Severe Thunderstorm Watch For Parkland

A severe thunderstorm watch has been put into effect for the Parkland.

Conditions are calling for the development of severe thunderstorms, strong wind, and heavy rain in the following areas:

Gilbert Plains Mun. incl. Ashville
Grandview Mun. incl. Valley River Res.
Mossey River Mun. incl. Winnipegosis and Fork River
Mun. of Ethelbert incl. Garland
Mun. of Roblin incl. Makaroff Shortdale and Bield
Mun. of Russell-Binscarth incl. Gambler Res.
R.M. of Dauphin incl. Sifton and Valley River
R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Ochre River and Makinak
R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Rorketon and Toutes Aides
R.M. of Riding Mountain West incl. Asessippi Prov. Park

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Aug 7, 2020 - 12:02 pm

Employment in Manitoba has increased for the third month in a row, as nearly two-thirds of Manitobans have returned to work.

In July, Manitoba’s total employment increased by 12,400, a 2 percent increase from June.

Premier Brian Pallister made the announcement this morning, saying “over 60 percent of Manitobans who have lost their jobs because of COVID are now back at work. Overall our provincial unemployment rate has edged down to 8.2 percent which is the lowest in Canada.”

Full-time employment was up by 6,200 people, or 1.3 percent between June and July – over double the national average according to Statistics Canada.

Manitoba also has the lowest youth unemployment rate in Canada.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Aug 7, 2020 - 11:02 am

UFCW Local 832 says four more employees at the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Brandon have tested positive for the coronavirus.

This brings the total to 8 cases at the plant this week.

None of the first four cases are to workers on the production line, but it’s unclear right now whether the new cases are or not.

Yesterday, Dr Brent Roussin said there isn’t any indication of workplace spread at Maple Leaf.

Roussin says the Brandon cluster is linked to a person who travelled from Eastern Canada and didn't self-isolate "perfectly'' upon arrival in Manitoba.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Aug 7, 2020 - 9:12 am

Masks or face coverings will be mandatory at all of Walmart Canada’s stores starting next week on Wednesday, August 12.

Walmart says it doesn’t matter what the local government has mandated, masks will be required.

The company is asking customers to bring their own masks when in the store.

Other safety measures such as increased cleaning, wellness checks for staff, customer limits, plexiglass dividers, and one-way floor markings are already implemented to keep staff and customers as safe as possible.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Aug 7, 2020 - 8:25 am

Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival may not have been able to go ahead as planned this year, but organizers were determined to keep the spirit of the festival alive.

CNUF Second Vice President Nick Yakimishen tells CKDM the idea to host a virtual festival came up after the board was forced to postpone the event.

“Beginning of July we discussed it as a board and decided it would be nice to still do something for that weekend, and keep the spirit of the festival alive.”

Following a parade through town on the decorated CNUF float on Friday, festival organizers invited the community to tune in to their Virtual Grandstand Variety Show on Saturday evening.

(CNUF parade float outside the Dauphin Market Place Mall on Friday)

Yakimishen says the nearly 3-hour virtual show was well received by the festival community.

“I’ve had a few people say they didn’t realize what the Ukrainian festival was all about, and now that they’ve seen the virtual online show — they’re more interested in coming to the festival in the coming years.”

Looking ahead, Nick says the CNUF organizers are hoping the festival can proceed as normal next year, and get back to what the community has come to expect over the last 54 years.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Aug 7, 2020 - 4:49 am

Dauphin RCMP stepped up their traffic patrols during the August long weekend, with the aim of increasing road safety in the Parkland area.

