Good morning!
Your forecast: Halloween is just over two weeks away, but there’s nothing terribly frightening about the weather forecast for the next four or five days. Environment Canada is calling for a mix of sun and cloud today, with just a 30 per cent chance of a morning shower, winds gusting to 50 km/h and a daytime high of 7 C. That’s about as scary as things get. On Friday and Saturday , the mercury hits highs of about 10 C, but spikes to a super 19 C on Sunday – a perfect day to go pumpkin shopping. And to start the week, Monday is expected to be sunny and 15 C.
In case you missed it
Chris Young / The Canadian PressToronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista tosses his bat after hitting a three-run home run during seventh inning game five American League Division Series baseball action against the Texas Rangers in Toronto on Wednesday.
Verdict in bizarre Easterville case: There’s a Hollywood script in here somewhere, with intrigue, super sleuthing and profound sadness. And it all unfolded in a small, central Manitoba town. On Wednesday, Shelly Chartier, 31, of Easterville was handed an 18-month jail sentence for fraud, impersonation and uttering threats. The woman’s victims included an NBA basketball player – who she nearly framed for sex offences and then extorted money from – a California television actress and another woman in Texas. READ MORE
Bautista’s big blast: The Toronto Blue Jays are headed to the American League Championship Series after a 6-3 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the AL Division Series played Wednesday afternoon. Capping a deciding game filled with controversy, bad blood and just plain craziness, right-fielder Jose Bautista’s three-run home run in the seventh inning propelled the Jays to their first home playoff win since 1993. READ MORE
Lodge gets new life: The Interlake will have its own version of a Betty Ford recovery centre. In Gimli, a hotel that once housed flood victims has been transformed into a ‘world-class addiction services’ facility, to be called Aurora Treatment and Recovery Centre. The old Misty Lake Lodge is reopening this week as the unlicensed centre for clients able to pay the $900-a-day fee for recovery treatment. READ MORE
Up next
Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free PressManitoba Moose head coach Keith McCambridge leads the troops during Day 3 of training camp at MTS IcePlex Thursday.
Moose are loose: The Manitoba Moose, the farm club of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, make their official return to the Manitoba capital Thursday night when they host the Ontario Reign in American Hockey League action. Game time is 7 p.m. at MTS Centre. The Moose are 0-1-1 to begin the season after opening with a couple of games in Toronto against the Marlies last weekend. READ MORE
Downtown after dark: It’s common to hear people say they occasionally feel unsafe in downtown Winnipeg after dark. Typically, they’re downtown for a hockey game or a concert and, while walking from their vehicle, they are approached by a panhandler with an aggressive demeanor. The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ has heard plenty of such complaints and, this morning, it holds a press conference to announce new services for evening event-goers downtown. The BIZ press release promises: “expect a greater presence of our Watch and Clean-Team who will be meeting and greeting people, offering all our ambassadorship services and providing an enhanced sense of safety and welcome”.
Preserving The Gates: The public is invited to a community workshop today to hear about the future of Armstrong’s Point, the unique neighborhood in the west end of Winnipeg that remains a private and isolated area. Located at a large bend in the Assiniboine River, the area has three gated entrances that prompted its nicknames, The Gates. Upper-class Winnipeggers from more than a century ago built beautiful homes, many of which still stand and are the reason Armstrong’s Point is being considered as the city’s first Heritage Conservation District. Today’s public session is from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Westminster United Church, 745 Westminster Ave.
Around the water cooler
Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free PressUber Canada’s Public Policy Manager Chris Schafer got a ride from taxi driver Nadeem Arain from the airport to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce office.
Uber welcome or not: A representative from ride-sharing service Uber can’t say when it will arrive in Winnipeg – but it’s coming. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce hosted the company’s Canadian public policy manager, Chris Schafer, for a public forum Wednesday. The ride-sharing service now operates in several cities across Canada, but it won’t get a warm welcome from Duffy’s Taxi and Unicity Taxi, who recently banded together in an organized opposition to form the Winnipeg Taxi Alliance. READ MORE
Ice, ice baby: After opening the 2015-2016 NHL season on the road and soaring to an early 3-1 record, the Winnipeg Jets finally hit the ice at the MTS Centre for their home opener Friday at 7 p.m. against the Calgary Flames. Free Press sports reporter Ed Tait writes about critical storylines for the Jets, a team trying to return to the playoffs. But the first four games were also a coming out of sorts for Nikolaj Ehlers and, to a lesser degree, Nic Petan and Andrew Copp — the three rookies in Winnipeg’s forward crew. READ MORE
Trending now
Frank Masi / CNSJohn McClane (Bruce Willis) prepares to take on a deadly adversary in Live Free or Die Hard.
#GlobalHandwashingDay: Looking for a gift for that ‘hard-to-buy-for’ person on Global Handwashing Day? Well, the lamest present ever, soap-on-a-rope, actually works for this special day. October 15 has been pegged as an internationally observed day to promote washing hands with soap and water, and to educate people about the importance of good hand hygiene. It’s really no laughing matter. Every year, preventable illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia contribute to the deaths of 1.7 million children globally.
Die Hard: It’s the movie franchise that simply won’t flatline. News out of Hollywood has 20th Century Fox planning to produce yet another Die Hard movie, the sixth installment of the film series that follows the life of New York cop John McClane. The latest movie script is reportedly a prequel and sequel rolled into one, with Bruce Willis appearing as a modern-day McClane and a yet-to-be-named actor playing McClane in his younger days.
On this date
On Oct. 15, 2003: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that dozens of Manitoba horse ranches faced financial ruin after the pharmaceutical company that pays them for pregnant mare’s urine said it would reduce production by 30 per cent. China launched its first manned space mission. A three-year-old boy in Nelson House was fatally mauled by four dogs; it was the second tragedy in the community on two weeks, as a woman had hanged herself while in police custody earlier. Manitoba motorcyclists were upset by a 20 per cent rate hike from Autopac. A clinic to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in military personnel and RCMP officers was to open at Deer Lodge Centre in the next year.
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