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Swan River RCMP responded to a call early this morning and are investigating a death in downtown Swan River.
This is the second death in three months by the CN Rail Park.
In January, less than 500 metres away from this morning’s incident, a 39-year-old was stabbed to death.
Police are still on scene and haven’t released additional information yet.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
STARS will be completely upgrading their nine helicopter fleet.
Chad Saxon, communications lead with STARS Manitoba, says they’ll be upgrading to the model H145 helicopter.
Each new helicopter costs 13 million dollars.
After completing an extensive assessment they were recommended to go with the H145 helicopter, which is the next generation of their BK117 helicopter.
Saxon says the federal government allocated 65 million dollars which is equivalent to 5 helicopters to help replace their fleet across Western Canada.
“It’s really great news for STARS and for patients across the prairies. This funding is still quite new and somewhat unexpected, so we don’t really know how we’ll allocate it, in which helicopters will go to which base. It was tremendous news for STARS and the people who will truly benefit from it is our patients.”
The current fleet is being replaced because the helicopters are ageing and it’s becoming more difficult to find parts and by 2022 parts for the current helicopters will no longer be made.
The advantage STARS gets with having a uniformed fleet is when a pilot has to move to a different location, there is no learning curve with a new aircraft as they already know how to fly the helicopter.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Today is the start of the Dauphin Arts Fest.
Martijn Van Luijn, chair for the Dauphin Arts Fest, says Arts Fest is about children performing on stage while being adjudicated.
On Saturday Night at 7, there will be a final showcase with the top performers from each discipline.
He says the festival is very exciting and special for the kids because they are being critiqued in a positive way.
Things are changing from last year when they had lots of events like workshops and an open mic night.
They are doing a scaled-down event this year because of illnesses in their group.
The Arts Fest doesn't need volunteers for this year, but if you are interested in volunteering next year you can contact them through their website.
If you’d like to see the schedule of the performances, click here.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The inquest into the death of Freeman Zong began yesterday.
During day one of the inquest, Provincial Court Judge Christine Harapiak was presented a CCTV recording of the common room, which Zong, 26, shared with three other inmates.
The video was of July 14th, 2016, and featured the hours of 6 pm till the time Zong was taken away by EMS personnel around 8 pm.
Judge Harapiak also heard of Zong’s suicidal rating, which was classified as medium status. He was to be watched every 30 minutes to make sure he was okay.
At 7:33, a corrections officers called a Code Red alert, after finding Zong in the shower. EMS arrived at the scene at 7:44 pm.
The staff made resuscitation attempts and called emergency medical responders, however, those efforts were unsuccessful, and Zong died at the Dauphin Correctional Centre.
The computer system used to control the doors at the centre had a malfunction during the evening. A reboot was necessary to allow the system to get back up and running. During that time, the doors were not able to be opened. The EMTs were able to arrive with no issue, but were delayed when leaving, as staff attempted to open the gates manually. This problem had never occurred before and has not occurred since.
Court recessed at 4 pm, and will resume this morning at 10.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
After paying the highest ambulance fees in the country three years ago, the government has gradually lowered the price.
In 2016, ambulance fees were at 500 dollars, then dropped to $425 in 2017, then again to $340 last year.
The new price of 250 dollars is in effect today.
The fees are being reduced to help Manitoba’s ageing population.
Since 2016, the Manitoba government has been working to develop a 24-7 paramedic workforce better equipped to handle daily challenges.
This includes giving the paramedic profession the right to self-regulate under the Regulated Health Professions Act, working to enact recommendations made in the 2013 EMS System Review that, when complete, will ensure response time targets are achieved and paramedics are able to work to their full scope of practice, funding to hire 95 additional full-time rural paramedics to reduce the reliance on on-call staffing positions, and issuing a request for proposals to purchase 65 new ambulances that will represent a refresh of approximately one-third of the province’s overall fleet when the sale is completed.
The government encourages Manitobans to call for a paramedic to access high-quality, reliable health care in an emergency rather than drive themselves to a local hospital.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
A carbon tax took effect yesterday in provinces that refused to impose their own emissions pricing.
The starting rate adds 4.4 cents to the price of a litre of gas and also drives up the cost of propane, butane and aviation fuel.
Premier Brian Pallister says the new federal carbon tax is taking effect at a time of uncertainty for many people concerned about trade or higher mortgage rates.
Residents will get rebates on their income tax returns. The rebates start at 128 dollars annually, and vary between provinces and increase for people with spouses or dependents at home.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Now that it’s springtime, you might be looking ahead to a project for the summer.
That project could be a deck, which you can learn how to make at a workshop put on by Co-op at the DRCSS.
Stephen Bunka, building division manager with the Dauphin Co-op, says the April 8th and 15th workshops are a continuation of one another.
You’ll learn how to lay out floor joints, how to measure and square out a deck, basically just how to build a deck from the ground up.
