Good morning!
Child abuser going to jail: We begin with another chapter in the troubling story of systematic child abuse that went on at an Old Order Mennonite community in southern Manitoba. On Tuesday, a 32-year-old man from the community was slapped with an 18-month jail sentence in a Brandon courtroom, after previously admitting to assaulting three boys and two girls, aged five to 15, between January 2010 and May 2013. Two other men previously received shorter jail sentences, while the case of another is still before the courts. Neither the offenders nor the community is being named to protect the identities of dozens of kids who alleged they were strapped, punched, kicked, zapped with a cattle prod and made to stand still for days without food. READ MORE
Your forecast: A thunderstorm that threatened the Winnipeg area Tuesday night did not materialize, so let’s hope for much the same scenario this afternoon. Environment Canada says there’s a 60 per cent chance of rain later today and into the evening, and the daytime high is 24 C. Then, we’re in the clear for the next three or four days. Expect a sunny Thursday and a high of 20 C, while Canada Day Friday and then Saturday should be sunny, with highs of 24 C and 26 C, respectively. We could see some showers late Sunday and Monday, with temperatures possibly hitting 30 C.
In case you missed it
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS filesManitoba Education Minister Ian Wishart is ‘focused on getting the best value.’
Midwifery program stalled: The University College of the North’s midwifery program met with more difficulty Tuesday — there will be no program this fall for 14 second-year students. Education Minister Ian Wishart said that the students have so far balked at an offer of being enrolled this fall in nursing at the University of Manitoba, while the province, UCN, and the U of M try to make their program work. The province has funded midwifery since 2006 with $8.049 million, including the money budgeted for the 2016-2017 academic year, but there have been only nine graduates since 2006, one in 2013 and eight in 2014. READ MORE
Quick verdict: Jurors needed only a few hours to find a Winnipeg man guilty of an execution-style killing inside a Salisbury House restaurant. Devin Hall, 30, was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder in the September 2012 shooting death of 23-year-old Jeffrey Lau. Hall was immediately given a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. READ MORE
Death toll in Turkey rises: Officials now say 41 people were killed and many more injured as suicide attackers armed with guns and bombs struck at Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport on Tuesday. Islamic State extremists are being blamed for the attacks. The death toll excluded the three bombers, who arrived in a taxi and eventually blew themselves up after coming under fire, according to the government The Istanbul governor’s office said more than 230 people were wounded. READ MORE
Up next
JUSTIN TANG / THE CANADIAN PRESSCanada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (right) listens as Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto answers a question during a Q&A with youth at the Museum of Nature, on Tuesday in Ottawa.
Leaders in nation’s capital: In Ottawa today, U.S. President Barack Obama joins Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto for the North American Leaders’ Summit. The huddle, colloquially known as the Three Amigos summit, is expected to focus on clean energy and climate change.
Totally rad decade, dude: It’s been 10 years since the Plaza at The Forks skateboard park opened, and there’s a celebration set for Thursday. The anniversary party kicks off at 6 p.m. at the park at One Forks Market Road, next to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, with a professional skateboard demonstration and trick competition.
New-look St. Vital pool: Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman joins a pair of former city councilors, Gord Steeves and Al Golden, today at 5 Rue des Meurons for the unveiling of the revitalized St. Vital Outdoor Pool. The event begins at 11 a.m.
Around the water cooler
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSAssiniboia MLA Steven Fletcher, stops at the top of the stairs in the Legislative Building Tuesday morning after challenging plans for renovating the chamber to accommodate wheelchair access.
Fletcher criticizes access at Leg: Manitoba Tory MLA Steven Fletcher says his rights have been violated because the current plans to renovate the Manitoba legislative chamber to accommodate wheelchairs won’t improve his accessibility. On Tuesday, he called a motion of privilege in the legislature, calling for appropriate alteration plans to be finalized before the fall session of the government begins in October and the work completed by the end of the year. READ MORE
New North End bridge: Winnipeg city council has given city staff the OK to continue design and planning work for the replacement of the Arlington Bridge. Councillors on the public works committee Tuesday endorsed the findings of an administrative report that recommends the 104-year-old bridge be replaced — once a firmer estimate has been determined for the project cost. A preliminary design study pegged the cost of constructing a new bridge at $300 million but that figure could vary from 30 per cent less to 60 per cent more. READ MORE
Legendary coach dies: Buddy Ryan, the defensive coach of a pair of Super Bowl champion football teams, died Tuesday at the age of 85. Ryan, the father of twin sons Rex and Rob Ryan — both coaching with the Buffalo Bills — was the mastermind behind the stalwart defensive corps of the 1968 NFL champion New York Jets and the 1985 champion Chicago Bears. His agent said he died in Kentucky, although no cause was given. READ MORE
Trending now
#BadMonsterMovies: Not sure these would scratch the horror itch: “Freddy vs. Jason Bourne,” “The Mommy Returns,” “Drag Me to Taco Bell,” and “The Brexorcist.”
On this date
On June 29, 1978: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that organizers of an ill-fated canoe trip on Lake Timiskaming in Quebec, during which 13 school pupils drowned, had made no special preparations to cope with emergencies, according to testimony at a coroner’s inquest. Heidi Lyn Quiring, 19, was crowned Miss Manitoba at the Red River Ex. A professor and a student at the University of Manitoba received hate mail that might have come from the Ku Klux Klan.
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