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As winter gets closer, it’s important to be prepared for anything.
Vehicle emergency kits are a simple, but effective way of making sure you have everything you need if you end up in a bad situation.
Kaitlynn Furse, the corporate communications director with CAA says there are some things you should think about adding to your emergency kit in the winter: Things to keep you warm, like extra blankets, socks, and mitts. Things to keep you visible, like flashlights, road flares, and candles. And a little shovel in case you need to dig yourself out.
Furse adds that keeping your phone charged is always helpful.
Most calls to CAA in the winter are because of a dead battery, Furse urges people to make sure their battery is strong enough to make it through the winter.
Anyone wanting to buy a vehicle emergency kit can do so at any CAA store.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Dauphin and District Community Foundation is again participating in the Endow Manitoba 24- Hour Giving Challenge.
The challenge, part of Philanthropy Month in Canada, is being held Saturday, November 16.
Endow Manitoba is coordinated through the Winnipeg Foundation (WF), which supports the challenge by “stretching” local contributions made during the event. The stretch involves adding an additional dollar for every $5 raised locally.
The provincial government will match the WF’s stretch contribution, meaning that for every $5 raised by the DDCF will equal $7 in total contribution. This is the third year that the government has matched the WF.
Since the DDCF started participating in the challenge in 2015, they have raised $136,832. All the money raised locally goes directly to the DDCF’s Undesignated Fund. Proceeds from that fund are used to support grants to local community organizations. The larger the Undesignated Fund grows, the more money that can be given annually through the DDCF grants program.
Executive Director of the Dauphin and District Community Foundation, Kit Daley, says that she is confident that the community will easily be able to reach the donation threshold of $10,000 to be able to maximize the contributions from the WF and the province.
“I’d love to repeat the kind of success we’ve had in previous Challenges,” said Daley. “With the generosity and support of local residents, I’m hopeful that getting close to, or exceeding, $40,000 is a realistic target to aim for.”
People wishing to contribute can do so online all day on November 16th at www.endowmanitoba.ca. Contributions can also be made in advance at the DDCF office. The DDCF will accept contributions at their City Hall office until November 15th.
For more information on the Endow MB 2019 Challenge, you can contact Kit Daley at the DDCF at 204-638-4598.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Manitoba Public Utilities Board has approved new natural gas rates to begin today (Nov 1st).
The current primary gas rate will increase to 9.1 cents per cubic metre, up from 8.52 cents.
Even though the primary gas rate went up, customer’s bills will go down.
Due to the changes, Manitobans will pay $127 less per year.
Primary Gas is sold on a cost-recovery basis without markup to Manitobans. Rates for customers that have signed fixed-term fixed-price contracts with either Centra or a private broker, will not be affected by the rate change.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club presented the Dauphin Fire Department with a $1,000 cheque as a token of their appreciation.
President of the club, Dennis Forbes said that the club donated the money because the DFD has attended the past 21 annual Threshing Days as a safety measure.
Forbes added that the relationship between the Agricultural Heritage Club and the fire department is one of goodwill.
Fire Chief Cam Abrey said the money will go towards the restoration of the department’s 1919 fire truck.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
As part of the recent amendments to the Agricultural Crown Lands Leases and Permits Regulations, public auctions for certain areas of agricultural crown lands will start in Brandon on Wednesday, November 27th. There are 2 auctions in Dauphin on Friday, November 29th.
The auctions in Dauphin will get underway at 10 am and 2 pm, and both will be at the provincial building at 27 - 2nd Avenue Southwest.
There are lots of acreages that will be available around our area in the RMs of Dauphin, Alonsa, Lakeshore, Mossey River, Grandview, Gilbert Plains, Roblin, and Riding Mountain West.
Other public auctions will happen on November 28th in Minnedosa, December 3rd in Swan River, December 5th in Ashern, and December 6th in Dugald.
Further information about dates and times can be found here. You can also view a list of available lands.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
When was the last time you checked your smoke detector? The Dauphin Fire Department is currently working with the Smoke Alarms for Every Family program. Their goal is to make sure that homeowners in Dauphin have a functional smoke detector.
A few years ago, four different agencies got together and purchased a few-thousand smoke alarms and they distributed them to select Fire Departments that applied for the program. Dauphin was one of the Departments that did apply for the program.
About 30 alarms are still available, free of charge through the program. If you own a home and you believe your smoke detector is older than 10 years, the Dauphin Fire Department will be able to help you.
"Everyone should be checking their own smoke alarms, we want to have everyone nice and safe," said Cam Abrey, Fire Chief. "Through this program, if you're a homeowner, we will come out and check your smoke alarms and we'll make sure they're functioning. If they are, that's great and we will also check the date. If they're over that 10-year life span, we will install a free one for you."
The alarms that they would install are both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Just recently, the DFD visited a house with an alarm that was still bright in colour on the outside. However, upon opening the alarm, it was determined that it was more than 10 years old and it needed to be replaced.
"The homeowners had painted the outside of the smoke alarm and that's something we really don't want people doing," continued Abrey.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Premier Brian Pallister and his government are being accused of interfering with the process of setting Manitoba’s auto insurance rates.
The Consumer’s Association of Canada’s Manitoba branch brought the claim forward during the final day of a hearing regarding MPI’ auto insurance rates for 2020.
