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Jean-Louis Guillas isn’t officially done until next Friday, but last night at the Third Thursday Music night was his retirement party.

“Oh, it was just exactly what I wanted it to be. Which was a celebration of all the different kinds of musicians that have played here at the library through our seven-plus years of doing this program.”

The night had some great performances and surprises for Guillas.

“My girls did a beautiful, beautiful number that was very, very special, for them to have made the trip out from Winnipeg to do that. It was also great to see the barber shoppers, that was a complete surprise to me I didn’t know they were coming. All my friends who’ve played here over the days it was all fantastic to see all of them here.”

165 different performers have performed at least once during Guillas’ time as library director.

Although Guillas may be retiring, he’s sticking around town.

“My wife and I are not leaving town. I wear a few different hats so I’m going to continue to be working around town with groups like the Dauphin Rotary Club, Dauphin Neighbourhood Renewal, youth theatre at the WAC, and here at the library I’m going to be doing some of the same things but as a volunteer.”

He’ll be volunteering his time to assist the staff in keeping the diverse kinds of programming.

The night finished off with Mayor Allan Dowhan sharing a few words and giving Guillas a certificate from the City of Dauphin.

Brandon RCMP seized a large quantity of cannabis during a traffic stop in the RM of Cornwallis.

On June 14th, officers with the RCMP Roving Traffic Unit conducted a traffic stop east of Brandon on Highway 1. The traffic stop led to a search of the vehicle which resulted in the seizure of 60 kilos of cannabis.

Police arrested 39-year-old Douglas Durham and 60-year-old Richard King both from Windsor, Ontario. They have been charged with Possession for the Purpose of Distributing, Possession of Illicit Cannabis, Possession of Unstamped Cannabis and have been released for court scheduled in Brandon on August 8, 2019.

“While recreational cannabis is legal, this seizure shows that there is still illicit cannabis in our communities and police will continue to enforce this,” said S/Sgt. Kyle McFadyen of “D” Division Traffic Services. “The only way to know your cannabis is safe is to purchase cannabis through approved distributors as outlined in the federal Cannabis Act and the provincial Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act.”

If anyone has any information regarding drugs or any other criminal activity, please contact your local police agency or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or submit a secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

RCMP continue to investigate.

The Dauphin and Onanole Home Hardwares will start a new chapter this morning. They will open up an M&M Food Market Express at both locations.

"It was kind of brought to our attention through our Home Hardware area rep," said Whitney Odut, Owner/Manager. "They actually had one start up in Rankin Inlet if you can believe it. It was doing well so we sat down and talked with M&M Express people and we made it work. We're very excited about the opening."

Although they won't offer everything a full store would, you certainly won't be disappointed at what they will have to offer.

"We still offer a wide variety of things. Everything from appetizers to ready-made meals to desserts" added Odut. "There's no shortage of options."

The hours to get your meal or tasty treat are 9 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Sundays.

There is a little change from the full store to the Express opening up in Dauphin and Onanole. You won't be able to use any M&M gift cards. You can, however, use Home Hardware gift cards for all your purchases. There will be no flyers and no rewards program.

18 people registered for the Walk for Alzheimer’s last night.

The Alzheimer Society of Manitoba is expecting to have raised 2000 dollars, which includes a donation from the Dauphin Masonic Group who contributed over 500 dollars.

The money will go towards their support groups for people affected by dementia and for those that are caring for someone with dementia, education for the public, different programs they have, and some of the funding will go towards finding a cure for dementia.

After 33 years at the helm, Vern Ellis is saying goodbye to the Gilbert Plains Co-op Agro Centre.

Although Vern's last day isn't until the new year, the Agro Centre held a farewell barbecue yesterday.

Tons of people came out to enjoy free burgers, chips, and pop and have a chance to congratulate Vern on his retirement.

The new managers are Kory Lulashnyk and Katelynn Musey.

A Grandview cartoonist has released a book full of cartoons that take a journey through the 2018-19 Edmonton Oilers’ season.

Lance Maxwell has been cartooning since the late ’90s and started drawing Oilers cartoons at the 2016 Winter Classic between Edmonton and Winnipeg.

The book is a chronological record of what happened in the Oilers’ season in cartoon form. Each drawing takes Maxwell about an hour to draw.

He chooses what to draw based off of something unique that happens in the game.

The book is available on Amazon if you’d like to check it out, click here.

A Manitoba attraction is starting to gain international attention. 

The snake dens in Narcisse, Manitoba have been listed in the New York Times annual list of top places to see. The listing has garnered attention from outlets like the BBC.

Around 70,000 snakes make their way to mate in the pits located in the Interlake region every year. Five species of snakes breed in the pits, one of them being the red-sided garter snake which have the largest range and is the most abundant species of garter snake in the province.

Den sites include a variety of topography including shale cliffs, rock piles, animal burrows, and sinkholes. The snakes are most active around the May Long weekend and then return to the denning area in late August and September.

Premier Brian Pallister held a press conference yesterday afternoon at 2:30 where he announced the provincial election will take place on Tuesday, September 10th, 2019.

Pallister says his government has accomplished most of what it had set out to do and needs a fresh mandate. N.D.P. leader Wab Kinew says he is ready and will focus on health care during the campaign.

Speculation of an early election ramped up last week when the provincial government announced a media blackout. 

The Trudeau Government has approved the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion after it was stalled by a court ruling last August.

Despite the expansion creating jobs for middle-class families, many people are questioning Trudeau’s reasoning.

Trudeau believes concerns about Indigenous consultations and environmental reviews have been solved.

Protests and legal challenges are already being prepared. Two BC First Nations are among those getting ready for legal action. Environmentalists are also questioning the renewed approval after Trudeau declared a climate emergency earlier this week. The David Suzuki Foundation, a science-based environmental organization from Vancouver says they are still concerned about tanker traffic, noise, and the possibility of an oil spill off the West Coast.

Trans Mountain Corporation C-E-O Ian Anderson says the pipeline expansion is a major milestone for shippers, communities, workers, local business and Indigenous People. The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will allow more oil to transport to BC ports and tankers which will fetch a better price abroad.

Students at Whitmore School spent part of their day helping to provide meals to the food bank.

They were filling meal bags full of rice and beans. Each bag contains more than 20 grams of protein and can feed up to five people.

Wayne Olsen, the Community Minister at The Church Of Christ, saw the project on a visit to Calgary and he then spearheaded bringing it to Dauphin.

One member of the program in Calgary made the trip to Dauphin along with his daughter to help the kids pack the meals.

The goal of the day was to make over 12,000 meals which will be donated to the food bank and to schools in the area with meal programs.

The principal of Whitmore School, Lesia Jensen says that the opportunity for students to give back is something that the school couldn't pass up.

Single-use plastics being banned in 2021 will create a big change for most people.

Merv Starzyk, Mayor for the RM of Yellowhead shares how that’ll impact residents in Yellowhead.

“You’re going to probably find a certain number of residents will oppose the ban because of some alternate uses they have for the bags. On the flip side, I think the council would probably be in agreement that we’d like them eliminated.”

He says there’s always an alternate material to use other than plastic. Reusable straws, containers, and cloth and paper bags are available to avoid plastics.

Starzyk adds they’d still be in favour of banning plastics if they were phased out instead of being done all at once.