Free Press Head Start for Aug. 11, 2025
Local group Meaningful Connections for the Autistic and Neurodivergent Community is holding a Mix and Mingle tonight at 7 p.m. at Devil May Care Brewing Company, 155-A Fort St. If you're a member of the autistic or neurodivergent community and are looking to meet new people, this event is for you. This 18+ event is free, but those interested are asked to RSVP at the event page on Facebook or by emailing meaningfulconnectionswpg@gmail.com. Today's must-read
A remote northern First Nation is calling on the province to order Manitoba Hydro to raise water levels in the area, after a 'lifeline' ferry was grounded for the season.
York Factory First Nation Chief Darryl Wastesicoot said residents are essentially stuck because Split Lake's level dropped too low for the provincially run ferry to operate.
'We do want an all-weather road. That's the long-term goal here, but short-term is to get some help to get our supplies in so we can continue our projects and people's (grocery) shopping,' he told the Free Press. 'They're holding back a lot of water, probably for the winter.' Chris Kitching has the story.
First Nation Chief Darryl Wastesicoot said York Factory's council is scheduled to meet with provincial officials Tuesday. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files) On the bright side
Between his family and his four businesses, Devin Penner has a full schedule, but he still makes time to volunteer. 'I'm a sucker for it,' he says.
Whether it's hosting fundraisers, organizing strength competitions or playing bass in the worship band at church, Penner likes to lend a hand. It's how he was raised. Aaron Epp has more here.
Devin Penner (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press) On this date
On Aug. 11, 1923: The Manitoba Free Press reported in Berlin, a strike at the state printing works that began when the ministry of labour awarded a wage of 6,500,000 paper marks weekly to workmen, who demanded to be paid 20 gold marks, had ended; the strike movement in other German sectors, such as shipyards and chemical plants, remained strong. Britain's lengthy reply to notes from France and Belgium remained sercret, but was thought to concern inter-allied indebtedness, particularly as regarded Britain's responsibilities toward the United States. Read the rest of this day's paper here. Search our archives for more here.
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Winnipeg Free Press
9 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Free Press Head Start for Aug. 11, 2025
Increasing cloudiness, with a few showers beginning this morning and risk of thunderstorms this afternoon. Widespread smoke this morning and early this afternoon. Wind from the southwest at 20 km/h gusting to 40. High 23 C. Humidex 28. UV index 3 or moderate. What's happening today Local group Meaningful Connections for the Autistic and Neurodivergent Community is holding a Mix and Mingle tonight at 7 p.m. at Devil May Care Brewing Company, 155-A Fort St. If you're a member of the autistic or neurodivergent community and are looking to meet new people, this event is for you. This 18+ event is free, but those interested are asked to RSVP at the event page on Facebook or by emailing meaningfulconnectionswpg@ Today's must-read A remote northern First Nation is calling on the province to order Manitoba Hydro to raise water levels in the area, after a 'lifeline' ferry was grounded for the season. York Factory First Nation Chief Darryl Wastesicoot said residents are essentially stuck because Split Lake's level dropped too low for the provincially run ferry to operate. 'We do want an all-weather road. That's the long-term goal here, but short-term is to get some help to get our supplies in so we can continue our projects and people's (grocery) shopping,' he told the Free Press. 'They're holding back a lot of water, probably for the winter.' Chris Kitching has the story. First Nation Chief Darryl Wastesicoot said York Factory's council is scheduled to meet with provincial officials Tuesday. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files) On the bright side Between his family and his four businesses, Devin Penner has a full schedule, but he still makes time to volunteer. 'I'm a sucker for it,' he says. Whether it's hosting fundraisers, organizing strength competitions or playing bass in the worship band at church, Penner likes to lend a hand. It's how he was raised. Aaron Epp has more here. Devin Penner (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press) On this date On Aug. 11, 1923: The Manitoba Free Press reported in Berlin, a strike at the state printing works that began when the ministry of labour awarded a wage of 6,500,000 paper marks weekly to workmen, who demanded to be paid 20 gold marks, had ended; the strike movement in other German sectors, such as shipyards and chemical plants, remained strong. Britain's lengthy reply to notes from France and Belgium remained sercret, but was thought to concern inter-allied indebtedness, particularly as regarded Britain's responsibilities toward the United States. Read the rest of this day's paper here. Search our archives for more here. Today's front page Get the full story: Read today's e-edition of the Free Press .
