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2 young Winnipeg girls are in hospital in stable condition this morning, this after a supper hour shooting yesterday.  It happened in the same neighborhood where 2 teenaged boys were shot on Tuesday.  However, police say they don’t believe the 2 shootings are connected.

An area designed for teens battling cancer has opened in the city.  Kendra McBain, who came up with the idea, died last December at the age of 18 from a rare form of the disease.  Back in the spring of last year, Kendra held a walk event which raised 160 thousand dollars.  That was enough money for the Teen Zone room at CancerCare Manitoba to open.  The area which is separate from the children’s playroom, gives teens battling cancer some privacy.

A pair of Manitoba’s best known rockers are heading out on a reunion tour.  Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, used to take care of business as Bachman-Turner-Overdrive, but because of legal issues surrounding the old name, they’ll simply tour as Bachman and Turner.  Their first show is this Monday in Winnipeg before they head to Europe for the summer.  And we here at CITI FM would like to send you.  All access VIP members have a shot at free tickets to Monday’s show starting today and all weekend long.

U.S. Coast Guard officials who are now overseeing BP’s efforts to plug that gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico say, it’s now a wait and see game.  BP engineers continue to pump heavy drilling fluid into the well to try and keep it from belching any more oil.  They hope to know sometime today whether the “top kill” plan has worked.

A pretty valuable piece of Canadian hockey memorabilia is on the auction block.  It’s the sweater worn by Paul Henderson when he scored the winning goal for the Canucks at the 72 Summit series with the Russians.  The online auction started last Monday, and ends June 22^nd.  Of the 12 bids received so far, the highest is 67 thousand bucks.

A t.v. icon passed away yesterday.  Art Linkletter died at the age of 97.  Family members say Linkletter had been ill in the past few weeks and passed away Wednesday in Los Angeles.  Linkletter was best known for his ability to get funny comments from kids and adults on t.v. shows like “People are Funny,” and “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”

Well we first told you about this story last week.  That Alberta teen has won his fight to honor his Scottish heritage on Grad Day.  Hamish Jacobs will be allowed to wear his Scottish kilt at his grade 12 grad ceremony next month, after all.  Initially school officials told the boy it wasn’t allowed, but, after numerous interview’s, a Facebook page and online petition, the school decided to accept his request after all.

The new “American Idol” is Lee DeWyze, a paint store clerk who overcame his shyness and beat out Crystal Bowersox  in the final yesterday.  The finale also featured a surprise performance by rock star Bret Michaels, who has gone through some life threatening health problems in the last couple of months.  It also featured the departure of Simon Cowell, and the return of ex judge, Paula Abdul.

Don’t like pennies in your purse?  Well, they could soon be gone.  The Senate finance committee heard a couple of solid arguments yesterday for the penny to get dropped.  The Bank of Canada said if the one cent coin were ditched and prices rounded up to the nearest 5 cents, there would likely be no impact on inflation.  And the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said, it’s probably time to get rid of the penny because it’s nothing more than a nuisance for retailers.

There’s another food recall to tell ya about this morning.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning consumers to not eat Fresh Express romaine salads.  The agency says the bags may be contaminated with salmonella.  Affected salads have use by dates of May 13^th to the 16^th……and they were sold nationally, including right here in Manitoba.

City police are still searching for the man who allegedly sexually assaulted a 6 year old girl.  The girl was playing with her brothers at a playground on Sunday night when the suspect persuaded her to leave.  After the assault, the girl ran home and told her parents.  The girl did give cops a description of the suspect, but so far they have not yet made that public.

Broken bones were among the injuries suffered by some on board a United Airlines flight diverted to Montreal.  Authorities say several people were hurt when the flight from London to Los Angeles went through some severe turbulence yesterday over the Atlantic Ocean. 

Well we have a winner on season 10 of “Dancing with the Stars.”  It’s Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger and her partner Derek Hough, who scored a round of perfect 10’s from the judges in their final dance.  Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek was the runner up.

It could happen this morning.  That’s what BP is saying about its new plans to plug that gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.  The company will be trying a new method today called “top kill.”  It essentially involves force feeding heavy drilling mud and cement into the hole. 

