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Health officials are ready to move Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) back into the yellow level of their Pandemic Response System.

In response to lower case numbers in the health region, the province will do away with the targeted “orange” level restrictions for the region, effective tomorrow.

Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin acknowledged PMH residents for stepping up to flatten the curve again, noting there were 240 active cases in the region when initially elevated to the orange restricted level.

The number of active cases in PMH has now fallen to 38.

Roussin explains there was a number of indicators that led officials to move PMH out of the restricted level — including an overall decline in case numbers and lower positivity rate.

PMH now rejoins the rest of the province with a 50 person limit on indoor gatherings, and 100 for outdoor gatherings — doing away with the 10 person limit on indoor/outdoor gatherings.

Masks are still strongly encouraged by the province, but are no longer required under public health orders.

Dr. Roussin strongly recommends mask use for all Manitobans in indoor public places, especially where physical distancing of two metres can not be maintained.

11 New Cases Of The Virus Reported Thursday

Eleven new cases of COVID-19 were announced in Manitoba on Thursday, with one in Prairie Mountain Health. Eight cases were in the Winnipeg health region, and 2 were in the Southern Health region.

Dauphin’s case count is unchanged, where all 7 cases are listed as recovered.

Manitoba now has a total of 1,500 cases of COVID-19.

There are now 293 active cases in Manitoba, with 10 people in hospital and 2 in intensive care.

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Contributed by Matt Hamel

Published: Sep 17, 2020 - 1:27 pm

A virtual town hall meeting will be held tonight to give Roblin residents a chance to voice their concerns about the recent disruption to some health services.

Officials with Shared Health and Prairie Mountain Health will be taking questions from 7:00 p.m. until 8:15 p.m.

Roblin’s emergency department services were recently suspended, which health officials say is a temporary measure while they address staffing shortages.

Anyone interested in joining tonight’s virtual town hall to voice their concerns about Roblin’s health services must register beforehand at this link.  

If you would prefer to join by phone, you must visit this link before 7:00 p.m. and register. 

After successful registration, a confirmation email will be sent with a phone number to call. 

Participants can submit their questions in advance to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as the online Q&A feature is not available by phone. 

Questions must be submitted by 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 17.

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Contributed by Matt Hamel

Published: Sep 17, 2020 - 12:49 pm

This summer, 7 tornadoes touched down in Manitoba.

The tornado season started on June 23^rd near a small community south of Winnipeg by the Canada-US border called Letellier, and that tornado was ranked EF-0. The tiny tornado was considered a landspout tornado and didn’t cause any damage to the area.

5 days later on June 28^th, a tornado touched down near Rapid City, southwest of Minnedosa. The EF-2 ranked tornado caused more damage than the tornado 5 days earlier. Dozens of trees were uprooted and extensive damage was done to the inside and outside of a home in Rapid City. Eyewitnesses say the tornado touched down 2 or 3 times.

While it wasn’t a tornado, Dauphin saw a funnel cloud develop over the city on July 13^th.

Only one tornado actually touched down in July, on the 17^th near Swan River. There weren’t any damage reports in the area following the EF-0 twister.

August was the busiest month, seeing 4 twisters touch down in a period of two weeks.

The most powerful tornado of the year touched down on the 7^th just outside of Virden. The EF-3 tornado produced wind speeds of 260 km/hr. It hospitalized a 54-year-old man, from Sioux Valley First Nation, with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and tragically took the lives of two 18-year-olds from Melita, Shayna Barnesky and Carter Tilbury. The tornado was on the ground for around 10-15 minutes damaging vehicles and farm equipment.

6 days later, east of Virden in the Alexander area, an EF-0 tornado touched down. Environment Canada didn’t receive any reports of damage.

Finally, two tornadoes touched down on August 21^st both near Shoal Lake. The two tornadoes received ratings of EF-0, and neither caused any damage reports.

The 7 tornadoes experienced this year in Manitoba isn’t out of the extraordinary as the province usually sees 7 to 10 every year.

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Contributed by Isaac Wihak

Published: Sep 17, 2020 - 11:39 am

Officials are calling it Manitoba's largest-ever seizure of contraband cigarettes.

360 cases, the equivalent to 3,570,400 contraband cigarettes were seized in Brandon last week on Wednesday.

Brandon Police arrested 4 men from Brandon ranging in age from 46-60 years old.

The cigarettes came from a First Nation community in Ontario.

The province could’ve lost $1,071,120 in tax revenue had the cigarettes been sold.

The men face charges under the Tobacco Tax Act and the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act. For a first-time offence, they could be fined between $1,000 and $10,000, and/or face up to 6 months imprisonment if convicted. Additionally, they may face a triple tax penalty of $3,213,360 and a loss of assets to the Criminal Forfeiture Unit. They’ll also face charges under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Anyone with information on contraband tobacco is encouraged to contact their local police department, call the Manitoba Finance Special Investigations Unit at 204-945-1137, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or call Manitoba Crime Stoppers (toll-free) at 1-800-222-8477.

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Contributed by Isaac Wihak

Published: Sep 17, 2020 - 11:00 am

MVSD Superintendent Dan Ward describes the first few days back in the classroom as having gone relatively smooth.

