The Neepawa Lotto Winners Are ... !

The 2024 Neepawa & District Medical Committee Farm & Leisure Lotto has just released this year's list of winners!

Starting with the 10 $500 cash prize winners we have:

Richard Taggart from Douglas
Richard Larkins from Portage la Prairie
Barry Kristolovich from Sandy Lake
Ron & Olia Jesson from Neepawa
Angela Meier from Brandon
Jonathan West from Souris
Jean-Marc Lemoine from St Lazare
Denis Saquet, Kara Sylvester, Colleen Synchyshyn from Neepawa
Doug Buydens from Pilot Mound
Gloria Usick from Erickson

Moving on to the $1000 cash prizes we have:

Richard Olver from Erickson
Dennis Tiller from Erickson
Stacy Senkbeil, Gordon McKay from Brandon
Darren & Laura Chapman from Virden
and Frances Wilson from Kenton

The 50/50 winner walked away with a sizeable cash prize of $47,990.

Phyllis Adamyk took home this prize.

Finally, the winner of the big ticket, the $100,000 grand prize is Ashton and Jamie Porrok!

Congratulations to all the winners of this years Lotto!

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Apr 29, 2024 - 2:57 pm

Tuesday (April 30th) is the deadline for early bird ticket prices for this year's edition of Dauphin's Countryfest.

Countryfest General Manager Kamnryn Winters says their early bird ticket prices expire at the end of the month.

"(Weekend passes) are $249 right now and they do go up to $299, so it is a price jump. So if you know you are coming to the festival, this is a good time to get your tickets before they go up to gate admission prices. Our VIP tickets are sold out so all that is left are weekend and day passes. Day passes are at $119 right now and they will go up to 139."

Winters adds ticket sales have been strong so far, particularly weekend passes.

"It is different in the fact that over the last couple of years, people have picked their favourite day based on genre or based on the lineup of the day. I think this year's day passes are definitely lower than last year, but I think that is just because the whole weekend has the same sort of style, and the whole weekend appeals to the same kind of demographic. If you like Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, you probably like Alabama, so you are going to buy a weekend pass."

Tickets are available at the Countryfest office on 2nd Avenue Northeast in Dauphin, online at countryfest.ca, or by calling 1-800-361-7300.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Apr 29, 2024 - 1:19 pm

A sad end to a missing person's case from the Minnedosa area.

RCMP from the community reported that on April 20th, items belonging to Jamie Wade were found in a pond in the RM of Oakview.

RCMP Major Crime Services, the Underwater Recovery Team, and Forensic Identification Services were called to the lake, with Wade's body unfortunately being found in the lake the following day.

An autopsy determined that his death was non-criminal in nature.

The 55-year-old man was last reported being seen on October 27th at a gas station in Brandon.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Apr 29, 2024 - 11:25 am

There's much work to be done this spring, and it's especially true for the Gilbert Plains Golf Course.

AG Minister and Dauphin's MLA Ron Kostyshyn will be speaking with Gilbert Plains representitives on Monday to see what can be done to assist.

The Minister also reveals a notable time frame of import for these repairs.

"August, or the end of July is a little far away, but based on the amount of damage done, they'll need every bit of that timeline to work and get it into shape, because yes, Gilbert Plains is the golf course for the Parkland's summer games. No better golf course to have such a great event happening in the province of Manitoba."

Insurance adjusters are still sorting the full estimate of the damage at the course, which will likely be discussed at Monday's meeting.

Examples of the damage, weeks after the flood receded: Untitled_design_-_2024-04-27T144403.675.jpg

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Apr 29, 2024 - 6:00 am

The City of Dauphin is looking to notify citizens of on upcoming bridge closure.

The Buckwold Bridge is set to go under construction as of Tuesday, April 30th and east bound traffic will be closed during.

Pedestrian access and west-bound motor traffic will still be available but limited to vehicles no wider than 3 meters.

this construction is expected to take a total of 10 weeks, wrapping up by the end of June.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Apr 28, 2024 - 12:00 pm

It is a campaign that has brought plenty of smiles to people in our region over the past few years.

The Tim Horton's Smile Cookie campaign launches on Monday, with the Dauphin store looking to build on its record of being the top-selling location per capita in Manitoba in each of the past four years.

