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Dauphin's Terry Fox Run took place at Vermillion Park last Sunday.

Stephen Roznowsky, the local organizer of the Terry Fox Run, says that although he hoped for better attendance, he's still pleased with how the run went.

"We were about 40+... I hope would've hoped that we [would've gotten] closer to 100... Since [it was] the first run after the pandemic, people were kind of uncertain about the weather, and of course, [there were] a lot of other activities that [were] going around... [it did have an impact] on our numbers," he adds.

Roznowsky says that it was wonderful to finally be able to hold an in-person Terry Fox Run and that everyone was waiting to get back to something more normal.

"Even though it was outdoors... people felt a lot braver to attend with their families and with their siblings. I think, all in all, most people were very upbeat about attending the run and being face-to-face with some of their friends, families and neighbours," he adds. 

According to Roznowsky, the fundraising target was $2,000 and donation numbers won't be finalized before the end of October because a large portion of donations were made online.

"I think we're... pretty close to my target... so far... we're over $1,000," he adds.

Stephen Roznowsky went on to say that he will be organizing next year's Terry Fox Run as well.

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Contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

Published: Sep 21, 2022 - 6:15 am

Patti Eilers is looking to remain on Dauphin City Council as she runs in the municipal election scheduled to take place on October 26^th.

Eilers grew up in rural Manitoba, moved to Saskatoon and then moved to Dauphin, where she lived and worked for over thirty-five years.

She says that people should vote for her because she has the strong skills, knowledge and experience needed to continue working on initiatives to further improve the community.

"I always strive to be involved with many community efforts, not only City Council, but to make Dauphin a better place to live, work, play and visit," she adds.

Eilers believes that Dauphin's strongest needs are continuing to work toward providing more affordable housing, more health services with a focus on mental health and addictions, increased public safety for residents and businesses, and high-quality affordable child care and senior care.

"Through Communities in Bloom, we've initiated since 2010 efforts in environmental action by increasing [reforestation], composting, recycling and conservation... I feel we need to continue adapting to the everchanging world and promoting energy efficiency methods as well as collaborating efforts for flood mitigation and other extreme weather-related events," she adds.

As for the crime situation, Patti Eilers says everyone in the community needs to get involved in order to lower the crime rate.

"It means that we have to be more vigilant as community members and do timely reporting, so that we can pinpoint different things that are happening in our community," she adds.

Eilers went on to say that the City is already working with the Inter-Mountain Watershed District to develop flood mitigation techniques, since "what happens upstream affects us here in the city and what we do in the city affects all our communities downstream".

The registration deadline for Council, Mayor, Reeve, and School Trustee has passed. Candidates still have until 4:30 this afternoon to withdraw from the race, and a full list of candidates will be confirmed and available tomorrow.

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Contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

Published: Sep 21, 2022 - 6:00 am

Two people were arrested and a shotgun was seized after Spruce Plains (Neepawa) RCMP responded to a suspicious person complaint last Thursday, September 15^th, at around 5:05 p.m.

The RCMP say that after receiving a report of a suspicious man and woman walking around the community of Gladstone, officers conducted a patrol in the community and located the man walking along Regent St.

They say an officer then approached the suspect and when he was asked for a piece of ID, he dropped his backpack and coat and ran off.

Police went on to say that the officer chased the suspect down several streets and behind several homes before the suspect surrendered to police in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex.

After arresting the man, the RCMP seized his jacket and backpack and they found a loaded sawed-off shotgun inside the jacket.

According to the RCMP, a further investigation into the suspect's activities led to the recovery of a stolen pickup truck out of Virden as well as a stolen motorcycle from Landmark, in the R.M. of Taché.

41-year-old Sean Paul Connors from Brandon was remanded into custody on numerous firearm-related charges as well as for the Possession of Property Obtained by Crime, Possession of a Controlled Drug and Resisting Arrest.

Officers later located the 21-year-old female, from Brandon, in Minnedosa. She was arrested, but later released, and is scheduled to appear in court on November 22^nd.

Spruce Plains RCMP continue to investigate.

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Contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

Published: Sep 20, 2022 - 4:04 pm

UPDATE (Sept 20^th, 2:56 p.m.): According to Dauphin Recreation Services, the tree has been cleared from Main St. N.

