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The province of Manitoba is expanding vaccine eligibility to children aged six months to four years. This follows Health Canada's announcement last week that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was approved for kids in the six months to five years age range.

The initial supply of the quarter dose vaccines will be limited to 14,900 in the first delivery, and because of this, the province will prioritize the following groups of children.

  • First Nations, Inuit, or Métis children, regardless of where they live.
  • Those who have certain medical conditions including:
    • Chronic lung disease,
    • Airway abnormalities,
    • Congenital or chronic heart or circulatory diseases,
    • Moderately to severely immunocompromised due to a medical condition or treatment,
    • Neurologic disorders (including developmental delay),
    • Diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or any chronic disease related to premature birth

The vaccine is a two-dose series with eight weeks between doses. You can find the province's full news release with additional information sources here.

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The grand opening of the Oksana & Quinn Dutchyshen Memorial Splash Park took place Monday night in the campground area of the Gilbert Plains Country Club and it was very well attended.

James Manchur, the deputy reeve of the Gilbert Plains Municipality, the Dutchyshen family — who unveiled the sign — and Brad Michaleski, MLA for Dauphin, were all present at the event.

Board Member Kimberley Perih said that everyone on the board is extremely proud of what they accomplished.

"In the speech from the Deputy Reeve... he had mentioned that... [it was] pretty amazing that four people came together and raised over half-a-million dollars for the community for something like this," Perih said.

She also said that it was a great feeling to hear those words and to see all the kids having such a great time playing together at the splash park.

A video of the grand opening is available on Facebook.

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The Manitoba Youth Job Centre is running a First Job Certificate program to help teach basic job skills to students and youth aged 12 to 29. The program runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 21st at Under One Roof.

Mariah Yakielashek, the Youth Engagement Leader for MYJC says it's an opportunity for participants to learn basic job skills, and prepare to enter the workforce.

"The goal of the First Jobs Certificate Program is to make sure young people are ready for the job market. This certificate program has 4 different courses: Introduction to the Workplace, Customer Service, Money Management, and Professional Skills and Leadership."

Participants will receive a certificate once they complete the program that's recognized by employers, and can be presented alongside a resume.

"This program is free and available to all students and youth ages 12 – 29. The only thing they need to do to participate in the program is to register with the centre, by phone or email."

You can call (431) 345-1336 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information or to register for the program.

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An RCMP officer conducted a traffic stop involving a vehicle at a campground on Highway 83, in Roblin, on July 16th at around 7:45 p.m.

The driver was outside of the vehicle — which had not been registered — and the officer told him that it would be towed.

After being told that it would be towed, the driver got into the vehicle, reversed extremely rapidly, and struck the officer. He then fled the scene.

The officer was taken to the hospital, where they were treated and later released.

The day after, July 17th, the suspect turned himself in to police and was arrested.

He was identified as 31-year-old Matthew Paul of San Clara, Manitoba and has been charged with Assaulting a Peace Officer with a Weapon, Flight from Peace Officer and Failing to Stop After an Accident.

He was released by the courts with conditions.

Roblin RCMP continue to investigate.

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Swan River RCMP responded to a vehicle rollover on Highway 83, about 16 kilometres south of Benito, on July 16th at around 5:50 p.m.

When officers arrived, they found that emergency services were already on the scene.

Their initial investigation determined that the vehicle was travelling north on Highway 83 and then went into the ditch.

The driver, a 35-year-old female from Cote First Nation, Saskatchewan, was ejected from the vehicle. She was later pronounced dead on the way to the hospital.

Swan River RCMP continue to investigate.

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The Annual Parkland Chamber of Commerce Street Fair and Dance returns next week with events all day long on Thursday, July 28th. Chamber Executive Director Stephen Chychota says they're moving the street fair to a new location they've had their eyes on for a while.

"It was something that was considered in the past before, but one of the major issues with the street fair is the access to power, so once we found out that the CN Park area was sufficient now with some upgrades that happened, we kept exploring the idea." said Chychota, "We'll give it a trial run this year, hopefully, it works out well, and the addition of having CN Park as the backdrop to everything should be really nice."

The day gets going at 7 a.m. and is going to be filled with food vendors, merchants, a kids zone, musical acts, and a beer gardens.

"One of everybody's favorite elements, we're going to start things off in the morning with the Fort Dauphin Museums Pancake Breakfast," said Chychota, "looking forward to starting the day off that way and having fun all the way throughout."

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The municipal election is over three months away, but the candidates for the City of Dauphin are already preparing. For the first time since 2010, the election for Mayor of Dauphin will be contested, as Kerri Riehl and David Bosiak have both announced they'll be running.

