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Avian flu is now in Manitoba according to the provincial government. Provincial officials tested several samples from snow geese in the Waskada area, as well as one from a Bald Eagle in the Dauphin area.
One sample from each location came back positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), subtype H5N1. To date, no cases of avian influenza have been detected in poultry flocks in Manitoba.
The risk of avian influenza to human health is low, and there are no known cases of transmission of this strain of the virus from birds to humans in North America. The province is asking for the public's help to identify cases in wild birds, Manitobans are asked to contact the toll-free TIP Line at 1-800-782-0076 if they find any of the following:
- Clusters of six or more dead waterfowl (e.g., ducks, geese) or other water birds
- Any number of dead raptors or avian scavengers (e.g., ravens, crows, gulls)
- Large groups of dead birds, such as more than 20 of any species.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
UPDATE: Power has been restored in the area
Manitoba Hydro has announced that there's a planned outage happening in the Fork River area right now.
According to their outages map, the outage started at 9 am this morning and they expect hydro to be restored by 12 pm today.
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- Contributed by Eric Fawx
Today is April 20th, a day celebrated as “420 Day” by advocates of legalized marijuana use. Since cannabis was legalized in Canada in 2018, it could be assumed that the relevance of 420 days has disappeared.
Dauphin podcaster Kirk Nyquist recently spoke to Steven Stairs, chair of the 420 movement in Winnipeg, who disagrees:
“420 will still be here. It's just a matter of what it changes into… and we'll have a protest event still to it. I think continually until we reach a point where cannabis legislation throughout, not only Canada but throughout the world is much more equitable towards societal benefits than it is detriments.”
Steven Stairs tells his fascinating story of the controversy he faced as leader of the Winnipeg 420 movement, in Reefer MEDness Episode 82, which you can find on their website here.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
Chief Byron Bitternose of George Gordon First Nation, west of Yorkton, will be releasing the details of a ground search at the site of a former residential school. The George Gordon Indian Residential School was founded by the Anglican Church in 1888 and ran until 1996.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation called the school one of the worst runs in the entire residential school system, and say they have 49 student deaths on record. A spokeswoman for the First Nation, Sarah Longman, says the search has been challenging for the community and for those who attended George Gordon Indian Residential School.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
The Dauphin Agricultural Society is hosting its annual fair from July 1st to 3rd this summer at the Dauphin Fair Grounds. President of the Ag Society Terron Stykalo says they're excited to have the fair for the first time in years.
People are ready for us to get back to normal, they're ready for the fair to be around again, and they're ready for that experience with their family and friends.
Terron says planning has been going well thanks to the great people they have organizing the event.
It's always a challenge putting an event like this on. It takes time, and it takes a team of dedicated people and we're lucky that the Ag Society is blessed with those dedicated people.
You can stay up to date with what's happening with the fair here.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
Municipal elections across Manitoba are taking place on October 26th, with a couple of exemptions. Registration to run for Mayor or Reeve in all cities and municipalities runs from May 1st to September 20th.
Information on how to register, and what requirements there are to register will be sent out by officials closer to the May 1st opening date. The City of Dauphin hasn't had a contested Municipal election since 2010 when the late Eric Irwin won by just 36 votes.
Registration for all council positions across the province opens on June 30th and will run until September 20th as well.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
This week is a very special week in the Eastern Orthodox religions including Ukrainian Orthodox with it being holy week that leads up to the celebration of Pascha, Orthodox Easter, on Sunday.
The Orthodox Easter Holy week will be filled with services taking place at St George’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Dauphin every day starting Wednesday and running through Paschal Sunday.
The holy week starts off with the Holy Unction service on Wednesday evening at 7 pm and Father Brent Kuzyk explains what the Holy Unction is.
That is a service where the priest will bless holy oil in the church and then all the faithful come forward and are anointed on the forehead with that holy oil to signify that their sins have been remitted.
