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It will be a celebration that will mark years of hard work.

A celebration to congratulate and a celebration to feel proud. The Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School (DRCSS) is all set to hold its graduation ceremony on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1:00 p.m. inside the school's gym.

Taylor Schmidt is the school's principal and he is extremely proud of each and every student that will graduate over the weekend.

"This is a real celebration for the students, it is the biggest day of the year for us," said Schmidt. "As an entire staff, we get to celebrate this accomplishment. "It's a big deal to get your high school diploma and these students have worked so hard. We are excited to celebrate with them on Saturday."

The doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and everyone is welcomed to attend. 

139 students are set to graduate which will mark the largest number of graduates in the past five years, at least. Saturday will be without a doubt a special day and one to remember.

"It's such an exciting time of year for myself and those involved," offered Schmidt. "It's all the emotion, the nervous, the excitement, and the unsure. There has been an outstanding energy throughout the building these last couple of weeks."

Last year's convocation was packed so if you are looking to get a prime seat for the festivites, Schmidt urges you to head down to the school early. 

"I'm prediciting a packed gym once again," ended Schmidt. "We invite people to come down to celebrate and get ready to cheer."

The Province has unveiled more details regarding the Search of the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of 2 Indigenous women.

Premier Wab Kinew Spoke at 1 pm this afternoon, accompanied by Amna Mackin, assistant deputy minister of cabinet delivery, who detailed the 5-stage plan for the search.

The assessments of cost and risk were stage 1, which is complete. According to Mackin, we're a week into stage 2, detailed planning to narrow down the location and depth of where the remains might be and construct infrastructure for the search.

Stage 3 is where Waste moving starts, carefully excavating the area to locate the remains. there's a lot of waste above the area, and finding items with dates matching the times estimated from the Skibicki trial to help confirm the proper depth.

Stage 4 is scheduled for late fall, where a thorough search will be done when the target depth is reached. Teams will then take materials, spread them across the constructed search area, and sift through for clues and remains.

Stage 5 is a contingent plan, in case the remains are not located.

Premier Wab Kinew also stated his admiration of the Families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran in their advocacy other the past years, and their offers to be trained to assist in the seach.

A healing center will also be constructed nearby to ensure space for appropriate cultural ceremonies and spiritual healing.

Two local cases from the Parkland recently returned to court in Brandon. 

A Brandon man charged in relation to a February weapon and drug bust in Dauphin has had a new court date set. 

39-year-old Cody Genaille was one of four people arrested, and his matters have been adjourned until June 25th.

And a 28-year-old Dauphin man was also in Brandon court related to a mid-January incident near Ste Rose where RCMP stopped to help a vehicle that was pulled over, but also located an open bottle of liquor and some suspected individual bags of suspected crystal meth.

 Clint Nepinak had his matters put over until June 27th. 

Several Parkland communities are set to host events on Friday in recognition of National Indigenous Peoples Day. 

The Elbert Chartrand Friendship Center in Swan River will host a number of activities, including a Sunrise Ceremony, a pancake breakfast, and an evening stew and bannock meal.

Just down the highway in Roblin, events are set to take place from 6 to 9 pm Friday night at the Roblin Curling Rink.

A collaborative effort of the Roblin, San Clara/Boggy Creek, and Shell River Metis locals will see an open mic event, metis dancers, and indigenous artisans. 

Parks Canada will host a day-long "Water is Life" Celebration and Ceremony in Wasagaming, which will include a sunrise ceremony at 5:30 am, storytelling, a fashion show, jigging, and a mini pow-wow, before wrapping up with entertainment in the evening.

Here in Dauphin, activities are planned for 1 to 5 at the 11th Avenue Hall, with the Northwest Metis Council hosting kids games, face painting, lunch, and a variety of musicians, dancers, and performers. 

And the Dauphin Friendship Center is hosting a Full Moon ceremony, beginning at 9:45 Friday evening at their green space. 

Women are encouraged to attend and wear skirts and bring sacred tobacco for a ceremony that brings healing to women of all walks of life. 

Delegates from the province and other national agriculture boards attended to review the Soy Canada AGM, celebrate 40 years of Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, and recognize some important individuals.

Hosted at Sirski Farms, by RM of Dauphin Reeve Ernie Sirski, it was a sunny, comfortable venue for all attending in person.