Both candidates are hearing about issues from people around the community, and working on plans to address those issues to the best of their abilities. Riehl spoke about meeting with elected officials at all levels of government to share ideas.

"I was able to meet with Wab Kinew, the leader of the official opposition for the legislative assembly who represents the NDP," said Riehl, "I've talked to the MLA, and just this week I had lunch with the Member of Parliament. That one was very exciting for me. One of my passions when I was on Council and Deputy Mayor was, I certainly would like to see a restorative justice center here, built in Dauphin, and that was the focus of our conversation with the MP."

Bosiak also spoke about some of the issues that have been brought to his attention.

"The issues that seem to be common place in the sense of economic development, you know, Dauphin has to grow," said Bosiak, "The issues related to the perception of crime, and is there more crime or not, is Dauphin a place that people want to live? It's been a variety of things that have been brought to my attention and I don't think there's any one overwhelming issue."

The candidates were also both asked about the labour shortage that the City and the Parkland as a whole are facing right now, and how they might address that if elected. Bosiak talked about making Dauphin a place where people want to live, and the things that come with that.

"Affordable housing, can people find a place to live? Can families be here? We have good education, we have a good healthcare system, but can we connect the people to the jobs. I think we have to create a climate where people want to work again, and I think that by making Dauphin a great little place to live, we might be able to address that issue." said Bosiak, "One of the responses I've had to a lot of people was, there's very rarely one specific answer to any of the issues that are brought forward."

When asked the same question, Riehl focused on education and making people want to come back to the community after their done getting an education.

"I'm an active business owner and it's a problem I face every day, I don't have enough staff," said Riehl "I think it all ties together to education, providing opportunity locally to obtain an education. For instance in Yellowknife when I was there, people moved out to get educated, to get a degree, they never came back, and that was me. I left in '85 to go to university, then I joined the RCMP for 27 years, had another life, and came back. If you send people away, it's very difficult for them to return."

The election takes place on October 26th province-wide, and people have until September 20th to register to run for both Mayor and Council.

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The grand opening of the Oksana & Quinn Dutchyshen Memorial Splash Park will take place tonight at 8 p.m. in the campground area of the Gilbert Plains Country Club.

It will feature the official ribbon cutting and sign reveal.

Board Member Kimberley Perih is excited about the grand opening.

"Every board member is elated to have it open. It's been a long time coming... To have it up and running — especially when it's this hot out — for all the kids to use, it's quite a feat," Perih said.

The splash park was named in honour of Gaylene and Wayne Dutchyshen's granddaughters — Oksana and Quinn Dutchyshen — who were killed in a two-vehicle collision north of Dauphin in August 2019.

The driver of the other vehicle has since been charged with impaired driving causing death.

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The Parkland Horseman's Association had a successful Saturday of races, despite the challenges they had. Early last week the PHA had to make the decision to move their races due to poor track conditions in Ste. Rose.

Then they had to cancel races on Sunday due to extreme heat because they were concerned for the safety of the horses, racers, and visitors. PHA Secretary Faye Soucy said despite all the challenges, they were so happy to see all of their fans out on Saturday.

We were really happy with our turnout, we're happy that we had all of our fans come through the gates, we were happy to see that all of our fans followed us through even though we had a track change.

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Old September is a specialty coffee store and cocktail bar in Gilbert Plains and the one-stop shop has recently been featured.

Also featuring a floral design studio, the shop was featured by Travel Manitoba as one of 10 things to do in Manitoba. Kayla Luky said she was thrilled when she first found out.

"Travel Manitoba reached out to me about featuring the shop," said Luky. "It's nice to get some exposure, it's a great feeling."

The shop is open from 9:30 to 4:30 Tuesday to Saturday and is closed on Sundays and Mondays. So if you're looking for something new to do in Gilbert Plains, there's another option for you.

"Gilbert Plains is a great place to be," said Luky. "We have many different offerings and Old September is a great place to start. We love seeing new people in the shop."

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North West Regional Immigrant Services (NWRIS) is a settlement agency funded by the federal and provincial governments to provide settlement and integration services to newcomers to Swan Valley and The Pas. The goal of the organization is to make sure newcomers have the help they need to integrate and stay in the community for the long term, which in turn helps the area deal with the ongoing labour shortage. 

Gillian McGrath, executive director of NWRIS, said that every newcomer they've had recently is currently employed.

"We do have local employers who ask us if we know of anyone suitable for their workplace and we refer people where possible," McGrath said.

McGrath also said that they've had around 30 Ukrainians — adults and children — arrive recently and every single one of them that wanted to work is currently working, even if they don't speak English.

"We found them employment with employers that had staff that already speak Ukrainian and they were willing to pair them up to have an employee," she added.

More information on NWRIS and the services they provide can be found on their website.

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