Ashern Rodeo Hopeful For 28th Annual Year

Organizers for the 28^th annual Ashern Rodeo are hopeful they'll get the green light to proceed with the event this September long weekend.

Sponsorship Chair of the Ashern Rodeo Committee, Christine Michaleski says that a celebration like this will be a great end to the summer, and a start to the reopening of the province.

“We are trying to be as respectful as possible, but it would be so wonderful to be able to celebrate the end of this, and the end of summer with a big rodeo like this.”

“It seems like Manitoba is moving in a really good direction and we’re really lucky. We are staying hopeful and so far with everybody that I’ve talked to, it’s still looking like we are able to have it.”

She adds that they may have to limit the number of people that can attend, as well as implement hygiene and sanitizing stations around the rodeo grounds.

Rodeo Committee Vice President Rylee Giesler says that they're communicating with the province as well as the RM of West Interlake about what restrictions will have to be in place.

While details on how the event will unfold are still up in the air right now, the organization is hopeful to continue.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: May 23, 2020 - 9:00 am

2020 has been a tough year for many different reasons and one of those reasons is fatalities on Manitoba roads.

28 Manitobans have lost their lives in motor vehicle collisions just this year. That's well above the five-year average of 18.

Paul Manaigre with the RCMP says these numbers are shocking and he's urging the public to be safe while driving a vehicle, driving your bicycle on the roadways and even if you're a pedestrian.

"That number is staggering. We're seeing a number of high-risk factors and it's just far too many," he said.

Collisions include impaired driving, not wearing a seatbelt, and distracted driving, just to name a few. The RCMP is telling the public to remember these few things when on the road.

Drive sober
Wear a seatbelt
Slow down and drive to conditions
Be cautious and always aware of your surroundings
Pay attention to the road at all times
Keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you
Put your cellphone away.

"I think it's safe to assume that people are being complacent and they're assuming that nothing will happen to them," continued Manaigre. "It doesn't even have to be you causing the accident, it could be someone else. We want everyone to be safe and cautious on the roads."

Another fact is that summertime also brings the highest number of motor vehicle fatalities. Most of these fatalities happen on roads in rural areas.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: May 23, 2020 - 4:00 am

Two new cases of COVID-19 were announced by public health officials as of 9:30 this morning. The two bring the total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable cases in the province to 292.

Just one individual is currently hospitalized while no individuals are in intensive care.

There are 18 active cases while 267 people have recovered. Seven people have died from the virus in Manitoba.

Since early February, 37,272 have been tested in Manitoba.

Gathering sizes:

As of today, they've increased. No more than 25 people are allowed to gather indoors while the number outside has increased to 50 and social distancing measures must still be in place.

In addition, players, coaches, managers, training staff and medical personnel employed by or affiliated with a professional sports team may attend the team's facilities for the purposes of training and practicing, provided that no members of the public are permitted to enter those facilities.

The province is reminding everyone that people without symptoms should not seek out testing at this time.

For up-to-date information on testing criteria and community screening sites, visit locations. Additionally, a full of Manitoba government COVID-19 measures is here.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: May 22, 2020 - 1:19 pm

Two Swan River residents are facing drug trafficking and weapons charges after RCMP executed a search warrant at a home.

On Wednesday, May 20th, a search of the home by Swan River RCMP recovered 58 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, a large sum of Canadian currency, and a gun.

A 23-year-old man and 37-year-old woman, both from Swan River, are facing charges of Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime, Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm and Unsafe Storage of a Firearm.

Both accused have been released on conditions to appear in Swan River Provincial court on August 19th, 2020.

Swan River RCMP continue to investigate.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: May 22, 2020 - 1:13 pm

Water has been turned back on in the Municipality of Ethelbert.

City officials say the shut-off earlier Friday afternoon was to accommodate repairs.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: May 22, 2020 - 1:11 pm

The Fall semester is going to look slightly different for students at Assiniboine Community College (ACC).

In order to maintain physical distancing and comply with public health orders, students will study at a distance for portions of their programs.

Traditional on-campus learning will be “blended” with online learning models.

At this time, the College is outlining four broad categories of this “blended” approach:

Delivered entirely at a distance (off-campus)
Blended learning with low on-campus attendance and only for essential shops, labs, skills
Blended learning with low on-campus attendance scheduled in less than 50% of a program
Blended learning with higher on-campus attendance scheduled in 50% or greater in that program

College staff say they will be in touch with every new and returning student by the end of June with information about their specific program and its blended delivery format.

Prospective students are still encouraged to apply to ACC, as there have been no substantive changes to the application process and associated timelines.

Assiniboine Community College has campuses in Dauphin, Brandon, and Winnipeg.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: May 22, 2020 - 10:04 am

Fusion has announced that they’re giving $600,000 in patronage allocations to their members, they’re also giving $1.3 million in cash payouts to members under the age of 19 and over the age of 65, this is along with other dividends that bring the total return to $2,266,874.

CEO Darwin Johns is thrilled to be paying out over 2 million to their members.

“With so many people facing uncertain times right now, we hope that the cash payouts are a timely support to our members, who have made Fusion Credit Union flourish. The annual payouts have been accelerated this year to put cash in members’ hands when they need it the most.”

A patronage allocation is a value returned to a member of Fusion Credit Union based on their relationship.

The amount for each member is different, as it represents a portion of their interest paid and earned during the past year.

Members will see their allocation on their statements.

Business account holders will see the change around the end of June and Personal account holders will see it on their July statement.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: May 22, 2020 - 9:23 am

The Dauphin Bible camp will continue to operate this summer, with some new changes.

Camp Director Andrew Sevigny says that camps will only be able to run during the day.

“Currently the Public Health orders don’t allow for overnight camp so we’ve moved to be a day camp for this summer. Hopefully with regulations changing we might be able to do something later on in the summer but currently we are temporarily suspending overnight camps.”

He adds that a lot of the skills taught at the camps will remain, but the way activities are presented will have to change in order to fit social distancing guidelines.

There are currently 2 camps being offered: the traditional bible camp, as well as a horse-based camp program.

For more information, you can visit www.dauphinbiblecamp.com or call the camp at 638-5568, or email them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: May 21, 2020 - 2:53 pm

The federal government has pushed back the tax deadline to help Canadians during the COVID outbreak — but the move has led to some confusion.

H & R Block franchise owner in Dauphin, Gloria Austin-Epp, is now trying to clear up any misconceptions.

“We are finding a lot of confusion with people thinking the tax deadline has been extended to September 1st. That is incorrect. The tax deadline is June 1st. If you owe revenue Canada, the payment is due September 1st.”

Gloria says anyone who still needs to do their taxes and call H & R Block, as the filing deadline is now about a week and a half away.

She says it’s especially important to have your taxes done at this time, as many federal assistance programs require an up-to-date file with the CRA.

In-person services are currently suspended at H & R Block, but Parkland residents are still able to drop off their paperwork.

"The tax deadline is June 1st. If you owe revenue Canada, the payment is due September 1st."

For more information, call H & R Block at (204) 622-5656.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: May 21, 2020 - 1:41 pm

Today there were no new cases of COVID-19 announced.

Manitoba has a total of 290 cases at this time. The number of active cases is currently at 18, and 265 people are listed as recovered.

The number of deaths remains at 7.

The Prairie Mountain Health region has three testing sites. The Brandon testing site has conducted a total of 1,715 tests. The Dauphin testing site has conducted 337 tests, while the newest testing site in Swan River has conducted 77 tests.

For the most up to date information, and to access the online screening tool, visit manitoba.ca/covid19.