Bunka says these skills are important to know because a lot of the skills are basic and would allow someone to change up their yard.
He says people should go to the workshop even if they’re not planning on building a deck because it’ll give them a better understanding of construction in general.
It’s a two-part workshop so people can learn and then apply what they learn.
To register for the free workshop, call 638-6006.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
BellMTS is ending their CDMA service, and that's putting a lot of pressure on emergency services in the Mossey River Municipality.
Reeve Ron Kostyshyn says the cell phones volunteer firefighters have relied on are becoming useless.
“The Fork River Fire Department, presently the firemen use their cell phones to communicate and in the event of an emergency situation. Now with the proposed dismantling of the flip phones the challenges are what other forms of device will they be able to get in to.”
The fleetnet system is one option but has not been installed in the municipality yet. Emergency services can also use pagers but are also unreliable.
Kostyshyn says if they invest in the fleetnet system, it will be a major financial hit to the municipality.
“I’m not sure how capable they are in out designated area. But as far as taxpayers of the Mossey River Municipality if we’re to get additional phones for our fire department, we’re looking at a cost of approximately four thousand dollars minimum.”
The Fork River Fire Department has 22 volunteer firefighters who live all over the municipality.
BellMTS says CDMA is the older 3rd generation (3G) wireless technology that is being replaced by Bell’s latest 4G LTE network, which now covers 97% of the Manitoba population.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The carbon tax is coming into effect on Monday.
The tax will cause the price of gas to rise by 4.6 cents per litre to about 120.9.
Dan McTeague with Gas Buddy says for farmers as long as they’re doing work on their farms the carbon tax won’t have a huge impact.
McTeague says it will be disruptive and the tax has an intention of getting you out of your vehicle, but will it work?
“No, because the efficiency we see in vehicles is coming because of jurisdictions like the United States that have better emissions on new vehicles without the need to tax the consumer. Smart regulations are the way to go as opposed to hitting consumers."
By 2022 we will be paying an additional 11 almost 12 cents for the carbon tax without additional taxes. Those that use diesel will be paying even more for the carbon tax.
Due to the GST in Manitoba, we could be paying closer to 14 cents from the carbon tax by 2022.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Tonight is Earth Hour.
From 8:30 to 9:30 Manitobans are encouraged to think about how they can support the environment and make a difference.
“Manitoba continues to support ideas and projects that reduce energy consumption and increase awareness of the importance of taking steps to reduce our environmental footprint,” Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires announced yesterday. “Participating in Earth Hour by turning off your lights for one hour tomorrow is easy, free and sends a powerful message that when we all work together, we can accomplish great things.”
Everyone who participates turns off their lights for an hour to conserve energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raise awareness about environmental issues.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
William Barker is being recognized in Canada Post’s ‘Canadians in Flight’ stamp collection.
He is part of a five-stamp set that celebrates legendary examples of Canadian ingenuity, technological prowess and courage in civilian and military aviation.
Jim Phillips, the Director of Stamps Services at Canada Post, describes what’s on the Barker stamp.
“His Victoria Order of Cross, being the only one in this field. You’ve got some schematics of the plane that he was famous for flying, the Sopwith Camel. You’ve got Royal Airforce insignia, the famous red, blue, and white. Then you have a great shot of Captain Barker, and it’s all kind of in sepia tones, which is in keeping with the rest of the set of stamps.”
Phillips recommends getting a set soon, as they only printed a limited number.
“I’d love for them to collect them. But I’d love for them to just know about it and to buy some and to use it on their mail. They’re meant to be used. They are all permanent rate. Buy them now they are good forever at the domestic rate. They could send them to friends, or aviation buffs, or even just family and say ‘hey look what just happened, look who came from my town who’s is on a stamp.’ They might learn something about the other ones they might not have known about.”
His team did a lot of research to develop the stamps. Barker flew more than 900 combat hours between 1916 and 1918 and is credited with 50 victories over enemy aircraft. He remains the most decorated member of the military in the history of Canada and the British Empire.
The stamps are available in a booklet of 10, with two of each design, and a gummed mini-pane of five.
The collection features four others including:
1. C.H. “Punch” Dickins who logged more than 1.6 million kilometres flying over northern Canada
2. The Avro CF-105 Arrow interceptor, which could fly at more than twice the speed of sound.
3. Elizabeth “Elsie” MacGill, who was the first woman in Canada to receive a degree in electrical engineering, and first in the world to hold a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and to work as a professional aircraft designer, and
4. The Lazair, a family of twin-engine, high-wing ultralight monoplanes designed by Dale Kramer of Port Colborne, Ontario. Manufactured as kits in Canada between 1979 and 1985, the Lazair is still considered one of the best light aircraft ever made.
The stamps are available at canadapost.ca and at postal outlets across Canada.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
