Former DRCSS Student Gets 4-H Scholarship

A recent graduate of the DRCSS has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship from 4-H Canada.

Oksana Iwanchysko has just started her studies of Agriculture, Animal System Specialization at the University of Saskatchewan — and says receiving the 2020 TD 4-H Agriculture Scholarship means a lot.

“Being rewarded for my hard work over the last few years … is really amazing because it helps relieve some of that financial stress associated with post-secondary and I can see that my work isn’t going unnoticed — it’s just amazing.”

Oksana tells CKDM reporters she gives a lot of credit to her parents for always pushing her to follow her passion.

“I always knew that I wanted to go into agriculture as my undergrad degree. A lot of that came from going on field tours, and going to conferences with my mom who works for Manitoba Agriculture. It’s where I found my passion, and something I really want to do,” she said.

For more information on the 2020 TD 4-H Agriculture Scholarship, click here.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Sep 11, 2020 - 2:34 pm

The province has gained 15 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Manitoba now has 1,393 cases.

Four of today’s cases are in Prairie Mountain Health; none are in Dauphin’s health district.

There are now 287 active cases, 12 people are in hospital, and 4 in intensive care. The number of deaths remains at 16.

Public health officials are advising of potential exposure on Sept. 1 at the GRMC Vision Centre in Brandon, between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. The exposure risk is considered low at this time.

For more information about COVID-19, click here.

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

Disaster financial assistance (DFA) will be provided for three high water/weather-related events that occurred earlier in the year.

$29.4 million has been set aside for the heavy rain that happened between June 28^th and July 5^th in western and southern Manitoba. The heavy precipitation was a one in 1,000-year rain that impacted Minnedosa, Rapid City, and Rivers, even resulting in the province losing confidence in the dam near Rivers. Evacuation recommendations were given to municipalities for a limited number of properties as a precaution.

DFA programs provide provincial assistance for certain disaster-related losses when a widespread natural disaster strikes and creates an unreasonable financial burden. Assistance is generally provided for recovery needs of local governments, occupied private residential properties, farms, small business and some not-for-profit organizations.

The two other events that the DFA will be provided for are $3.7 million for the high water situation in the Red River Valley for spring 2020 and $2 million for the heavy rain from June 6-10 in the southeast area of Manitoba.

The DFA application deadline for local authorities and those in the private sector is December 10^th.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Sep 11, 2020 - 12:25 pm

Lifeflight’s air ambulance services will be given to STARS starting in December.

Shared Health CEO Brock Wright made the announcement yesterday saying Shared Health is expanding its partnership with STARS as a part of sustained efforts to provide reliable, high-quality Lifeflight services for Manitobans.

“Critical care medical air services are relied upon by rural and northern health care providers and Manitoba patients in need of specialized and emergency medical care, which often requires air ambulance transport to larger health centres in Winnipeg. Reliability of this life-saving service on a 24/7 basis has been – and remains — a top priority.”

For the past two years, critical care medical air services have been provided by a combination of Shared Health, Lifeflight, and STARS. STARS also has partnered with Shared Health to ensure the availability of fixed-wing services during periods of staffing vacancy or unfilled shift coverage.

In July 2018, the province issued a request for proposals to privatize the LIfelight services. That created a situation where some Lifeflight staff threatened to quit or last year, where some Lifeflight doctors refused to board the privatized planes due to safety concerns.

STARS will assume the responsibilities no sooner than December 10^th, 2020, but until then, Lifeflight staff and physicians will continue to provide the service to ensure a safe transition with no negative impacts on patient care.

Oversight for quality, patient safety, financials and other service areas will be the responsibility of a joint operations committee made up of Shared Health and STARS clinical and administrative leads. The agreement is in place until March 2022.

Access to the service won’t change. STARS will use both helicopters and airplanes for the transport of adult patients. Shared Health staff will continue to perform pediatric and neonatal transports as well as out of province transports.

Affected staff and their unions have been informed of the operational decision. Details of a labour adjustment will be worked out with the respective unions in the weeks ahead, with opportunities to be provided to all affected staff.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Sep 11, 2020 - 11:00 am

The remains of a 36-year-old woman were found in Portage la Prairie last week by Manitoba First Nations Police Service.

