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A special evening is on tap for Gilbert Plains Saturday night, as the Community Fund in that town hosts a fundraising gala.
This year's event begins at 8 pm at the Richardson Pioneer Community Hall.
Charlene Gulak, chair of the Gilbert Plains Community Fund committee, says one of the Highlights of the night will be ttheir annual grants presentations.
"We have over $21,000 that we will be granting out to over a dozen valuable community projects and initiatives that are underway or are in the process of being developed within the community."
Gulak adds this year's major fundraiser for the organization has a special theme to it.
"It is based on a 1950's and 60's era of celebration. And we want to encourage everyone to dress up in costumes or special clothing that they may have that was typical to those years."
There will also be silent and rainbow auctions, along with a late-night pulled pork lunch.
Tickets for the gala are $35 each and are available at Gilbert Plains Fusion Credit Union, Paziuk's Family Foods, or by contacting the Gilbert Plains Community Fund on Facebook.
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Manitobans will notice some improvements to tax credit levels coming out of this week's provincial budget.
"The renter's credit looks like it is going up by $50 to $575. Seniors will also get a top-up over and above that amount." according to Howard Wirch of Accent Chartered Professional Accountants. "The other thing that we are seeing that is more an indirect help to taxpayers is on the property tax side, there is an increase to $1,500 on your property taxes, and they are going to be wiping out that 50 per cent reduction to the education property tax."
Wirch adds that will increase the number of tax rebates, especially on lower assessed value properties, which in turn will lower your property tax bill.
Wirch adds the province is also adjusting some of the income tax brackets, with hopes of helping middle-class earners.
"The exemption amount in Manitoba has been improved. I believe it is $15,000 now and then they are going to be broadening those tax brackets into the 2024 year, so that there is less tax paid by "middle-class" individuals, and the credits will affect your income tax when you go to file them So you will be paying less tax at lower rates."
Other features of the budget that caught Wirch's attention were the extension of $10 a day child care to non-school days, decreases to Autopac rates, and credits for purchasing electric vehicles.
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Organizers of the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games are looking to fill some key volunteer needs for this year's games, which are set to take place here in Dauphin from August 11th t0 17th.
Cam Bennett is co-chair of the Care and Comfort division within athlete services.
Among the areas that volunteers are needed are access control and security.
"There will be no overnight shifts that we will need volunteers for. We have contracted that out. So you do not need to worry about staying up all night. There is a lot of need for volunteers in access control, just to maintain the safety and security of the athletes village area."
Another area they are looking for volunteers are drivers.
"We will be utilizing Mountain View School Division buses, so you will need a bus driver's certificate in order to be driving those buses. But we will also have a need fo people to be driving the shuttle vans around as well."
And feeding over 900 athletes, coaches, and officials on a daily basis during the games will also be a significant undertaking.
Bennett says they are looking for volunteers to help serve those meals daily at the DRCSS
"We have contracted out a chef, and now we need people to help assemble the meals and put things together. I do not believe that a food handler's certificate is required, but of course it is great if you have one. And they are not long shifts - we are talking about 4 hours a day."
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Today is the day that single day passes for Dauphin's Countryfest officially go on sale.
They are now available at the Countrfest office on 2nd Avenue North East, online at countryfest.ca, or by calling 1-800-361-7300.
This year's edition of Countryfest goes from June 28th to the 30th.
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The president of the Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres is disappointed that a review of how Friendship Centres in Urban areas are funded was not included in yesterday's provincial budget.
\Swan RIver's David Gray admits the government had some tough choices to make with regards to its budget.
But he feels Friendship Centres have been forgotten about for over two decades.
"In 2000, when the funding was last reviewed, we were getting a significant amount of money from the province in terms of the budgets for most Friendship Centres. And now that number has dropped significantly and actually the Federal Government provides way more money. Here is the problem though.... the two programs that the province does fund are now working on 67-cent dollar's, because the value that they have funded has depreciated by 33 per cent in that time because of inflation. But we are expected to do the same things."
Gray adds this will continue to force Friendship Centres to have to make choices on what programs they can fund.
"An example is in Swan River, where the Friendship Centre was happy to partner with the province in housing, but have now discontinued that because the province, through several massinations - ended up trying to force the same process by reducing available resources. And so the board there just cut that program and said we will not manage your program anymore."
