Summer Camp Program Registration Open

The school year is just about over and then summer camps will be starting up. You can register for free right now for the Dauphin Friendship Centre’s Summer Camp Program.

There are 8 weeks with different themes and a child can be signed up for a max of 2 weeks.

Those themes are the celebration of nations, exploration, Hollywood, sports, amazing race, inventor’s workshop, fun and fitness, and mission impossible.

Kids will be given a snack in the morning and lunch. The program is limited to 25 kids per week and there is a waiting list should there be a greater amount of kids wanting to join.

If you’d like to register forms can be picked up at the Dauphin Friendship Centre.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Jun 17, 2019 - 4:55 am

Manitoba Hydro is warning their customers of a new phone scam where recordings of customer service representatives are being used.

Hydro says that the “sophisticated” phone calls spoof Hydro’s number and use recordings of service representatives.

The callers will say your account is in arrears and then demand immediate payment. Hydro said that if a customer picks up the phone, the caller will pretend to look up their address and account and then attempt to arrange payment at non-Hydro locations.

If the customer misses the call, they may receive a voicemail that requests a call back at a different number.

Manitoba Hydro Spokesperson says that the company has received over 300 complaints and is unsure whether any money was lost.

He added that Hydro only has four numbers that customers should call back. Those numbers are 1-888-624-9376, 1-866-890-3856, 204-480-5900, and 204-480-5901.

Hydro does not accept payments over the phone, PayPal, using credit cards or from wire transfers and any request to do so should be considered fraud.

Manitoba Hydro confirmed it is working with Police to resolve the issue.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Jun 17, 2019 - 4:55 am

Father’s Day was celebrated yesterday.

Some Parkland Dads told us what they’d like for their day.

Ken’s idea just involves family.

“Spend time with the little guy, that’d be the best one.”

Vince from Dauphin has a similar idea.

“Just having some time with the kids”

Houston from Ochre River would like a home-cooked meal.

Other dads said they’d like gifts such as speakers or tools.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Jun 15, 2019 - 9:40 am

Cannabis retailers will soon be allowed to sell edibles, topicals, and extracts.

The new rules will come into effect on October 17^th, one year after marijuana was legalized.

Retailers will have to notify their intent to sell the new forms of marijuana 60 days before they will be allowed to.

Health Canada released its final regulations on the pot products, dictating rules on packaging and on how much T-H-C will be allowed. Marijuana-infused food or drinks will have a cap of 10 milligrams while vaping oils or topicals like lotions are allowed a maximum of one-thousand milligrams.

Bill Blair, the minister responsible for organized crime reduction, says there will be strict guidelines for packaging of edibles and other next-generation cannabis products to make sure they aren’t appealing to kids.

The new products will appear on the shelves in the middle of December.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Jun 15, 2019 - 6:01 am

Ste. Rose School has been awarded $32,000 in funding to help improve their outdoor space through the Co-op Community Spaces Program.

The money will be used to build an outdoor classroom and a nature playground, which includes water features and sandboxes, as well as an outdoor gathering space.

The principal of Ste. Rose School, Rhonda Buchanan says the school has been applying for funding for the project for four years and the project will coincide with the Play is the Way program which promotes outdoor activity for kids in Kindergarten to Grade 2.

This is the second project the Dauphin Co-op has provided funding for. They provided money to build the bike trails at the Selo site.

Buchanan says the school is hoping to start construction this fall with a goal of completing it by fall 2020.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Jun 15, 2019 - 5:57 am

When McCreary's Brett Michael Monka was 17, he realized he wanted to start singing in competitions and when he was 21 he decided to start taking it more seriously.

Nearly 13 years later, Brett has made huge steps and he could be on his way to Utah to open up for Keith Urban at Stadium of Fire 2019 which takes place on July 4.

Brett is joined by 24 other talented singers, all of which have a dream of opening up for Keith Urban in just three weeks’ time. Of the 25 singers still in the running, Brett is in 3rd place with 141 votes. The top 10 advances to the next stage and that's when the committee comes in. They will choose the winner and that person is off to Utah.

Voting remains open for the next three days.

"Yeah, it's crazy to be in this. I'm totally thrilled and excited about it," added Monka. "Half the time I can't even sleep because I'm just worried about this competition, it's pretty surreal to be in the Top 25."

