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This weekend is Winter Family Fishing Weekend in Manitoba.
From Saturday until Monday, Manitobans and visitors to the province can ice fish without an angling licence.
The exception is in Riding Mountain National Park, where a federal angling licence is still required.
Anglers must still follow all possession limits and size restrictions, including regulations that apply to specific waters.
The provincial government also reminds residents that entry into provincial parks continues to be free until April 30.
While vehicle permits are not required, Snopasses are required for snowmobiles using groomed trails in the parks.
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Tributes are coming in for former longtime CKDM personality Bruce Leperre, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 65.
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Louis Riel was the founder of Manitoba.
He was the leader of the Métis who led two resistances against the Canadian government to protect Métis rights, land, and culture. He created the provisional government that negotiated Manitoba's entry into Confederation in 1870.
After Riel's defeat at the Battle of Batoche, he was tried for high treason in Regina. He was found guilty and hanged on November 16, 1885. Annually, Louis Riel is honoured on the third Monday in February.
Monday, February 16, is Louis Riel Day, and many communities in the Parkland are hosting events to celebrate. The Dauphin Friendship Centre is hosting a Coffee House on Friday in the Back Hall.
Cheryl Klyne is the wellness coordinator at the DFC.
"I think it's important to educate people who don't know about him," said Klyne. "Especially the younger generation. I believe they need to know all of the facts."
The free event is open to all community members. It starts at 6:00 and runs until about 9:00. Local stars will showcase their talents, and there will be snacks and refreshments.
"We have the DFC Diversity Square Dancers performing," ended Klyne. "We have a crib board, so people can come out and enjoy that. We've got some colouring books for the kids. It's an evening to get together, have some fun, and to celebrate Louis Riel."
Here is a list of other community events.
Riding Mountain National Park: Friends of RMNP Learning Centre from 10:00 to 4:00 on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Russell: George P. Buleziuk Centre from 11:00 to 4:00 on Sunday, February 15.
Lundar: Ag Building and Outdoor Area from 1:00 to 4:00 on Sunday, February 15.
Laurier: Nouveau Horizons from 1:00 to 4:00 on Monday, February 16.
Roblin: Community Centre from 11:00 to 4:00 on Monday, February 16.
Dauphin: Métis Community Centre from 11:00 to 5:00 on Monday, February 16.
Swan River: Elbert Chartrand Friendship Centre from 11:00 to 3:00 on Monday, February 16.
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Taylor Schmidt began working at the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School in 2010.
He was hired to be the band director. Nine years later, Schmidt was promoted to vice principal. Schmidt, who coaches the varsity boys volleyball team, was promoted again not long after. He's now in his third year as the school's principal.
Taylor still remembers when he was in the band room, making music, and putting on concerts.
"As I moved into a vice principal role, I got more involved in different parts of the school. Our vocational programming, a bit more of our extracurricular," said Schmidt. "As a principal these last three years, it's amazing the diversity of the programming, teachers, and the entire staff. From our educational assistants to our kitchen staff, custodians, and secretaries, the diversity of our building is amazing."
Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week is coming to a close in the province. It's been a week to honour the teachers and staff for their hard work, dedication, and commitment.
Earlier this week, the superintendent of MVSD, Suzanne Cottyn, sent out a memo to schools to take time to recognize each other and colleagues.
Schmidt said it's been great to see everyone take time to let others know how they appreciate them.
"It's just amazing how we are one big massive team," added Schmidt. "From our vocational programming to science to culture, everyone is working as one big team. It's been amazing to see everyone come together."
The DRCSS employs about 100 people. When Taylor was looking for a change after serving as the school's band director for almost a decade, people started asking him why he wanted to apply for the principal position.
His number one reason was the staff.
"The staff at the DRCSS is a great group. They collaborate, work together, and are all about the students," said Schmidt. "They're doing everything they can to help the students. Whether it's in their academics or their future endeavours. Everything we do at the DRCSS, the staff are always keeping students at the centre, and do everything they can to help them out."
Keeping the staff busy is the roughly 700 students that attend the school from grades nine to 12. While this week is to recognize teachers and staff, Schmidt is quick to credit the students for their amazing work.
As Suzanne Cottyn said earlier this week.
"We wouldn't be here without them. We always appreciate our students coming and being present," said Cottyn. "Without them, we wouldn't have the opportunity to see young people learning, growing, and developing into great citizens of our community."
Taylor is proud of all that the students do daily.
"We have a wonderful school community, our students are fantastic," ended Schmidt. "In so many conversations that I have with all of our staff, they are always motivated by the students. Talking to them daily, it's always a great reminder of how great our students are. Our students are some of the best."
So, whether you're a staff member or student, great job on all your hard work and dedication.
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The Manitoba government is launching a provincial grocery study to identify new ways to reduce food costs and improve affordability for Manitobans.
As part of the study, the Manitoba government will examine predatory or differential pricing practices, including cases where companies use consumer data or purchasing patterns to raise prices.
These practices can result in some consumers paying more than others for the same groceries.
Adrien Sala is the province's Finance Minister.
"We will look at the grocery costs from end to end. Pricing practices, competition, access to food, and market concentration," said Sala. "We will identify real, workable actions the province can take. It's a comprehensive, province-led study that will help guide next steps, including potential affordability measures in Budget 2026."
The grocery study delivers on a commitment made in the 2025 throne speech.
Some objectives of the study include enabling greater access to healthy, nutritious food for those in congregate living settings like personal care homes, strengthening anti-trust and competition laws to help bring down rising costs at checkout by working with the federal government, and enabling price stability and examining regulations for staple food items, including two-litre and four-litre milk jugs.