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Exceptions, rules and looking at the big picture
Opinion 'But we've always had smoky days…' We certainly have. But this year has been the smokiest year since smoke records for Winnipeg started being kept and we've still got to the end of October to see those smoke numbers rise even higher. That doesn't seem to be an anomaly, either. Russell Wangersky/Free Press Forest fire smoke over Winnipeg, July 11 Four of the five smokiest years in Winnipeg have been in the last five years: 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. More smoke, because there are more large wildland fires. 'But we've always had forest fires…' Yes. We're in early August, not even nearly at the end of the forest fire season. As of July 30th in Canada, there have been 3,582 forest fires, which puts us slightly below the 10-year average (to date) of 3,931 fires — across the country, that number puts this year at about 91 per cent of the 10-year average. But consider the amount of land burned — as of July 30, 6,260,975 hectares, compared to the 10-year average of 2,704,359 hectares. In other words, 232 per cent more land burned, according to Natural Resources Canada's National Wildland Fire Situation Report. There were also big fire years nationally in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2023. Why? Not because fire crews aren't doing the work. It's primarily because we're building closer and closer into the area between urban and forest land and primarily because it's hotter and drier. 'But it's been hot and dry before…' The global average temperature for July was the third-highest on record. The second-highest was July 2023, the highest, July 2024. The ten most recent years are the warmest years on record. And with that hotter comes dryer — and most of Canada is abnormally dry. Here's how it looked on Agriculture Canada's Canadian Drought Monitor, as of the end of June: 'Precipitation was below normal for much of British Columbia, northwestern and southeastern Alberta, southern and eastern Saskatchewan, all of Manitoba, southeastern Ontario and much of Atlantic Canada. Drought conditions expanded across British Columbia, the southern Prairies, southeastern Ontario and the Atlantic Region. … At the end of the month, 62 per cent of the country was classified as Abnormally Dry or Moderate to Extreme Drought, including 66 per cent of the country's agricultural landscape.' Look, if you don't want to believe unusual things are happening with the climate, you don't have to — but picking a single example at random to try and support your case is a mug's game. For years, everyone had at least one friend who hated seatbelts and would spout that they had heard some apocryphal tale about a driver who rolled their car and 'would have been strangled' if they'd been wearing a seatbelt. Could that happen? Theoretically, yes. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. Never mind that the science is abundantly clear that you're far safer wearing a seatbelt in a crash, especially from the often-fatal result of being ejected from the car during the crash. There are true stories about babies surviving being snatched into the air by tornadoes — but that doesn't mean you should feel perfectly safe standing in the middle of a Manitoba farmer's field as the funnel cloud approaches, chewing up the turf as it gets ever-closer. Or being told 'you can die of electrocution if a plugged-in hair dryer falls into a full bathtub with you already in the tub,' and you answering 'But hair dryers have fallen into full bathtubs for years, and some people have been just fine…' You don't want to be saying that as the hair dryer slips out of your hands. The results tend to be more decisive and not in a good way.
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Toronto Star
Is that a real photo of a forest fire, or just ‘AI slop'?
In late July, a truck caught fire near Peachland, British Columbia, igniting a blaze that raced up a dry hillside faster than firefighters could follow, eventually prompting the closures of two highways and evacuations of 400 homes. Midway through the summer fire season, photos of what was dubbed the Drought Hill fire quickly popped up online, showing plumes of dull grey smoke rising from the dry scrubland of the Okanagan Valley. But one image, posted on the Facebook page of a self-described 'digital creator' the next day, claimed to show the 'OUT OF CONTROL' fire in technicolor. The image is so vivid it defies belief — the fluorescent orange flames throwing up plumes of coal-black smoke as tiny helicopters and water bombers whiz overhead.
