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Manitoba has the lowest unemployment rate among all Canadian provinces.
The latest numbers from Statistics Canada show our province's jobless rate was at four per cent in January, after closing off 2023 at 4.2 per cent.
The national jobless rate ticked lower to 5.7 per cent in January as the economy added 37 thousand positions.
While the job gains were concentrated in part-time work, the total increase beat forecasters' expectations, suggesting the Bank of Canada isn't facing pressure to cut rates right
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Jeremy Gingras is slated to return to Swan River Court on February 21st.
The 37-year-old Swan River native faces several charges related to a pair of incidents at the same home in late September.
Just before midnight on September 24th, RCMP in Swan River said a man broke into a home, assaulted a man, and then stole a cell phone and bicycle.
The next morning, the same suspect broke into that same home, smashing items, and stealing a hammer before leaving.
The suspect then allegedly went to a Main Street business, where he is said to have smashed two parked vehicles, and windows of the business, with flying glass injuring a female employee.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Manitoba RCMP has had to respond to two separate incidents of threats in the past week.
On February 6, Manitoba RCMP officers responded to two separate reports of youths uttering threats involving firearms at two schools, One in the RM of Alonsa and the other in the RM of Portage la Prairie.
In the first incident, it was reported that a youth had threatened to bring a gun to school. The youth was detained and no firearm was located. Further investigation determined that the youth had assaulted two youths earlier in the day and also uttered threats.
The 12-year-old male is facing charges of assault with a weapon and 3 counts of uttering threats,
The Second instance also involved a 12-year-old male making threats towards other students at his school. he was later located at his residence and is facing charges of uttering threats.
Both youths were released from custody with pending court dates.
Corporal Julie Courchaine spoke on the importance of speaking with children about the consequences of making threats both online and in person, noting that "making threats in person or online can lead to criminal charges.”
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Manitoba's amateur sporting community will converge on Dauphin this summer for the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games.
The multi-sport event, which goes from August 11th to 17th, was originally supposed to be held in 2020 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Games co-chair Clayton Swanton says they are excited for the event to finally get here.
"It has been a long time coming. As everyone knows, we were set to host four years ago in the games cycle but we had to postpone, so we are really enthused about getting going here."
Swanton adds there have been minimal changes due to the event being pushed back four years.
"We did have to shuffle a few volunteers on our executive, due to people's lives changing. It is something that we have worked through, and now we are just getting ready to get all of our venues in prime shape and move forward."
Dauphin last hosted the Manitoba Games in 2004, an event that was co-chaired by Jim Steiner and Roy Dawson.
This time around - Jim's daughter Carla Wolfenden is one of the co-chairs for the games, and she says they have benefited from that experience 20 years ago.
"We do have some carryovers from 2004, and in our planning the first time around for the 2020 games, we had David Bosiak helping us as our Games Co-ordinator. He was a huge resource for us. But that continuity has been very valuable, and lessons have been learned - both the good and the bad."
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The case of a violent assault and robbery in Swan River will return to court in that community later this month.
On January 13th, RCMP received a report of a male breaking into a home and allegedly assaulting and injuring a 39-year-old female while both she and her infant child were sleeping.
The suspect then reportedly threatened the victim with a firearm before stealing money, vehicle keys, and other possessions.
22-year-old Alex Ames of Swan River was arrested and charged a few days later.
He is slated to be back in court on February 21st.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The co-accused in a stabbing incident last month in Swan River will make separate court appearances later this month.
29-year-old Dean Bell will appear in Swan River court on February 21st, while 40-year-old Tyrone Guiboche has a February 23rd court date in Dauphin.
Both have been charged with Manslaughter in relation to the January 13th incident, where a 33-year-old man was found suffering from stab wounds along Main Street.
He was taken to a hospital in the community, where he succumbed to his injuries.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Dauphin RCMP are expressing concerns over a recent rise in the number of scams circulating in the area, and they want to have an open and frank discussion with residents on that topic.
A presentation is set for next Wednesday night beginning at 6:30 at the Dauphin Active Living Center.
Among the scams that will be focused on that evening are the grandparents scam, romance scam, big win scams, and phishing, as well as the impacts that they have on residents.
Anyone is welcome to attend.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The 2024 Manitoba Summer Games have announced their first major sponsor for the event.
Co-chairs Clayton Swanton and Carla Wolfenden announced this morning that 730 CKDM has come on board as a media partner for the event.
Wolfenden says they are continuing to work on more sponsorships for the games.
"We do have a couple of other major sponsors that we are just finalizing and we will be able to announce very soon. We have sent out letters to most businesses in Dauphin. And we will be in touch soon via email or dropping off letters or face-to-face contact by Clayton or I."
Swanton adds Sport Manitoba is a huge partner in making sure the games are a success.
"The work that they do behind the scenes in between those four-year periods to make sure that this happens is massive, and the funding that flows through them into our community. That is the reason for hosting is the amount of legacy you get to leave for your capital projects coming from dollars flowing through Sport Manitoba is just incredible."
The games are set for August 11th to 17th in Dauphin.
It is the first time that Dauphin has hosted the multi sport event since 2004.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
A 41-year-old woman charged with second-degree murder will return to court next month.
Sheryl Thompson was arrested following a report of a stabbing at a home on the Pine Creek First Nation in June of 2022.
Mounties were called to a home where they found an injured 51-year-old man.
The victim was transported to the hospital where he died of his injuries.
Thompson made a brief court appearance in Dauphin earlier this week, and her case has been put over until March 11th.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba has elected a new president.
Clint Swain was elected Tuesday night during the Exhibition's Directors Annual General Meeting.
Swain has been a member of the Exhibition’s Board of Directors for the last six years, including four on the Executive Board, with the past two years as Vice President.
He has also been co-chair of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair since 2022.
Moving into the vacant vice president position is Tim Rowan, who has been a director with the Provincial Exhibition for the past six years.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Today is marked as Internet Safety Day by the Manitoba RCMP to highlight the work of the Internet Child Exploitation Unit, or ICE.
The rise of social media content creation has spawned a problem of Self-Exploitation, which is generally defined as youth creating, sending, or sharing sexual images and/or videos of themselves with peers online or through electronic devices.
Manitoba's ICE unit reported a notable jump in reports of cases like this from social media apps, going up from 242 reports in 2022, to 652 reports last year.
The RCMP offers some tips for online safety, which focus on monitoring your child's online activity and teaching the importance of online etiquette.
Corporal Gord Olson of the ICE unit encourages parents and guardians to discuss with their children about online safety, noting that "safe online habits can go a long way to protecting kids from exploitation, but parent awareness is key".
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