MAFC represents Friendship Centres in 11 Manitoba communities, including Dauphin and Swan River.
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Skygazers will have a rare opportunity next week to view a solar eclipse.
The event will be visible across North America next Monday, with Manitobans expected to be able to see a 70 percent partial solar eclipse, while other areas could get to view a full eclipse.
The Manitoba Optometrists Association is reminding people in our province to take all necessary precautions before attempting to view it.
That includes wearing specific solar eclipse glasses that meet ISO 12312-2 international standard and not directly looking at the sun otherwise.
They add it is never safe to look directly at the sunadding there will be no time when it is safe to view the eclipse without eclipse glasses.
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A Ste Rose teen has moved on to the second stage of the 2024 CrossFit Games competition.
Ayden Bradley's journey began with the opening of the games on February 29th.
After three straight weeks of fitness tests, Ayden finished in the top 14 per cent in the boys 14-15 year old worldwide division, which earned him an invite to the quarterfinal round of the competition.
That round begins April 17th with more skilled workouts over 6 days, with the top 200 athletes after that then advancing to the semi final round in May in Carson, California.
After the semi finals, the top 40 will compete in the World CrossFit finals, which are set for June in Texas.
Ayden trains 5-6 days a week out of EXT FIT in Ste Rose, which is owned by his father Steven.
He is the first member of his family to advance within the CrossFit Open competition.
His dad has competed for 11 years, while his mom Michelle has competed for five years.
You can keep track of his progress by going online to games.crossfit.com.
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On the court docket, another court appearance was made by a man arrested last April in connection with a fatal single vehicle rollover near Duck Bay.
38-year-old Katlin Lamirande of the Pine Creek First Nation faces Careless Driving Causing Death charges following the crash near Highway 272, when a northbound truck collided with a row of trees and rolled, resulting in the death of a 5-year-old boy.
Lamirande will be back in court on May 14th.
Meanwhile, 40-year-old Dauphin resident Wayne Becks was ack in Minnedosa court yesterday in relation to a serious assault from November of 2022.
His case has been adjourned until May 7th.
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Two people were arrested and a loaded sawed-off shotgun was seized from a vehicle following a single vehicle collision last Thursday near the Ebb & Flow First Nation.
RCMP from Ste Rose were conducting patrols on the reserve around 5 pm last Thursday when they noticed a vehicle that had a suspect wanted on several outstanding warrants.
Attempts to pull over the vehicle failed, but the vehicle did eventually hit the ditch on a dead-end road a short distance away.
The 31-year-old male driver attempted to flee the scene on foot but was arrested after a brief chase.
Jesse St. Paul of Portage la Prairie faces charges of Flight from Police, Operating a vehicle while prohibited, and several firearms-related offences.
He was already facing several charges in relation to a shooting incident from early January on the Sandy Bay First Nation.
A 29-year-old female passenger from Ebb & Flow was also arrested on scene but was released on a promise to appear in Dauphin court on May 28th.
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Health care and making life more affordable for Manitobans were key points in the 2024 Manitoba budget.
Finance minister Adrian Sala introduced what the NDP government is calling "21 new ways to save".
"A broad, middle class tax cut, a 15-hundred dollar tax credit for homeowners, and no school property taxes for families that need the most help. A tax credit for renters, a tax credit for seniors, and 10 dollars a day child care for every day of the year."
That plan also includes lower insurance rates, rebates for home and business security systems, and an increase to the minimum wage.
On the health care side, Sala says the health workforce in Manitoba will grow significantly this year.
"This year, we are hiring 1,000 health ccare workers. 100 doctors, 90 paramedics, 210 nurses, and 600 Health Care Aides."
The province also announced that construction of a new Emergency department in Eriksdale is being included in this budget.
Sala also promised to balance the province's books within the NDP government's first term in office.
"We have inherited a historic deficit from the previous government. We are starting with a health care system that is broken by seven years of cuts and chaos, as well as coming out of years of rising costs, and people are struggling. There are those that will say that this budget is too ambitious, but it is for those reasons that it needs to be ambitious. We can fix health care and make life more affordable and we can do it while charting a path back to balance in four years."
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