"I've had a lot of encouraging words, comments, and shares," he added. "People from all over Canada has been voting for me, so it's pretty great and I hope it continues."

Brett is also the only Canadian that made the Top 25. If Brett did get the opportunity to open for Urban, there is no doubt it would be a day he would never forget.

"I mean it would honestly change my life forever,” added Monka. "It would probably start up my career. It would definitely get my name out there a lot more."

Even if Brett does fall short, he knows this whole experience is only the beginning of what's next for the McCreary native.

"Win or lose, I'm making new friends along the way which is great," added Monka. "People who have never heard of me before are listening to my music and they're sharing it around and everything. It's always new people so it's great for me."

You can help Brett achieve his dream of opening up for Keith Urban in Utah by heading to Brett hopes to join Keith Urban.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Jun 14, 2019 - 12:53 pm

Around 11:15 pm on February 12th, two men assaulted and stabbed a 36-year-old man when he answered the door. The two men proceeded to take a small amount of cannabis from inside the home and then fled in a vehicle.

The 17-Year-Old Gilbert Plains teen allegedly involved in the stabbing in February appeared in Dauphin court Wednesday. The proceedings were adjourned until June 25^th.

21-year-old Roger Keshane, who has also been accused of being involved in the incident, will be back in court, July 11^th.

If you would like to know more about the incident, click here.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Jun 14, 2019 - 11:07 am

The Canadian Government has chosen 11 communities across the country for a pilot program to attract immigrants to rural and northern communities.

Communities have been chosen based off of labour shortages, declining birth rate, and an ageing population.

Brandon is one of two locations in Manitoba chosen. The other location is Gretna-Rhineland-Altona-Plum Coulee, which is just north of the US border.

The chosen communities and the government will be working together this summer to identify permanent residence candidates.

Newcomers are expected to start arriving in 2020.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Jun 14, 2019 - 10:32 am

The Canadian Red Cross is hosting a free community barbecue tomorrow Saturday, June 15^th in the parking lot of the Dauphin Marketplace Mall.

The goal of the barbecue is to help find people willing to volunteer with the Red Cross.

According to community outreach coordinator Annie Papadakis, the organization is hoping to find 10 volunteers for the Dauphin Red Cross. The Dauphin Red Cross specializes in personal disaster assistance to help people who have lost their homes due to house fires.

Everyone attending the barbecue will get a hot dog, a bag of chips, and a canned drink for absolutely free.

It all starts at 11 am and goes till 3 pm

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Jun 14, 2019 - 9:49 am

The federal government has approved the massive transmission line project that will ship excess Manitoba hydroelectricity south of the border, following months of discussions between Manitoba and Ottawa.

The transmission line will link northern Manitoba generating stations through the Bipole III transmission line and across the states' border. The line is expected to increase Manitoba’s electricity capacity to 3,185 megawatts, up from 2,300 megawatts.

The approval comes after the National Energy Board recommended approving the project. The Board put 28 conditions on the project, with five of them needing to be amended to accommodate Indigenous group concerns.

The federal government says that at least 20 per cent of construction contracts had to involve purchases from Indigenous suppliers, contact with Indigenous subcontractors and the employment and training of Indigenous workers.

The project has met a lot of pushback from the federal government due to the potential impacts on Indigenous communities.

The federal government extended the deadline for approval of the project, citing more time is needed to review deals made with the Manitoba Metis Federation that were kyboshed by Premier Brian Pallister.
Manitoba Hydro and the MMF had agreed to a $67.5-million deal that was supposed to gather support for future hydroelectricity projects. Premier Brian Pallister called the deal “persuasion money” and cancelled the agreement.

Pallister also scrapped a $20-million deal called Turning the Page that was agreed to by the province, Hydro, and the MMF. That deal included terms that would have seen $20 million transferred to the MMF over 20 years in return for their support of Hydro activities such as the Bipole III line and the Keeyask generation project.

The MMF filed for a court review of the province’s decision to quash the deal, hoping the courts would overturn it.

The province approved an environmental licence for the project in April. Shortly after it asked the federal government to approve the project quickly to avoid delays that the province stated would cost Manitoba taxpayers $200 million a year in related costs.