The Dauphin store has also secured second in the entire country over that time, with only Dunville, Ontario besting us.

Dauphin Tim Horton's franchisee Greg Crisanti says community support is what drives this campaign locally every year.

"I've got some amazing sponsors on board, some who return year after year, amazing lists of volunteers who come out to decorate cookies and help out at the drive-through. it's more than just a cookie."

Crisanti says pre-orders are accepted through both their website and in person.

The campaign runs until May 5th, with 100 percent of all cookie sales going to the Smile Zone project at the Dauphin Regional Hospital.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Apr 27, 2024 - 6:00 pm

Sailing is one of the sports slated to be part of the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games in the Dauphin region.

The sailing competition will take place at Manipogo Provincial Park, and will feature two age groups - 13 and under and 14-17 years old.

Paul Krestanowich is a board member with Sail Manitoba, and he hopes the competition will spark more people in our region to take up sailing.

"Dauphin, Parkland, Yellowhead region they have a few sailors but they're maybe not as large of number as some parts of the province. Manipogo is going to have a learn to sail course this summer, and I'm hoping going forward that's every summer.

Krestanowich says each participant will face a minimum of seven races over the course of the sailing competition at the Manitoba Summer Games, which are set for August 11-17.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Apr 27, 2024 - 3:00 pm

An arrest was made earlier this week after an officer was assaulted during a traffic stop.

On April 23, at approximately 9:20 pm, Selkirk RCMP received a report of a possible impaired driver heading towards Highway 9 in the RM of St. Andrews.

There were two occupants in the vehicle, a driver and a passenger. While the officers were speaking to the driver, the passenger started yelling and swearing at the officers.

Despite a request to stay in the vehicle, the passenger got out, rushed the officer, and shoved him. while being cuffed, he punched an officer and was then subdued with an energy weapon.

Alexander Chand, 42, has been charged with 3 counts of uttering threats, and 2 counts of resisting arrest, mischief, and assaulting a peace officer.

However, The driver of the vehicle was completely sober and cooperative throughout this situation.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Apr 27, 2024 - 11:44 am

Three First Nations seek to protect treaty forest land and may take a logging company and the province to court.

The Pine Creek, Wuskwi Sipihk, and Sapotaweyak Cree nations allege that the logging company Louisiana-Pacific did not have an approved forest management plan in place during their activity on Treaty 4 territory.

These actions could violate the Manitoba Forest Act if the allegations prove correct.

Chief Derek Nepinak of Pine Creek noted in a press release that "In 2012 Manitoba agreed to consider other logging practices to protect moose habitat, More than 12 years later Manitoba is still without a viable plan".

Ag Minister Ron Kostyshyn was available for comment, and hopes for an open dialogue moving forward.

"The ongoing discussions are going on between the two parties and I just want to say that preserving jobs and advancing economic reconciliation are our top priorities for our government. we're working hard to arrive at a resolution in response to the needs and concerns of all parties."

The application for court proceedings also alleges the province has failed its duty to consult with the First Nations, and breached both the honor of the crown and the treaty obligations after renewing the logging agreement at the end of March.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Apr 27, 2024 - 8:20 am

The Manitoba Summer Games are approaching fast, and things are ramping up!

As part of this, The 2024 Manitoba Games Host Committee in Dauphin proudly announced the upcoming reconstruction of the outdoor athletics facility at the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School

The new outdoor athletic track and field facility will replace the aging infrastructure and will feature a modern rubberized track.

These renovations will also add a versatile 100’ x 60’ multi-sport pad suitable for various athletic activities, and according to Host Society co-chair Clayton Swanton, some much-needed electrical upgrades.

"We also were able to partner with Hydro, and we'll be able to run Hydro to our tower. So, right now they're running an extension cord from the high school for every Clippers football game which is crazy. that will also allow us to control the timing system that we are also required to have for the games"

This $1.1 million project is funded by many partners, including the province, the school division, sports Manitoba, and the Dauphin and District Community Foundation.

The lasting legacy that these upgrades offer could inspire all sorts of new groups, events, and competitions to take place here in the city of Dauphin.