Jesse James says he hopes he can have some sort of relationship with Sandra Bullock even though he’s 100 per cent sure they’re getting divorced.  James told Nightline yesterday that Bullock was suspicious about all the cheating he was doing….but he says he always managed to lie his way out of it. 

The votes are in and new American Idol has been selected.  We however won’t know who the winner is until tonight.  But, if it were up to the judges, Crystal Bowersox would likely be the newest Idol.  All 4 on the judging panel said she is indeed the one to beat.

If you drive around the city these days, guaranteed you’ll see a 4 sale sign or two.  But, buying a home in the Peg these days is getting pretty darn expensive.  In fact, the price of homes has been rising by double digits in the last few years.  That of course makes sellers happy, but it’s also making Winnipeg a less affordable place to live.  In face according to the Winnipeg Real Estate Board, 59 per cent of homes for sale, sold above their asking price.

About 200 rowdy campers got booted out of provincial parks during this long weekend.  Manitoba Conservation officials say they also handed out about 45 fines to campers.  The numbers are higher than at the same time last year and officials say it’s likely the warmer, drier weather was a factor in the hike.

A huge blaze at a trucking warehouse in the city is now under investigation.  Fire officials estimate there’s about 5 million in damage to the Canadian Fleet Services building after a blaze broke out there yesterday morning.  Several semis that were stored inside were destroyed. 

Residents of a west Winnipeg neighborhood say they’re sickened by the sexual assault of a young girl on Sunday night.  Police say the girl, who is under 10 years old, was led away from a playground and sexually assaulted.  Police are now warning parents to be extra vigilant and watch their kids closely as the weather warms up.  So far, no suspect has been arrested. 

Accidental overdoses are on the rise in this province.  Numbers from the medical examiner’s office show that opiates like oxycodone and fentanyl have killed at least 25 people in the last two years. 

The country’s so called “Prince of Pot,” will remain in custody at a Seattle jail until his sentencing at the end of August.  Extradited to the U.S. last week, Vancouver’s Mark Emery pleaded guilty yesterday to running a marijuana seed business.  Under a plea deal with American prosecutors, he’ll get 5 years behind bars for that.

BP says its next attempt to stop its blown out well has about a 70 per cent chance of being successful.  Engineers are now planning to plug the leak with heavy drilling fluids and cement.  The first attempt of doing that may happen tomorrow.

The Atlantis astronauts are getting their spaceship ready to come home.  The shuttle is returning from the International Space Station and is scheduled to land tomorrow morning in Florida.  This is the last flight for Atlantis, and only 2 other shuttle flights remain before the program calls it a day.

Okay…imagine this…especially if you got a fear of bees like I do.  Rescue crews in Minnesota have used fire hoses to dose a swarm of bees after a fatal crash last night that involved a semi carrying about 17 million of the insects.  The 4 vehicle crash happened on a highway south of Minneapolis.  It’s unclear how many bees got loose, but several emergency workers ended up getting stung.

It’s gonna be some must see t.v. on ABC.  The late night program, Nightline has landed the very first interview with Jesse James….the former husband of Sandra Bullock.  The network says in the interview, no questions were off limits…and things got pretty serious with James.  The show runs around 10:30 Winnipeg time.

Smoke from a forest fire 300 kilometers north of Winnipeg has prompted officials to close a school in Berens River.  And some elderly people along with other’s who have respiratory problems, have also left the area.  About 36 square kilometers is burning near Lake Winnipeg.  Fire crews and water bombers are currently battling the blaze.

The rollercoaster ride for our loonies continues.  If you’re heading to the States for the long weekend, you’ll be happy to know that our buck is now back up to 94 cents U.S.  It had been near par just a couple of weeks ago.

The body of the highest ranking Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan returns home today.  The plane carrying the remains of Colonel Geoff Parker will arrive in Trenton, Ontario this afternoon.  Parker was among 18 people killed on Tuesday by a suicide car bomb.  The 42 year old is now the 145^th Canadian soldier to die in this Afghan mission which began in 2002.

Marc Emery, this country’s so called “Prince of Pot,” has been extradited to the U.S. to begin serving a 5 year jail sentence.  Emery, who shipped millions of marijuana seeds to Americans, was taken to jail yesterday. 

