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Every year, the Ochre River School Parent Council runs the Great Duck Race.
Candace Toderian was the winner this year. She took home $800. Lilly Blackshaw finished second and won $480. Rob Remple rounded out the podium and won $320.
Ducks were sold for $5 apiece or five for $20, and Cherie Robertson is thrilled to share that this was the most successful race yet.
All 800 ducks were sold, marking the most ever. They made a profit of $1,600 from the race, and Robertson thanks everyone for taking part.
"We feel incredibly fortunate that our community and surrounding communities rally around us," Robertson said. "People ask about the ducks annually. They're very easy for us to sell because people are waiting and eager to purchase."
This year, the proceeds from the race are going towards school instruments for the band program. Jayna Butler is the band teacher at the school.
Robertson is thrilled with how many students are gifted and gives plenty of credit to Jayna for all the work she puts in.
"She does fantastic work. We call her our unicorn. She's our secret weapon in the Ochre River School," ended Robertson. "We have many fantastic teachers. She can take on all sorts of different tasks. She is so energetic and passionate about the music program. We could not be more thrilled to have her on our team."
The Great Duck Race in Ochre River will return in 2027.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
If you're driving on Main Street between Whitmore Avenue and River Avenue, keep an eye out for workers in hi-vis gear. The City of Dauphin's Public Works are out in droves, completing pothole repairs and road work across the City.
Darrell Aitken, Dauphin's Acting Director of Public Works, said they'll be completing pothole repairs over the coming days, but there are two major projects he expects to take a few weeks.
"Sandy Street, where we're doing our rehabilitation on that, from about Forrest Avenue to River Avenue, which is taking out all the old ashphalt, and taking out about six inches of the existing base, and then we'll put down a new layer of base, and then three inches of asphalt on that...and then on Macleod Avenue we're doing a total reconstruction between Hedderly and Mountain Road, and that consists of taking out the old curb and gutter, and digging out and putting a proper base with fitler cloth, and sub-base and base material and new asphalt," said Aitken.
Aitken said all of this work has been planned for a while, but was delayed by flooding. The City hopes to have most of the major pothole repairs completed by the end of this week.
"We're catching the major ones that are a little bit bigger, we know that there are going to be smaller ones that we'll catch up later on," said Aitken.
As for the two major projects, those will take a bit more time. Motorists can expect a few weeks of delay in those areas of town, pictured below.
"Usually four to five weeks is what we're expecting, depending on weather and any other delays," said Aitken.
Aitken and Dauphin's Public Works team remind drivers to keep an eye out for crews in the area, and to watch your speed around them.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The Province of Manitoba has announced the expansion of their Manitoba Flood Recovery Program (MFRP) in a news release this morning, including that several additional communities are now eligible for the program. Below is a list of newly eligible communities under the MFRP.
City of Dauphin
Rural Municipality (RM) of Dauphin
Mossey River Municipality
Municipality of Ethelbert
Grandview Municipality
Municipality of Gilbert Plains
RM of Lakeshore
Municipality of Ste. Rose
Rossburn Municipality
Municipality of Russell-Binscarth
RM of Riding Mountain West
Prairie View Municipality
Municipality of Boissevain-Morton
This announcment comes after Ron Kostyshyn, Dauphin MLA and Manitoba's Agriculture Minister, said he had been actively working with the Province on getting additional communities included in the program, and that he would continue to work with the Province on the subject.
Ste. Rose Mayor, Robert Brunel, said it's good to see his community now included in the program, considering all of the rain the area saw.
"Like a lot of the other parts of the Parkland and the Province, we did see a significant amount of rain in that end of June, July 1st timeframe...the amount of water that fell within the community of Ste. Rose, and the overland flooding, and the overwhelming of the sewer system was quite incredible," said Brunel.
Brunel said in the grand scheme of things, Ste. Rose's infrastrucutre damages weren't the worst, but on the side of residents, being included in the MFRP will definitely go a long way.
