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The Swan Valley Health Centre is ready to show off its newest piece of equipment to the public.
An open house is planned for next Wednesday which will include guided tours of their new CT Scanner room.
Since coming online on June 17th, hospital officials say roughly a dozen scans per day have been performed using the CT Scanner.
Besides keeping patients closer to home for these procedures, having the new CT Scanner is also reducing pressure on emergency response services, who often have to transport patients to other Manitoba communities to have these procedures performed.
The open house will take place from 10 am to noon on July 31st at the hospital.
Funding for the over two million dollar project was helped by over one million dollars being raised locally by the Town of Swan River, surrounding communities, and other local groups.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
For anyone in or near McCreary, there is an exciting time you won't want to miss this weekend, as the McCreary Ag Fair and Rodeo returns!
Danny Champion runs the advertising team for this event, and She`s excited to bring the fun.
"Saturday, we've got the parade that starts at noon. There you'll see wagons, horses, tractors, trailers, floats, and flags, there will even be candy for the kiddos. If you come browse the food trucks and locals vendors, they'll be featured through the rodeo market throughout the entire afternoon. There will be raffles and 50/50 draws throughout the day, out beer gardens open up at 1 pm, and we've got a live band performing at 5"
Champion's advice is to come early if you want the best seats in the house for the Heartland rodeo shows.
"The rodeo itself is running round about 2 pm to 5 pm both Saturday and Sunday, but if you arrive around noon, you'll be able to score a good seat in the stands and check out all the entertainment we have to offer."
With the rodeo, music, kids games, beer gardens and more, the McCreary Ag fair And rodeo promises to be an amazing time.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
A technical briefing took place earlier today to further discuss Zebra mussels in Clear Lake.
Dameon Wall, External Relations Manager details stage one of the controls.
"We've received the first shipment of the containment curtain that arrived here on site on Monday. We anticipate arrival of more material for that containment curtain to be coming shortly along with a crew that will be deploying that."
The next step would to be apply potash to any mussels found, as Tim Town, Ecologist Team Lead, not doing so could be catastrophic.
"Clear Lake's at the top of the watershed, right? So it flows out of Wasagaming Creek which connects to the Little Saskatchewan River and the Assiniboine River so if zebra mussels were to propagate downstream, it would just be devastating."
Previous studies that Town Referenced noted that potash was very effective at killing off zebra mussels while keeping a concentration low enough to not harm other aquatic or terrestrial species.
There were also some questions on people who aren't concerned about zebra muscles, as their presence often makes for more water clarity where they're found.
Town explains that the clarity may look nice, but represents a cascade failure of the ecosystem.
The zebra mussels consume algae at the bottom of the food chain, and that would ripple into the sport fishing population as this balanced ecosystem is thrown into chaos.
As part of the isolation of this curtain, there will be further studies on where else in the lake the zebra mussels have spread, and if greater efforts need to be taken.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
You are rapidly running out of time to get your tickets for this year's Canada's National Ukrainian Festival and save some money in the process.
CNUF president Kayla Gillis reminds us of some important upcoming deadlines when it comes to purchasing tickets and camping spots.
"In-person sales - to get your festival passes, close this Friday, since our office will be closed next week. So the deadline for in-person tickets is this Friday. And then our online deadline for ticket sales is Tuesday (July 30th) at midnight."
After that, tickets will only be available once the festival site opens on August 1st when ticket prices will also increase.
The office is located at 17 - 3rd Avenue North East, across from the Dauphin Consumers Co-op, while their website is www.cnuf.ca.
This year's festival runs August 2nd to 4th a the Selo Ukraina site south of Dauphin.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Further information has been made available regarding a collision that took place yesterday morning.
at approximately 10:50 am, Dauphin RCMP responded to a two-vehicle collision on Highway 5, just east of Grandview.
A west bound vehicle is believed to have crossed the center line and collided with a grain truck that was headed east.
The driver of the grain truck, a 72-year-old male from Grandview was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Unfortunately, The driver of the vehicle, a 19 year old male from Grandview, was pronounced Deceased on scene.
Dauphin RCMP along with a Forensic Collision Reconstructionist continue to investigate.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki will be sentenced on August 28th.
Skibicki was found guilty on July 11th of four counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Rebecca Contois - originally from Crane River - as well as Mercedes Myran, Morgan Harris, and an unidentified fourth woman who was given the name Buffalo Woman by community elders.
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
Contois' remains were found in a garbage bin outside of Skibicki's apartment and later in the Brady Landfill, while the bodies of Myran and Harris are believed to be in the Prairie Green Landfill outside of Winnipeg.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
A 28-year-old man from Ste. Rose died earlier this month after colliding with another vehicle.
On July 6 at 10 a.m., Ste. Rose RCMP responded to a two-vehicle collision on Highway 68 near Road 144N, in the RM of Alonsa. A pick-up truck going east on Highway 68, crossed the centre line and collided with a SUV going west.
The driver of the truck, a 28-year-old male from Ste Rose du Lac, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. On July 19, the 28-year-old passed away from his injuries.
The driver of the SUV, a 51-year-old man from Winnipeg, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The RCMP's Musical Ride is heading to several communities in the province.
This includes a stop in Dauphin on Saturday, August 3. That will start at 12:30 at the Dauphin Fair Grounds and tickets can now be purchased at Dauphin Co-op Gas Bars. The community of Ashern will also host an event on Sunday, August 4.
Before that, the show rolls into Erickson on Wednesday night.
"We have been planning this event for many months," said Eric Bjornson. "We're coming down to the last few days, it's going to be an extremely unique event for Erickson."