The association said that by raising the minimum amount in a reserve fund that’s supposed to protect against unexpected rate shocks, the provincial government is interfering in Pubic Utilities Board’s ability to set rates.
This year, Premier Pallister decided to keep the reserve at around $350 million.
Inflating the reserve account, the association argues, may mean the board feels compelled to hike rates to meet the new minimum reserve amount, and undermines the independent nature of the rate approval process.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
On this day in 1938, a now-famous radio broadcast stopped America in its tracks.
Orson Welles went on the air to perform the classic novel “War Of The Worlds” by H.G. Wells.
The broadcast started at 8 pm on CBS in primetime, millions of Americans were listening to the broadcast of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen on NBC.
Bergen’s performance lasted until 8:15, causing people to tune into CBS during Mr. Welles' epic performance.
The late tuners never heard the message at the beginning of the radio play, resulting in them thinking that the broadcast coming over the airwaves was fact and not fiction.
During the broadcast, there was a scene about a reporter on the scene of a Martian space probe landing on a farmer’s field in Grover Mills, New Jersey, where the radio all of a sudden falls silent before a news anchor comes back on air saying that there were some technical difficulties with the connection to the reporter.
This scene, along with other graphic images of aliens invading the east coast, caused Americans to believe that the Martians had really invaded.
In New Jersey, millions of people hopped in their cars in a desperate attempt to escape the “alien invasion”. People were begging authorities for gas masks, and demanding that their power be turned off so the aliens couldn’t see their lights.
The frightening broadcast even caused a woman in Indianapolis to burst into a church service declaring “New York has been destroyed! It’s the end of the world! Go home and prepare to die!”
The news of the widespread panic made its way back to the CBS studios resulting in Welles interrupting the play to relay that the information being relayed on the radio was indeed fiction.
There are rumours that the broadcast caused several suicides, but none were ever confirmed.
This event inspired networks to be more cautious with what they broadcast.
Orson Welles’ performance of the H.G. Wells sci-fi thriller would forever go down in radio history.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Manitoba Public Insurance is cracking down on insurance fraud, resulting in more people facing charges than ever before.
Of the near 1,000 claims that MPI receives daily, not all of them are legit.
MPI’s team of special investigators has been aggressively pursuing insurance fraud charges this year.
Between 2015 and 2018, less than ten people were charged with insurance fraud, compared to 22 people this year alone.
MPI has found people staging car accidents and deliberately setting their cars on fire.
The Crown Corporation has both bodily injury and arson investigators who work to find fraudulent claims.
As good as the team of investigators is, they heavily rely on tips from the public.
MPI has an anonymous tip line where people can call and report anything they know about possible fraudulent claims.
The tip line has broken records this year, with over 450 people calling in.
In the first five months of this year, MPI saw a 63 percent increase in calls compared to last year.
MPI saved Manitobans nearly $13 million in fraudulent claims last year, the highest claims saving in a decade.
Anyone with any information about possible auto insurance fraud is asked to call the MPI tip line at 204-985-8477 or toll-free 1-877-985-8477. All calls are anonymous.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
All summer long, 730CKDM was travelling around the Parkland for Cruisin' with Fusion. Fusion Credit Union was hosting events fundraisers with BBQs, live music, contests, and so much more.
In the end, $12,554 was raised as the summer-long tour visited 18 different communities.
"It was a fantastic event. It was so exciting to be able to offer a signature event and the same type of experience in all 18 of our locations," said Leanne DeVliegere, Chief Operations Officer at Fusion Credit Union. "We really noticed how much the communities embraced it and they really wanted to spend time with us."
"The weather was beautiful and we had great music," she continued. "730CKDM was such a fantastic partner. With all of the prizes and giveaways, it was quite a success."
Fusion paid for all of the supplies for the BBQ. The $12,554 came straight from the BBQs and donations. The funds have now been allocated to different places across the Parkland.
The list includes:
- Whitmore School in Dauphin.
- Pine River Community Centre in Ethelbert.
- Daily Discoveries in Gilbert Plains.
- Winnipegosis and District Residential Services.
- Rorketon Fire Department.
The above are just a few places that Fusion Credit Union has supported through the funds raised from Cruisin' with Fusion.
With the 2019 event now in the past, Leanne shares some insight into if they'll be back doing something similar in 2020.
"We really loved the opportunity to support all of our communities in a similar way," concluded DeVliegere. "Whether it's exactly like Cruisin' with Fusion next year or something different based on what we learned this year, we're always going to have something that is supporting our communities."
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Red River College campuses across the province have made their own new year's resolution.
Effective January 1, 2020, every single Red River College campus will be 100 percent smoke-free. That means no smoking or vaping will be allowed anywhere on campus.
In Dauphin, Assiniboine Community College won't be joining Red River, but they do have their own policy.
"We have designated areas on campus, both smoking and vaping," said Gabe Mercier, Director of Assiniboine Community College Parkland campus. "You can smoke or vape eight-metres away from the building, no closer. No smoking is allowed within eight metres or in the school or any of our ACC vehicles."
ACC has security guards on campus to assure no one is smoking or vaping within the eight metres as per their policy.
"If caught, people will get a warning to move away," said Mercier. "We have a line that indicates the eight metres."
For now, ACC in Dauphin doesn't have any plans on going smokeless anytime soon. However, that could change if need be.
"We haven't had any negative responses to our policy right now," concluded Mercier. "I think students and staff are respecting the eight metres."
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