"When we look at our municipal infrastructure, we had a lot of water running over roads, due to the slope of our area, the washouts are, I would call minimal...it'll be a help, depending on people's insurance coverage levels, in general I think people always come up short when something like this happens, so [the MFRP] should help," said Brunel.
According to the Province, "Under the Manitoba Flood Recovery Program, individual claims assistance is capped at $3 million, minus the deductable, up to the cost of repairs or the assessed value of the property, whichever is lower. A deductible of $2,500 or 20% of the eligible assistance amount, whichever is great, applies to all claims, and is deducted from the approved payment amount." Put simply: Maximum assistance is $3 million, up to the total cost of repairs, or your assessed property value, whichever is lower. Your deductible is either $2,500, or 20% of your eligible assitance amount, whichever is more.
For example, if you have $100,000 of eligible damage, 20% of that is $20,000, so the Province would cover $80,000. If your repairs cost $400,000, but the property's assessed value is $350,000, the 20% deductible is removed from the lower amount, being $350,000. The Province would cover $280,000 meaning you'd have a deductible of $70,000.
For more information about the Manitoba Flood Recovery Program, click here to visit the Government of Manitoba's website.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
There have been 898 cases of hepatitis A reported in Manitoba since September 2024.
197 of those cases required hospitalization, eight intensive care unit admissions, and seven deaths. The majority have been spread through person-to-person contact. As the outbreak continues in Manitoba, the criteria for free hepatitis A vaccines have been updated.
Eligibility for one free dose of the hepatitis A vaccine has been updated to include all individuals aged six months or older who:
- live in an Indigenous community in Manitoba;
- travel regularly to an Indigenous community in Manitoba; or
- have household visitors from an Indigenous community in Manitoba.
Children who meet one of the above criteria and were born on or after Jan. 1, 2010, continue to be eligible for a second dose.
The following individuals remain eligible for one dose of the hepatitis A vaccine as part of the outbreak eligibility criteria:
- inmates of correctional facilities; and
- staff and volunteers of non-health-care community-based organizations in Winnipeg that serve people experiencing homelessness.
The following individuals with other risk factors for hepatitis A continue to be eligible for free hepatitis A vaccine based on existing criteria:
- people experiencing homelessness;
- people who use drugs;
- individuals with certain high-risk medical conditions; and
- gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
Eligible individuals can access the hepatitis A vaccine through primary care providers, local public health offices, nursing stations and health centres.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe. They include fever, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, stomach cramps, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine, clay-coloured stools, and yellowing of the skin and eyes.
Those with mild symptoms often recover within one to two weeks. Hepatitis A can spread through contaminated water, food and close contact with someone who has the infection, even if they do not have symptoms.
It's recommended to always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 15 seconds after using the toilet, handling diapers, and before eating or preparing food.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The RM of Dauphin has provided an update on their Flood Debris Disposal Program for residents.
The program's newly announced deadline is Saturday, August 1st. To register your flood-affected property with the RM, call the RM of Dauphin office. You'll then have to pick up your disposal card before taking debris to the City of Dauphin landfill.
They encourage residents to keep their landfill weigh bills, and to submit them to the RM Office for processing. For more information on the RM of Dauphin's Flood Debris Disposal Program, call the RM Office at 204-638-4531.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Dauphin Recreation Services, on behalf of the City of Dauphin, has completed additional mosquito larviciding in areas of the City with large amounts of standing water.
Charla Griffiths, City Manager, said the process went off without a hitch, and was focused mostly where standing water was still a major issue.
"They did start and complete larviciding all of the standing water areas that they usually do, so that was mostly around the perimiter of Dauphin, and then throughout some ditches as well...most of the larviciding happened in the north half of Dauphin, because ditches are dry or mostly dry in the south, so they focused on where there is standing water, which is exactly the right breeding ground for mosquitoes," said Griffiths.
