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With the weather finally starting to warm up, the Dauphin RCMP said they'll start increasing the frequency of foot patrols in the downtown area.
S/Sgt. Mark Smaill, Dauphin RCMP Detachment Commander, said foot patrols help with a level of involvement that isn't possible with driving police cars around all day.
"Getting out on the street allows us to engage directly with community members, in a way that driving around in a patrol car doesn't...good opportunity for us to kind of hear from people, stop in at businesses and chat with the staff and business owners and see what concerns they have, and in terms of public safety, if there's anything we can work together on," said S/Sgt. Smaill.
The Dauphin RCMP has a good level of connection in the community, both with individuals who care about community safety, and with non-police organizations like Citizens on Patrol. S/Sgt. Smaill said these connections are vital to community safety.
"I've been in Dauphin just over a year now, and I've found that this is a great community to be a police officer in. You get a lot of support from the community, which we need. We need everybody working together on issues of public safety...we are 23 members strong in Dauphin, and we're in a community of 9,000 people, surrounding area a lot more, we really rely on the community to work together on issues of public safety," said S/Sgt. Smaill.
Though they won't be out all the time, S/Sgt. Smaill said especially with the warmer weather, you can expect to see the occasional RCMP officer out and about.
"Our goal is that we're going to be out there on a daily basis, maybe not a long period, but just checking in at different areas in the community, getting out on foot and talking to people," said S/Sgt. Smaill.
He also said the public is more than welcome to have a chat with any RCMP officer on foot patrols, especially about public safety concerns.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
A local auctioneer was crowned Reserve Grand Champion of the LMAC Auctioneering championship over the weekend.
Tyler Slawinski has been with the Gladstone Auction Mart for the past 12 years, and is no stranger to the event, having competed in it numerous times in the past.
This year's finish though was a personal best, and is a huge confidence booster to Tyler.
"To be a competitive auctioneer, it always betters a person competitively. And it just keeps a person striving to be better, competing against not only people from across Canada, but also competing against yourself, and striving to be the best auctioneer possible. That is not only for myself, but also for the producers that I sell cattle for."
Slawinski was judged during a live cattle auction event in Medicine Hat on areas such as clarity, rhythm, enthusiasm, and professionalism.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Each Tuesday and Thursday for the rest of the month, the Dauphin Neighbourhood Renewal is holding a clothing drive.
Amanda Novak is the executive director at the DNRC.
"It's that time of year when people are cleaning out their closets," said Novak. "The reason we're doing the clothing drive is that we're supporting the Little Neighbours Play Space steering committee. It's a fundraiser to help raise money to get the play structure moved from Parkland Crossing into our auditorium."
You can drop off items between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. They're accepting gently used clothing for all ages. They must be clean and in good condition.
"Please don't bring us stuff that needs to go on to greener pastures," added Novak. "We have volunteers who are helping with this. It's already a lot of work to sort through everything."
The clothes will be on sale during the City of Dauphin's community yard sale on Saturday, May 30. You can head to the DNRC on that day and purchase a bag for $5. From there, you fill up the bag and head on the road happy.
Their fundraising goal is $110,000 plus tax.
"We're over $40,000. We have a few outstanding grants that we're hoping to receive feedback on soon," ended Novak. "The steering committee is working on meeting with employers and organizations to give them a chance to sponsor or be a part of our name recognition opportunity."
If you're interested in becoming a part of it, you can call 701-1110.
The plan is to open the Little Neighbours Play Space on August 1, 2026.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak will give his final State of the City address on Tuesday.
Having already announced his plans not to seek re-election this fall, Bosiak will recap what has happened in the city over the past year, as well as discuss what is planned for the months ahead.
Kamryn Winters with the Parkland Chamber of Commerce feels this is an event that chamber members will want to check out.
"Chamber members, organizations, new businesses and long-time businesses. It is good to come to the State of the City to see what is coming down the pipe for anything and everything within the city. So that you can plan accordingly, or if there are partnership opportunities, it is nice to be in the know."
The event, which begins at 11:45 AM at the Watson Arts Centre, is the final Chamber Lunch and Learn event of the year.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
As a result of today's hearing in the Amber Fisher case, the matter has been adjourned to August 14th to give council time to prepare a pre-sentence report.
At the start of the hearing, the defence council made a request to withdraw as council, saying he had ethical and contractual obligations he couldn't fulfil if he continued in the case. The judge determined that was not the case, and refused the request, citing R. v. Cunningham, 2010 SCC 10.
After the request was refused, and after a brief meeting between the defence council and Fisher, she made an admission of guilt in relation to manually making 33 transactions between her personal bank account and the RM of Gilbert Plains.
This hearing was originally scheduled as a Gardiner hearing over 2 days, but has been adjourned to August 14th, with council required to have a pre-sentence report with a Gladue component (to ensure fair sentencing for Indigenous persons) by that date.
The court will also get impact statements, both individual and community from those affected, by May 26th.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Forty-five days.
The countdown continues to dwindle.
Dauphin's Countryfest returns south of Dauphin from June 25 to 28.
VIP weekend passes, along with Fisher premium camping, heritage camping, and upper camping, have been sold out for a while.
If you've yet to get your tickets, now is the time, says Duane McMaster.
"Ticket sales are going well. We're going to have a great crowd. We're expecting at least 8,000 each day, and tickets are still moving," said McMaster. "So we're expecting a crowd bigger than that."
The festival has incredible facilities.
The upper portion of the site includes two stages that will be full of entertainment all weekend.
Then you add the main stage, which is one of the best outdoor amphitheatres in the country.
There are three-and-a-half days of great entertainment, beginning on Thursday night with JJ Wilde and The Haileys.
