Monday: A house party in the 2200 block of Burrows was broken up by gunshots from an evicted guest this weekend, and 5 people went to the emergency room. two children were upsatirs and avoided injury. Yet one of the residents of the house told the media the shooting " blown out of proportion". Two suspects were wanted for attempt murder x 5; yet no one in the MSM questioned the implication this was nothing to worry about and that Winnipeg is not being overrun by gunplay.
A careful review of the NDP convention found that the move to revert to a delegate system to elect a leader, rather than one member one vote, was scheduled for Sunday morning when hundreds of attendees had left. The initiative was criticized by MLA Jim Maloway who complained that power was being handed to the Manitoba Federation of Labour. The MFL tried to convince anyone who would listen that the MFL's massive organization skills would have no effect on riding delegate selection. Yah.
That wasn't the only fiction the MFL tried to pass off after the weekend. They tried to take credit for a convention resolution to enact a new February Holiday for Manitobans in an obvious attempt to ward off the momentum being built up by opposition leaders who already endorsed the campaign by 92 CITI-FM. We alone pointed out that the MFL had OPPOSED a Feb. holiday, having tabled a motion for a holiday when nobody wants it- on June 21st.
Frank the Italian Barber came into the studio to gloat about his winning the office pool- having predicted a 10 point margin for the Colts in the Super Bowl. The game had over 90 million viewers and was an artistic success for the first half - and halftime with Prince performing was also pretty good.
Lastly we noted the pathetic attempt by the Free Press to portray the Blue Bomber search for business partners in a new stadium as being launched on Saturday in national papers as well as in the failing local broadsheet. In fact the nationals ran the ad last week as we had covered; yet the Free Press tried to fool the public by elevating their perceived importance in the search.
Tuesday: Off the top we directed listeners to a rare column by Winnipeg Sun editor Kevin Engstrom, in reflection of the weekend fire in St. Boniface that claimed the lives of two firefighters. Kevin's father was a fireman, and his story described the close calls and fear the family lived through of sucha tragedy when they were growing up. It was a great story.
As part of our ongoing media-watch, we compared the published stories about Premier Doer's speech at the NDP convention. The Free Press editorial contained numerous references to comments made by Doer that were left out of the Freep own reports- for instance a reader would have to be reading Rochelle Squires' stories in the Sun to know that Doer called opposition Tories "knuckle-draggers". As we explained, reporters and editors use words to twist stories and influence readers and the best example was the comparison of convention coverage.
Another example was the daycare rally held at the Legislature on Monday. The press releases made it sound like a community-based non-partisan effort when what transpired was a political lobby group displaying a mock report card giving the Harper government a bunch of "F"'s and trying to resurrect the Ken Dryden Liberal plan. No one in MSM told the public of the deception practised by the organizer in the efforts to get the media to plug and cover the event.
And were we the only ones to note that the Blue Bomber ads only mentioned proposals to build at the current Polo Park location? Which means the Red River Ex site touted in the feasibility study was, as we said at the time, DOA.
Wednesday: Kelly Dehn of CTV was with us to describe the circumstances which led to the death of the firefighters and the possible causes of the blaze. He also agreed that the recent deep freeze might be the reason why fewer crimes are being reported in daily newscasts as even criminals will try to avoid frostbite in -40 conditions.
As native leaders clamour for more funding for their child welfare agencies, a listener emailed us with the story of how his parents took in native foster kids ony to be criticized at every turn for not being native. When the emphasis should have been on raising children in a safe and loving environment, the agenda for many activists became portraying foster parents from non-native communities as somehow being threats to the survival of their native culture.
Outlaw Adam Knight called in and spoke about the work former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski is doing on raising awareness about the dangers of concussions for athletes, his own observations about the problem, and his upcoming bout against Spike TV star Samoa Joe on March 8th at the Lid Nightclub. Good luck Horse, you'll need it.
Thursday: As we came to the studio we learned of the sudden death in Florida of celebrity/model Anna Nicole Smith, and tried to piece together the details of the story as it was breaking. The ongoing interview series she was appearing in on Entertainment Tonight was downright disturbing and in light of the tragedy, pretty sickening as she was dissolving right in front of the camera and ET exploited the segments for all they were worth.
CITI-FM's Cosmo got the recognition he deserved for his role in pressuring politicians to add a mid-winter holiday, with two pics in the Sun. He became the only person we've ever ever seen, wearing a shirt in a bubble bath but at least the Sunshine Girl with him was suitably attired.
The inquest into the suicide death of a 14 year old girl heard evidence about the excuses of the Southeast Tribal Family Services officials for the death. The usual bugaboos- lack of funding, excessive caseloads, were joined by the unusual claim that the child's best interest hadn't been their top priority (?) as she was tranferred over 60 times -- until she fell into a life of crack and prostitution ending in a West End garage. This tragedy was a direct result of the rush to devolve child welfare control as a political tool to satisfy native activists and political agendas without regard for the children, who could care less what colour or race their foster family may be, as long as the home is safe and respectful.
Musicologist Dee Hooker came aboard with a retrospective on the great Winnipeg band Streetheart and their greatest hits like "Action", "What Kind of Love Is This", our personal favorite their cover of the Rolling Stones "Under My Thumb".
Friday: A breaking news story with a happy ending - Sun reporter Adam Clayton had filed a report about a dreadful car theft in Selkirk. A young woman suddenly died last weekend, and after the funeral her widower left her vehicle, loaded with cards and memorabilia for the memorial, at the local Legion overnight.
Of course it was then stolen off the lot.
Adam came on the show to discuss his story, and our listeners were first to know of a remarkable turn of events. An off-duty police officer saw the car parked at a store on Henderson Highway, and when the car was checked out, all the personal items were still there safe and sound. The family were very relieved needless to say.
A shooting and stabbing at a social club near McPhillips and Notre Dame caused plenty of mayhem last night resulting in the featured rapper Baby Cham being cancelled. Meanwhile three suspects were being sought after a vicious assault and use of a firearm in a Sargent Avenue incident involving a 40 year old woman, and all were identified as being members of the Mad Cowz street gang.
In sports we took note of the death of two World Series heroes of the 50's, Braves pitcher and 1957 championship MVP Lew Burdette and Yankee second baseman Hank Bauer who had a 17 game hitting streak in World Series play.
