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A Swan River man charged with Manslaughter will appear in court again.

Norman Brass was arrested after RCMP received reports of a death in Swan River on February 18th.

They later found a 36 year old man deceased in the home where Brass was.

Brass was in Swan River Provincial Court Wednesday and was remanded into custody until May 2nd.

Randy Oudie, from Dauphin, appeared in court on Wednesday in connection with posting a picture of a handgun to social media.

He was arrested near the Rossburn Collegiate on March 14th and was found with a C-O-2 powered replica pistol and ammunition.

Oudie was in Rossburn Provincial Court on Wednesday and had his matters adjourned until May 16th.

Premier Brian Pallister was in Brandon this afternoon where he spoke on many issues impacting the province. 
 
Some of the issues included the legalization of marijuana, health care, and business.  
 
Officials say 487 were registered to attend the luncheon that took place at the Keystone Centre.
 
Speaking about healthcare Pallister promoted the 16 percent hospital wait time reduction by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

With legalization of it coming in the near future, today will most likely mark the final “illegal” 4/20.

4/20, falling on the 20th day of the 4th month is the unofficial holiday for people to partake in smoking the currently illegal drug, marijuana.

The owner of Heads Held High Hemp and Accessory in Dauphin, Allison Beauchamp, doesn’t see much significance to the final year.

“I don’t think it will really change that much at all, except for the fact that you many see more groups maybe doing rallies on the day of 420.” 

With the legalization movement, she says there’s changes in the industry and the stigma.

“Enormously, the industry has been changing for the last couple years, more rapidly over the last year of course but it’s been amazing to witness and be a part of. The stigma definitely has gone down; I’ve also noticed a change in more people not hiding what they’re using for medicine.”

As the drug moves into legalization, Beauchamp believes the stigma will now begin to die off.

“I think the stigma will totally go away in time, it’s already gone down an enormous percentage from the first day I opened six years ago. I have more people coming in the door curious of what’s in here and curious about questions of what’s going on in the industry, and its giving me the chance to meet more people.”

In January of 2018, Beauchamp became the first business owner in Manitoba to complete the Medicinal Cannabis Fundamental’s for Business Professionals course at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario.

Grain farmers across the country are pushing their interests during National Grain Week.

This is the first time the Grain Growers of Canada are hosting the three day event.

During meetings taking place in Ottawa, GGC President, Jeff Nielsen, and representation from Manitoba are pushing specific issues.

“We’re promoting things such as in Manitoba the value-added side that is beneficial to the Canadian economy and of course in Manitoba you’re looking at the pulse fractionation plant that is started construction. We’re looking at oat processing, oilseed crush; we’re looking at the increased growth of soybeans.”

Nielsen added other priorities include getting the amended Bill C-49 passed in the House of Commons as quickly as possible.

The investigation is still on going into the accident that claimed the lives of 16 people.

Saskatchewan police are saying its too early to determine if charges will be laid in the crash between a semi-truck and Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team.

Investigators are still trying to determine why the truck was at the intersection of Highway 335 and 35, between Tisdale and Nipawin.

The intersection is closed today until 6:00 this evening so reconstructionists can analyze the scene a second time.

screen shot of 'Funds for Humboldt Broncos'

The Humboldt Broncos GoFundMe page closed last night at midnight.

More than 142,000 contributors in just 12 days donated just under $15.2 million dollars from across Canada and numerous countries around the world.

It was the largest fundraiser of its kind in Canadian history.

They will still be accepting donations, just under the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund name rather than the GoFundMe page. 

The Dauphin Community Foundation is recognizing local organizations at their Spring Luncheon on Monday.

The luncheon is the first of its kind and is going to be held at the WAC.

David Bosiak, Board Member of the Foundation explains why they’re having the event.

“What we’re trying to do is try and bring a more public awareness of the organizations that the Community Foundation annually provides grants to.”

He talks about where the idea came from.

“We thought that the Chamber of Commerce did a great job with how they do their Luncheon Series, so we thought a lunch would be a good idea.”

They will be presenting over $72,000 in grants at the luncheon.

Tickets are available until Friday afternoon at the Foundation Office at City Hall and are $20 each.

Premier Brian Pallister announced details of a new K to Grade 8 school for Brandon.

The new school is going to be 65,660 square feet and located at Maryland Avenue and 9th Street.

A child-care centre is going to be located in the school to care for 20 infants and 54 preschool children.

The new educational facility will have 40 nursery school spaces and 14 regular classrooms for students.

Construction is set to begin in November and expected to be completed in September 2020.

In light of the recent lead testing in water going on in Dauphin, Mountain View School Division is taking steps to have their schools tested.

The division has had initial testing of all the sinks and fountains in all of the schools in Dauphin, with 84 samples taken from 42 sources.

To ensure water quality, MVSD is closing many of the water fountains connected to older water service lines.

The division will continue to test all the remaining schools and take the necessary measures set forth by the province.

As spring approaches, National Soil Conservation Week is a great time to start thinking about the health of your garden or field.

One simple way to know the state of health of your soil is what Jim Tokarchuk, the Executive Director of the Soil Conservation Council of Canada, calls ‘Soil Your Undies’.

“A very simple science experiment that anyone can do. By simply finding a pair of new cotton underwear, burying it in the soil starting in the spring then coming back in July and examining the stage of decomposition of the cotton product.”

By doing this experiment, it tells you, the state of biological activity in your soil. He says generally the more active the soil is the healthier it is.

With farmers using most of the soil, it’s vital that they implement best management practices to mitigate many problems that might occur.

“It’s not a free good. If you don’t look after it, it will decline. So things like the extent of tillage, the type of tillage equipment, the type of crop rotations you use, all have an impact on soil health. So we say to farmers across the country, think about that as you begin doing your planting.”

Tokarchuk says soil is a living breathing system that provides nutrients and water to crops, is a home for billions of organisms and produces 95% of the food we eat.

He also says the annual cost of soil degradation is estimated at over $3 billion each year in Canada and it will only increase if nothing is done.