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Provincial parks will remain open at this time; however, public facilities located within the parks will be closed to ensure social distancing practices.
Premier Brian Pallister made the announcement today, saying park access will benefit Manitobans during these stressful times.
“There is a great mental health benefit in being able to escape and connect with nature, and we want to do everything we can to help Manitobans navigate this difficult and unprecedented time.”
Public facilities such as washrooms, playgrounds, picnic and group-shelter use will be closed.
Public Health Official Dr. Brent Roussin notes that the use of parks and trails is a generally low-risk activity for Manitobans.
The province adds that they are not ruling out any further closures of park areas if social distancing becomes an issue.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
It's sad news for all you music lovers out there.
Dauphin’s Countryfest is officially postponed until 2021.
Festival General Manager Rob Waloschuk says it’s been a difficult month, but ultimately the decision was made in consultation with government officials, and public health.
The festival was scheduled to take place this summer from July 2nd - July 5th, 2020.
For those of us who already purchased a ticket, Rob says they will be honoured at Dauphin’s Countryfest 2021. Carrying the ticket over will help support the festival, especially since they're already in the process of scheduling bands for next year.
Dauphin’s Countryfest 2021 will be happening June 24th - 27th.
Ticket-holders will also have the option to get a refund. The festival General Manager is promising they will reach out to every ticket holder, and is asking everyone to be patient with them as they sort through the aftermath of the postponement.
Rob says this is not an easy time for Manitobans right now, and it certainly isn’t easy for festival organizers either. He’s encouraging community members to continue supporting one another through this challenging time.
Festival organizers will be providing the most up-to-date information on their website, at www.countryfest.ca.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Public Health Officials have announced 3 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba.
The total number of cases is now 224.
76 people have recovered from the virus and 11 are being hospitalized.
The total number of deaths in the province remains at 3, and the number of cases in the Prairie Mountain remains at 11.
Yesterday there were nine COVID-19 tests conducted at the drive-thru screening site in Dauphin. A total of 81 tests have been conducted at the Dauphin site since April 2nd.
Public Health Official Dr. Brent Roussin insists that people stay home for the upcoming holiday.
“Do not host a family gathering. Stay home. Protect yourselves, protect your loved ones, and protect all Manitobans, including our frontline healthcare workers. “
Below is the provincial summary of COVID-19 cases in the province.
For more information, and to access the online screening tool, visit https://manitoba.ca/covid19.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Fines are on the way for Manitobans that decide to gather or disregard public health orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister alongside Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman made the announcement today.
Fine amounts, which are effective immediately, will see individuals breaching orders be fined $486 while businesses will be fined $2,542, and up to six months in jail.
In Winnipeg, those who spot non-compliance can call 311.
When it comes to locally in the Parkland, public health officers are working with the RCMP and First Nation police services to make these measures in effect for municipalities outside of Winnipeg. Those plans are now underway and we will provide more when additional information becomes available.
As of today, there are 221 cases of COVID-19 in the province. 149 of which are active, 69 have recovered, and three people have died.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
A 16-year-old girl has passed away after an officer-involved shooting at Lagimodiere Boulevard and Fermor Avenue in Winnipeg.
Yesterday at around 5:30 p.m., police were called about reports of a stolen car and they chased the vehicle to Lagimodiere Boulevard near Fermor Avenue.
While police were attempting to arrest people in the car, the 16-year-old was shot while others were taken into custody.
The girl was rushed to hospital in critical condition, where she succumbed to her injuries.
In another officer-involved shooting, less than 12 hours after the above incident, officers responded to a report of a man with a gun in the 300 block of Anderson Avenue. Someone inside the house was shot by police and was sent to the hospital and there was no word on their condition.
The investigation continues and there will be a press conference later today.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Dauphin & District Food Bank has always been there for the people who need some help when it comes to meals. With COVID-19 taking a firm grip on the entire globe, some people are wondering if the Food Bank is still running and Robin Gambler, Executive Director assures that they are.
"We are business as usual. All of our hampers are pre-packed and we're only allowing one person in at a time right now," said Gambler. "I'm just marking down names, I give them their hamper and people go out the other door. It goes very quickly and it's been working very well."
The only change is they are now operating out of the cafeteria at Parkland Crossing. They have intakes every two weeks with the next one set to run next Thursday, April 16. The last intake they had was on April 2 and Gambler has noticed a lot of seniors are coming in.
"Many of the people coming in are also singles," she added. "Not as many families came in last time, but I think that's because they received GST the next day so they were able to shop. We expect things to pick up next Thursday."
The Food Bank is asking for some help from the public. They have run out of pasta sauce and they are running low on several other non-perishable food items.
With that being said, they're hoping people donate non-perishable food items. If you want to donate, you can drop off your items at Parkland Crossing during business hours which are 9-4 p.m.
Robin is asking people to look at the best before dates on their items before they donate them.
