$126K In Drugs Seized From Minnedosa Home

A woman from Minnedosa is facing drug charges after RCMP recovered a large amount of meth, cocaine, and cash.

On Wednesday, June 10, Spruce Plains RCMP executed a search warrant at a home in Minnedosa.

Police recovered 730 grams in methamphetamine, 73 grams of cocaine and $5,500 in cash.

The total street value of the seized drugs is estimated at $126,000.

A 31-year-old woman from Minnedosa has been arrested and faces five counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking, and one count of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime.

She is set to appear in court in August.

Spruce Plains RCMP continue to investigate.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Jun 12, 2020 - 3:36 pm

One new case of COVID-19 was identified today, bringing the total number of cases to 301.

There is still no one in the hospital, and there are no new deaths to announce.

Manitoba gained 3 recoveries today, leaving just 5 active cases at this time.

There has been a total of 26 active cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region.

For more information, you can go to manitoba.ca/covid19.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Jun 12, 2020 - 1:19 pm

A bicyclist collided with a vehicle on Main Street in Dauphin this morning.

At around 10:50 a.m., a 15-year-old male was cycling on a sidewalk when he collided with a vehicle that was turning right - from 1^st Ave SE onto Main Street.

The vehicle was travelling at a low speed at the time of the accident, and the 15-year-old was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

The 74-year-old male driver was not injured.

The RCMP continues to investigate.

To learn more about some road safety tips for bicyclists and drivers, click here.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Jun 12, 2020 - 12:19 pm

Local charities can now apply to get a grant from the Dauphin & District Community Foundation (DDCF).

The DDCF received $40,000 in funding as part of the federal government's Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) program.

Executive Director Kit Daley explains the Foundation will now divide up the money to local charities that are helping people disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 situation.

“We’re very excited that we’re getting these applications in, and we’re able to provide these grants.”

Applicants for the funding must be registered charities, or qualified donees — as long as the project they are applying for is helping people affected by COVID-19.

The deadline to apply is July 27th.

Daley explains the process to apply is very simple, and accepted applicants won’t have to wait long to receive the grant.

“The application process is very streamlined — it will take less than 20 minutes with a computer. It’s a very quick turnaround, we are viewing applications weekly. So from the time an organization applies to the time they get their check — we’re saying it could be within 10 days.”

To apply, or see if your project qualifies, visit the DDCF website for more information.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Jun 12, 2020 - 5:45 am

Environment Canada has issued a frost advisory for much of the Parkland, and parts of the Interlake region.

Frost may damage crops in some frost-prone areas, as temperatures are expected to dip into the low single digits overnight.

The frost advisory is in effect for:

Gilbert Plains Mun. incl. Ashville
Grandview Mun. incl. Valley River Res.
Mossey River Mun. incl. Winnipegosis and Fork River
Mun. of Ethelbert incl. Garland
Mun. of Roblin incl. Makaroff Shortdale and Bield
Mun. of Russell-Binscarth incl. Gambler Res.
R.M. of Dauphin incl. Sifton and Valley River
R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Ochre River and Makinak
R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Rorketon and Toutes Aides
R.M. of Riding Mountain West incl. Asessippi Prov. Park

The forecast is calling for an overnight low of plus 2 in Dauphin, which includes a risk of frost.

Higher temperatures are forecasted this weekend, with daytime highs in the high 20's and low 30's.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Jun 11, 2020 - 3:29 pm

If you’re looking forward to the sunny weekend weather, here’s even more good news.

Summer Family Fishing Weekend starts this Saturday, and provincial park access will be free from Friday, June 12^th to Sunday, June 14^th. Provincial Park vehicle permits will not be required for visitors.

Anyone looking to fish this weekend will be able to do so without a fishing licence, for this weekend only.

Fishers can keep up to 4 walleye/sauger, 4 northern pike, 2 smallmouth bass, 2 stocked trout, 1 lake trout, and 1 channel catfish.

Outside of family fishing weekends, all anglers are required to obtain an angling licence to fish in Manitoba, unless exempt.

For more information on provincial regulations for anglers, you can view the 2020 Manitoba Anglers’ Guide.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Jun 11, 2020 - 3:14 pm

Gilbert Plains residents are getting some important information about their taxes.

Brenda Leforte with the municipality says Gilbert Plains residents have been given a one-month extension on 2020 property taxes, which are now due October 31, 2020.

Taxes are normally due September 30.

The municipality’s Council has also agreed to waive the fees on outstanding taxes and utilities until November 1, 2020.

