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What used to be a Thanksgiving Weekend tradition years ago is now a week long celebration for residents of Russell.
Their annual Beef and barley Days began on Sunday, and continues right through to next Sunday.
Board member Christine Jones says on the suggestion of some residents, beef and barley is being brought back to the festival in the form of a beer and brisket tasing event.
"This will be Wednesday, October 7th, starting at 6 pm, with the doors opening at 5:30, but we suggest everybody arrive early, as we are just selling the beer and the brisket until it runs out. Tickets are 4 for $60, which includes 4 brisket sliders, two tall beers, and 4 - 5 ounce tasting cups."
Other highlights include a Kids Amazing Race and Comedy night on Wednesday, the "Family Beef" game show on Friday, a car show on Sunday, and a pamcake breakfast, volleyball tournament, and charity bull riding all on Saturday.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Bell Canada has submitted an official report to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), giving a small amount of new information as to why their systems failed in July.
On July 22nd, a series of failures affecting the Brandon Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) caused the centre to be unable to receive any new 911 calls. Notably, a fibre cable was cut in Winnipeg, in addition to another technical system failure which Bell did not disclose to the public.
The undisclosed failure happened on July 21st. Technicians were dispatched to resolve that failure, but the fibre cable cut on July 22nd, before the repairs were complete, resulted in a complete loss of 911 call delivery to the Brandon PSAP.
An emergency alert was issued to inform Manitobans that 911 call service across the province was down, as the Brandon PSAP serves all of Manitoba excluding the City of Winnipeg. The outage was fixed after approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes, with what Bell Canada says is a permanent fix to the undisclosed technical issue.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Through their From the Ground Up – Safe Healthy Communities for ALL Program, the Province of Manitoba is investing $100,000 in Maamawi Park's third phase of upgrades.
Dauphin MLA Ron Kostyshyn said Maamawi Park embodies the spirit of the program perfectly - a place for everyone.
"A park that has a variety of activities for the young and the senior generations that we have in this community. It's a place where people can come, get educated, have some exercise, and appreciate what we have in the City of Dauphin here and surrounding areas," said Kostyshyn.
The third phase of this expansion project is set to establish the first of four planned learning and story stations, helping to further Indigenous education in Dauphin. The project is being spearheaded by Dauphin Recreation Services, in partnership with Anishinaabe Nations in Treaty 2 Territory, the Northwest Métis Council, the Dauphin Friendship Centre, and both the City and RM of Dauphin.
"The activity station will be themed 'The North', and will feature interactive play and exploration areas, Indigenous storytelling elements, public art, educational signage, landscaping, and gathering spaces, developed in collaboration with Indigenous partners," said Kostyshyn.
The Province's From the Ground Up – Safe Healthy Communities for ALL Program provides communities funds for revitalization, youth programs, and capital improvements that strengthen local infrastructure and support vibrant community life - the last of which, Dauphin's Maamawi Park upgrades will definitely do.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Last week, the bridge on Road 172 North had a 5 tonne weight restriction imposed, which has been giving area farmers a tough time amid a busy harvest season.
According to a news release from Mossey River Municipality, Council requested an inspection on the bridge. The engineer who completed the inspection recommended that the Municipality decrease the load rating to 5 tonnes, until a load rating analysis can be completed.
After the October 1st regular council meeting, the decision was made to get a load rating analysis completed. Once the results of the analysis are received by the Municipality, they will adjust signage and weight restrictions if necessary.
When asked when repairs on the bridge would start, a Mossey River Municipality spokesperson said until the load rating analysis is completed, the municipality will have no further comment until the engineered report is received.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The Dauphin Fire Department has a couple events this week to mark Fire Prevention Week, a week promoted by the National Fire Protection Association to raise awareness about fire safety.
Cam Abrey, Dauphin's Fire Chief, said the theme of this year's Fire Prevention Week makes a lot of sense, as it's an increasing safety concern in recent years.
"This particular year, the theme is related to lithium batteries and safe charging, so that being a recent thing that has popped up in the last number of years with increasing fires due to lithium batteries and chargers, [the National Fire Protection Association has] made that our focus, to spread the message," said Abrey.
Abrey has a few tips for making sure you safety charge anything you might own with lithium batteries that you might not think of, but just make sense.
"Use the chargers that actually came with it. We know that you can go online and buy replacement chargers at a less expensive cost, but they don't follow the same safety protocols necessarily as what the manufacturer puts out...make sure that when you are charging your devices, it's on a hard, flat surface. Charging your cell phones or your tablets, or anything like that, on top of your bed or under a pillow or anything, these devices, the battery starts to heat up, and it can ignite a fire," said Abrey.
Throughout the week, the Dauphin Fire Department has a couple events for Fire Prevention Week, including an Open House where you can learn more what they do.
"We'll be having an open house on Wednesday evening during our regular practice if anybody wishes to stop by, get a tour of the trucks or anything like that they're more than welcome to, and then to wrap up fire prevention week, we've partnered with the Dauphin Lions Club, and on Saturday, October 10th, we'll be doing a pancake breakfast at the fire station," said Abrey.
For more information about this year's Fire Prevention Week theme, and related fire safety tips, click here to visit the National Fire Protection Association's website.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
A man who killed two women and was accused of killing another one from the Parkland is back in prison within a year of his release, after the Parole Board of Canada says he was suspected of drug trafficking and interacting with vulnerable populations.