Griffiths said the process itself is straightforward, and does not involve any harm to the community. The chemical is designed to excusively target mosquito larvae.
"The material itself is like a granular, and it gets spread into standing water. It is meant so that after [mosquitoes] hatch but before they mature into flying mosquitoes, it stops them from maturing into flying mosquitoes," said Griffiths.
Going forward, the City of Dauphin will continue to monitor mosquito populations. They have said they will not pursue fogging operations, unless disease carrying mosquitoes are found in the City. So far, there are only nuisance mosquitoes.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Joshua Braaksma, formerly a teacher in Mountain View School Division, had his teaching certificate revoked after a decision from a disciplinary panel.
Minnesota police say Braaksma sent sexualzed images to two social media accounts operated by undercover detectives, one of them he believed to be a 15 year old girl. RCMP say there is not enough evidence to pursue charges.
According to a Minnesota detective, Braaksma said he was a high school volleyball coach, and he'd been involved in a relationship with a student or player after she graduated. Minnesota police used facial recognition to identify him as a suspect.
Braaksma was terminated from Mountain View School Division before the 2025-26 school year, according to MVSD Superintendent Suzanne Cottyn. The review panel said they revoked Braaksma's teaching certificate to protect the public, and confidence in the profession.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Growing up in Dauphin, Nic Bray always felt lucky that the Parkland has a very active and caring arts community. In recent years, he's been across Canada for his music, including Nova Scotia and Toronto, to play with some of the industry's best. Now he'll get a chance to take it to an entirely new level.
"I'll be a composer in residence at the Next Step Clarinet Academy in Coatepec, Veracruz, in Mexico, so I'm really looking forward to that for sure...it is truly a privilege to kind of share faculty with these incredible, incredible instructors, musicians, educators, it is truly going to be, I think an eye opening experience in terms of all that I'll be able to learn about the clarinet," said Bray.
Bray's background in music is mostly focused on composing and saxophone, especially jazz. Clarinet is going to be a new challenge, but when you want to learn, who better to teach than instructors from some of the best music schools in the world? The Next Step Clarinet Academy faculty includes talented instructors from schools including Juliard, widely regarded as the world's top music school, and Moores School of Music in Texas.
That's over the Summer of 2026, but once that's done, Bray is headed back to Dauphin for the year to teach French immersion at the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School. It seems like the jump from teaching music on the world stage to teaching French immersion in a town of 8,000 people might not have any correlation, but for Bray, French immersion played a big part in his development, and he's proud he gets the chance to give back.
"I've always had a big passion for the French language and for French culture, I've done a lot of research in my Masters degree around French music, French history in France and in Canada, and how that kind of interweaves with Métis history...really happy that I was kind of able to take this position, because I feel very strongly about French immersion education and the value that can create for students, and I've seen it first-hand play out in my own studies, and my own professional life," said Bray.
One thing Bray is very thankful for is the Watson Art Centre, and how the Parkland has such a dedicated and caring arts community.
"[My destinations have] all been wonderful, but it strikes me how much Dauphin is a support of the arts, and I think the Watson Art Centre, particularly in it's current kind of state, or current era, is such a monument to how we value art in this community I think," said Bray.
Being from such a small town and going all across Canada, and soon to Mexico for his passion, has given Bray an interesting perspective. He's been able to bring a lot of unique perspectives and approaches to his destinations, but he's also been able to bring back a lot of those outside ideas home with him.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
In a Facebook post, the Town of Swan River announced the resignation of their Chief Administrative Officer, Will Tewnion. His resignation will be effective as of October 23rd, 2026.
The announcement comes one day after Mayor Lance Jacobson's statement on the Town of Swan River's flood evacuation process, saying he's listening to concerns about whether or not the mandatory evacuation was necessary. In that same statement, Jacobson says he is concerned about growing divisons among Swan River's elected officials.
