Winnipeg police officers who rescued people from a burning house spoke on Wednesday how several people were in danger on a third floor, including one man trapped behind a window security screen. Const. Trevor Bragnalo said: “You could see clear panic on his face. He couldn’t get out. They were trapped.” Alexandra Paul reports. READ MORE
Payments to Katz and Sheegl: Yes, the owner of a construction company doing business with the city gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Sam Katz and Phil Sheegl, who were mayor and chief administrative officer at the time. But it wasn’t a bribe or secret commission, their lawyer told reporter Aldo Santin. READ MORE
Up next
Audience drumming encouraged: Two hundred drums await, and your hands could be thumping one of them. Audience members will be invited to drum and chant during upcoming performances by NAfro Dance, the only African contemporary dance company in Western Canada. They’re performing a masked dance called Mapiko Friday through Sunday at the Gas Station Arts Centre. READ MORE
Inside emergency rooms: A revealing look at hospital emergency rooms is expected today with the release of a report called Factors Affecting Emergency Department Waiting Room Times in Winnipeg. It’s the first research study to use data from a new system that chronicles how long patients stay in emergency rooms, the urgency of their concerns and the type of tests they receive. Larry Kusch will report from today’s news conference.
Around the water cooler
TREVOR HAGAN / THE CANADIAN PRESSA Winnipeg Jets fan proposes to his partner as the team plays the Minnesota Wild during the first period of Tuesday’s game in Winnipeg.
Over-the-top marriage proposals: When a Jets fan proposed to his girlfriend at the MTS Centre on Tuesday evening as 15,294 people watched on the Jumbotron, the spectacle prompted columnist Jen Zoratti to rue the one-upmanship in public proposals: “Now you have to choreograph flash mobs, or cut fake movie trailers, or arrange intricate scavenger hunts, or release 1,000 white doves into the sky at sunrise.” READ MORE
Vandals target witchcraft store: Local witch Dominique Smith, who gives lectures on paganism, feels she’s the victim of hate crimes. Her store, Elemental Book and Curiousity Shop on Langside Street, has had its third window broken in six years. “These things don’t happen to my neighbours,” the witch told reporter Bill Redekop. READ MORE
Trending now
#FloridaABook: For some reason, Winnipeggers are fond of a trend on Twitter to put a bit of the Sunshine State into literature. Browse such titles as “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaritaville,” “Where The Wild Things Are In Bed, Right After Jeopardy,” or “Of Mickey Mouse and Men.”
On this date
On March 2, 1995: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that six U.S. airmen were surprised to be offered a free weekend visit to Winnipeg, after a previous visit during which they had been mugged and robbed. The Port of Churchill would receive $27 million worth of improvements from the federal government, to soften the impact of the loss of the Crow subsidy. In Winnipeg, the entire surgery department at the Health Sciences Centre staged an administrative revolt, protesting what a representative called the “dismantling” of the HSC. READ MORE
|
