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The City Of Dauphin is making strides in eco-friendly agriculture through improvements to the Lagoon system.

Working with Assiniboine Injections, the city is enhancing the lagoon with more capacity, and an aeration system for more efficient microbial breakdown.

Crews are currently draining one of the 17-foot-deep lagoon cells, using a "mixer" robot to turn the sludge into liquid form, which can then be used as a fertilizer in local farmlands

once drainage is complete, This installation is expected to begin in the spring of next year and wrap up completely by the fall of 2026

Canada will honour the life of Murray Sinclair with a national commemorative ceremony this Sunday after his passing earlier this week.

Sinclair, a former senator, judge, and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools, died on Monday at the age of 73 in a Winnipeg hospital. He was the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba.

He is the first Indigenous leader to be honoured with the ceremony which is held to honor “eminent Canadians, members of the Royal Family or citizens from another country who have made an impact on Canada.”, according to the Canadian Heritage website.

The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. at Canada Life Centre, and live streams will be available for those mourning remotely.

New, aspiring teachers will no longer have to take extra credit hours in certain subjects in order to get their certification for early or middle years. 

The province has announced that it is removing the need to take an extra six credit hours in any of math, social studies, sciences, and English before they can obtain their early or middle-year teaching certification.

They say the change, which comes into effect immediately, brings Manitoba in line with other provinces, while also increasing the number of teachers able to enter the field. 

The changes have received approval from the Manitoba Teachers Society.

The Dauphin Ag Society's AGM ran the numbers for 2024, and things are looking good.

General operating costs were down by nearly $26,000, partly due to a revenue boost from the RCMP musical ride.

The fair broke records this year, pulling just over $210,000 in total revenue, and $84,766 in net income.

This success led to the decision that $15,000 would be contributed to Dauphin Rec Services for upkeep and improvement on the grounds.

Farm Outlook also nearly doubled its net income, with marked savings in speakers.

1st Vice President Jason Beyette noted that 2024 was "A tremendously successful year financially, despite some hardships", such as the massive down poor that attempted to rain out the fair.

After the fiscal review, an organizational meeting took place, during which a set of members were elected to cover various positions in the Ag Society.

Terron Stykalo was once again nominated and elected as president. The first vice president also remained as Jason Bayette.

Many of the positions were taken up by their previous incumbents, or delegated to a committee.

A few roles were left unfilled temporarily, sponsorships, indoor attractions, and police & traffic.

The Dauphin Agricultural Society is always seeking new members to take part in organizing some of the city's biggest events. 

Some critical roles, including sponsorships, indoor attractions, and police and traffic will be filled at the next meeting, on November 28th.

You can find contacts and more information at dauphinagsociety.ca

Plenty of recognition for members of the Dauphin Fire Department during their recent Firefighters ball.

A total of four firefighters were recognized with years of service awardsm as Daniel McKay hit 15 years, Greg Acevedo hit 30 years, Wayne Wells reached 35 years of service, and Alvin Bogoslowski was honoured for 40 yerars. 

To go along with their local honours, Wells was also presented with the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs Long Service award, while Bogoslowski accepted the Governor General's Exemplary Service medal.

The big award on the night was presented to Jesse Shuttleworth, who accepted the Jack Curry Memorial Dauphin Firefighter of the Year honour.

Shuttleworth, wo joined the DFD as a cadet firefighter alost five years ago, also received his badge and was sworn in as a firefighterm along with Ryan Murray, Samantha Horvath, and Nicholas Shmon. 

Thursday was a record warm day for two Manitoba towns, including one in the Parkland.

Swan RIver saw the mercury top out at 14.5 degrees, according to Environment Canada. 

That broke a previous record of 13.1, which was set in 2016.

Meanwhile, the previous record high in Churchill was also broken yesterday, as it reached 5.1 dgrees for a high, breaking the previous mark of 2.2 set back in 1964.

The weather service says double digit highs are expect to continue in parts of the Parkland and Southern Manitoba into the weekend. 

An Annual Fundraiser returns to the Swan Valley to fuel a love of outdoor adventure.

