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Manitoba Hydro expects its long-term debt to climb to twenty-five billion dollars over the next five years.
The Crown corporation's annual report says it didn't make as much in income last year, and projects the income loss to continue next year as well. The report also noted that efforts to restructure the utility and reduce costs are a couple of reasons for the drop in year-to-year income.
The biggest expenses for the utility include the Bipole III line, as well as rebuilding or replacing aging poles and substations, and work on the Keeyask Generating System, which is halfway done.
Manitoba Hydro's current debt load is now above nineteen billion dollars.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
The provincial Liberals are calling on the government to improve cell service in rural parts of the province.
Dougald Lamont, the Manitoba Liberal Leader, says Premier Pallister is making excuses for Bell MTS when the premier says that tower construction to improve bad service in rural areas is “a massive investment.”
Dougald Lamont says it should not be up to the public to foot the bill after a reduction in investing of Bell MTS.
According to Lamont, after the merger of Bell MTS is investing 1 billion dollars in the five years since the merger to improve coverage. That’s down 300 million from the 1.3 MTS invested by MTS in the same length of time between 2011 and 2015.
Lamont says “We’re seeing the same or worse cell service, higher rates, and no increase in investment at all in rural areas that need better coverage.”
Farmers are also pushing for better coverage.
Bill Campbell, the President of the Keystone Ag producers, says cell coverage was an issue at the organization’s summer meeting. Some of the concerns brought up focuses on natural disasters, such as the Alonsa tornado, and also farmers working alone in the field who might need medical or emergency help.
“We’re finding that some of the service has actually decreased since the merger of Bell and MTS. So, I think, bringing this awareness to the government that there has not been enhanced coverage, as they have been led to believe. So it’s kinda decreased.”
Campbell says most of the discussion last week focused on areas around southern Manitoba. A resolution wasn’t passed at the meeting because it’s already KAP policy to lobby for better service.
We’ve reached out to the provincial government for comment.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the family of the missing Brandon man lost in Europe.
The page is set up to help the family of Jeff Freihieit, originally from Dauphin, who went missing while hiking in Germany on August 1st.
The funds are intended to help pay for any costs that might come up including flights, hotels, medial and private search parties.
They have set up a goal of 25 thousand dollars.
His wife Selena and mother have travelled to Germany to help with the search.
Selena has been updating her Facebook page with information from German websites -- including a report from one that says authorities have been searching for her husband at the base of a ridge.
The report says temperatures in the area are not too low and the local police chief believes it's possible that if Freiheit was injured, he's still alive.
You can find the link by clicking here.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The level of water in Dauphin Lake is below current averages but isn't low.
Some people who have gone to the lake have noticed the levels are lower than they would think it usually is.
Ruth Eden the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister from Manitoba Infrastructure says the levels are where they should be.
“So if you are looking at within the last 8 or 10 years it is low, relatively speaking. But if you are looking at the lake levels over 50 years or 70 years, it actually is within the normal range right now.
Eden shares what range Manitoba infrastructure hopes to keep the lake.
“On June 1st we recorded water level in the lake at 854.9 feet and typically it’s operating where we want the range to be for the lake is somewhere around 854.8."
The water coming from the dam discharging into the Mossey River is very low. Eden says it’s just enough to keep the river healthy.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
High-temperature records fell in a number of locations over the weekend including in Dauphin.
Dauphin hit 37.1 Celsius breaking a record set in 1989.
The mercury soared to 38.2 in Brandon, shattering the August 12th benchmark of 35.6 set in 1897.
The thermometer hit 37.5 Celsius in Winnipeg, breaking the old mark of 35 in 1972.
The province is in store for cooler weather today, while air quality alerts issued last week have ended.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
It was a messy Saturday at the Selo Site as teams took on this year’s Vanguard Catalyst Credit Union Manitoba Mudrun course.
Amber Duncan, the regional coordinator for the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba says there were lots of people who came out to the extremely hot day.
“The Mudrun was really great. It was hot to be expected and it was muddy and had a really great turn out and everyone seemed to be full of energy at the start and definitely tired at the end. So overall it was a really great day!”
