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It's been more than two years but the wait is about to come to an end. The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is heading back to Brandon from March 28 to April 2, 2022.

The event put on by the Provincial Exhibition wasn't held the past two years because of the pandemic. Kathy Cleaver is the vice-president of the Provincial Exhibition and she says this is a long time coming.

"We just can't wait until March, the community needs this back and we're preparing as if it were a normal year," said Cleaver.

The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is held annually during Manitoba’s March spring break. A tourism highlight in Western Canada, it is one of Western Canada’s largest agricultural events and the largest annual event to be held in Brandon. 

The Fair generates roughly $7 million to the local economy every single year.

"We fill all of the hotel rooms in Brandon, it's near impossible to find one," said Cleave. "Our restaurants and shops around the city, the entire event brings life to Brandon."

The RMWF is one of only two fairs in Canada to receive Royal designation from Queen Elizabeth II and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Events in North America, receiving numerous awards from the tourism industry.

When heading to the fair, you can expect to see world-class show jumping, heavy horse competitions, livestock sales and displays, a quality hands-on agricultural education program, exceptional live entertainers, over 300 commercial and agricultural exhibits, and more. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Nov 16, 2021 - 1:16 pm

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is mandating that phone companies bring in new technology aimed at slowing down fraudulent spoof calls and robocalls.

Yesterday at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto, CRTC Chair Ian Scott said Canada's telecom companies have until November 30th to update their networks to meet a standard that gives telecom providers the ability to validate the identity of a caller.

Scott also said that scam calls, unwanted calls and/or robocalls have become such a problem that people are beginning to lose their confidence in the country's telecommunications system. He also noted that 25 percent of all calls made on mobile networks consist of these fraudulent calls.

The November 30th deadline that Canadian carriers must meet to update their networks with the technology is a start, but according to Scott, the goal is to give people the ability to determine which calls are legitimate, and which need to be treated with caution.

Ultimately, he said call recipients could see a caller ID that shows up as either a “red light” or “green light” beside the name, which would indicate whether the caller's identity has been verified by the carrier or not.

Scott also mentioned that the costs associated with implementing robocall-mitigating technologies should fall on the carriers, not consumers.

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Contributed by Alec Woolston

Published: Nov 16, 2021 - 10:53 am

A ground-penetrating search at the Minegoziibe Anishinaabe School will begin on Tuesday afternoon.

The search at the former Pine Creek Residential and Day School begins at 1:00 p.m. with a prayer. Presentations from the technical engineers doing the survey will follow.

The archbishop of the Catholic Church is confirmed and will be on hand to make a statement to survivors. Mental well-being support workers will also be on hand to provide emotional support for participants.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Nov 16, 2021 - 8:38 am

The City of Dauphin has proclaimed December 3^rd as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Council voted unanimously yesterday to recognize the day, in order to affirm Dauphin as a welcoming and inclusive community.

Mayor Christian Laughland says the proclamation is designed to encourage everyone to be more compassionate and understanding of the challenges faced by people with disabilities.

The proclamation doesn’t discriminate between mental and physical disabilities, and the spirit of the day is to ensure that all people in the world have equal opportunities for work, play, health, and success. 

Also, City of Dauphin crews will be out in full force today after working all through the night to keep up with the current storm. Mike VanAlstyne, Director of Public Works and Operations, says he's happy with how crews handled last week’s snowstorm considering it was the first snowfall of the year.

In reaction to residents who expressed frustration at the lack of sidewalk clearing, VanAlstyne says sidewalk clearing began Monday and all sidewalks in Dauphin are expected to be clear by around noon Wednesday.

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Nov 16, 2021 - 7:16 am

It started as something to cheer up her community and people from across Manitoba when the pandemic first hit and now, Joan van der Linde has baked more than 2100 loaves of bread.

On March 12, 2020, Joan was on her way to Swan River and 10 days later, she started wondering what she could do to bring a smile to people's faces and baking bread was the way to go. Loaf one was given out in late March of 2020 and late last month, Joan who goes by the 'BREAD basket' on Facebook did a draw for the 2000th loaf of bread.

"I just wanted to make someone smile with everything that was going on and I felt this was a perfect way," said van der Linde. "I love baking so it's really enjoyable for me."

Van der Linde says it's crazy how much this has grown and at one time, she had as many as nine breadmakers doing their magic. Joan is based in Morris so if you're ever in the area, you can message her on Facebook and get your own loaf. She says people from the Parkland region have done so in the past.

"If I didn't love this, I wouldn't be doing it," said Van der Linde. "I love the joy that this is bringing people and all of the stories that come with it."

As of Monday, Joan had given away 2107 loaves. Her goal is to make 50 loaves a week as she hopes to get to 3000 by March 20, 2022. And to top it all off, Joan donates several a week to the local food bank in Morris. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Nov 16, 2021 - 6:23 am

Doug Palson is the new Chief of Police for the Manitoba First Nations Police Service.

