Good morning!
Your forecast: Mother Nature will pepper us today with three shots of weather – and she’ll score — but don’t toss your tuques out the window to celebrate this lousy hat trick. Initially, she’ll shoot some fog our way, although it should clear up by mid morning. Then, we’ll get pelted by rain showers after lunch. Finally, she’ll unleash a blast of blowing snow tonight, with amounts of two to four centimetres and winds from the northwest at 50 km/h gusting to 70. Expect an overnight low of -4 C. The snow and breezy conditions continue Thursday, with amounts up to five centimetres, winds gusting to 80 km/h in the morning and early afternoon, and a steady daytime temperature of -4 C before it plummets to -12 C at night. For Friday, expect a mix of sun and clouds, a daytime high of just -5 C and an overnight low of -13 C.
In case you missed it
John Woods / Winnipeg Free PressCarolyn Bennett, Canada’s Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, responds to questions about an inquiry into missing women prior to the Duff Roblin Awards at Fort Garry Place Tuesday.
Families will have a voice: Canada’s new minister of indigenous affairs says the promised federal inquiry into murdered and missing women will rely heavily on the input of families who have lost loved ones. Carolyn Bennett told the Free Press that families of victims will be consulted to help develop a framework for the national inquiry, which could begin by late spring or summer. “We know they have tremendous instincts, but also the experience of things that haven’t worked in the past,” she said. “So, it’s really important to me that we hear from them.” READ MORE
Grim statistics: The numbers aren’t pretty. According to a new report, Manitobans rely more heavily on food banks than residents of any other province or territory. Hunger Count 2015, an annual report on the use of food banks prepared by Food Banks Canada, shows 63,791 people used a food bank during March of this year. That’s one in 20 adults and one in 10 children in our province. David Northcott, executive director of Winnipeg Harvest, says most of their clients can’t afford food because of rising housing and utility costs. READ MORE
Hostage-taking in Brandon: With guns drawn, Brandon police officers surrounded a rifle-toting man and arrested him Tuesday morning, ending a tense hostage-taking situation that could easily have turned deadly. The man had taken a business owner hostage, forced him into a vehicle and was going to lead him to another business where he promised to “shoot the hostage, this other guy and himself,” a police spokesman said. A 35-year-old Brandon man is in custody on multiple charges. READ MORE
Up next
Mark Zaleski / The Associated PressA dejected Alexander Burmistrov leaves the ice after Saturday’s humiliating loss to Nashville.
Looking to rebound: The Winnipeg Jets limped home after losing four straight games to Central Division opponents but they’re hoping to bounce back tonight when the Vancouver Canucks visit the MTS Centre. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The Jets, now 8-9-1-1, have fallen to 10th place in the NHL’s Western Conference. READ MORE
Indigenous entrepreneurs: Hundreds of visitors arrive in Winnipeg today for Canada’s first Indigenous Innovation Summit, which takes place over three days at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The summit aims to empower delegates to build new partnerships to identify new solutions to some common challenges. Speakers include Tina Keeper, former MP and actress; Stephen Kakfwi, CEO of Canadians for a New Partnership and former premier of the NWT; Shelagh Rogers, host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter; Waubgeshig Rice, journalist and author; and Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Around the water cooler
Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free PressThe CP rail yards bisect Winnipeg. The NDP has vowed to work toward moving the yards.
Train of thought: Representatives of Canada’s two largest railways are lukewarm to the prospect of moving rail lines out of Winnipeg, as put forth in the Speech from the Throne this week. Canadian Pacific says it’s happy with the location of its train yards, and Canadian National has no plans to move theirs. However, both companies agreed to assist with a study looking at the issue. READ MORE
Sexy soccer star: British soccer star David Beckham, now 40, says he’s flattered to be named People magazine’s 30th anniversary Sexiest Man Alive. The award was made public on Tuesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live Show. “I never feel that I’m an attractive, sexy person,” Beckham said, to groans from a zillion people watching TV at home.
Trending now
Peter Dejong / The Associated PressHooded police officers walk in a street of Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm a suburban Paris apartment where the suspected mastermind of last week’s attacks was believed to be holed up, police said.
#SaintDenis: Heavily armed police stormed a building in this northern Paris suburb early today and, hours later, two suspected terrorists were killed – including a woman who blew herself up with a suicide belt – and seven others were arrested, French authorities told CNN. READ MORE
Charlie Sheen: There are reports the 50-year-old actor could be slapped with lawsuits from as many as 10 former sexual partners after he admitted Tuesday he was diagnosed as HIV-positive four years ago. The partners claim he kept the virus a secret from them.
On this date
On Nov. 18, 1946: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that thousands of U.S. soft coal miners laid down their tools despite the threat of a government crackdown on United Workers chief John L. Lewis that would require mines be kept in operation. U.S. President Truman called for a “showdown fight” with Lewis. Quebec premier Duplessis said a new federal tax agreement threatened to break up Confederation. Winnipeg was to be the headquarters of Canadian Pacific airlines. Accidents over the weekend had claimed three lives in Manitoba.
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