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Crops and lakes could be affected by the Prairies entering into a dryer climate cycle.
Climate Change might be shifting how the typical 10 year wet and dry cycles function.
Ruth Eden the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister from Manitoba Infrastructure says more droughts and lower water levels in lakes are some effects.
“This is just a symptom of leaving a wet cycle and going into a dryer cycle. The lake levels may not be what they’ve been for the past ten years, we’ll just have to watch that. But we could be going into a more within the normal range over the history.”
For the past eight to ten years Eden says the prairies have been in a wet cycle and is at the point when it begins to shift.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Some residents in the province have received text messages recently that warn them that their bank account will be closed, or be restricted to limited access.
The text messages come with a link that will lead you to a fraudulent website if you click on it. The website claims to be your bank, and will prompt you to enter your username and password, or other personal information.
Police are reminding the public to be cautious of phishing scams like this, especially when they involve security alerts via text message.
To avoid these kind of scams, police ask residents to stay away from website links in text messages that they were not expecting.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
For reasons that aren't of national security, the Canada-USA border crossing in Cartwright has been closed indefinitely after asbestos was found at the Canadian facility.
The closure only affects northbound traffic heading into Canada from the U-S, while southbound travellers who are leaving the country will not be affected.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Border Services Agency says once a solution has been found, the public will be advised of when the crossing will re-open.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
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