Palson, who will start his role on November 29th, comes from the Dryden Police Service in Ontario where he was Chief of Police beginning in 2015. Prior to that, he spent 8 years with the Manitoba First Nations Police Service back when it was known as the Dakota Ojibway Police Service.

In a release, Chief Palson said he's very excited and grateful for the opportunity and will focus on building relationships and developing partnerships in efforts to enhance community safety and wellbeing.

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Contributed by Alec Woolston

Published: Nov 16, 2021 - 6:00 am

Multiple reports on social media are saying that Nakeeya Head-Dumas has been safely located. The RCMP has confirmed as well that she has been found.

The RCMP in The Pas are searching for Nakeeya Head-Dumas, a 16-year-old female from Pukatawagan who was reported missing Sunday morning.

Nakeeya Head-Dumas was last seen Sunday evening in the 800 block of Connaught Avenue, in The Pas. She is approximately 4 feet 2 inches tall, 100 lbs, with a thin build and long black hair. She was last seen wearing all black clothing.

Police and family are concerned for her well-being and if you have any information please call The Pas RCMP at 204-627-6200. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or submit a secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

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Contributed by Alec Woolston

Published: Nov 15, 2021 - 3:01 pm

New health restrictions were put in place on Friday and starting December 5, kids aged 12 to 17 will need to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in order to participate in indoor sports or youth can provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours before playing.

And while most restrictions are targeted towards Southern Health, Manitoba's Health Minister Audrey Gordon says that could change.

"We're monitoring the numbers very, very closely," said Gordon. "We do believe the restrictions that we put in place on Friday will help bend the curve and if they don't, restrictions could be changed on a daily basis."

The province announced another 193 cases on Friday and they say there could be more than 200 daily cases by the middle of next month if things don't take a turn for the better. There are still zero active cases in Dauphin, as reported by the province.

The test positivity rate is at 6.1% provincially. 

On Friday, the province also said some surgeries have been cancelled or postponed in order to free up hospital space. Anyone who is affected will be notified. The cancellations and postponements will raise Manitoba's intensive care bed capacity to 110.

"We will be announcing very soon a surgical backlog task force," said Gordon. "They will be very heavily focused on what we need to do to ensure individuals get their surgery and diagnostic test."

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Nov 15, 2021 - 6:21 am

It may be more than two months away, but you can start planning your trip to Brandon now if you want to take part in Manitoba Ag Days. Back at the Keystone Centre from January 18-20, the three-day festival is back after the event wasn't held last year.

Kristen Phillips, general manager of Manitoba Ag Days, says this event will be a special one after a year off.

"We're so excited to be back to business, it's a tremendous feeling," said Phillips. 

For the first time in the event's 45-year history, Ag Days will be moving to a ticketed admission system for the 2022 show. Tickets will be $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Youth (17 and under) will be free of charge.

"It's been a long time coming, we've been chatting about it for a few years," said Phillips. "We lost two of our rooms this year which meant we lost some revenue. There is a ton of great things going on at Ag Days, it is certainly worth the price of admission."

There will be over 450 exhibitors this year and 33 speakers booked for the 2022 show. The Innovation Showcase will feature 32 new innovations. You can get tickets for the event by heading to Manitoba Ag Days 2022. 

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Contributed by Darnell Duff

Published: Nov 15, 2021 - 10:50 am

From now until Sunday, the Endow Manitoba Giving Challenge is taking place.

During the challenge, gifts given to community foundations like the Dauphin and District Community Foundation will be stretched a little bit further.

"The Giving Challenge is an opportunity for community foundations to grow their unrestricted funds through stretch dollars from the Winnipeg Foundation and the Manitoba Government, so every five-dollar gift you make is stretched to seven dollars", says Kit Daley, Executive Director of the DDCF.

Last year during the Giving Challenge, the Dauphin and District Community Foundation had the third-highest total donations and Daley would love to beat that this year. 

"We are asking donors to post on social media that they have made a donation, and then challenge someone else to make one too and that can be a family friend, a business associate, a family member, maybe even a rival business, we're simply trying to promote giving to your foundation and encouraging others to donate."

The DDCF has also partnered with the Dauphin Kings in a competition with the Swan Valley Stampeders. At the Dauphin Kings home game on Saturday, community foundation members will be at Credit Union Place collecting donations. The day before, the Kings play the Stampeders in Swan River and community foundation members for Swan will be collecting donations at that game. Daley says it will be a competition between the two fan bases to see who can raise more for their local community foundation.

Some of the projects that the foundation has contributed to are the North Gate bike trails, the multi-use community courts at Meadowlark Park, the Enchanted Reading Room at the Dauphin Public Library, and the Kings Way trail. They have also made contributions to local playgrounds, daycare centres, the Parkland Humane Society, Dauphin Food Bank, Fort Dauphin Museum and many more. Daley says they have also given out two-million dollars in grants since 1995.

If you would like to donate during the Giving Challenge you can do so online, or you can call Kit Daley at 204-638-4598. Donations can also be dropped off at City Hall in the drop box at the entrance, or at the DDCF office.

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Contributed by Alec Woolston

Published: Nov 15, 2021 - 4:00 am