The event to be hosted in Erickson next week will also be historic. With more than 800 tickets already sold, Eric says it will be the largest single gathering event in the community since the Queen visited in 1970.
"It's quite exciting, very exciting to be a part of," ended Bjornson. "It will bring many people to town that haven't visited before, we can't wait for next Wednesday. We hope that everyone enjoys their visit."
Pre-show entertainment will begin at 6:00 p.m. with the Musical Ride set to begin 60 minutes later. The riders will also host a question and answer period and introduce their horses.
You can get your tickets here. You can also head to several locations in Erickson if you're around that community.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
It was a week of high temperatures and high humidity according to the weekly Manitoba crop report.
The temperatures province-wide ranged from the high 20s to the 30s, and the damp year so far has led to consistent and substantial humidity.
There was fairly minimal rain with this heat though, especially in the northwest and southwest region, as The Pas and several locations in the southwest saw no rain at all.
Even with this hot and drier trend, extending the total accumulated rainfall to July 21st still has over 135% of normal precipitation since May 1st.
The warmer conditions certainly advanced crop growth across much of the province, but it has had some drawbacks as well.
Oil seed crops made a lot of progress, but in the extreme heat, some canola showed increased amounts of flower blasts. This was reported both by Agronomists and Producers alike
Flax fields are either just beginning to bloom, or have reached full bloom, and aside from saturated/flooded areas, crops are rated as good. As well, sunflowers range from late vegetative to R2 growth due to planting and water stress conditions.
Fall rye was in the late dough stage to dry down stage with harvest anticipated to start in about ten days, assuming the weather allows.
Some Corn has begun to tassel but primarily ranges from V8-V10.
Spring wheat is between anthesis and hard dough, with most oats and barley at the milk stage. Spring wheat quality is rated mostly fair to good with 5 to 10% of the crop being reported as poor in the Southwest, Northwest, Central, and Interlake regions.
Field peas are in the R3 to R4 stage and For the most part, fields are looking good. However, there are fields affected by the excess moisture and doing poorly.
Also, Soybeans are in the R1to R2 stage and have seen rapid growth over the last week due to the hot humid conditions.
Forages are running into some issues in low-lying areas, but roughly 90% of dairy producers in the Eastern region have completed the first-cut harvest of alfalfa fields and
35% have completed the second cut. Some producers have opted to use grass intended for hay as bale silage.
Rain showers continue to make it difficult to produce good quality, dry hay, and Corn silage fields have responded well to high temperatures with staging at V8-V10.
Pastures and Cattle are both in generally excellent condition, though there is still a risk of foot rot and intense fly pressure in low-lying and wet areas.
Here in the Northwest region, little rain, high temperatures, and some smokey conditions were prominent, leading to substantial growth.
Winter wheat and fall rye crops are mostly in the soft dough stage and look good in most areas not affected by excess moisture.
Most of the spring wheat is headed out and in grain development. The earliest fields are moving into the soft dough stage and the remainder behind that. Some crops that were lodged by previous storms have luckily recovered.
The majority of the canola crops are in the flowering/podding stages, however, later seeded fields are in the rosette/bolting stage. Crops are more advanced in Swan River/Roblin and behind in the Dauphin area due to excess moisture in spring.
Soybean crops are in the R1 stage and mostly looking good. The recent heat has helped and advanced the crops quickly. There are crops in the Dauphin area that were stressed from excess moisture and are in the vegetative stage.
Progress moves along, but not without its challenges. with another hot muggy week, growth is sure to progress well, but we'll see if extreme temperatures rise again to cause issues.
Until next week, Stay safe, and thanks to all the producers working hard out there!
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The Federal Government has cut funding for projects that search the grounds of previous residential schools.
Communities could previously receive up to $3 million through the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, but funding will now be capped at $500,000.
In statements from the Assembly Of Manitoba Chiefs, Deputy Grand Chief Betsy Kennedy notes this decision is not only disheartening, but disrespectful to the survivors and families affected by the system.
Furthermore, Kennedy states the decision to cut funding without discussions with First Nations leadership is a “missed opportunity” for Canada to strengthen relations and respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Several Indigenous communities across the province are still in the process of uncovering the dark histories that potentially lie under these residential schools.
You can find The Assembly's Full Statement At Their Website.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
It's proudly referred to as the "Greatest Show in the NorthWest".
The annual Northwest Round Up and Exhibition goes this Thursday to Sunday, and promises something for every member of the family, according to Swan River Valley Agricultural Society President Lesley Sembaluk.
"We have a nerw guy coming in as well to the livestock barn, who will be doing a petting zoo. We will also have pony rides, we have a livestock exhibition with some 4-H members bringing in their animals. We have the outdoor show ring for light horse events, we have chariots and chuckwagon races, a parade, and rodeo events."
Another highlight is the RCMP Musical Ride, which will be returning to the Round Up with shows on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Sembaluk adds festival goers will also notice some recent renovations to the fairgrounds.
"We have some new ramps in place, as well as the grandstands being painted. And we also had a brand new multi-purpose outdoor show ring that was fully sponsored by New Era Ag Technologies that was built this year as well."
After selling out their midway wristbands in advance, Sembaluk says they have received a few more from Select shows, which will go on sale ton Wednesday only from 10 until 4 at a cost of $30 each.
Weekend passes for the Northwest Round Up are $75 for adults and $45 for youth.
There is no admission cost to get onto the grounds on Thursday, but there will be a $10 cost for Thursday's Grandstand show.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