Recently, the government announced it's freezing the price on one-litre jugs of milk. Sala said they will look into freezing the cost of two and four-litre jugs of milk.
"I think one of the main things we want to focus on with this study is looking at predatory pricing and how that may be impacting Manitobans," added Sala.
The Manitoba Bureau of Statistics will lead the study.
"They're going to engage researchers and experts as needed to get the data we need," said Sala. "Again, the focus here is to understand what the main drivers of grocery price increases are and what our province can do to respond to them. This is within the space of control for provinces. We are responsible for consumer protection and transparency. We want to know what we can do to lower grocery bills for Manitobans."
Sala added that Manitoba is setting itself apart from other provinces by conducting this study.
"And frankly, one of the exciting things that we're excited to things here we're happy to share with Manitobans is this makes us leaders in Canada," ended Sala. "We're the first province to launch a study to really look at this to understand how we ensure transparency and fairness in grocery prices. We can be proud as a province that we're going to be leaders in this front."
The study will begin immediately, and there is no time frame for how long it will take.
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The goal was to keep the lights on.
A recent fundraiser will help to achieve just that. On Thursday, Kevin Bomak of Reit-Syd Equipment and Kyle Campbell of MacDon Industries presented a $5,000 cheque to the Countryfest Community Cinema in Dauphin.
CCC board chair Ron Hedley and director Tere Stykalo were on hand to receive the cheque.
"It was awesome. It's one more organization in our community that is very supportive of the cinema," said Hedley.
The CCC has been raising funds for months. As of publishing, they've raised more than $41,000 thru their GoFundMe campaign. Another $15,000 to $20,000 is to come in through corporate sponsors.
"We're just finishing our second phase of fundraising and things are going very well," continued Hedley. "We have one more membership drive to go along with our 15th anniversary."
Speaking of the CCC's 15th anniversary, Wednesday, February 11, was 15 years to the day that the doors first opened. Hedley says a community celebration will take place. Stay tuned to 730CKDM to find out when.
"It's been a lot of great community effort to start, and then keep the cinema going," said Hedley.
Here's the answer many have been waiting for. The Countryfest Community Cinema has been a hotbed in the community for 15 years. Moving forward, Hedley confirmed that won't change.
The lights are staying on.
"Yes, they are," ended Hedley. "We're very excited to get it revitalized and get things going."
For showtimes at the Countryfest Community Cinema, head here.
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Louis Riel Day is this Monday, celebrating the Métis leader and founder of Manitoba.
Louis Riel fought to defend Métis, cukture and rights, as well as bring Manitoba into confederation in 1870.
Riding Mountain National Park is hosting activities all weekend long to help people celebrate the long weekend.
On Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm at the Learning Centre, you can participate in activities which include a scavenger hunt, snow shoeing on the Brule trail, snow carving and painting, a bannock roast, maple syrup rolling, with smores with hot chocolate to end the celebrations Monday.
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A teenaged boy facing several charges in connection with a serious assault last year on the Keeseekoose First Nation has been given a new court date.
The boy, who can not be named, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon in the October 26th incident that Kamsack RCMP say sent an adult male to hospital with serious injuries.
The teen will be back in court on April 7th.
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If you're looking for something fun to do on Sunday, Neepawa has you covered.
The community is hosting its winter festival on Sunday from 3:00 to 8:00 at the Flats.
Cassandra Noonan-Robinson is the director of recreation services for the town.
"It's always such a great community event," said Noonan-Robinson. "We're a little sad that we're going to have less snow than normal. With that said, that's okay. We're going to have an incredible time. We're excited, we have sleigh rides."
There will also be outdoor skating, an obstacle course put on by the cross-country ski club, a live DJ, and fireworks. Toss in a snowman building competition with amazing prizes, and you're in for a treat.
Noonan-Robinson says this is always an event marked on her calendar and knows much of the community feels the same way.
"It's amazing. It's one of my favourite parts of the job, having these big community events where everyone comes together," ended Noonan-Robinson. "People are dancing and singing. It's so amazing to have everyone together. We get to celebrate together during a busy season."
There is no cost, and anyone in the area is welcome to attend.
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Tickets for this summer's Rocki the Fields of Minnedosa go on sale to the general public at 10 am tomorrow (Friday).
Promoter Rob Waloschuk says if you have never been to the festival, it is quite the unique experience.
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Construction of the long-awaited new Neepawa Health Centre is more than 75 per cent complete.
The hospital is on a 39-acre site east of town.
Treena Slate is the CEO of Prairie Mountain Health.
"We are very happy about meeting that milestone," said Slate. "It's been achieved through the excellent collaboration with all of the stakeholders involved, including our staff and physicians."
Slate says they're on track to open the new hospital early next year. It'll be a phased opening to ease the transition from the old building to the new one.
Phase one will see current services moved into the hospital. Phase two included expanded capacity, including additional inpatient beds and a new nine-station hemodialysis unit.
"It's going to be such a wonderful addition to that community and to our health services across the region," said Slate.
The new facility will be roughly three and a half times larger than the existing hospital. It'll feature 60 acute care beds, up from 35. It'll also feature an emergency department, trauma and assessment rooms, additional diagnostic spaces, dedicated chemotherapy treatment stations, expanded maternity and palliative care areas, and enhanced therapy services.
The newer standard of care delivery is contributing to the amount of square footage.
"Instead of having shared patient rooms, they will all be single rooms with their own bathroom," ended Slate. "As an example, there will be much more room in the emergency department and diagnostic services area."
Construction of the new hospital is one of Manitoba's largest rural health-care investments. The new space will be much more open, bright, and inclusive.
Slate adds that there will be a hiring wave. Additional staff will be needed in all departments, including nutrition services, housekeeping, facility maintenance, and clinical services.
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