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Homeowners within the Mountainview School Division boundaries will likely see an increase in the education portion of their next tax bill.

The division passed its 2024-25 budget earlier this week,  with the over $50.8 million budget representing a 7.91 percent increase from the previous year.

In a release, MVSD officials say an increase of just 1.76 percent in funding from the provincial government means the burden to support the inflationary cost increases that the division is facing will be shifted to local taxpayers. 

The education mill rate is expected to be raised from 12.87 mills to 13.87. 

Highlights of the budget include $275,000 for a nutrition program, and over $2.8 million in increased expenses related to staffing, as the division plans to increase their educational assistant staffing levels and maintain all other front-line staffing levels. 

For all the details of this year's budget in the Mountain View School Division, the full report can be found at MVSD.ca.

The Manitoba government has agreed with the Government of Canada to allocate $1.5 million toward upgrading their vital statistics branch.

Government Services Minister Lisa Naylor announced this funding, which will go towards an electronic death registry noting that “This change will expedite death registrations, simplifying the process for grieving families and ensuring faster access to benefits.”

This project is set to be fully operational by the spring of 2025.

The Vital Statistics Branch registers all vital events in Manitoba and provides documents as proof of those events. The branch also keeps a database of all vital event records from 1882 to the present day.

This latest upgrade allows these events to be logged more efficiently.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre reports the outflow from the Shellmouth Reservoir will be increasing to keep up with the early melt.

The increase in outflow will start to raise water levels on the Assiniboine river.

At the end of the final increase on March 18, water levels on the Assiniboine River will rise by up to two and half feet between the Shellmouth Dam and Russell, one to one and half feet near Brandon.

The current outflow is 500 cubic feet per second. The outflow will be increased in two stages with an increase to 700 cfs today, and a further increase to 1,000 cfs on March 18.

The province will continue to monitor conditions in the upper Assiniboine River as well as downstream river levels as the erratic weather continues.

The title of Manitoba's Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year will be given this Saturday night.

Farmers eligible for this title are those who are at least 18 years of age, derive a minimum of two-thirds of their income from farming, and have been Nominated by their peers for their excellence.

This Saturday, the award ceremony and banquet will be taking place at the Elkhorn Resort in Onanole

Each year an individual, couple or managing partner/shareholder of a farm group is selected from each of the program’s seven Regional Recognition Events to represent their respective region at the National Recognition Event.

If you happen to know a young individual in the agricultural sector, registration can be found online for next years awards at the Outstanding Young Farmer Canada Website.

Some tense moments Thursday morning after a truck was reported stolen from a rest stop near the intersection of Highways 16 and 10.

Mounties say the truck was reportedly taken at gun-point around 5:30 Am, with four suspects getting into it and heading westbound. 

Reports then came in of four suspicious people being seen in Strathclair, which led to police placing the Strathclair Community School in a hold and secure operation.

Mounties eventually arrested three of the suspects but needed assistance from Marook the Police dog in securing the final suspect, who initially fled the scene on foot and was eventually found hiding in a vehicle. 

Marook also recovered a pair of firearms. 

All four suspects remain in custody, and anyone with info on this incident is asked to call the Spruce Plains detachment at 204-476-7340 or Manitoba CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Fusion Credit Union is hosting a special event tomorrow (Saturday) at Countryfest Community Cinema. 

Cinema board member Marissa Phillippe says all children with Fusion Fat Cat accounts can attend a special showing of Kung Fu Panda 4.

"They can also bring a friend, who can go for free as well.  It is a bit of a pajama party, and you get tickets for the concession so that you can get some popcorn with that.  Adults do have to pay for their ticket but it is a really great time out for kids.  Fusion's Fat Cat will also be there to hand out candies."

Phillippe says it is a great way to promote our local theatre.

"When I think of my memories as a child and going to the cinema, it is a different world that you go to.  So to have these occasions where you gather with other kids and just build memories, meet Fat Cat, watch Kung Fu Panda.... it is just magical."

Registration begins at 9:30 tomorrow morning, with the movie starting at 10 am. 

A Manitoba Mountie has been charged with a driving offence after an investigation into an arrest last year.

The province's police watchdog says an R-C-M-P officer saw a man driving dangerously on a motorcycle in August near Dauphin and tried to conduct a traffic stop.

The Independent Investigation Unit said at the time that the motorcycle was "contained" after more police arrived, but the man suffered three broken ribs while being arrested.

Corporal Kevin Challoner has been charged with failure to drive with due regard to safety under the Highway Traffic Act.

 

with files from the Canadian Press

Minitonas has had a rash of property thefts across the area, and they have been found to have a common link.

On the 12th of March, officers responded to a break-in that was reported in the Minitonas area where power tools and several other items were stolen.

When officers were at another residence arresting a suspect about a different theft, they also spotted the tools and items from the previous report.

Further investigation concluded that this suspect was also linked to several property thefts throughout the area.

The 17-year-old male was charged with two counts each of mischief and theft, and single counts of Breaking and entering and possession of property obtained by crime.

On March 13th, in a transfer from RCMP custody, the 17-year-old attempted to flee, also landing him a charge of escape from lawful custody.

The Dauphin Ag Society's 40th annual farm outlook looks place today, featuring a wide array of topics and speakers.

As tradition, The Ron Brook Memorial Award was presented at the luncheon, but this year had a bit of a twist.

This year's award went to commemorate the founding members of Farm Outlook, which according to Ag Society Member Jim Kaleta, started with a different name.

"It started in 1984 until now, and coincidentally, Ron Brook  was on as the president of the ag society the year the Farm Out first started as 'Challenges of Production.'"

The Aspen Lodge was packed with people from various agricultural sectors for this day of fellowship and educational seminars.

Kaleta mentioned that as part of celebrating this 40th year, the Dauphin Ag Society will also be creating another scholarship.

"We decided to put a $2000 scholarship forward, and Ag Society had already been doing a $1000 scholarship a year, and it's towards somebody that going to pursue some further education in the agricultural sector."

Kaleta also noted that events like these are important to continue, saying learning is a lifelong endeavor, especially in the ever-changing world of agriculture.

After 40 years of bringing the brilliant minds of Manitoba's agricultural sector together, Dauphin's Ag Society is looking forward to many more years of success.

You may be receiving one or may have already.

Several people from the Parkland have posted on Facebook about getting a text with the message stating " “A traffic radar has caught your vehicle doing 57 km/h in a 30 km/h school zone on 03/18/2024. See https://winnipeg=infraction.com for info.”

Scott Gillingham said the City of Winnipeg does not send speeding violations via text. So if you received this text, please delete it and do not click the link.

Some of the top short films from the most recent Banff Mountain Film Festival will be on display in Dauphin tonight.

The Countryfest Cinema is a stop on this world tour, with the final showing of these films set for tonight (Thursday) beginning at 7 pm. 

"We will screen a number of short films that were selected from the Banff Film Festival.  This is an annual festival where filmmakers from all over the world create wonderful shorts about truly adventurous experiences that they put themselves through or passions.  And it is crazy passions such as cave diving and wanting to do kite surfing at five-thousand metres of altitude in Peru."

Phillippe says this fun, interactive evening is a unique event.

 "There is a cinema in Winnipeg that shows the Banff Film Festival, and then there is us here in Dauphin.  So it is a privilege to have this come to us.  And Banff has really invested in spreading these messages because some of these films also hold a greater meaning, than just the adventure.  And what they do is they send prize tickets or vouchers for pirzes that you can claim on their website.  So there will also be giveaways during  the intermissions." 

Tickets are just $30 and are available at the door.