The lineup includes Jelly Roll, Nate Smith, Cameron Whitcomb, Tyler Hubbard, and Owen Riegling, to name a few.
"One of the greatest things about coming to the festival is you come on Thursday, park your camper, and you don't need to leave until Monday," added McMaster. "We've got everything you need on site. Showers, food, beverages, and great entertainment. Afternoon until night. There's nothing you need off the site."
While a great crowd is already expected, Countryfest is turning things up a notch.
On Friday, they introduced a new promotion, "Two-Step and Stay".
"If you purchase two general admission weekend passes for $738 plus fees and taxes, you can get a free campsite in Fisher regular," ended McMaster. "We have a good crowd coming, but we would really like to see it packed to the rafters. We want to sell it out."
You're already going to be two-stepping all weekend long, so you may as well get a campsite to add to the fun.
You can do so here.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
One of the Parkland's most controversial cases in recent years is set to be back in court in Monday.
In 2022, Amber Fisher was fired as Chief Administative Officer for Gilbert Plains, after a report found she stole more than $500,000 of the municipality's money during her time in office. Fisher also faked a cyberattack against the municipality in an attempt to cover her tracks.
After a lawsuit by the Municipality in 2023, Fisher was ordered to pay back $525,000 with an annual interest rate of 5%.
Last summer, Fisher pleaded guilty to a charge of theft over $5,000. 2 other charges, knowingly using proceeds of crime and fraud over $5,000, were stayed.
Monday's court appearance will be a sentencing hearing.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Middle-years students at Ste. Rose School will be under the bright lights later this week, as they hit the stage for Shrek - the Musical.
Performances are set for Thursday and Friday night at the Ste. Rose School Gymnasium.
Katherine Dupre says this musical allows them to use a lot of students.
"We had all kinds of kids that were interested in taking part this year. It is the grades five to eight students that are doing it this year. We actually have a cast of about 32, plus all of our back stage and lighting and sound people. So it is a huge cast this year."
The history of musicals at Ste. Rose school dates back to the mid 1980s, with Dupre playing a key role in bringing back the program a few years ago.
Hannah MacKinnon will play the role of Fiona in the musical.
"When I was first told that I got the role of Fiona, I was really excited. And, I knew that it was a big part to play. But, I commited to it. It is a real fun part to play with lots of lines and a lot of songs to sing."
Show time is 7 PM both nights.
Tickets are $10 each, with children 12-and-under admitted for free.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Farmers within the Westlake Watershed District are encouraged to attend a special speaker series event on Wednesday.
It'll begin at 9 AM at Ste. Rose Community Centre, with topics including cover cropping, improving pasture species content, and nitrogen and fertilizer management.
Evan Musgrove, with the Westlake Watershed District, says this event will be beneficial to farmers in that area.
"Our main focus is to hand out money, basically for farmers to improve their impact on the Watershed. But, we also find that education is equally as important to roll out these programs effectively. If people really do not know what they are doing, or they need more experience, this is a great way to lessen the learning curve on all of these new practices that we are trying to improve the land with."
Because the funding is only for residents within the Westlake Watershed District, Musgrove encourages only farmers from that area attend this free event.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Watson Art Centre will play host Saturday night to the Janzen Boys.
Made up of the father and son combo of J.J. and Mick Janzen, along with Mick's friend Jonah, the group plays a mix of country and folk music.
"We had a press quote that said we are the Waylon Jennings of male harmony trios. We are getting a lot of mileage out of that comment. We are heavy on the harmony, and the joke is that the farther we get from Winnipeg, the more country we are."
It's not the first time that the Janzen Boys have performed in the area, as they competed in the Battle of the Bands event at Dauphin's Countryfest in 2015.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
With Emergency Preparedness Week ongoing in Manitoba, the province has launched the MB Ready app, designed to be a one-stop shop for all your emergency preparedness needs.
Lisa Naylor is Manitoba's Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. She's also the minister responsible for the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, which played a hand in Wednesday's test of the Alert Ready system. Naylor said the MB Ready app takes something the EMO already had on their website, and makes it a lot better and more accessible.
"We had a web based experience that we rolled out last summer in the middle of the fire season, but we've been working ever since on developing an app because there's so much more that we can provide in terms of service to Manitobans...everything from fires, to floods, to hydro outages, it's even going to connect with Manitoba 511 to know about where there's road closures, so it's really an all-encompassing public emergency information app for the province," said Naylor.
With all these different bits of information within the app, it'll be coming from a lot of different sources, like the RCMP and the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, and Manitoba Hydro. Another great benefit of the app is the ease-of-use factor.
"Access to information from police alerts that are issued by the RCMP, non-weather related alerts that may be issued by the Manitoba Emergency Mangement Organization, obviously flood and fires or any other hazard such as that, power outages...all of that information is currently available on the Emergency Management Organization website, but folks don't always go to that. So this is there on your personal device, there's maps around the province, there will be information, in the event of an emergency, information about evacuation locations," said Naylor.
Naylor said there's a lot of customization available for users as well, including the ability to select specific zones to get notifications for, and uploading personal information for emergency use.
"It gives you the chance to watch up to 10 different zones, maybe your home, your workplace, your cottage, or where you go hunting, it gives you the chance to see what's going on in that location and to sign up for notifications if you wish...folks can upload their own personal information like ID or insurance information, that just stays on your phone, so it's not accessible to anybody else, but in the event of an emergency if you're leaving a place quickly or if you're not able to return to your home in the event of an emergency, you've got all that at your fingertips," said Naylor.
The MB Ready app is available on both Apple and Android devices, and is available in both official languages.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