"Some people are donating items that are two or three years old and we can't give those out," concluded Gambler. "We aren't allowed to give out things that are expired too long and that's a rule put in place for Food Banks across Canada."
Gambler adds that she understands that this is a tough time; however, the Dauphin & District Food Bank will be here for you every step of the way.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Kari Prawdzik wants the community to know that the Parkland Crisis Centre is still providing services during this time.
The Centre’s executive director explains the residential facility and crisis line are operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Parkland Crisis Centre provides an emergency short-term facility for women and their children who are experiencing domestic or family violence. They also offers outreach services, counselling, group sessions, and educational services, to name a few.
Kari says the way they are providing services has definitely changed because of social distancing guidelines from public health. The Centre has made many provisions and adjustments to their facilitates.
Unfortunately, many of their in-person services have to be postponed because of COVID-19. That means walk-in counselling, as well as follow-up non-residential services, are on hold for the time being.
Kari explains the in-person aspect of what they do is very important, and this disruption is impacting their ability to fully deliver the services and support that people in the Parkland depend on. The Parkland Crisis Centre executive director says the potential for domestic violence can be higher at times like this, with increased stress and more time in the home.
Kari wants everyone to know they are still open 24/7, and anyone experiencing domestic violence can call the crisis line at 204-638-9484.
The toll-free crisis line is 1-877-977-0007.
Kari also says if someone you know is experiencing an abusive situation, you can call the Parkland Crisis Centre and get information and resources to help with that situation.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Statistics Canada reports a rough month for Canadian jobs as 1 million jobs were lost in the wake of COVID-19.
This pushes the jobless rate in the country up to 7.8 per cent.
Stephen Chychota says the job loss is pretty devastating.
"It's unbelievable, the impact that this has all had in such a short amount of time and it's kind of devastating. It's not a good thing that you want to hear, that a lot of people are out of jobs and the economy is changing the way it is. But, on the other hand, the reasons why people are losing jobs are for the benefit of the health and safety of everyone in Canada."
The 1 million jobs lost is double what experts had been expecting.
Even if Canada lost the 500 thousand jobs expected, it would have been the worst month for job losses ever recorded.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Danielle Van Den Bosch lives in Dauphin and her message is pretty simple. She and her daughters, Makallah and Averie are staying at home for the people who are continuing to work during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Through April 14, the province of Manitoba has a health order that has all non-essential businesses closed. That means essential services are continuing to remain open at this time. That includes grocery stores, health care services, gas stations, and many other businesses that we heavily rely on in our day-to-day life.
Danielle, Makallah, and Averie are staying at their home practicing social distancing and they decided to get creative to say thank you to workers at essential businesses.
They created a poster and it reads "You've Stayed at Work for Us, We'll Stay at Home for You". The poster now is hanging on their window for the public to see.
"I was scrolling through Instagram and I saw some people were creating signs like this," said Van Den Bosch. "I thought to myself that I would love to do something with my kids, we love doing things like this."
"I just want everyone to know that we're thinking about everyone," she continued.
Their original idea was to create a different poster for each business they still visit; however, they decided to just make one.
"We all sat at different corners of the table while we did it," concluded Van Den Bosch. "We all had a blast, it wasn't anything big, but we just want people to know that we're thinking about them."
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
With Manitoba schools now suspended indefinitely, many families in the community are dealing with uncertainty.
This is especially true for those who rely on in-school lunch programs, and so the Church of Christ Dauphin is stepping up to help address food insecurity.
Minister Wayne Olsen tells CKDM the church started delivering meals three times a week as soon as Manitoba schools K-12 were suspended. Over the past three weeks, that's worked out to about 170 meals every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
He says this kind of food program is totally new to them, costing about $1,000 a week to run. Going forward, Wayne says his church is looking to start delivering meals only twice a week in order to extend the amount of time the Church can fund this great initiative.
Wayne also commends the great work being done at the Dauphin and District Food Bank through this time, and says the food bank has been doing things a bit differently because of COVID-19. As a safety measure, food is being prepackaged into boxes.
As for church services, Wayne tells us they are still on hold as a result of social distancing guidelines from public health authorities.
Many congregations have been using Zoom and Facebook Live as a way for people to congregate, see each other, and communicate online.
Wayne points out the silver lining of the situation, as he’s noticed people from California, Texas, British Columbia and Alberta able to join the online church services; something that would not have been possible before.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Official opposition leader Wab Kinew realizes our agriculture producers have been experiencing a tough stretch.
That’s why the provincial NDP leader is calling on the Manitoba government to implement $100,000 interest-free loans for farmers to cover the cost of inputs.
Kinew knows it won’t be a complete solution, but hopes it could help stabilize some producers coming off such a tough year, that are heading into more uncertainty this season.
We also learned today that premier Brian Pallister is calling for Manitoba legislature to resume next Wednesday, April 15th. Although the premier is focused on legislating enforcement measures for social distancing, Kinew says he plans to make sure agriculture producers are also top of mind.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