Executive Director of Soy Canada Brian Innes is always impressed at the progress of soy production in Canada over the past decade.

"10 years ago, it was very much an industry in its infancy. It started in Ontario a number of decades ago, and it was just beginning to pick up steam here in Manitoba and western Canada. Fast forward here to today, we've most passed what was new and very volatile to something that much more established. You have farmers like Ernie who have soybeans as part of their rotation to help them manage their risk and increase their farm's profitability."

Innes also spoke about the goals of Soy Canada's future, focusing on increasing innovative solutions, and expansion of trade.

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"We're still in that phase of quick innovation. what that means for farmers is that we're bringing new varieties to the fields every year that are better equipped to grow in prairie conditions. whether it's cold springs or shorter season, or being able to deliver the quality that the farmer and the customer wants, we're really excited about that innovation."

Barry Senft, a founding member of Soy Canada was recognized with a "Service to Soy award" for his years of work in this organization, and others.

Senft was pleased to see an AGM like this take place at the root of production.

"You know, it starts on the farm, so to have a meeting, an AGM, right on the farm is so fitting and long, long overdue. great to have it in this environment instead of a town hall or a hotel or what have you."

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Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn was in attendance and was thrilled by the excellence displayed by both organizations.

"It's great to be part of the engagement today and the great work that Soy Canada and MPSG do, and the research that continues to be held on making more feasible to be used in central Manitoba with new varieties of soybeans."

Aside from fiscal review and other standard AGM proceedings, the big theme of this meeting was celebrating accomplishments, and building excitement for the future.

With a combined 50 years between these organizations, there is sure to be a great deal of new and exciting things to come in the future of soybean production. 

Carla Compton is unofficially the new MLA for the Winnipeg riding of Tuxedo.

Compton broke a 43-year Tory stranglehold of the riding by winning a by-election for the governing NDP on Tuesday, finishing about 600 votes ahead of PC candidate Lawrence Pinsky.

Jamie Pfau of the Liberals and Green Party leader Janine Gibson finished well back in third and fourth respectively.

The by-election was required after former Premier Heather Stefanson resigned as MLA earlier this year. 

Results are not considered official until they are verified on Friday by the returning officer.

Trial dates have been set for a pair of cases in the Parkland. 

A 19-year-old man charged with two counts of Second Degree Murder, following an incident earlier this month on the Pine Creek First Nation, will go to trial next March.

Oryan Flamand was arrested by Winnipegosis RCMP after a report of shots being fired led them to the discovery of a 37-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman in the same area within hours of each other.

And a 40-year-old man from The Key First Nation will go to trial next January in relation to a drug and weapon bust in Dauphin.

Roland Klyne was one of four people arrested in February of this year after RCMP pulled over a vehicle in the city and seized a loaded handgun, multiple knives, a hatchet-type weapon, alcohol, cocaine, and drug paraphernalia.

Neepawa RCMP is searching for two teen females.

14-year-old Henry Gault and 16-year-old Dannis Martin were reported missing at about 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday. They are believed to be in the town of Minnedosa or surrounding area.

Gault is described as 6 ‘ tall and 180 lbs, with long hair in a ponytail. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie with white art on the front and sleeves, black sweatpants, tan timberland boots and a navy/black baseball cap.

Martin is described as 5’ tall and petite, with mid-length reddish hair. She was last seen wearing a black zip-up hoodie with a grey hoodie and flannel pyjama pants.

This week in Agro-Manitoba, we saw some serious weather extremes.

Severe storms ripped across the province, bringing isolated heavy rains, hail, high winds, and tornados to some areas, damaging the crops currently in the field.

The northwest region saw the most moisture from this, with Fork River getting just under 55mm of rain, and wind conditions topping out at 101 km/h.

Continuing the trend for the year, all areas of the province have exceeded 100% of their normal rainfall, with many over 150%.

Unfortunately, the temperatures have not kept pace with this, as the province as a whole is generally below the 5-year average for growing degree days.

Seeding across the province is currently at 97% complete, the last 3% being waylaid by the excess moisture in the fields.

Spring cereals, peas, and grain corn are approximately 98% complete. Canola and soybean planting advanced, with 96% of canola and 97% of soybean acres planted.

Fall rye and winter crops are coming along, with fall rye ranging from full-head emergence to the beginnings of seed fill, and winter wheat is between the boot stage and full-head emergence.

Spring cereals are almost entirely planted, and range from 3 to 5 leaf stage and tillering to flag leaf. Grain corn planting is complete with stages ranging from V2 to V6.

Oil seeds are seeing some trouble, with 4% of planting to go, and flea beetles being a prominent issue. the earliest planted canola is bolting though, but some need reseeding due to various complications.

Sunflowers are at the V3 to V4 growth stage, and the most advanced flax is in growth stage 4, the start of leaf spiral.

The only remaining Pulse and bean crop to plant is 3% of soybeans. Dry beans have hit the trifoliate stage, and field peas are mostly in the 6-8 node stage.

When it comes to forage and livestock, hay and pasture fields are flourishing, but still would benefit from a streak of warm weather.

Silaging has begun for dairy producers, with some farms wrapping up first cut harvest of alfalfa fields.

As well, most cattle are loving the strong pasture growth, and bulls have been sent out for the breeding season,

Taking a closer look at the Northwest Region, A couple of days with warmer, dry weather allowed for some seeding and spraying operations to take place.

That being said, some areas got a chill overnight, before the toasty Saturday and intensely windy Sunday. That wind damaged some crops, reaching 90-100 km an hour.

Seeding was able to take place in areas that dried up enough; however, there are still patches of fields that are too wet for seeding.

Accumulated precipitation for the week has kept some areas saturated. There is evidence of moisture stress in some crops that are in standing water.

Canola seeding is approximately 85 to 90% complete in our area, and stages of canola are varied due to the challenges of seeding this spring.

The most advanced canola is at rosette stage, while some canola is just emerging.

Flea beetle activity has increased, and multiple applications of insecticide have been required in some cases. Some fields have needed to be reseeded due to flea beetle damage. Sunday’s intense wind was damaging to canola crops which may require reseeding.

Soybean crops continue to emerge and the most advanced soybeans are at the unifoliate stage, though Some wind damage to soybean crops has been reported.

Winter wheat and fall rye crops are advancing and headed out. Spring wheat seeding continued as possible, with approximately 95% seeded. Most of the spring wheat is tillering.

Producers eagerly wait to get the last seed in the soil and await warmer weather, but only time will tell what nature brings our way. 

As always, CKDM wishes all producers a safe, speedy, and productive season

The City of Dauphin has responded to the recently announced funding cuts by the RM of Dauphin.

The City was dismayed by the news from the Rural Municipality (RM) of Dauphin issued last week, stating they were terminating their participation in the Dauphin Recreation Services (DRS) Agreement at the end of 2024.

DRS has been funded in partnership between the city and the RM under a per capita model until 2017 when RM moved to a grant-based model.

The City's release today notes that the 2017 change in fund structure created a gap of roughly $800,000 to date.

Mayor David Bosiak is concerned about how this will affect the services provided at the DRS.

"Taking 15% or so, $300,000, and change out of the mix means that there could be some increases in charges, there may be some changes in how facilities are operated, there may be some additional surcharges we may need to apply to non-City of Dauphin residents"

There have been 6 months of notice for the city to sort out a plan moving forward, or return to negotiation, but Bosiak is less than optimistic about the latter option.

We didn't say we didn't want to talk about it anymore, we said come to the table at 22%, which was the original agreement, and we will work with you for as long as it takes to iron out any issues you might have about Rec Services... they chose to say no 3 times."

The release also states that The City is committed to maintaining the quality of recreation in Dauphin, noting the Parkland Rec Complex and surrounding facilities act as a central hub for community activity for everyone in, and around the area.

There is no certainty that an agreement will be reached between the RM and the City, so contingencies will be put in place for the end of this year.

June has been a month of lot of potential strike action, from Canadian Rail Services to Border Security.

In light of this, the federal government is bringing amendments to the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Industrial Relations Board Regulations in Bill c-58.

Union Leaders applauded this Legislation, as it would advance workers' ability to strike effectively.

This bill would ban the hiring of replacement workers in strike situations, and fine employers heavily if they do so.

The bill currently awaits Royal Assent and will come into effect a year after it does.