Dozens of homes north of the city have been evacuated thanks to flooding, and, more residents may soon have to leave. A massive ice jam on the Red River near Lockport has backed up water and has residents scrambling in East and West St. Paul, St. Andrews and St. Clements. So far it looks like a total of 850 people will have to be evacuated.
Yesterday was budget day in the province….and the government is looking to take more money from smokers, speeders, hunters and others as it tries to weather the recession. Smokes are going up 25 cents a pack, fines for speeding are on the way up, hunting fees will now cost more and even costs associated with small claims court are going up. On the good side though, the province has decided to eliminate entrance fees at provincial parks for the next 2 years.
Manitoba is scaling back its plans to boost highway speed limits. The government originally planned to increase the limit from 100 to 110 on the Trans-Canada and highway 75. Now, they say the limit will be raised on short stretches from Virden to the Saskatchewan border, and from the U.S. border to St. Jean Baptiste.
A Russian spacecraft is due to blast off today for the International Space Station. It’ll carry 2 new station crewmembers and Charles Simonyi….an American software billionaire, who’s paying some 35 million U.S. for the trip.
The CBC will announce details today of how it’ll lay off almost 800 full time employees. Facing a 171 million dollar shortfall for the coming fiscal year, the network says layoffs will begin in mid-May and be finished by the end of September.