Shawn Lamb pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 2012 deaths of the Indigenous women, Carolyn Sinclair and Lorna Blacksmith, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
He was also accused of murdering Tanya Nepinak of Pine Creek, but those charges were stayed.
Tanya's remains have never been found, and her family has pressured the provincial government to search the Brady Landfill site near Winnipeg for them.
Last November, Lamb was granted statutory release, a provision under federal law that sees most inmates automatically freed after serving two-thirds of a sentence.
A recent parole board decision says Lamb breached a number of release conditions and that his risk to the community is no longer considered “manageable.”
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
City of Dauphin voters can now submit applications to be able to vote by sealed envelope in the upcoming Manitoba Municipal Election.
Deputy City Manager Lisa Gaudet went over some of the details about the process.
"[Voters] will be provided with voting instructions with the ballots, and their ballot envelope and a certificate envelope that they sign, and then also an outer return envelope," said Gaudet.
The official deadline to apply for voting by sealed envelope is October 25th at 8:00 PM, but since that falls on a Sunday, the City of Dauphin asks any residents wanting to apply to make sure their applications are in by 4:30 PM on Friday, October 23rd.
There are often concerns around voting by sealed envelope not being as secure or reliable as in person voting. Gaudet said the City makes sure the process is followed, and is very secure.
"It's impossible for someone to vote twice. Election officials maintain a record of every voter who received a sealed envelope ballot package, and the voters list is marked accordingly, so the person is not able to vote in the advance poll or on election day...it is a secure process, and we follow all of our guidelines here to make sure it is absolutely secure," said Gaudet.
The City will also be operating some mobile voting stations on the day of the election, to make it easier for seniors or healthcare patients to vote.
"We'll also have mobile voting stations for eligible patients and residents at designated healthcare and residential care facilities," said Gaudet.
For more information about the sealed envelope voting process, and a list of mobile voting station times, click here to visit the City of Dauphin's website.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
With a change in Legislature to the Employment Standards Code, Manitobans no longer need sick notes for everyday work absence.
After the change, notes are only needed if an employee is absent due to sickness for a period of one week, or if an employee takes more than 10 sick days in a year. Plus, in the event of an employee requiring a sick note, they must be reimbursed by their employer for the cost of the note.
The Province said the change was made to help reduce the burden on Manitoba's already strained healthcare system, and to support workers.
Doctors Manitoba Board of Directors Chair Dr. Nichelle Desilets noted that Manitoba has come a long way when it comes to sick notes. She said sick notes requests take a lot of time out of a physician's day, so the change to make them less necessary gives Manitoba's doctors more time to see more patients.
Uzoma Asagwara, Manitoba's Health, Seniors, and Long-Term Care Minister, said it helps promote workers prioritizing their health when they're sick, and helps doctors focus on providing care.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Culture Days officially wraps up for another year this weekend, with two signature events.
Organizer Jean-Louis Guillas says Forest Fringe will take place at Meadowlark Park, after being held last year at Northgate.
"It's a mini theatre frnge festival. There are four short, humourous plays. They are all fantastic with lots of great actors working with us on that. There are two opportunities to see the plays, ,unlike last year when we did just one circuit of the plays. This year we have two, so you can join us at 1 o'clock and go out and see the plays, or 3 o'clock."
There will be live music and art activities about 45 minutes before each show.
On Sunday, Culture Days closes with the annual film festival at Countryfest Community Center.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Passing on the traditions of the Metis people to younger generations is one of the main focuses of the Annual Muktuk Annie festival in Kinosota.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Now that the nomination period is over and candidate lists are official for the upcoming Manitoba Municipal Election, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities put out some stats about this year's candidates.
Most, if not all, of the trends are very positive - an increase in the overall number of candidates, a sizeable increase in the number of female candidates, and a decrease in the number of acclamations. AMM President Kathy Valentino said the stats give some positivity in a time most people view as negative.
"We always as people go to a negative narrative when we're hearing about elections and campaigns, but this was some real positive numbers, and hopefully it's a good trend moving forward for elections...it shows that our residents are engaged in what's going on in their communities, and what the future of their communities is going to look like, and that they're willing to step up and serve," said Valentino.
For Valentino especially, the 17.6% increase in the number of female candidates from last election is a big one. She's had a hand in many women-focused government events over the years, and said though there's still more work to be done to give women fair representation in governments, it's promising to see the numbers the highest they've been in recent memory.
"There's work to be done because it's still a minority, but we are super pleased to see that some of the efforts AMM's been doing is reflecting in the highest number of women putting their names forward for municipal office in the past 4 election cycles...a diverse council table, really that brings a broader range of perspectives, different experiences and different ideas to the table, and by having a diverse council, it actually will strengthen the community or municipality that that council table is representing and serving," said Valentino.
Even though the number of acclamations is around 30%, down from 37% last election, they're still something to keep in mind. Plus, some municipalities (like the RM of Dauphin) have vacancies, that will need to be filled by appointment. Valentino said acclamations and vacancies don't always mean a municipality is struggling.
"Every municipality is different, so vacancies, they do happen. But they can happen for a number of reasons, and they don't necessarily reflect the health of a municipality or council...many elected officials, they balance council meetings, the committees, the community events, they have full time jobs, and kids, and life, so it's difficult to fully understand the time and responsibility involved until you get into this role," said Valentino.
Going forward, Valentino and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities plans to keep promoting education around what councillors do in their role. This year especially, they focused on election information sessions, with several Parkland municipalities hosting their own.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