Then on Thursday evening at 7 pm, the church will host the reading of the 12 passion gospels of Christ.
On Friday evening at 6 pm, there will be the service of the Holy Shroud.
We journey through with Christ and the apostles the taking down of Christ’s body from the cross, wrapping it in a shroud and carrying it to a tomb.
On Saturday Father Brent will be journeying through the district blessing baskets in different parishes around the Parkland.
The holy week will wrap up on Sunday and Father Brent explains the services on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning at 7am we greet the newly risen sun with the words that the son of righteousness has arisen, that Christ has resurrected from the dead. Travelling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing the gift of life. Then of course journeying through the Divine Liturgy at 8am.
Father Brent said that this year’s holy week and Pascha will be an extra special one with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
We are standing with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and throughout the world who are suffering, never to be silenced but to sing loudly with the angels in heaven that Christ has resurrected from the dead. Therefore life, even in in the midst of all chaos, life reigns over everything.
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- Contributed by Eric Fawx
Grain futures prices continue to increase for a number of reasons according to LeftField Commodity Research Market Analyst Jon Driedger. During the Dauphin Ag Society Farm Outlook in March, Jon spoke about some of the factors causing the price increase.
According to Driedger, the effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine that were early concerns at the time of the Farm Outlook, have now become realities.
Some of those concerns about how much of the crop gets planted, what potentially gets exported, it goes from a what if, to becoming increasingly more of a long term problem.
Other issues that would affect prices in a normal situation are also being compounded by the continued uncertainty around the situation in Ukraine according to Driedger.
The winter wheat crop in the southern US is in poor shape, concerns about dryness in parts of western Canada and too much moisture late seeding in others, concerns about the winter wheat crop in China. The war on its own is a big deal for grain markets because Ukraine and Russia are such huge exporters for certain crops, but it's adding on to what were already concerns elsewhere.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
Shopping local has always been important but perhaps more now than ever.
With the price of basically everything from gas to food and everything in between rising, local shops are relying heavily on people in the Parkland to shop in the region.
Angela from the Winnipegosis Meat Market says when you want a great cut of meat, her welcoming staff will be there.
"It's very important that people shop local because we support other local functions and we donate back to the community," said Angela. "So even though at times you're going to see higher prices, we give back to the community."
Winnipegosis Meat Market recently shared this on their Facebook page.
So whether you're right in Winnipegosis or find yourself elsewhere, Angela says come on down.
"While we may not carry as many items as larger stores, we will do our best to help you out to get you what you need," she ended. "We're always here for you and it's definitely worth the drive."
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Manitoba Métis Federation is sending a group of delegates to meet with Pope Francis on Thursday. The meeting was planned before the pontiff made an apology for the Roman Catholic church's role in residential school abuse.
President of the MMF, David Chartrand, said the focus of the meeting will be shifted now that an apology has been made.
Now that His Holiness has issued an apology to all Indigenous peoples, we can focus our meeting on the relationship between the Red River Métis and the Catholic Church, past, present, and future.
The theme for this week's meeting is Journey Forward: Reconciliation to Renewal, and it will feature discussions on Hope, Healing, and Revitalization.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
Gilbert Plains Services for Seniors is hosting a Seniors and Cannabis event today at 1:30 at the EMS Building in Gilbert Plains. The presentation will be made by The Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy's Trevor Shewfelt, who co-hosts a podcast called "Reefer MEDness".
The amount of people in Canada, especially older people, who are using cannabis right now has increased dramatically over the last few years.
Shewfelt said while he's pro-cannabis, he knows that it needs to be an addition to treatments, and shouldn't replace a treatment.
Cannabis is not a magic bullet to treat anything, it's not really first-line to treat anything, and it doesn't really cure any diseases, so we're going to try to dispel some of the myths. On the other hand, it might be very helpful as a part of somebody's treatment.
You can find information about the event on Gilbert Plains Services for Seniors' Facebook page,
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