Ward tells us the feedback from principals, staff and students has been positive — although the transition to a new routine takes some getting used to.

The MVSD Superintendent/CEO is emphasizing the importance of screening kids every day before they go to school.

“The most important piece of advice is if your child is symptomatic in any way, to keep them home and go to the Shared Health website and do the self-screen, and follow the direction of public health,” said Ward.

Goose Lake High Transitions To Full Time Learning

Like many high schools in the province, Goose Lake High started the year using a blended learning approach — but discussions with the school staff indicate they're able to safely bring back more students for full-time learning.

Grade 10 students at Goose Lake High will transition to full time on September 29.

On October 5, Grade 11 and Grade 12 students will follow suit.

Technical Support For Parents

The MVSD is offering Parent/Guardian Tech Training through their IT department.

Parents have until Friday, September 18 to register.

Dan Ward says the optional tech training program will give parents a chance to get familiar with Microsoft Teams, accessing student marks and attendance in PowerSchool, and available tech supports for MVSD families.

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Contributed by Matt Hamel

Published: Sep 17, 2020 - 4:28 am

September 17th Update:

Early this morning around 4:15 the frost advisory ended in the Parkland.

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A frost advisory has been put into effect for much of the Parkland tonight.

The advisory is in effect for the following areas:

• Gilbert Plains Mun. incl. Ashville
• Grandview Mun. incl. Valley River Res.
• Mossey River Mun. incl. Winnipegosis and Fork River
• Mun. of Ethelbert incl. Garland
• Mun. of Roblin incl. Makaroff Shortdale and Bield
• Mun. of Russell-Binscarth incl. Gambler Res.
• R.M. of Dauphin incl. Sifton and Valley River
• R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Ochre River and Makinak
• R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Rorketon and Toutes Aides
• R.M. of Riding Mountain West incl. Asessippi Prov. Park

Environment Canada is warning of damage to plants in the areas, as temperatures are expected to dip down to minus 5 overnight with a wind chill of minus 8.

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Contributed by Tess Kovach

Published: Sep 16, 2020 - 4:12 pm

The province has announced 23 new cases of COVID-19 today, with none of them in Prairie Mountain Health.

There has been a total of 7 cases in the Dauphin health district, all of which are recovered.

There are now 1,489 cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba. Of the cases, 283 are active, and 1,190 are recovered.

There are 9 people in the hospital with 3 in intensive care. The number of deaths remains at 16.

Six new cases have been identified at the John Pritchard School in Winnipeg, taking the school's total number of cases to 7. Beginning today, the school is moving grades 6, 7, and 8, as well as a 4/5 split class to online remote learning, and the school has been placed under orange level restrictions.

For more information about COVID-19 in Manitoba, click here.

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Contributed by Tess Kovach

Published: Sep 16, 2020 - 1:18 pm

Dauphin’s 17^th Fill A Truck event is next week, accepting clothing donations for Diabetes Canada.

The donation truck will be parked at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy On Friday, September 25^th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and again on Saturday, September 26th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m, or until the truck is full.

This year they’ve had to make changes to the donation process, switching it to a drive-thru style event. Everyone donating must stay in their vehicles while workers pick up their items for them.

Sue Petersen is with the Fill A Truck event and explains what kind of items they are looking for.

“Basically it’s gently used clothing, things like belts, fabric, shoes, pillows, and bedding and what have you, but they have to be packed in green garbage bags.”

Sue says that when the truck is full, it can hold between 28,000 to 31,000 pounds of clothes.

Items must be in plastic garbage bags – not boxes.

For any questions, you can contact Sue at 204-648-5657.

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Contributed by Tess Kovach

Published: Sep 16, 2020 - 11:42 am

Portage la Prairie RCMP have arrested a man after he allegedly grabbed a 12-year-old girl and refused to let her go at a hotel pool.

On Saturday, September 12 at 6 p.m., police in Portage responded to a local hotel following reports that an adult man had inappropriately touched a 12-year-old girl.

It was determined that the girl was in the hotel pool with other youths when an adult man, unknown to the group, attempted to start a conversation.

Police say at one point the man grabbed the 12-year-old girl and refused to let go despite her attempts to get away.

An adult nearby was informed of the situation and the police were called.

A 28-year-old man from Winnipeg was arrested and is facing multiple charges, including Sexual interference and Forcible confinement. He has since been released from custody with a court date scheduled for November 10th in Portage la Prairie.

Police can not reveal the man’s name at this time as charges have not yet been formally laid.

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Contributed by 730 CKDM

Published: Sep 16, 2020 - 9:15 am

If you live in Dauphin and having issues with your internet, cable and home phone service since last night — you’re not alone. 

Many residents are reporting this morning they are still unable to connect to their wi-fi.

It seems that Bell MTS users may be the most affected by the service disruption, although a few CKDM listeners have reported their router and TV are back online as of this morning.

Bell MTS Support on Twitter says there is no available estimate for when service might be fully restored.

@HamelRadio Hi there, we are working towards resolution of the issues in Dauphin since last night, we will have it up as soon as possible thanks for your patience. ^Teddy

— Bell MTS Support (@Bell_MTSHelps) September 16, 2020

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Contributed by Matt Hamel

Published: Sep 16, 2020 - 7:35 am