Leforte explains the province is a little bit behind, and those living in Gilbert Plains “probably won’t see the tax statements out until late July.”

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Jun 11, 2020 - 2:45 pm

There are no new COVID-19 cases to announce today.

The total number of cases in the province remains at 300, and there are 7 active cases at this time.

No one is in the hospital and 286 people have recovered. The number of deaths remains at 7.

There has been a total of 26 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region.

For more details click here.

Today, the province also announced the draft plan for Phase Three, which will begin no sooner than June 21st. For more details, click here.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Jun 11, 2020 - 1:17 pm

The Manitoba government has laid out the Phase Three draft plan today.

Premier Brian Pallister says the next stage of allowing more businesses to reopen will happen no sooner than June 21^st.

The province is looking for the public’s feedback on the proposed changes.

We can expect the following services to be restored in Phase Three:

increasing gathering sizes to up to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors;
developing guidelines for faith-based and other cultural gatherings, pow wows and other Indigenous cultural and spiritual gatherings, and small summer fairs and festivals;
easing border restrictions to allow residents of western Canada and northwest Ontario to enter Manitoba without the need to self-isolate for 14 days;
resuming regular licensed capacity for child-care centres with guidelines in place;
increasing group sizes for day camps from 24 children to 50;
increasing indoor occupancy levels for community/service centres and senior centres/clubs;
allowing people employed by or affiliated with a film production to enter Manitoba without self-isolating for 14 days;
allowing people employed by or affiliated with a professional sports team to enter Manitoba without self-isolating for 14 days;
removing occupancy limits for retail businesses while ensuring physical distancing measures are in place;
increasing indoor and patio occupancy limits to 75 percent of total capacity for restaurants, bars, beverage rooms, brew pubs, microbreweries and distilleries; and
lifting occupancy limits for regulated and non-regulated health professions including registered massage therapists.

A detailed version of the reopening plan can be found here.

Manitoba businesses that want to give feedback, or have questions about how the next phase will affect them can visit https://engagemb.ca/.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Jun 11, 2020 - 11:36 am

The federal government is keeping the information they relied on to decide against exempting grain dryers from the carbon tax to themselves.

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says her department analyzed information through the Agriculture Taxation Data Program and figured out the carbon tax applied to grain dryers would cost someone between 210 and 819 dollars per year.

She adds, that is at most 0.42 per cent of revenues, which isn’t high enough to exempt grain dryers as they did for fuels used to heat greenhouses or run farm vehicles.

Bibeau’s spokesman says the analysis won’t be made public at this time and refers back to the 2-year-old report that estimated the added costs of the carbon tax for farms.

A conservative MP from Alberta, John Barlow, says he’s being flooded with bills from farmers that he says show Bibeau’s estimates are “completely out of touch.”

Barlow says some farmers are showing bills in excess of $10,000 for the carbon tax.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Jun 11, 2020 - 9:32 am

The momentum continues to build for the Gilbert Plains Splash Park as they have received their first major grant.

Vice President of the Gilbert Plains Splash Park Initiative, Cory Gulenchin, says the grant of $75,000 is a huge stepping stone for them.

“This is one of the first grants that we’ve ever gotten for the splash park. The bulk of the money that we’ve raised so far, in excess of $70,000 right now, has come just from grassroots fundraising and a lot of events and planning and stuff like that. From just doing things local here, 75 is a huge chunk, this is gonna be a huge stepping stone for us in order to get some more grants to fulfil the dream of building this park.”

Gulenchin says Melissa Stefaniw was a big reason for this grant by helping them with grant writing. Going forward, Cory says she’ll be able to help them apply for more grants because she knows what they are and aren't eligible for.

“It’s just amazing how fast we got this one. We’re very grateful that we can move forward on this. I think people will start to see that there is actual money coming in for this project and it’s just gonna move us forward and get us there, that much quicker.”

Gulenchin says completing the goal of $400,000 to build the splash park will put them on the map.

“This is not an ordinary splash park, this thing is massive, it is huge, it’s one of a kind and it’s going to be a lot bigger than some of the other ones that the communities do have right now. Having that for a small community like Gilbert Plains, it’s going to attract a lot more to the Centennial Park where the campgrounds are and possibly for the golf course itself.”

The Splash Park Initiative is also doing a field of dreams and they already have a 150-acre field of canola seeded and sprayed. Signs with all the sponsors will be displayed at the field. Gulenchin is hoping for a good bumper crop this year to make some good money.