Fiat says it’s thinking about building cars in this country.  The Italian auto giant says the Fiat 300 subcompact may one day roll off the assembly line at the Chrysler auto plant in Brampton, Ontario. 

The 3^rd and final spacewalk by the Atlantis astronauts is underway this morning.  Crews will finish up work this weekend before bringing the shuttle home next Wednesday.  This was the last flight for Atlantis, and only 2 more shuttle flights remain as NASA winds the program down this fall.

As we told you yesterday, the shovels or rather backhoe’s got digging yesterday at the site of the new Bomber stadium.  Dignitaries from the worlds of football, politics and business were on hand for the ceremony. 

As most of you know, the housing and mortgage collapse in the U.S. a few years ago, sent many countries around the world into a recession of some sort.  Well now, the Americans have passed a bill aimed at preventing a repeat of that.  Among other things, U.S. home buyers won’t be able to get a mortgage unless they can prove they can make their monthly payments.  Huh?  I thought that’s what you had to do all along………

Some sad news this morning regarding Bret Michaels.  He’s back in an L.A. hospital today.  The 47 year old rocker and reality t.v. star suffered what doctors are calling a “warning stroke.”  Believe it or not, doctors say it’s likely not related to the brain hemorrhage Michaels suffered last month.

If you ride Transit Tom at all, you may soon notice some changes.  Winnipeg transit is now testing safety shields to protect its 1100 bus drivers.  The shields, have been installed on 2 buses to evaluate their effectiveness.  Last year there were 70 reports of drivers suffering some kind of assault.

Manitoba will helping out with the oil spill in the Gulf.  We’re sending some 3 thousand flood tubes to help the U.S. deal with the oil.  The tubes will be used to protect the coastline from oil spewing into the water from that offshore drilling site.  Premier Greg Selinger says Manitoba is sending help at the request of the State of Louisiana.

Dry conditions and gusty winds are causing big problems in central Manitoba, where the first big forest fire of 2010 is raging near Lake Winnipeg.  Right now about 35 square kilometers of forest is burning. 

U.S. government scientists say oil from that spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now reached a powerful current that could take it to Florida and up the Atlantic Coast.  It’s expected that it’ll hit waters west of the Florida Keys within a week. 

Hamish Jacobs….a good Scottish name.  Hamish wants to honor his Scottish heritage at his grade 12 graduation by wearing a kilt.  But his school in Raymond, Alberta won’t let him.  The teens wants to wear the kilt under his graduation gown when he gets his diploma.  But he says he’s been told that all boys are required to wear dress pants, dress shoes and a collared shirt.  Now, Jacob’s uncle has started an online petition, and there’s also a Facebook site to support him.

There are some pretty heavy words and accusations flying in the Korea’s today.  South Korea is directly accusing North Korea of sinking a navy ship back in March.  46 sailors were killed.  The South Korean president says the ship was hit by a North Korean torpedo…and there’s now going to be some stern action taken.  But, the North says the report on the attack is a fabrication.  And it warns that any retaliation will lead to war.

Queen Elizabeth is coming to the Peg.  She along with her husband will visit our city on July 3^rd.  This summer’s visit will be the Queen’s 22^nd official trip to our country. 

Michael Ignatieff is doing a bit of the politician shuffle this morning.  The Liberal leader is defending an all party decision to block the Auditor General from looking at MP’s expenses.  Ignatieff says he knows Canadians want accountability from their MP’s….but he says he’s not sure if they want to see every restaurant receipt that politicians submit.

There was another big barn fire in the province yesterday.  Fire crews were called out to a chicken barn just south of Steinbach yesterday morning.  The barn, owned by Friendly Family Farms, was fortunately empty at the time of the fire…..it had been scheduled for a shipment of 30 thousand chicks next week.  Damage estimates have now been pegged at one million dollars, and the cause is still under investigation.

And you had a problem with your own blue box?  Take a listen to this?  Residents of Edmonton will be hearing the blues when they open recycling bins outside apartment buildings or condos.  When the lids on the bins get opened, sensors trigger sound devices to play a 30 second blues tune about the importance of recycling.  It’s apparently the city’s response to a reduction in the number of apartment and condo owners who recycle.

