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The Dauphin Fire Department was getting ready for their training when they received an unexpected call. A cat had climbed into the chimney of a house and the owners had been unable to free it. Chief Cam Abrey said he's never had a call like this one.

This isn't your typical cat in a tree call because we get plenty of those, and no we don't normally go out for cats up in trees because they will make there way down eventually. This was a little bit different situation because the animal was entrapped within something.

Neighbors weren't able to tell firefighters who the cat belonged to, so they called Dauphin Animal Control. The cat is now at the pound, waiting for her owners to pick her up. If you know who the cat belongs to, call the City of Dauphin Pound at 204-638-3044.

The Cat

Photo Courtesy of the City of Dauphin Pound

Another winter storm is on its way to the Parkland, however warmer weather could mean we see as much rain as we do snow. Another Colorado low will move through the Dakotas this weekend and will bring a mix of wintery weather to WestMan and the Interlake areas from Friday morning through Sunday.

Beginning this morning, light snow will transition to rain and persist until Saturday afternoon. The transition back to heavy wet snow is expected to occur from west to east through Saturday afternoon and evening. Storm-total snowfall accumulations of 20 to 50 cm are still expected by Monday afternoon.

Very strong winds with gusts of 70 to 90 km/h will bring blowing snow, causing poor visibility. According to Environment Canada, there will likely be areas of freezing rain as well.

The Dauphin Active Living Centre is hosting an event this afternoon which is being put on by the Parkland Chapter of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby.

The event will run from 12pm-2pm and all are invited.

*With the event being held at the Active Living Centre proof of vaccination and masks are required.*

During the event, there'll be an E-Bike on-site so residents can take a look and learn about them as well as a fun activity for all ages where everyone is invited to bring their empty 2L pop bottles to make micro gardens.

Esther Fyk is a member of the Parkland Chapter and said Earth Day has a very special meaning.

Earth Day is a time when we can think about our relationship with the Earth and how we are interconnected with everything. So without soil we can't live, without water we can't live and without clean air we can't live. We are all interconnected and we need to be cognisant of that all the time and Earth Day is a reminder where we can celebrate this.

There's also a photo contest being put on by the Citizen's Climate Lobby in coordination with the event for Earth Day where residents can take before and after pictures of an area that they're going to be cleaning up for Earth Day and then submit them to the CCL with winners being picked on Sunday April 24.

Tonight the Charlie Brown Daycare in Ste. Rose will be hosting a pub night fundraiser at the Ste. Rose Hotel.

All of the funds raised at the event will go right back into the daycare in order to purchase more toys and supplies for the children as well as pay for any activities that the kids get to take part in.

The pub night event will host a 50/50 draw along with a silent auction with the main event of the evening being a live auction with an auctioneer that begins at 9 pm.

The event fills up quickly every year according to Charlie Brown Daycare’s Assistant Director Sheila Sigurdson.

People start coming in between 7 and 8 o'clock so they can get a seat because after that it’s usually standing room only and it fills to the max for the live auction.

Sheila also said that the amount of support they have received from the community for this event has been outstanding

I just want to say thank you to everybody for all their love and support, it’s just been a huge success again this year. It’s overwhelming and amazing how much support we get from the community and I think it’s just the perfect time for the community to come out and enjoy it because it’s just so much fun.

The doors for the event open at 5 pm and all are invited to attend and help support the daycare with lots of great prizes up for grabs.

Delegates from the Manitoba Métis Federation met with Pope Francis in the Vatican this morning. Federation President David Chartrand spoke about the meeting in a press conference afterward. He said the Pope asked for forgiveness, for what the Catholic Church has done.

The MMF delegates presented the pope with a scroll, translated into Spanish, that showed the history of the Red River Métis and the Catholic Church. President Chartrand spoke about the process of reconciliation and healing, as well as the residential schools themselves.

We acknowledge that these were individuals that were preditors, evil, and did so much harm to so many. It wasn't the Church itself, the Bible, or God's message of how we interact with all peoples in the world, including Indigenous.

The Pope presented the delegates with a brass olive branch, that will go into their museum that is currently being built in Winnipeg.

George Gordon First Nation, west of Yorkton, has announced as many as 14 graves have been found at the site of a former residential school.

The former George Gordon Indian Residential School was run by the Anglican Church from 1888 to 1996 and is considered one of the worst run by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Chief Byron Bitternose says there are still large areas to search on the site west of Yorkton, with the investigation expected to last about 10 more years.

The Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund has continued to grow, thanks to the generosity of people across the Parkland. 

Last night, the Armstrong Family, owners of the Dauphin Super 8, made a donation to the fund. On top of their monetary donation, Harvey Armstrong committed to helping out with a temporary place to stay.

They're going to arrive in Winnipeg, and we've got a Best Western Plus in Headingly, so we're going to accommodate them there the day they arrive, and then they'll come to Dauphin and we'll do the same thing here at Super 8.

The whole Armstrong family said they hope this shows them how supportive the community they're coming to is.

Jim Perchaluk, President of the Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre, and a trustee for the fund said it has now reached over $120,000. Many people have also been making donations in kind, such as furniture and household items, that have helped the fund prepare for the arrival of families from Ukraine.

Our goal is to provide support to as many Ukrainian families as our Community will support through these donations. Our Selection Committee has now been in contact with several Ukrainian families and arrival of the first families is anticipated soon.

You can get more information about the fund, by calling Larry at 204-648-5904, or Karen at 204-648-3567.

Dauphin Recreational Services has announced the impending closure of the Dauphin Kin Aquatic Centre effective Thursday April 21.

This closure will be in effect for an undetermined amount of time but they expect it to be closed for several weeks.

During the closure, they will be replacing the pool heating system after having multiple issues over the past few months while trying to avoid a lengthy shutdown. 

While they are closed for the repairs they announced that they'll also be performing their regular annual maintenance in order to prevent another shutdown in September.

All programs and lessons are cancelled until further notice with spring swim lessons scheduled for May and June being postponed until a later date which will be determined once they re-open. All participants of the lessons scheduled will be contacted directly.

Dauphin Rec will provide updates on the closure as it progresses.

This afternoon the province of Manitoba announced the launch of their new Manitoba K-12 action plan. Manitoba's Education and Early Learning Childhood Minister Wayne Ewasko made the announcement today and spoke about the plan.

All children deserve a high-quality education and our government is committed to strengthening and improving education in the province, this action plan redefines our focus on actions that improve educational outcomes with student achievement and well-being at the centre of all planning and decisions. Based on public feedback to date, work is not proceeding on three of the commission recommendations including changes to the school trustee model and other governance changes.

The action plan is being launched after there were 75 recommendations put forward by the Manitoba Commission on Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education.

The plan is focused on ensuring access to high-quality, equitable education which will, in turn, prepare students for their future, support excellence in teaching and leadership, and strengthen the public education system in Manitoba.

The newly announce action plan will have 4 pillars for student success involved:

  • High-Quality Learning: to improve learning and outcomes for students through responsive and relevant curriculum and learning experiences in safe and inclusive learning environments.
  • Student Engagement and Well-Being: to respond to diverse life experiences, engage students, promote well-being, support successful transitions and leverage inter-sectoral partnerships.
  • Excellence in Teaching and Leadership: to ensure teachers, school staff and leaders have the knowledge, skills and tools to support student achievement and well-being.
  • Responsive Systems: to ensure an equitable, aligned and effective public education system that focuses on engagement, inclusion and planning for provincial and local needs.

Minister Ewasko said that the work on many of the priority actions is either already underway or has been completed while the work on the remaining ones is scheduled to begin over the next 2 years.

Back in January of 2019, the Manitoba government established the Manitoba Commission on Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education to undertake the largest and most comprehensive independent review of the kindergarten to Grade 12 education system since 1959.

The commission that was formed was tasked with making recommendations to improve student outcomes, ensure long-term sustainability and enhance public confidence in Manitoba’s education system.

In total, there were more than 2,500 written submissions and briefs, over 10,000 survey responses from teachers and the public, as well as close to 1,900 participants in public- and student-focused workshops.

Minister Ewasko noted that the Manitoba K to 12 Education Action Plan reflects the spirit and intent of the commission’s finding, as well as the follow-up engagement since the report was released in March 2021.

This includes numerous sessions with advisory groups made up of educators, students, parents and caregivers, the findings from the parent engagement task force, as well as meetings with student service leaders, school division administrators and education stakeholder organizations.

With the avian flu now present in Manitoba, chicken producers need to be more vigilant than ever. According to Jake Wiebe, the Chair of Manitoba Chicken Producers, they're reminding producers it's important to stick to the basics.

We don't want to track it into our production facilities...Cleaning up feed spills outside the barn if there are any so as not to attract any of the wild birds, and then of course the footwear changes that we have been doing for years already, just continue to pay attention to that and make sure that we don't track anything into our barns.

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.

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.