Good morning!
Your forecast: It’s ugly out there, Winnipeg. The rain is still falling this morning and will likely continue — on and off — until well into the evening. A wind from the west will gust 40 km/h to 60 km/h and the temperature will hover around 18 C in the afternoon. Finally, the clouds start to roll away Thursday and we’re in for a stretch of sunny days, beginning Friday. The daytime high on Thursday is 21 C, while Friday should hit 23 C. The weekend forecast calls for blue skies and temperatures in the mid-20s.
In case you missed it
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS”All indications are the new government is committed to greater openness and transparency. I’m optimistic they’ll make the change,” Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said.
Who’s got integrity?: The city continues searching for its first integrity commissioner and should have someone on the job by the fall. City council approved the creation of the Office of the Integrity Commissioner in December. It will have a budget of $100,000, and the person appointed will be given a two-year term and will report directly to council. The close date for the job competition was this Friday but has been pushed back to Aug. 19. READ MORE
Harassment leads to jail time: A Winnipeg man who began cyber stalking a woman — sending vulgar and obscene emails, leaving comments on her Facebook account and writing inappropriate blogs under fake names — is going to jail for criminal harassment. Thomas Martin, 49, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 108 days in jail and banned from going on the Internet for two years following his release. Martin tried to convince the court the woman, a waitress at a local bar, spurned his request for a date in 2005. However, she claims she has never even met him. READ MORE
Little girl still missing: Relatives of a missing five-year-old Calgary girl have pleaded for the safe return of a “vivacious” and “curious” curly-haired child whose mother was found dead in the basement suite where the two lived. The slain woman’s uncle appealed directly to whomever might have Taliyah Leigh Marsman. An Amber Alert issued early Tuesday remains in effect. READ MORE
Up next
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESMr. Wizowski performs at the Old Market Square at last year’s Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your fringin’: The 29th annual Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival kicks off today at noon in Old Market Square, ushering in 12 days of theatrical performances from companies local, national and international. Come on down to the Exchange District and enjoy a dazzling selection of theatre. READ MORE
Terry Fox exhibit: To celebrate the opening of the newest exhibit at the Manitoba Museum, Darrell and Fred Fox, brothers of Winnipeg-born and Canadian icon Terry Fox, will speak tonight at 7 p.m. the museum. They will share their stories about Terry and their first-hand account of the heroic Marathon of Hope. The exhibit “Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada” opens Thursday. It’s considered the most comprehensive collection of artifacts assembled to help preserve the legacy of Terry Fox and his 143-day, 5,373-kilometre journey from St. John’s, Nfld., to Thunder Bay, Ont. READ MORE
KAP meeting: The Keystone Agricultural Producers hold their spring advisory council meeting today at the Victoria Inn in Brandon. Guest speakers include Brandon West MLA Reg Helwer and Lara Ellis from Alternative Land Use Services Canada (ALUS), a program that compensates farmers to provide ecological goods and services from their land. The program begins at 9:30 a.m.
Around the water cooler
JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe Bombers are preparing for a home tilt against the Edmonton Eskimos Thursday. The defensive line (from top to bottom) is #49- DE -Shayon Green, #94- DL – Euclid Cummings, #91- DE – Adrian Hubbard, and #55- DL- Jamaal Westerman.
Bombers face tough task: How do you stop the CFL’s top offensive unit? That’s one of the big challenges facing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who host the visiting Edmonton Eskimos on Thursday night. The reigning Grey Cup champion Eskimos (1-1) have averaged just over 38 points per game, tops in the league. The Bombers will have to keep the dangerous Eskimos in check, while getting their own struggling offence going. READ MORE
More than bad luck: Making sense of the police-related shootings in the United States last week takes more than a knee-jerk response according to one’s worldview, argues today’s editorial. We should look at the way police departments in the United States —and here — are pressured to issue tickets and pursue fines, and who are are disproportionately affected by more-frequent traffic stops and stop-and-frisk encounters, which sometimes turn deadly. READ MORE
Anglicans approve same-sex unions: Questions about the voting process in which Anglicans rejected a resolution to allow same-sex marriage by just one vote emerged Tuesday, leading to a stunning reversal of the result, the Canadian Press reports. The error was discovered after delegates requested a detailed hard copy of the electronic voting records. Before the mistake was discovered, several bishops said they had planned to go ahead with same-sex marriages regardless of the initial result. READ MORE
Trending now
Gregory Bull / The Associated PressThe Tenors, shown on the scoreboard, perform during the Canadian National Anthem prior to an MLB baseball All-Star Game in San Diego.
O Canada: Members of The Tenors have distanced themselves from one of its singers who went “lone wolf” Tuesday night at the Major League Baseball all-star game. Remigio Pereira of the classical-pop group inserted a political statement into the lyrics of “O Canada,” changing the normal lyric “With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free” to “We’re all brothers and sisters, all lives matter to the great.” READ MORE
#PokemonGO: The craze for the augmented reality game has gone global, with players using their smartphones to explore the world around them while “catching” characters from Pokemon who may be lurking virtually around avery corner. READ MORE
On this date
On July 13, 1988: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that federal Health Minister Jake Epp was expected to bolster the government’s daycare strategy by $1 billion. In Manitoba, provincial Health Minister Don Orchard told a small rally at the Manitoba Legislative Building he would back the fight to keep Manitoba’s only test-tube baby program, but only if it could be made financially viable for the next six months. Culture Minister Bonnie Mitchelson said the bison logo of the Manitoba government would not be changed, despite her earlier statements that it should be changed, as the expense of revamping sigange would be too costly.
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