Duncan says the Alzheimer Society raised over 10 thousand dollars this year and fundraising is still going on until the end of the month.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Charges have been laid against a twenty-nine-year-old man in the death of a fifteen-year-old boy who was riding his bicycle in the Lockport area, just north of Winnipeg.
RCMP say the boy was cycling with another fifteen-year-old on the shoulder of a road in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews late friday night when a vehicle went off the roadway and hit them.
The boy, identified by his family as Ben Harris, was heading home from a sleepover and was near the turnoff to his house when he and his friend were struck. His friend, the other fifteen-year-old, was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, while Harris was announced dead at the scene.
Police say the vehicle that hit the boys was stolen. Twenty-nine-year-old Justin Joseph Little faces fourteen charges including impaired operation of a motor vehicle by a drug causing death, failure to remain at the scene of an accident where a person is deceased, and possession of property obtained by crime over five-thousand dollars.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
The MRI machine in Dauphin is expected to be operational by November.
Prairie Mountain Heath says the machine will arrive in October for installation followed by a period of testing and validation.
Diagnostic Services, Shared Health Chief Operating Officer Petr Kresta says the MRI unit is being manufactured by Siemens in Germany and the DRHC building addition is being outfitted to receive the unit.
It takes about 12 to 16 weeks to manufacture and ship the machine to a site that is ready to receive it.
Outfitting the suite means temporarily removing an exterior wall, to make space to move the unit into the building when it arrives on site. This requires precise coordination and planning.
The process is underway to fill positions with qualified staff required for this new service. Shared Health will provide training for the successful candidates to ensure they have the appropriate skills to deliver the service.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Parkland is remaining under a special air quality statement this weekend.
The smoke is coming from forest fires in BC and Alberta.
Dr. Mahmoud Khodaveisi a medical officer of health for Prairie Mountain Health shares how increased exposure to smoke can affect your heart.
“Smoke is made up of a number of components, unhealthiest contaminants is small particles. How smoke condition may affect the heart is determined by a number of factors. For example, the length of time they are exposed, the health status, and the concentration of smoke in the air.”
A cold front tracking across northern Manitoba today will bring some improvement to far northwestern Manitoba this afternoon. Meanwhile, central and southern portions of the province will likely see the persistent smoke cover over the region for the remainder of the weekend and beyond.
In general, wearing a mask is not the best way to protect your health during a smoke event. In fact, masks may lead to a false sense of security, which may encourage increased physical activity and time spent outdoors, meaning increased exposure to smoke. They can also make breathing more difficult.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
St Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Ebb and Flow has burned to the ground.
Early this morning the fire department received the call of the church on fire.
Darcy Houle, Fire Chief, gives us details about what happened at 4:52 a.m.
“Ebb and Flow responded to the call, and came upon the fire at the church. The north side of the church was engulfed. As far as I know there was not any forcible entry and what not, so it’s still under investigation.”
Houle encourages anyone with information about what might have started the fire to contact the RCMP.
The investigation is ongoing.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
From the goodness of their own hearts, the Ste. Rose Dental Centre brightened up a lot of peoples days on Friday.
They were "Paying It Forward" around a few communities in the Parkland, which included buying peoples groceries, gas, and various other things around town.
"I was personally inspired by the Broadway musical called "Come from Away" which was all about the planes having to land in Newfoundland during 9/11," said David Wolle, Dentist at the Ste. Rose Dental Centre. "The town of a couple thousand came together and provided so many things for all of the people on the airplanes, just simply from the goodness of their own heart. Then, when the people went back to where they were from... they did the same thing,"
"So, we went to McCreary, Laurier, Ebb & Flow, and Ste. Rose and we just saw people buying things, and we bought them for them," he added. "We were making people smile all day, and it just made us feel good."
David talks about some of the reactions the workers got from the public.
"We got lots of hugs," said Wolle. "Usually, we were standing by the cash register and we told the people what we were doing. To start, they were confused and didn't really believe us... but then when we paid, they were all so happy. It was just a great day."
Overall, they spent about $1500 yesterday, and they plan on doing it again.
"We definitely plan to do this thing every year," said Wolle. "We called it the Ste. Rose Dental Centre Giving Back Day."
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
