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R-M of Dauphin C-A-O Nicole Chychota has been named the new president of Manitoba Municipal Administrators.
She was acclaimed to the position during the organization's recent conference, becoming the first-ever member from District 7 to serve as the group's President.
The MMA is a not-for-profit professional association created in 1931 by The Manitoba Municipal Administrators Association Inc. Act
It exists to provide support, education, and continuing professional development to its members.
R-M of Dauphin Reeve Ernie Sirski says the appointment shows the expertise and accomplishments that a staff member of a rural municipality can achieve with hard work and dedication.
For her part, Chychota stated in a news release that she looks forward to the opportunity to represent the municipality, the Parkland region, and the MMA in the months to come..
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Dauphin Friendship Centre is partnering with a number of groups to hold a full day of events today (Thursday) to recognize National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
Event coordinator Jerri Thompson says the activities begin at 8:30 am at Mackenzie Middle School with a pancake breakfast, followed by ceremonies at 10 am.
"We will have speakers who address things such as the acknowledgement of residential schools and the honouring of the survivors and the victims that did not make it home. Then we will move into a round dance, followed by an awareness walk that goes up Main Street and back down to Mackenzie Middle School so everybody is invited to do that. "
Thompson adds that will be followed by a noon hour bag lunch and then more activities in the afternoon.
"There will be approximately 30 stations, again open to everybody, just to create awareness and to learn about indigenous culture, such as the ribbon shirts and ribbon skirts, the dances, the fires. Everybody always has questions about why we do certain things."
Thompson stresses both students and members of the public can take part in these events, adding it is important to get youth involved and getting that knowledge into them.
The Friendship Centre is partnering with the Northwest Metis Council, West Region Treaty 2 and 4, Jordon's Principle, Pine Creek First Nation, and Mountainview School Division to put on these activities.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Frontier School Division has announced that the Rorketon School Committee is in need of four new members.
The local school committee consists of parents and community members, which meets monthly to discuss school matters.
Individuals interested in joining the Rorketon School Committee and contributing to the success of the school are asked to contact Della - the Area Governance Support Officer for Frontier School Division - at 204-638-6839.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Marook the police dog continues to do great work for RCMP in Manitoba.
This past Sunday at about 6:45 pm, Dauphin Mounties conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on Mountain Road as part of an ongoing investigation.
The vehicle originally sped away after officers activated their lights and sirens, running a red light on Main Street striking several vehicles and a 26-year-old male pedestrian before finally hitting a parked vehicle.
The driver and passenger then attempted to flee on foot, with the passenger being taken into custody a short time later.
Marook, along with an RCMP drone were used to eventually track down the driver.
Photo of Police Dog Marook, Provided by the RCMP
A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of a loaded shotgun, a large amount of Canadian currency, and a substance believed to be cocaine.
The driver, identified by RCMP as 26-year-ols Samuel Flatfoot of Dauphin, faces charges that include dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from police, resisting and obstructing a peace officer and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The passenger was identified as 22-year-old Marcus George of Swan River.
He is charged with Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, two counts of resisting/obstructing a peace officer, and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Both have been remanded into custody.
The pedestrian was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the driver of the first vehicle that was struck was not physically injured.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Dauphin is home to the best Home Hardware location in Western Canada.
Owners Whitney and Mark Odut were in Toronto earlier this month to be presented the honour during Home Hardware's 2024 Homecoming event.
Whitney's dad, Owen Connolly, first opened Dauphin Home Hardware in 1983.
And Whitney says it is important to her and Mark to be able to keep the legacy that he established going.
"The fact that my father instilled in us everything that he knows and taught us everything and trusted us to take on his baby sort of speak and run with it. We are just happy that are here and able to carry things on and hopefully make him proud."
Whitney also said an award like this is not possible without their amazing staff
"Our staff are the most important thing. They are what makes this business run. They are basically like family to us. They put in the work every day with smiles on their faces and we rely on them and are so proud of them."
She also appreciates the support that they receive from the community, adding they are proud to be a part of Dauphin and the Parkland.
Whitney says recognition like this motivates her and Mark to continue growing the store and making it stronger than it already is.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
This year's Fuel Good Day promotion through the Dauphin Co-op has raised over 72-hundred dollars for the Friends of Dauphin Lake group.
The exact total - $7,268.68 - was raised through special lunch barbecues held on September 17th at both the Main Street and Mountain Riad gas bars, as well as contributions of 10 cents for every litre of fuel sold at both locations that day.
Friends of Dauphin Lake says those proceeds will go towards the purchase of a weed harvester to clean out weeds that are hindering the ability to use portions of Dauphin Lake safely.
A formal cheque presentation will take place in mid-October during Co-op week.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The provincial fuel tax holiday has been extended for a second time.
The 14 cent a litre tax on fuel sold in the province will remain cut until the end of the 2024 calendar year, as announced this morning by Premier Wab Kinew.
He says Manitobans are still struggling with the impact of interest rates and grocery prices.
In a news release from the provincial government, the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics estimates the gas tax holiday has directly contributed to a decrease of 0.4 percentage points to inflation.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The weekly Manitoba Crop Report saw a lot of rain in some select areas of the province.
Heavy rains hammered the Eastern region causing localized flooding. Intense rains were seen in communities including Elma which received 105.5 mm over a 3-hr period on September 17th, and totalled 212.2mm through the week.
The central region also saw a lot of rain, with Winkler getting up to 162mm. The northwest had the lowest cap in the province, with the Keld station logging 29.4mm.
The rain slowed down harvest, but progress was still made in many crops.
Cereal crops saw decent progress, and more reports of quality are rolling in. The southwest, central, and northwest regions are all seeing 5% of spring wheat being rated as poor, but also 10-20% rated excellent.
Spring wheat yield estimates range from 60 to 90 bu/acre, with an average of 70 bu/acre in the Central and Eastern regions. In the north Interlake, yields range from 25 to 55 bu/acre, and up to 70 bu/acre in the south Interlake.
Spring Wheat quality ranges in the southwest, northwest, and central regions, but is more consistent in the Eastern and Interlake areas.
Barley ranges from 90 - 115 bu/acre, oats range from 80 - 180 bu/acre, and corn is still yet to be harvested.
Canola moves along as well with 55% of harvest complete. This is most advanced in the central region at 70%, and sitting at 45% in the northwest.
Both sunflowers and flax are moving towards maturity, with flax receiving pre-harvest applications.
Dry beans have seen a wide range in yield, a range from 500 to 3500 bu/acre. Soybeans are nearly ready for harvest but range a fair bit due to scattered seeding times.
Forage crops are looking great, bolstered by the late rain and warmer conditions. Most bales have been collected, and corn silage is well underway.
Cattle on the pasture are in great condition. Well managed pastures are looking excellent for this time of year, however, grass growth appears to be slowing down.
Some producers are beginning to supplement animals with hay on pasture.
Here in the northwest region, it was a slower week of harvest, as consistant drizzles halted progress.
A couple of warm days saw daytime temperatures reaching the high 20s while overnight temperatures hovered around 0 degrees at Drifting River, Ruthenia, Pipe Lake, San Clara, and The Pas stations.
Heavy dews in the morning have also narrowed the harvest window at this time of year.
Spring wheat harvest continues across the region and is approximately 75% complete. Lodged fields have made for slow progress in some fields.
The average reported yield so far is approximately 65-70 bu/acre. With some fields averaging less at 40-50 bu/acre and some going 80 bu/acre plus
Canola harvest is underway and is approximately 45% complete across the region with some areas more advanced.
Reported yields so far have been quite varied based on crop conditions throughout the season as well as disease pressure, but generally lower than average.
Average yields so far have been approximately 30-40 bu/acre.
Soybean crops are mostly in R7 stage and looking good. Some of the most advanced soybeans are moving towards R8. With good weather, soybean harvest is expected to start soon in some fields.
Seeding of winter wheat and fall rye has been underway with seeding deadlines approaching.
With a hot sunny week this week, harvest progress will like come along rapidly.
To all the producers out there, here's wishing you a safe, speedy harvest, and that the weather continues to hold out.
A final note, next weeks crop report will be published a day later, as the long weekend will be pushing that back.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
More controvery hangs over the board of trustees for Mountainview School Division.
At their regular board meeting on Monday night, members of the oversight panel appointed by the provincial government to help guide the local board walked out of the meeting following the introduction of a motion to limit the panel's ability to participate in their meetings.
Yesterday, a day after the meeting, the board of trustees issued what they called "An Important Announcement", stated that they were "raising serious concerns over the lack of response from the Minister of Education, and the unwillingness of the appointed oversight panel to collaborate without undermining local governance."
In another move during Monday night's meeting, the board approved a motion that adopts a procedure to permit the flying of only federal and provincial flags, or flags featuring school logos, on school property.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Zebra mussel problem in Clear Lake has been confirmed to be getting worse.
In a news release issued today, parks Canada noted that multiple juvenile zebra mussels have been located.
8 mussels were found on Septemeber 19th and 20th, confirming the spread of this invasive species.
In the news release, parks Canada states Zebra mussel infestations cost Manitoba taxpayers an estimated $10 million per year. This cost includes keeping mussels off critical freshwater infrastructure, such as hydroelectric dams and drinking water pipes.
Factoring in the damage to fisheries and tourism, that estimate could be considerably higher.
With this new information, Parks Canada staff plan to analyze the options for a potential eradication treatment using the best evidence available and in consultation with third-party experts in the field.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The Keystone Centre in Brandon has installed a permanent reminder to first nations people that lost their lives to historical violence, including residential schools.
Westoba Place in the facility now has what is called the "Seat of Truth", an orange seat located in Section 112 of the arena in row K and at seat 2.
The significance of the location of the seat acknowledges Treaty 2, which was signed in 1871 at Manitoba House, which is now known today as Kinosota.
The seat will remain intentionally empty for all events to serve as a commemorative action, and Keystone Centre officials hope visitors will take a moment to acknowledge the histories that shape our collective identity and to participate in conversations that can lead to deeper understanding.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