As a result, a number of traffic violations and charges were laid:

Highway Traffic Act:
- two drive while disqualified,
- three use cell phone or other hand-operated electronic device while driving a vehicle,
- seventeen disobey traffic control device (stop sign or red light),
- one fail to wear a seatbelt,
- three driving without a valid drivers licence,
- one exceed speed limit,
- one improper equipment (window tint),
- one learner driver operate a class 5 vehicle without a supervising driver,

Off Road Vehicle Act:
- one fail to wear a helmet,
- two operate an off road vehicle on or across a roadway,

Criminal Code:
- two impaired operation of a motor vehicle,
- one executed arrest warrant for failing to appear in court,

Constable Dominic Picard with the Dauphin RCMP says “we are happy to say that there were no reported traffic collisions this long weekend in the Parkland area,” and thanked the public for their attention in keeping our roadways safe.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Aug 6, 2020 - 2:49 pm

Riding Mountain National Park has closed Moon Lake to the public, after blue-green algae was found on the lake’s shore.

This algae produces a toxin that causes serious illness to people and animals who come into contact with it.

Symptoms of blue-green algae poisoning include headache, fever, and skin irritation, among others.

People are being advised to not drink or swim in the lake water. Violators could be fined up to $25,000 under the Canada National Parks Act.

The closure went into effect on Sunday, August 2^nd, and will last until August 16^th.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Aug 6, 2020 - 1:49 pm

There have been 30 new cases of COVID-19 added to Manitoba’s total today.

Eighteen of the new cases are in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 11 are in the Southern Health region, and one is in Winnipeg.

Manitoba now has a total of 474 lab-confirmed and probable cases.

The province has 118 active cases, 348 individuals listed as recovered, with 10 people in hospital — 5 of which are in intensive care.

There have been 8 deaths in Manitoba attributed to the novel coronavirus.

At this time, the province has not released any other information about the recent cases regarding any public health risks, but are advising of a potential exposure on Air Canada flight AC 8595 from Montreal to Winnipeg (rows 16 to 22) on July 29.

For more information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, click here.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Aug 6, 2020 - 1:13 pm

For the first time in over 2 months, a healthcare worker in Manitoba has tested positive for COVID-19.

A volunteer worker from the Prairie Mountain Health region tested positive on July 23^rd.

The worker had gotten sick through contact with a known case of COVID, but has since recovered. It’s believed they contracted the virus outside of a healthcare setting, according to a Manitoba Health spokesperson.

At this time it’s not clear what kind of work the volunteer did, but officials say there’s no risk to the public’s health.

The last time a Manitoba health-care worker tested positive for the virus was back in May.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Aug 6, 2020 - 11:12 am

UFC Local 832 says Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant has 3 more employees with COVID-19.

Yesterday the union announced one case at the plant but said the worker hadn’t been at the plant since July 28^th.

The union found out about the three new cases late, yesterday and say the cases are among non-production, unionized employees.

UFC Local 832 is calling for the plant to stop production until August 10^th at least.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Aug 6, 2020 - 8:40 am

A specialized treatment program, previously only available in Winnipeg, is now being made available to students in rural Manitoba.

13-year-old Rachel Laviolette-Carniel attends Grandview School and suffers from a brain injury that she received during birth, which has resulted in a cognitive delay and difficulties with things like reading, spelling, and math.

Her mother, Jennifer Laviolette, tells CKDM that the specialized “neuroplasticity therapy” has a high success rate of rehabilitating pathways in the brain, allowing some to overcome those learning disabilities and delays.

The treatment is part of the Arrowsmith Program, offered by the Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba.

Karen Velthuys is the Executive Director for Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba, and explains the Arrowsmith program “helps strengthen an individuals brain, by isolating the weak cognitive areas that underline their learning difficulties.”

Although this therapy program was previously only available to Manitoba students living in Winnipeg, but the COVID pandemic has led program organizers to begin offering it online — opening the door for students like Rachel to benefit from the specialized therapy program.

“These kind of therapy programs aren’t widely available,” said Rachel’s mother, adding that “most people have to travel to city centres. This is kind of a step moving forward to making some of these therapies more available to rural Manitoba.”

Rachel would be the very first student in Manitoba to take part in the neuroplasticity therapy remotely, however, her mother says the therapy program isn’t covered by the province of Manitoba.

“For the online portion which Rachel would be doing — we’re looking at a cost of $8,000 per year,” which is something her family can’t afford right now.