Good morning!
Frightening bus trip: Greyhound bus passengers on a desolate stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg were terrorized for an hour by a man who shouted death threats and assaulted a woman before police met the bus and took the man to hospital. It was eerily similar to a July 2008 incident when Vince Li killed and dismembered Tim McLean, also on a Greyhound bus. Carol Sanders reports. READ MORE
Your forecast: It’s cold out today, but not cold enough to deter the Misericordia Angel Squad from donning wings and halos and sharing holiday spirit at the hospital’s Sherbrook Street entrance from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. today. The high today will -3 C, with a 30 per cent chance of snow flurries. The temperature is expected to drop to -9 overnight.
In case you missed it
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESKelly Holmes, executive director of Resource Assistance for Youth.
Tightening the belt: Many grassroots community programs are in limbo after the province put their funding on indefinite hold. A total of $3.6 million for Community Places and $5.2 million for Neighbourhoods Alive! used to be distributed to projects that, for example, help at-risk teenagers get off the street, assist families to get food, and support homeless people. Kevin Rollason reports. READ MORE
Ex-RWB instructor won’t be charged: Although a former dance student at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School is suing former instructor Bruce Monk and the RWB, claiming she suffered mental distress after being sexually assaulted almost two decades ago, the province said Thursday no criminal charges will be laid. A spokesman said the Crown decided a criminal conviction was unlikely. Kevin Rollason reports. READ MORE
Up ahead
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Sobering statistic: Thumbs-up to the Manitoba RCMP for launching their holiday season Checkstop program today to catch impaired and high-risk drivers. So far, 105 people have died on provincial roadways in 2016, an alarming increase for the total of 80 in all of 2015. It’s a statistic worth remembering when we’ve had a few at a Christmas party and are looking for our car keys. READ MORE
Politician-free legislature: The Legislative Building is a wonderful place to visit when it’s not time for the Question Period free-for-alls that reduce Manitoba’s elected leaders to a grade-school level of name-calling and posturing. The annual open house of the grand Legislative Building is Saturday, between 1 and 3 p.m., with lots of free entertainment that’s much more fun than bickering politicians.
Around the water cooler
photos by Kristin Annable / winnipeG free pressGimli’s Waterfront Centre was the location of a raucous meeting Thursday where the end of Manitoba’s fish monopoly was promoted by provincial representatives.
Telling fish stories: Tempers flared in Gimli on Thursday as professional fishers met to discuss the upcoming end of the monopoly of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp., a federal Crown corporation mandated to buy and sell all fish in Manitoba. “It is hard to be polite when you have been kicked to the curb by Freshwater,” said one fisher. Kristin Annable was in Gimli for the meeting. READ MORE
Reprieve for pet pig: A Winnipeg woman has six months to prove to the city that Podgy the pot-bellied pig is a service animal needed for her mental health, as opposed to livestock that a city bylaw says is illegal within city limits. READ MORE
Trending now
#MakeAMovieCold: Now that frosty temperatures have set in, perhaps a colder cast to your favourite film is appropriate. How about Numb and Number, To Chill A Mockingbird, Below Zero Dark Thirty, Frost In Translation or What About Bobsled?
On this date
On Dec. 2, 1994: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard had to have his leg amputated as a result of an infection with flesh-eating bacteria; he had been admitted to hospital with a blood clot in his leg. In Manitoba, the Filmon Tories offered a glimpse at their platform in the upcoming provincial election with their Speech from the Throne. It was feared that Manitoba could lose up to 1,000 military jobs under a proposed restructuring of the Armed Forces. READ MORE
|
