Russell Break And Enter Suspect Sentenced

Harley Mecas has been sentenced to six months of time served and two years probation for his role in a break and enter in Russell.

In December of 2019, the RCMP were called to a report of a home invasion at an apartment in the community. A 32-year-old woman was sleeping when she was assaulted and Mecas admitted to his role in the incident.

33-year-old Christopher Benn and 41-year-old Elroy Benn were already sentenced for their role in the invasion.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 10, 2021 - 5:21 am

It started last year as a fun challenge between the Dauphin RCMP and Dauphin Fire Department and this year, it's back in full force.

The Food Drive Challenge begins on Wednesday and runs until next Wednesday and this year, the DFD is looking for some revenge. The RCMP raised about a tonne of non-perishable food items last year as they nearly doubled the DFD.

But Cam Abrey says they're ready for this year.

"We're hoping that we can top up our donations and pack the pumper," said the Fire Chief. "This is such a great cause for the Dauphin and District Food Bank and we're happy to be a part of it."

You can donate your non-perishable food items by heading to the Fire Department. And you can also donate them to the Dauphin Detachment. If you need them to be picked up, Fire Fighters and Officers will be available throughout the week.

You can call the DFD at 622-3100 and the Detachment's number is 622-5020.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 10, 2021 - 4:30 am

If you haven't yet put your winter tires on your vehicle, now could be a perfect time. As we're under a Winter Storm Warning, driving conditions could quickly deteriorate over the next couple of days.

In a study done by Manitoba Public Insurance over the past 10 years, those who use winter tires on their vehicle are nearly seven percent less likely to get into an accident.

"There is certainly a benefit having winter tires, that statistics show that," said Brian Smiley with MPI.

If you don't have a set of winter tires, you can use the MPI Winter Tire Program to keep the costs down. The study included 111,000 vehicles over the past decade.

"Your best chance to not get into an accident is by getting winter tires, it's really as simple as that," ended Smiley.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 9, 2021 - 9:36 am

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect.

The first winter storm of the season is expected with the heaviest snow expected to be coming to the Parkland.

Wednesday will bring cloudy conditions with snow, at times heavy and five cm is expected. The forecast for Thursday; meanwhile, is also calling for snow.

There is also a chance for flurries on Saturday night.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 9, 2021 - 6:08 am

Keagan Gaywish fell in love with the game of hockey as a young kid, and now he's playing with the Minnedosa Chancellors high school team as they compete in the Westman High School Hockey League.

On October 31, the team hit the road for a game against the Swan Valley Tigers. It was a game that Keagan was looking forward to but events during the game, almost had him wanting to quit playing for good.

Throughout the game, while he was on the ice and in the team's player box, he could hear racist comments that were directed towards him. Then when he was leaving the ice, a teammate also heard racist comments directed towards him.

"It was really emotional, I wasn't expecting something like that to happen," said Gaywish. "I wanted to stop playing the game and just quit. It made me feel bad as a person, just an awful experience."

Just more than a week after the incident, Keagan says he's feeling better because so many people reached out to him after they found out what happened. According to the arena, the fans that were saying racist comments have been banned from the facility.

From the Rolling River First Nation, Gaywish has been playing hockey for 11 years and he hopes that no one has to go through what he did. And while quitting hockey was something he thought about, his father Roger Brightnose says his son will continue playing.

"We had to sit down as a family and talk about what had happened," said Brightnose. "We reassured him that he's a good hockey player and we didn't want him to give up something that he's enjoyed so much. You see racism far too often these days, it's pretty sickening."

Roger now wants you to step up. If you see someone being harassed by racism, he is hoping people will step up so it stops.

And at the Swan River Centennial Arena, a parent will now sit behind the visiting team's bench.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 9, 2021 - 5:00 am

On March 1, 2021, Robert Fleury was charged with Manslaughter in relation to the homicide of Matthew Swain on August 14, 2019. Fleury was released from custody, but has breached his court-ordered conditions. There are two warrants out for his arrest.

Fleury is described as 5’9” tall, 280 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

He is considered violent. If anyone sees Fleury, do not approach, but immediately call 911.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Nov 8, 2021 - 2:27 pm

On Saturday, November 6th we reported of a major accident on highway 325 near Ashern. A statement from the RCMP about the incident is below.

On Saturday, November 6, 2021, at around 7:00 am, West Interlake RCMP received a report of a fatal motor vehicle collision on Provincial Road 325 West, approximately 16 kilometres west of Ashern, in the RM of West Interlake, Manitoba.

The initial investigation has determined that the vehicle went onto the shoulder of the road, struck an entrance driveway to a field which caused the vehicle to flip several times. All four people in the vehicle were ejected from the vehicle. None of the occupants were wearing seatbelts.

The 31-year-old female driver of the vehicle from Ebb and Flow First Nation was pronounced deceased on the scene. The 33-year-old male front seat passenger, from Pinaymootang First Nation, and two male children in the rear seat, aged six and two, were all transported to Winnipeg hospital. They remain in hospital in stable condition.

The investigation continues with the help of a RCMP Forensic Collision Reconstructionist.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Nov 8, 2021 - 2:08 pm

494 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported today. This includes Saturday, Sunday, and today.

183 new cases of the virus were reported for Saturday, 155 for Sunday, and 156 today. Of today's cases, 70 aren't vaccinated, 10 are partially vaccinated and 76 are fully vaccinated. Dauphin still has 0 active cases.

The test positivity raised up to 5.4% provincially.

Of today's cases:

31 are in the Prairie Mountain Health Region

9 are in the Interlake/Eastern health region

7 are in the Northern health region

56 are in the Southern health region

53 are in the Winnipeg health region

The numbers of active cases in other Parkland health districts are:

Riding Mountain (3), Swan River (7), Duck Mountain (28), Porcupine Mountain (17), Agassiz Mountain (7), Asessippi (14), Little Saskatchewan (12), Whitemud (21). Brandon has 35 active cases.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has seven active cases. The Fisher/Peguis district has six active cases.

There are 1,377 active COVID-19 cases in the province.

112 Manitobans are hospitalized with active COVID-19.

18 Manitobans are in intensive care units with active COVID-19.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Nov 8, 2021 - 12:38 pm

Family Feud Canada is back on Monday night and the episode will feature the Lynxleg's.

After signing up on a whim, the family will compete for $30,000 when the episode airs on Monday night on CBC-TV.

The team includes Josh Cade Lynxleg, Shayle Catagas Lynxleg, Betty Lynxleg, Harmony Lynxleg and Whitney Lynxleg. Whitney said everyone on the team is wearing a different shirt symbolizing what is very important to them.

"We are very excited to be on national TV, it gives us a chance to show who we truly are," said Whitney. "We hope to show off our humour and we hope that everyone enjoys the show."

Messages on their shirts include land back, clean water, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and residential schools.

Hosted by Gerry Dee, the episode will run from 7:30-8:00 on Monday night.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 8, 2021 - 9:35 am

There were no injuries after a fire got out of control on Sunday afternoon, approximately eight kilometres south of Dauphin along Highway 10.

The Dauphin Fire Department was dispatched to the fire shortly before 3:30. When officers arrived, they found a small camper completely consumed by fire along with some smaller outbuildings.

Crews were able to contain the fire to the area which prevented it from spreading through the grass to the home.

There are no estimates on damages as there were numerous items stored in the buildings.