Mister Hockey is about to become Doctor Hockey.  The University of Saskatchewan plans to recognize NHL legend, Gordie Howe with an honorary degree at its graduation ceremonies next month.  The 82 year old Hall of Famer, won 4 Stanley Cups with the Red Wings in the 50’s….but, it’s what he’s done after hockey that he’s being recognized for.  The university says its for Howe’s philanthropic work. 

The man who was the face for the Vancouver Olympics this year, has got himself a new job.  John Furlong has been named the chairman of the Own the Podium board.  That’s the 117 million dollar program that helped Canadians win 14 gold medals at this year’s games.  Furlong says the board’s mission is to get a repeat of that performance at the summer games in London.

John Travolta and Kelly Preston say they’re expecting a new addition to their family.  But a statement on their website doesn’t exactly specify what the addition is.  Various entertainment sites suggest that Preston is pregnant at the age of 47.  The couple already have a 10 year old daughter, and their son Jett, died last year at the age of 16.

RCMP say an autopsy has found no indication of foul play after a human skull was found on property in the RM of Ste. Anne’s.  A dog found the skull in a yard.  Police then found additional human remains.  Officers say the remains are definitely those of a male, but who that man is, has yet to be determined.

A 19 year old member of a Hutterite colony has admitted to drugging, restraining and sexually abusing several boys.  The accused, who can’t be named because some of his crimes happened while he was a youth, will be sentenced on June 25^th. 

A group of Manitoba Moms are planning a mass “nurse in” in the city.  The group is upset at Pan Am Pool staff for telling one woman that it was offensive to breastfeed her 11 month old at the facility.  City officials say pool staff got several complaints from other patrons after this woman tried nursing in the pool.  They say nursing mothers are welcome to breastfeed their babies at the pool, just not in the water.

A French adventurer who hoped to set a free fall record over North Battleford, Saskatchewan has put off his attempt until the summer.  Michel Fournier wants to set a new record by jumping from a helium balloon at 40 thousand meters.  But his team has run into technical problems, including the premature deployment of a rescue parachute.  Fournier was forced to abort another attempt 2 years ago, and bad weather forced him to scrub attempts in 2002 and 2003.

Charlie Sheen says he wants to end the “whirlwind speculation” that he’s going to leave his t.v. sitcom, “Two and a Half Men.”  Sheen’s publicist says the actor has actually struck a new deal with CBS.  The agreement will keep Sheen on the show for two more seasons.  There are no financial details, but Sheen had apparently been holding out for a salary in the range of 2 million dollars an episode.

There are new fears today that the oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now made it to the Florida Keys.  The U.S. Coast Guard says 20 tar balls have been found in the area.  Scientists were worried from the start that the crude from the blown well would get caught up in a major current and head to the Keys and up the East Coast.

Several of North America’s biggest food companies say they’ll take 1.5 trillion calories out of their products by 2015 in an effort to reduce childhood obesity.  A coalition of food manufacturers made the pledge yesterday….which also has first lady Michelle Obama supporting it.

Health officials are urging parents today to get rid of kid’s jewelry if they suspect it may contain lead.  Officials say there are high levels of lead in a wide variety of jewelry products sold in this country, and kids can ingest harmful amounts if they chew, suck or swallow the items.  And adult jewelry may also contain lead, so it shouldn’t be given to kids to wear or play with.

This country’s red hot housing market is cooling as things finally shift towards a balance between supply and demand.  Home sales slid 2.6 per cent in the past couple of months, while the number of homes listed for sale hit a record high last month.  One economist says if you put this in horse terms…our housing market has gone from a full gallop to a leisurely trot.

Striking construction workers in Manitoba set up picket lines yesterday at several high profile building projects.  Strikers were out in force at the future site of the new human right’s building as well as the airport.  A union rep says the main issue in this dispute is wage rates, which are apparently among the lowest in the entire country.

So, tired of having to sit through an entire hour before you find out who’s kicked off “American Idol?”  Fox hears you.  Starting next year, the results show will only be half an hour.  By the way, the network still doesn’t have a replacement lined up for Simon Cowell, but say it’s a top priority this summer.