The Swan Valley Outdoor Association enriches outdoor activities through an annual dinner fundraiser, contributing over $130,000 in their 6 years of operations.

Patti Gattinger, President of SVOA, is proud to announce just under $28,000 donated to Swan Valley community projects.

"The evening starts out on Saturday, doors open at 5:30. There are numerous raffles, live and silent auction, and a supper"

Some beneficiaries include the Duck Mountain Forest Centre, the Swan River Senior Centre, Swan Valley Youth Basketball, the SVRSS Bursary, Swan Rover Valley PCH, North Mountain Riders, and the Swan Valley Snowmobile Club.

Tickets are 75$ a person and are available through The Star & Times, Spruce Products, Cook & Cooke Insurance, Swan Lake Watershed District, or any SVOA Board Member

As the legislature ends for the November tonight, a few bills are expected to be passed.

The NDP government, with a solid majority of seats, is getting its omnibus budget bill through.

It enacts tax changes outlined in the spring budget but also includes unrelated items, such as a ban on replacement workers during labor disputes.

The bill would also make it easier for workers to unionize and would boost rebates for political campaign expenses.

Another bill expected to pass this evening would place new restrictions on the sale of machetes, in an attempt to crack down on crime.

Among the bills that are not expected to pass this session is one making it harder for landlords to raise rents above the inflation rate.

New court dates have been set for the two men accused in a stabbing death from earlier this year in Swan River.

29-year-old Dean Bell will return to court on December 4th, while 40-year-old Tyrone Guiboche has had his matters put over until November 20th.

Both men are from Swan River and both remain in custody, each facing one count of Manslaughter, 

Assiniboine College is now accepting applications for its Comprehensive Health Care Aide program at Parkland Campus.

The six-month program is set to begin in January of next year.

Parkland Campus Director Carole Stewart says they are excited to be able to offer this program.

"Students will be learning in a state-of-the-art nursing lab where they will get lots of hands-on practice to make sure they are confident in their abilities.  we also have excellent instructors who are experts in   their field."

Course instructor Merryn Brandson says she has seen a wide variety of students take part in past offerings of this course.

"Right out of high school, to the mature students who have raised their families and are now looking for a career.  The CHCA program opens doors within the health care field, in settings such as acute care, long-term care, and community settings, as well as working in medical clinics. "

Brandson adds there is currently a very high demand for Health Care Aids, especially in acute care and long-term care settings.

You can find out more information on this course by calling the college at 204-622-2222, or by going online to www.assiniboine.net/parkland 

It's said there is no use crying over spilled milk, but what about 6 billion liters of it?

A recent paper entitled "Over 6 billion liters of Canadian milk wasted since 2012" digs into why this is happening and the impacts it has.

Dr. Thomas Elliot, co-author of this paper, provided some expanded detail on this look at Canadian Milk waste.

"I was seeing a little bit in the media about the amount of milk that isn't recorded that milk dumping does occur, but that it's not known. A colleague of mine, Benjamin Goldstein, the second author on the paper reached out to me and said 'This is interesting, I wonder how much environmental footprint that has'"

Dr. Elliot's goal was to first assess how much milk was being wasted.

Using farmgate sales, the head of cattle in Canada, and the average amount of milk produced per cycle, He used these statistics to estimate how much milk is missing from the equation.

The hard part is the variability, as milk production will change between breed, diet, and condition of cows.

There are also gaps in where this milk is going.

Dr.Elliot noted that some of it is certainly accounted for in on-farm use, antibiotic residue, and quality control, and the final estimates are lower because of these factors.

This study was also limited to a "cradle-to-gate" time frame and does not include waste caused by transport or consumer waste.

Between 2012 and 2022, the estimate stands at about 6.8 billion liters of milk discarded. 

From "Over 6 billion liters of Canadian milk wasted since 2012", authored by Thomas Elliot, Benjamin Goldstein, Sylvain CharleboisFig. 1

Luckily, this trend has decreased in recent years, as land and water use are always a critical resource.

While the wasted milk is unfortunate, Dr.Elliot is happy to have this conversation in the public eye to raise awareness about the ever-present issue of food waste at all levels of production.

You can find the full paper by visiting Sciencedirect.com.