In the post, Jacobson says himself and the Council thank Tewnion for the contributions he's made to Swan River, and appreciate his willingness to assist with the transition.
Over the next few weeks, the Town of Swan River will begin the process of recruiting a new Chief Administrative Officer. Meanwhile, Jacobson says the Town remains committed to ensuring the continued delivery of municipal services.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Manitoba Agriculture, in partnership with the Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation, will be hosting an event titled Rooted: A Deep-Dive into Soil, Water and Management in Roblin, on August 11th.
James Frey, Applied Research Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, said more often than not, when people find information on soil health online, it's very generalized. These local events, in partnership with local groups, helps to get producers information that works for their area.
"Over the years we've heard a lot about soil health, and understand that to be something that is really quite important on an agricultural level, but we also see that it is something that really goes from the ground literally under our feet, right out into the bigger landscape that we all live on...our goal is to bring in some people, some of them are going to be staff that is working with the Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation, other from U of M, or Manitoba Agriculture, and also the Soil Health Network here in the province, to talk in ways that are specific to our region," said Frey.
Some of the planned guest speakers include Ehsan Zarrinabadi from U of M, Megan Westphal from Manitoba Agriculture, and Jessica Frey with the Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation. Frey said the partnerships Manitoba Agriculture has with various local groups, like the Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation, are essential.
"What is important to emphasize about PCDF's work is that it provides growers in the region with a very good resource, kind of a neutral or third party resource for understanding these things," said Frey.
One key part of the event is that a lot of it will be producer led. Frey said many of the presentations will be very free-form, allowing Parkland area producers to share their own experiences with soil health and water management. The event will take place about 3 miles south of Roblin, on August 11th.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
In a joint news release yesterday, the Provincial and Federal governments announced several enhancements to Manitoba's AgriStability program, including waiving 2025 late filing penalties for producers in flood-impacted areas.
Ron Kostyshyn, Dauphin MLA and Manitoba's Agriculture Minister, recently attended a meeting in Halifax with most of Canada's Agriculture Ministers, and Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald. Top of the docket: programs like AgriStability.
"The first thing that was brought up on the agenda, as far as all Agriculture Ministers across Canada, business risk insurance programs need to be enhanced moving forward...AgriStability, Manitoba Crop Insurance, AgriInvest, all those are part of the business risk insurance program. There is no doubt, there is no doubt that that needs to be enhanced," said Kostyshyn.
In addition to waiving late filing fees for 2025, the Federal and Provincial governments are also increasing the maximum interim payement made available to farmers enrolled in the 2026 AgriStability program in Manitoba, from 50% to 75% of the estimated final payment. The change allows for farmers to receive funds sooner once they complete their application forms. Top-up payments to the 75% mark will go out to producers who have already received interim payments.
The biggest news from the announcement: Manitoba has implemented late participation for the 2026 AgriStability program year, allowing producers who did not enroll by the deadline on April 30th to still participate in the program, though there will be a reduced benefit for late participation. Producers who want to participate late will have to pay the upfront fee before submitting their 2026 application.
"This is an opportunity for producers that, through the AgriStability program, maybe felt that wasn't accountable, maybe this is an opportunity, they have an opportunity to get back into the AgriStability program," said Kostyshyn.
Even before widespread flooding damages across the region, it was already shaping up to be a rough year for Manitoba's producers. Rapidly increasing input costs, and unpredictably volatile markets led to a lot of uncertainty early on.
"The dollar value continues to rise, and I think this year is a prime example, where input costs continue to rise for the producers. And obviously, at the end of the day, the margins are become more and more tougher for the producers," said Kostyshyn.
Kostyshyn has constantly said that business risk insurance programs, like AgriStability and Manitoba's many other programs, need to be the first line of defence when things go bad for producers. This announcement is proof that several of Canada's other Provincial Agriculture Minsters, and the Federal Agriculture Minister, feel the same. Click here to visit the Federal Government's AgriStability webpage for more information about the enhancements.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