Kelvin Goertzen has an idea.  The provincial Tory MLA says we should keep driver’s licences out of the hands of people who have outstanding warrants for serious offences.  Goertzen plans to table his private member’s bill this week, and says if it passes, it should help put more criminals behind bars.

A woman remains in critical condition in hospital, after emergency crews pulled her out of the Red River this weekend.  Police and firefighters were called to the river Saturday night, after someone reported seeing a person floating.  Investigators are still trying to figure out how she went into the water.

Some major construction projects in the province could grind to a halt today after members of a construction union rejected the latest contract offer by employers.  And now, workers have served strike notice for this morning.  The walk out would affect work on things like the new human right’s museum and tunnel at the Winnipeg airport, would stop. 

Well it was another weekend of affected air travel thanks to another ash cloud from Iceland.  Airports in Ireland, Scotland and England were shut down on the weekend……..as well as the Netherlands.  Officials are hoping the cloud will clear today, and things can get back to normal.

It’s spacewalking time for the Atlantis astronauts.  2 of them will venture outside the shuttle this morning to install a spare antenna on the International Space Station.  The shuttle arrived at the station yesterday.  It’s the last flight for Atlantis, as the shuttle program winds down this fall.

He was a small guy with a really big voice…..and now, that voice has been silenced.  Ronnie James Dio has passed away from stomach cancer.  Dio first became famous as singer for Rainbow, then he replaced Ozzy in Black Sabbath in 1980.  The man who literally invented the devil horn sign and made it popular in metal circles…..was 67.

Bret Michaels is planning his return.  His reps say Michaels will perform in Biloxi, Mississippi at the end of this month.  That’s just over a month since he suffered a brain hemorrhage…something doctors say he was luck to survive.  Michaels will be on Oprah by the way this Wednesday.

Engineers have finally succeeded in containing at least some of the oil that’s gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from that blown well.  After more than 3 weeks of failures, they’ve managed to hook up a long tube to funnel the spewing oil into a tanker ship.  The company does say however it’ll take a few days to figure out how much oil the device is sucking up.

Celebrated children’s author, Robert Munsch is telling a story that’s not intended for his young readers.  Munsch has revealed that he struggled with cocaine and alcohol addictions, but says he’s been clean for about 4 months now.  Munsch says he hope that everyone will talk to their kids honestly, listen to them, and help them do their best with their own challenges in life.

The only Canadian on death row in the U.S. is running out of legal options for getting his death sentence commuted to life behind bars instead.  Ronald Smith is originally from Red Deer, Alberta.  But, he’s been on death row in the States since 1983 after admitting killing 2 men in Montana.  His case in going to the U.S. Supreme Court, but his lawyer says it’ll likely come down to asking the governor of Montana for clemency.

The Mayor of Walkerton, Ontario says it’s still mind boggling that it happened.  About 3 dozen people turned out yesterday to mark the 10^th anniversary of the E. coli tragedy in that town.  A decade ago cow manure from a nearby farm, washed into the town’s water system after heavy rains.  7 people died and 2500 others got sick.   

The province has decided to get tough with people who sell booze to minors.  The government says its part of a plan to reduce underage drinking.  A health survey last year suggested that 34 per cent of youths binge drink.

BP is now using undersea robots to try to jam a tube into that broken pipe which is spewing oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  So far though, they haven’t had much luck.  The damaged pipe has so far gushed more than 15 million litres of oil into the Gulf in the last 3 and a half weeks.

Some good news on the gas front today.  After dropping more than 15 per cent in the last 10 days, the price of oil fell another 1.31 in overnight trading…and that could mean we could see a small drop at the pumps.  According to Gasbuddy.com, the average price of regular gas in the country is now 1.04 a litre, which is down 1.2 cents in the past week.

The space shuttle Atlantis will blast off just after 1 Winnipeg time this afternoon, for its 32^nd and final mission.  The 6 person crew will go on a planned 12 day mission to the International Space Station.  Only 2 more shuttle flights remain before the entire fleet gets retired.  The first shuttle flight by the way….was some 29 years ago.