The woman has been identified as Tamara (Norman) Benoit, whose remains were found on Thursday, September 3^rd near Cottonwood Drive in Portage.

Her death is being investigated as a homicide.

She was reported missing back on July 10^th and was last seen in May around Portage la Prairie and Long Plain First Nation.

Investigators ask that anyone who has any information about Tamara to contact the RCMP Major Crime Services Tip Line at 1-888-673-3316.

RCMP say the family has requested not to be contacted on this matter.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Sep 11, 2020 - 10:56 am

Dauphin’s Deputy Mayor Kerri Riehl is sending a message to students and the community, recognizing the changes students and families have had to make this school year.

``What works for one family may not work for another, and we`re just asking people to be kind to one another. Hopefully with the adjustments of those going back to school and into a routine, that pretty soon the anxieties will be less and children will be able to have a good school year.``

She says that we must remain focused that the COVID situation will eventually end, and that someday we will be able to get back to the things we used to enjoy like big events and family gatherings.

Riehl is thanking the Mountain View School Division and Assiniboine Community College for their efforts in preparing and cleaning schools to keep kids safe.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Sep 10, 2020 - 4:35 pm

The Manitoba government has extended the province-wide state of emergency.

The extension goes into effect at 4 p.m. today, for a period of 30 days.

The state of emergency enables the government to take greater measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The state of emergency was first declared on March 20.

For more information — and to view the state of emergency and public health orders — click here.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Sep 10, 2020 - 3:15 pm

Fifteen cases of COVID-19 have been identified today, and two previously announced cases have been removed from the record.

This means there’s been a net increase of 13 cases today, bringing Manitoba to a total of 1,378 COVID cases.

Two of the new cases are in Prairie Mountain Health, with none in the Dauphin health district, where there's been a total of 7 cases.

Manitoba now has 360 active cases, and 1,002 are recovered. The number of deaths in the province remains at 16.

Dr. Brent Roussin provided more details about the asymptomatic Winnipeg student who tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the first day of class on Tuesday.

He says it was determined there were no close contacts of the case, and no one has been advised to self-isolate.

“We knew we would see cases in schools and we’ll see more. But just like this, we’ll have a lot of things in place to limit the ability to transmit the virus in schools,” said Dr. Roussin.

On Tuesday, September 8th, the province made it mandatory for children aged 9 and older to wear a mask when at child-care facilities, including home-based child care.

Child care providers are also required to wear masks. Dr. Roussin says there will be some exceptions to these mask rules in child care settings.

As for COVID-19 testing, the Keystone Centre Specimen Collection Site in Brandon will be closed permanently after September 12th. Those in need of testing are advised to visit the Brandon Town Centre Site.

For up-to-date information about COVID-19 in Manitoba, click here.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Sep 10, 2020 - 1:26 pm

MPI says auto-insurance fraud charges this year have nearly tripled from last year. At the end of July, 88 charges had been laid against 33 people compared to 30 charges against 10 people in 2019.

The increase in charges can be attributed to a refocused effort in reviewing suspicious cases.

Charges vary from making a false statement, fraud over $5,000 and fraud under $5,000. Guilty individuals could face fines, criminal charges, and/or restitution orders to pay MPI back.

Last year MPI’s Special Investigation Unit saved MPI ratepayers more than $10 million and closed more than 1,200 investigations.

Anyone with information about auto insurance fraud is encouraged to call the Manitoba Public Insurance TIPS Line: 204-985-8477 or toll-free 1-877-985-8477.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Sep 10, 2020 - 12:37 pm

In light of the pandemic, more Manitoba families are choosing to homeschool this fall.

Manitoba Education received 4,591 registrations for homeschooling as of September 4^th, half of which are still being processed.

This is almost a 25 per cent increase from the 3,689 registrations from last year.

While remote learning is offered for immunocompromised students, that option isn’t available for families that want to keep their children home to avoid COVID.

The only other option other than sending kids to school is homeschooling, which you can get more details on by clicking here.