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The Province of Manitoba has expanded eligibility for second COVID-19 booster shots. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin made this announcement this afternoon. The following groups are now eligible;
- Individuals aged 50 or older
- First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people aged 30 or older, regardless of where they live
- Individuals aged 18 to 49 years who are moderate to severely immunocompromised
- Residents of any age of personal care homes and elderly person housing congregate living sites
The province is also shortening the intervals to be eligible for booster doses. The first booster can now be given four months after the person’s second vaccine, and the second booster dose can now be given four months after the first booster.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
Southern Chiefs Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels and Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson are calling on both the Federal and Provincial governments to provide permanent flood protection for Peguis First Nation. The community originally lived on land in the Selkirk area but was forced to relocate in 1907 to the flood-prone area near the Fisher River.
"Due to chronic underfunding of infrastructure, including flood prevention measures by governments, flooding episodes never end for Peguis" said Chief Hudson today.
This spring, over 1800 people from the First Nation were forced to evacuate their homes because of flooding. The Southern Chiefs' Organization says the federal and provincial governments need to work together to build flood protection infrastructure.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
It was announced yesterday, that a number of provincial campgrounds had to postpone their opening this weekend. Today, the province announced even more postponements including a few local ones.
- Rainbow Beach Provincial Park campground is closed until at least May 27 due to wet conditions and soft ground.
- Manipogo Provincial Park announced partial closures yesterday but has officially closed all campgrounds until at least May 27 due to wet conditions and soft ground.
You can see the full updated list of provincial park campground closures here.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
Two local historians have been awarded the Lieutenant Governors' Historical Preservation Award.
The Manitoba Historical Society receives award nominations from the public and recommends up to three people to receive awards each year. This year's recipients are Jo Bunka from Winnipegosis, Ed Stozek from Dauphin, and Elva Simundsson from Gimli.
Ed Stozek spent 33 years teaching in Dauphin at Smith Jackson, Barker Elementary, and the DRCSS. Although he retired as a teacher 15 years ago, Ed has remained extremely busy, publishing three books and submitting nearly 400 columns to local newspapers called "A Slice of the Parkland"
I've found out that many ordinary people live extraordinary lives and I have had the opportunity to share some amazing stories and experiences
Jo Bunka is the President of the Winnipegosis Historical Society, and she's been involved with the society since it was started in 1985. She says that preserving the history of the area has always been one of her passions.
I was absolutely humbled. I personally do not deserve this award. It truly belongs to the whole Winnipegosis historical society.
Both Jo and Ed had the opportunity to meet with the Lieutenant Governor while receiving their awards earlier this week.
Jo Burka receiving her award
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
The Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund Support Team is looking for daycare spots for the children coming to the Parkland from Ukraine. They're searching for nine openings for children in the infant to 12-year-old age range.
Anyone with information can reach out to Rodney Juba at 204-648-6159, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
The province has announced a number of campgrounds around Manitoba will be delaying the start of their season due to a number of reasons including flooding and washouts. Some of the local closures include;
- Blue Lakes, Childs Lake, Singush Lake, and Wellman Lake campgrounds in Duck Mountain Provincial Park are closed until at least May 27 due to road washouts.
- Manipogo Provincial Park campground has a partial closure of sites until at least May 27 due to overland flooding.
- And Rivers Provincial Park campground has a partial closure of some sites in low-lying areas until at least June 2 due to overland flooding.
Provincial Park campgrounds around the province were supposed to open this weekend. Find the full this of closures on the province's website here.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
It has been a month since the first cases of Avian Influenza were found in Manitoba. Since then, there has only been one case in a Manitoba flock according to Wayne Hiltz, the Executive Director of Manitoba Chicken Producers.
Even before the outbreak of the one case, when it started getting noticed in wild bird foul, we increased to what we call our alert biosecurity which has certainly more restrictions on it than our regular biosecurity, and those farms that are within the control access zone of the infected site, those would have significant more biosecurity attached to them as well because they're in what we call the hot zone.
There are a number of provinces getting hit harder than Manitoba however.
There's certainly a wide range, and not all of these are commercial premises, some of these would be small flock included in these numbers. Alberta is I believe around 28, Ontario's at 25, and BC's at eight, but I believe only one is a commercial premise, the rest are all small flocks. The Maritimes I believe just has one, Quebec is around seven, and Saskatchewan has about a dozen as well.
Hiltz said the outbreak is the worst the country has seen since at least 2005 when he started in the industry.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
The Dauphin Fire Department responded to three separate calls between 2:30 pm and 11:30 pm yesterday.
The first call, which came in around 2:30, was a report of a vehicle fire in the back lane of the 200 block of Main Street North. The department suspects it was caused by a mechanical failure, and the fire was quickly extinguished.
Then around 10:30 pm, the department received a report of a single-vehicle accident on Highway 20 North. The vehicle had hit a deer and the airbags deployed, the driver of the vehicle wasn't hurt.
Finally, around 11:30 the DFD got a report of a structure fire on the 200 block of Main Street North. The cause of the fire was determined to be cooking that was left unattended. Other occupants of the apartment block quickly called the fire department and the damage was limited to the single unit and was minimal. The only person in the unit where the fire was contained was treated by EMS and released at the scene.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
The RM of Lakeshore has declared a state of local emergency. In their release, they said the state of emergency was due to the continued rise of Orche River and Dauphin Lake water levels.
They're asking that any residents with questions reach out to the municipality at 204-733-2423.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
A 23-year-old man has been charged under Section 216 of the Highway Traffic Act for driving a vehicle that looked like a police vehicle.
On May 7 at about 7:15 p.m., RCMP Westman Traffic Services spotted a black Ford Crown Victoria on a service road off Highway 10 in the RM of Minto-Odanah.
The vehicle was equipped with police-style equipment including a push-bar, spot light and roof-mounted antenna.
“The vehicle looked exactly like an unmarked police vehicle. The only thing that gave it away is that police no longer use Crown Victoria cars, but the general public may not realize this,” said Sgt. Mark Hume, Unit Commander of Westman Traffic Services.
The 23-year-old was also given a vehicle defect notice that required him to report to MPI Vehicle Standards & Inspections. He is required to remove the push-bar, spot light and roof-mounted antenna.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Kinosota is the place to be this weekend as the Muktuk Annie Festival kicks off Friday night, and will have events running all day Saturday and Sunday. You can sign up to participate in Saturday's events on Friday night or Saturday morning, or you can just participate as a spectator according to Vicki Campbell, the Chairperson for Manitoba House Local.
Everything is free to get into, except the events. We charge five dollars to enter the events on Saturday, and the winner of each event gets 100 percent of the money for that event.
They are asking that people wear masks while inside unless seated at their tables, and they'll be checking proof of vaccination because it is a Manitoba Métis Federation-sponsored event. Check out the Festival on the Community Calendar for more information on what will be taking place.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell