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Manitobans now have to go online to indicate organ and tissue donation wishes.
Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen is encouraging Manitobans to have life-saving conversations with their families to mark their intent to be organ tissue donors using the online registry.
The province made the change so people don’t have to carry around a card and to make it easier for Manitobans.
The donor cards have been gradually phased out since 2016.
In 2018, a record of 11 400 Manitobans registered online.
The website to register is www.signupforlife.ca.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The man who admitted to shooting at two RCMP officers in Onanole last summer has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The sentencing hearing for 19-year-old Therae Racette-Bealieu took place this afternoon in a Minnedosa courtroom.
Cpl. Graeme Kingdon was shot on August 29, 2018, when he and another constable were on the scene of a break-in. Kingdon suffered a fractured skull in the shooting.
Racette-Beaulieu was sentenced with 15 years in prison for the attempted murder charge, and 1 and a half years each for breaking, entering, stealing firearms and robbery.
He was 18-years-old at the time. In January he entered guilty pleas to one count of attempted murder, breaking and entering, stealing firearms, and theft of a motor vehicle. He entered the guilty plea earlier this morning in Brandon provincial court. he had no prior convictions in adult court in Manitoba.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The DRCSS is getting set to perform their musical "Freaky Friday."
The musical is based on the Disney movie of the same name.
The biggest difference, teacher Andrew Coombs says, with their version, is they added a whole lot of music.
Students and everyone involved have been getting ready since December. Coombs says they have put in hundreds of hours in just rehearsals.
“They should come and expect to see a high quality, highly polished show. The students have been working very, very hard. It is like a professional level production, I would say. Students are doing a great job. The band sounds really, really good. The music for this show is very entertaining.”
About 40 students are performing and then around 20-25 students who are involved with the band, working hair and makeup, and other backstage jobs.
“It’s a comedy. So come out for some great music and some good laughs. There’s lots of jokes throughout the show, so hopefully, people come out, and they can tap their toe, and they can laugh, and they can have a good nice two hour night out in Dauphin.”
Tickets for each performance are on sale and can be picked up at the school ahead of time or at the door.
There is a performance each night between Wednesday and Saturday.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Mountain View School Division has announced their new assistant superintendent.
Stephen Jaddock is currently the DRCSS vice principal and is looking forward to moving to the division office.
“I’m just excited, honoured, and humbled to have this position, to be taking it on July 1st.”
He already knows what he wants to do as the assistant superintendent.
“I see a lot of potential and the ability to build on initiatives that have been started in Mountain View School Division already and to expand on those to provide new opportunities for the education of the students we look after in the Mountain View School Division.”
Jaddock has 26 years of MVSD experience with half of that time in elementary schools and the other half in middle and high schools.
“I bring a perspective from both the elementary and middle years and also the high school. I’ve had positions there as a teacher and an administrator in both of those levels. That’s what I bring to the table.”
He's looking most forward to working with the rest of the MVSD team, stakeholders, superintendent and MVSD board because it will be challenging and refreshing.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
This week is dedicated to educating the public about the harmful effects invasive species can have on our environment and economy.
The provincial government declared April 22 to the 28th as Invasive Species Awareness Week.
Zebra mussels are one of Manitoba's most concerning aquatic invasive species that have been confirmed in the province.
The province says these small clam-like animals have a huge economic impact to the areas they are found. In a media release, the government says across North America it has cost billions of dollars to control.
They were first reported in Lake Winnipeg in 2013 and DNA evidence has been found in Whirlpool Lake in Riding Mountain National Park.
Adult mussels can attach firmly to surfaces such as watercraft, trailers and water-related equipment like anchors, and larvae which are too small to see without a microscope, can survive in small amounts of water and may be transported by un-drained watercraft and equipment like bait buckets.
Water-users, like boaters and fishers, are reminded to do their part in preventing the spread of the zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species.
The annual watercraft inspection program will soon be up and running, and provincial staff will be answering questions and handing out information about AIS on Sunday, April 28 at Fort Whyte Alive.
If you are caught not following the Aquatic Invasive Species Regulations it can result in a fine. The fines are in effect year-round and carry a range of penalties ranging from $174 to $2,542. An example the media release gives is the set fine for an individual failing to remove drain plugs while transporting watercraft over land is $237.
“This week is a step toward making sure all Manitobans are aware of how invasive species affect our environment and what we can do to make sure our environment is healthy for generations to come.,” said Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Yesterday, Mountain View School Division announced the appointment of a new Assistant Superintendent - Programs and Planning.
Stephen Jaddock has accepted the position, and will take over the job on July 1st.
Jaddock has been an educator with MVSD since the early nineties, and has held a few different positions. He is currently the Vice Principal at the DRCSS. As well, he holds two Master's degrees. One is in Educational Administration, and the other is in Guidance and Counselling.
The MVSD Board of Trustees, as well as all of us at 730 CKDM, would like to congratulate Mr. Jaddock on his appointment.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
About 300 people in the north Waterhen area, including Skownan First Nation and Mallard area, will lose power today.
Manitoba Hydro will safely replace three wood poles that were damaged in a grass fire on Sunday. The outage will be from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Each year uncontrolled grass fires and stubble burning causes irreparable and expensive damage to utility poles. When this happens, it disrupts electrical service and inconveniences homeowners and communities.
For controlled burns, Manitoba Hydro asks people to practice safe burning, including:
- Check with your municipality for regulations before you start your fire. Make a fireguard around your field and around wood utility poles to minimize damage from out-of-control burns caused by wind and dry conditions.
- Monitor your fire. Don't burn too much at once, and watch for uncontrolled areas of fire.
- Watch the weather. Don't burn stubble or grass when it's exceedingly dry or windy.
- Call the fire department immediately if your fire appears to be getting out of control.
- If a pole is down, stay clear of the area. Treat downed power lines as live and a safety risk. Call 911 immediately and Manitoba Hydro at 1-888-624-9376.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
A company from Thailand has bought 50.1 per cent of HyLife.
HyLife announced today that it has signed a Share Purchase Agreement with Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CPF) for the sale.
CPF is the third largest pork producer in the world.
Claude Vielfaure, President of HyLife, says CPF was interested in moving and growing in North America and decided to use HyLife as their venue to do that.
He also says the agreement will ensure continued job creation across the province and promote increased demand for the pork they produce.
“The opportunity for our workers in Neepawa and across Manitoba is going to be great as far as being able to move up in the company, as the company is growing,” said Vielfaure.
Grant Lazaruk, Chief Executive Officer of HyLife emphasized, “This is a win-win for HyLife, CPF and Manitoba’s agricultural industry. Together, our globally established companies will significantly strengthen our market position. Not only do we share similar values, but our strategies also correspond with one another.”
“So as far as the operations, our leadership group, our management group, our people are all going to be the same, and the same decision making will be made by the Canadian company, the Canadian leadership group. The only thing is we’re going to have to get it approved by a different shareholder,” said Vielfaure.
Vielfaure says it's business as usual for HyLife. The company is stronger than ever, and they will continue to support the communities they are in.
In the press release, they say combining their forces will propel the growing demand for HyLife’s high-quality pork and enable the company to grow its current 2,500 employee workforce.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Northwest Metis Council and five other volunteers were out cleaning up garbage around Dauphin.
Housing First Worker Terry Parenteau came up with the idea after he noticed all the garbage around town once the snow had melted.
Volunteers went out on Thursday afternoon and cleaned for about two hours where they collected 15 to 20 bags of garbage. They also found a few needles.
“I would like to thank community health for coming out and doing a little presentation for us on what to do if we find a needle. That helped us out,” said Parenteau. “It was good info about how to dispose of them and track down where we found them.”
They went around the train tracks, Vermillion Park, as well as back alleys and streets around central Dauphin.
He says he hopes to make this kind of clean up an annual thing, noting it could take place around Earth Day like it did this year.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
A burn barrel is the cause of a grass fire that occurred this morning just west of Dauphin.
Residual heat caused the dead grass around the barrel to start on fire around 10 am.
The Dauphin Fire Department wants to warn people about the risks of using burn barrels in the current dry conditions.
Although you don't need a burning permit to use the barrels, the department asks that you put them on a solid gravel base and don't have it around any long dead grass.
Fire Chief Cam Abrey say if grass does catch on fire, it can spread rapidly and get out of control.
The Dauphin Fire Department responded and was at the scene, on Road 114 West this morning for less than an hour.
This was the third grass fire the department responded to this season.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
It's the last full week of April which means many farmers are getting ready to go into the fields and start seeding.
Based on Manitoba Agriculture information, soils are on the cooler end of where they would typically want to seed in the Parkland.
If the warm weather keeps up, Anastasia Kubinec with Manitoba Agriculture, says the soil will be warm enough for the early seeding crops like wheat and barley.
“A soil moisture situation may be a bit different. There was some areas with some very heavy snowfall over the winter. So that could be the limiting factor where equipment actually can’t travel on the field yet. Just because it is too soft to bear the weight of that equipment.”
For farmers wanting to get out there, Kubinec says it's all a crop by crop and field by field decision.
“If producers are wanting to seed early the field is ready, the soil is warm enough the germination is probably going to occur then the risk is probably lower and if they feel that it’s ready it’s ready.”
There are some farmers she's talked to in the Parkland that are ready to go.
“There are some areas where actually they could go. The soil is dry or they didn’t get the same amount of snow as some other parts of the Parkland did. They feel that they are pretty close to getting going, which did surprise me.”
When it gets into sensitive crops, Kubinec says seeding the last week of April does carry a certain amount of risk. Some of the pros to seeding early you can get your crop in early and when it's flowering it won't be too hot or dry.
One negative she notes is there are greater risks of frost. Impacts of freezing temperatures will depend on the temperature, the length of time sub-zero temperatures occur, the soil moisture levels, the plant residue levels, and the plant's growth stage. Manitoba Agriculture also says different crops also have varying tolerance levels to freezing temperatures, that usually dependent on crop stage.
Kubinec says Manitoba Agriculture's web site offers a lot of information farmers can use to help make their seeding decisions.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
