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A man accused of killing his partner, their three young children and his partner's foster cousin in southern Manitoba last month has been deemed mentally fit to stand trial.

The results of a mental health assessment for Ryan Manoakeesick, were delivered earlier Thursday, presented to the courts by Crown attorney Christian Vanderhooft.

The 29-year-old faces five counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his common-law partner Amanda Clearwater, their three children Bethany, Jayven, and Isabella, as well as Clearwater's 17-year-old niece Myah-Lee Gratton.

Notably, Manoakeesick did not appear in court, but had attorney representation for this announcement.

Currently, Manoakeesick remains in custody, with a a court date slated for june third. 

At roughly 2 pm today, reports came in of a semi-truck downing the bridge on Highway 5 between Ochre River and Dauphin, with an undisclosed amount of damage.

After visiting the scene, CKDM has confirmed that the Highway 5 bridge remains intact and undamaged after the incident this afternoon.

Officers on the scene notified us that a semitrailer had taken too sharp a turn and wedged itself in the narrow bridge crossing.

This shut down traffic for over an hour, but it has since re-opened as of 3 pm today.

Current assessments report no damage to the bridge, but further investigation may be required.

Shovel-weary Dauphin and southern Parkland area residents will be digging out again today after another significant snowfall hit the region yesterday.

No official word yet from Environment and Climate Change Canada on exactly how much snow fell in Dauphin yesterday, but Brandon reported 16 centimetres of snow, while Winnipeg reported between 8 and 15 cm of snowfall.

All highways in the region have now re-opened after being closed last night, but are listed as being partly covered to snow-covered

Highway 10 through Riding Mountain National Park is open but does have snow-covered and icy sections. 

Secondary roads like Highway 19, Lake Audy Road, and Rolling River Road are currently closed.   

Meanwhile, the city has announced that they will try once again tonight to start removing windrows from Main Street and other major areas in Dauphin.  
 
That work will begin at 7 pm tonight, and the city is asking motorists to move their vehicles from the road when possible and be cautious around equipment and staff at work.
 
They add equipment will be working on through-streets throughout the City, with crews continuing until all roadways have been cleared.
 
Sidewalk clearing is ongoing.

March 19th will be the next court date for a Dauphin man charged after a January assault in the city.

Mounties say they were called to an apartment building on Whitmore Avenue on January 3rd after a report of two men fighting in a hallway.

A 30-year-old man told police he had been in a scrap with a 52-year-old man, who was found seriously injured in an apartment just down the hall.

The victim was taken to hospital for his injuries. 

RCMP say the 30-year-old, who was intoxicated at the time, became aggressive while being arrested, and while being put into the cells, allegedly assaulted and spit on officers. 

Shayne Lavallee faces charges that include Assault Causing Bodily Harm, and two counts of Assaulting a Police Officer.

RCMP in The Pas has arrested one man after a sawed-off rifle was found in an abandoned vehicle.

Mounties in the community attempted to pull over a vehicle early last Friday morning on 7th Street East. 

The vehicle failed to stop tough and kept going at a high rate of speed, eventually crashing into a fence just off of 9th street.

The driver fled the scene before police arrived, but officers did find the firearm and ammunition when they found the abandoned vehicle. 

A further investigation by RCMP led to the eventual arrest of 26-year-old Houston Nasecapow, who is charged with numerous offences, including Flight from Police, failure to comply, and possession of weapons for dangerous purposes

Public works with the Mossey River municipality are responding to a major water main break in Winnipegosis. 

They say residents in that community can expect some disruptions in water service throughout the day today as a result of the break, which was discovered Thursday morning. 

The municipality says Public Works is working diligently to rectify the situation.

Wayne Becks was back in court earlier this week.

The 40-year-old Dauphin man was charged with several offences including Aggravated Assault and uttering threats, following an incident in November of 2022. 

Yellowhead RCMP says a serious assault resulted in a woman suffering severe, life-altering injuries. 

Becks was in Minnedosa Court on Tuesday, where he was remanded in custody to April 2nd.

The Mountain View School Division is hosting a public budget meeting this Thursday, and they want parents to weigh in on the conversation.

Secretary-Treasurer Lori Slepicka details how you can voice your opinion on the coming changes.

"You can register on our website, MVSD.ca and we ask actually that everybody registers whether they're going to attend virtually or in person. It will also be live-streamed so a link will be sent out to those people who register to attend virtually."

As well, Slepicka details what some of those changes entail.

"We are looking at tax increases this year. The proposed increase to the mill rate for the entire division right now is one point. what that would do is generate an additional 2.98 million fo the entire division for the 2024 school year."

The budget forum will be held on March 7th, at 7 pm at the MVSD district office.

There’s a chance we could get another batch of rebate cheques from Manitoba Public Insurance.

A report says the corporation’s reserves are looking good, and if approved by its board, another round of rebates could be on the way in the coming months.

During COVID, MPI issued three rounds of cheques totaling about $ 491 million because claims costs dropped with fewer vehicles on the road.

Talk of another rebate comes despite the fact Manitoba Public Insurance has gone way over budget on a project to upgrade the Crown corporation’s information services.

‘Project Nova’s’ budget has reportedly reached about $290 million, almost three times the original number.

The province has released its February Flood Outlook Report, which indicated a low to moderate risk of significant spring flooding across Manitoba.

The report, which came out prior to the massive snowfall that hit southern and central Manitoba over the weekend, said the forecast was due to normal- to below-normal soil moisture at freeze-up and normal- to well-below-normal winter precipitation for most of Manitoba.

The spring flooding risk is low to moderate for the Red River and tributaries and is low for the Assiniboine, Souris, and Qu’Apelle Rivers as well as in northern Manitoba. 

The spring flood risk is moderate for the Interlake region, as there is a risk of ice jam-related flooding on the Fisher River and the Icelandic River.

The report adds most Manitoba lake levels are normal to below normal for this time of year and within their capacity ranges, adding the risk of lake flooding is low for most Manitoba lakes.

However, the risk of flooding may change depending on weather conditions including the amount of precipitation between now and the spring melt.

The next flood outlook will be released in late March.

Three people face charges after RCMP executed a search warrant on a home on the Ebb & Flow First Nation.

Ste Rose RCMP were joined by Manitoba West District CREST unit and Police Dog Services in executing the warrant on February 29th.

Among the items seized were several drugs, including pre-packaged cocaine, meth and crack cocaine.

Prepaid credit cards, cash, firearms, ammunition, and other drug-related paraphernalia were also collected by MOunties.

Seven people in the home were originally arrested, but four were eventually released without being charged.

39-year-old Brian Houle of Ebb & Flow and 42-year-old Connie Malcolm of Bacon Ridge each face two counts of Possession for the purpose of trafficking, a count of possession of property obtained by crime, and several firearms-related offenses.

Both are due to appear in Dauphin court on April 11th.

Police also arrested 29-year-old Denee Baptiste of Ebb & Flow on an outstanding warrant for breach of a conditional sentence.

Baptiste has been remanded into custody.