Barack Obama met with the NYPD officers who responded to that attempted car bombing in Times Square 13 days ago.  They got together in Manhattan yesterday where the president thanked the officers for defusing what could have been a deadly attack.  The officers presented Obama with an official black police jacket with gold lettering that said POTUS.  That by the way stands for President of the United States.

Another Canadian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan.  Private Kevin McKay was killed by an I.E.D. just south of Kandahar city.  Apparently, the Edmonton based soldier was set to return home in just two days.  McKay is now the 144^th Canadian soldier to die as part of the Afghan mission.

If you’re a Tom Petty fan, you wanna listen up.  There’ve been some new seats released for his show on June 19^th, and we here at CITI FM have decided that we’ll pay the service charges for our loyal listeners.  All ya gotta do is head to the ticketmaster website, at ticketmaster.ca to buy yours.  Petty by the way is on SNL tomorrow nite for their season finale.

And Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff says he’s hoping the Montreal Canadiens go all the way to the Stanley Cup.  He says he wants a Habs victory for more reasons than just being a diehard fan.  Ignatieff says the last time the Canadiens won the Cup in 1993, the Liberals beat the Conservatives in the election that was held that year.  Ignatieff says that’s just another reason to say “go Habs go !”

Well not what you really want to hear on a Friday morning but…we gotta tell ya that the city taxman will start issuing home bills today.  About 211 thousand property tax bills will get sent out starting today asking for payment by the end of June. 

Former Premier Gary Doer will be one of 12 new inductees this year into the Order of Manitoba.  The official ceremony will take place on July 15^th at the leg, and will include others like former MP Elijah Harper and Betty Hopkins of the Women’s Legal Education Fund.

Here’s a happy ending…

That laptop computer we told you about a couple of days ago, which was stolen from Winnipegger Teresa Solta, has been recovered.  Solta was in Toronto at a cancer center with her father when it got ripped off.  Last night police issued an arrest warrant for a 35 year old man.

As you may or may not have seen on t.v. yesterday, former junior hockey coach Graham James…the guy who spent over 3 years in jail for sexually assaulting 2 of his players, is now living and working in Mexico.  The CBC and Globe and Mail, tracked him down this week.  A reporter asked James if he would comment on new allegations made against him by Theo Fleury, but James wouldn’t bite…saying they should talk to his lawyer in Winnipeg.

Good news for travelers planning to fly to Europe.  Aviation authorities say flights are all back to normal after the latest disruption caused by an ash cloud from that Icelandic volcano.

Lawyers for fugitive director Roman Polanski say a request for his extradition from Switzerland is incomplete and unfair.  But they say if Swiss authorities base the extradition on true and complete facts, they he’ll return to the U.S. to face charges.  Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13 year old girl back in 1977, but took off before sentencing.

An Ohio based company has recalled 2.5 million ride on toy buggies sold in this country and the U.S. because of a dangerous design flaw.  The Step2 Push Around and Whisper Ride buggies, which resemble cars, have long handles so parents can push them like a stroller.  But officials say those handles can actually detach, allowing the buggies to roll away uncontrolled. 

It’s the end of the line for one bird.

The space shuttle Atlantis has been cleared for liftoff.  Mission managers have given the go-ahead for the countdown to proceed for tomorrow afternoon’s planned launch from Florida.  This will be the 32^nd and final flight by the way for Atlantis.

So it appears that some Canadian students need to bone up on our national anthem.  A new study out this morning says less than half of the Canadian high school choir students who were asked, know the melody to the anthem…..and one third actually got the words wrong.

Well the Charleswood bridge and parkway could soon have a new name.  Yesterday, the city’s executive policy committee passed a motion to rename the roadways in honor of former councilor Bill Clement.  Clement passed away last week after a battle with cancer.  The motion will now go to the full council later this month for approval.

We have some good news on another city councilor this morning.  Harry Lazarenko, who suffered a brain aneurysm on Monday, is now doing much better apparently.  The 73 year old underwent surgery and according to Mayor Sam Katz, is conscious and responsive.  Lazarenko represents the Mynarski ward and has been on council for some 30 years.