Update contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

The original article follows:

A fallen tree is currently blocking Main Street North in Dauphin, near Fusion Credit Union. Dauphin Rec Services crews are on the scene to remove the tree.

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Contributed by Sam Brownell

Published: Sep 20, 2022 - 1:53 pm

While the summer season has come to an end at the Fort Dauphin Museum, there is still a lot planned for the fall. Museum Manager/Curator Theresa Deyholos says they're currently preparing for a number of tours that come through town.

"The fall brings in group travelers to visit, learn, and experience the rich culture and heritage in our community. These tourists travel in their RVs from across Canada and the USA, and they stop in Dauphin to visit our museum."

Deyholos says the museum is having trouble finding volunteers to help with a number of important tasks around the museum.

"We depend on volunteers to help with a number of activities at the fort such as setting up tables, decorating for an event, maintenance and repairs, helping with games and fundraising activities, conducting tours, digitizing artifacts in our collection, and baking and other jobs in the kitchen for tours and events."

The museum will work with people who want to volunteer to ensure they're helping with something they're interested in. Anyone that wants more information, or to volunteer can call the museum at (204) 638-6630.

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Contributed by Sam Brownell

Published: Sep 20, 2022 - 6:00 am

Today is Co-op's Fuel Good Day.

The Dauphin Co-op will donate 10¢ per litre of gasoline or diesel sold at the Main Street or Mountain Road Gas Bar to the Bridge Youth Drop-in Centre in Ochre River. The Gilbert Plains Co-op Gas Bar is also taking part and will donate proceeds to the Gilbert Plains Drop-in Senior Centre.

In addition, there will be fundraiser barbecues from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at both the Dauphin Gas Bars with all proceeds going to the Drop-in Centre as well.

Joan Chetyrbok, marketing and community relations manager at the Dauphin Co-op, says that she expects to have a great turnout.

"The community is amazing supporting organizations that are trying to do good... It's an amazing community," she adds.

According to the Dauphin Co-op, the Bridge Youth Drop-in Centre provides local youth with a place to go after school to learn new skills and gain experiences.

“The funds raised during Fuel Good Day will help with programming and building maintenance so we can better serve our youth and the Ochre River community,” Keith DeVries, volunteer at the Youth Drop-in Centre, adds.

Chetyrbok says that they will be serving hotdogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, drinks, and some snacks at the barbecues.

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Contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

Published: Sep 20, 2022 - 6:00 am

Manitoba saw a few cases of avian flu in the spring, but it was a quiet summer as all of Canada only had seven cases in July and August, none of which were in Manitoba. Recently, however, the entire country has seen an uptick in cases says Manitoba Chicken Producers Executive Director Wayne Hiltz.

 "There have been outbreaks in several provinces across the country in the last few weeks, and last week we did have two more cases in flocks in Manitoba, with a third one that has actually just been confirmed today."

Hiltz says the most common cause of transmission is through wild birds, and Manitoba Chicken Producers are doing everything in their power to limit the spread of avian flu.

"They're carriers of the disease, while they themselves are immune to it, they're carriers of Avian Influenza. So any direct contact with birds or any direct contact with wild bird manure is the most common way that it spreads. The big risk is outdoor flocks or birds that have access to outdoors, that's the biggest risk of this landing in the poultry industry."

Biosecurity is extremely important when trying to stop the spread of avian flu says Hilts, and while it's important to stick to the basics, he says they've had to step it up as well.

"We certainly have all of our producers on upgraded biosecurity, which would mean no visitors into your yard, locking gates if available, making sure you're doing multiple changes of clothing or footwear before you enter into your barn. Which again, a lot of that is standard biosecurity, but it's upgraded now to a higher degree."

Avian flu was detected in Canada for the first time since 2015 in December, and there have now been over 120 cases across 9 provinces.

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Contributed by Sam Brownell

Published: Sep 19, 2022 - 3:33 pm

Curbside recycling pickup in Benito has been discontinued since the end of August.

According to the Municipality of Swan Valley West, Benito residents must now deposit their recyclables into the bins on the east side of the Benito Maintenance Shop at 87 Railway Ave.

Grant Schneider, chair of the Local Urban District (LUD) Committee for Benito, says that it had to be discontinued because they didn't have the financial means to sustain it and that they weren't able to properly budget for recycling pickup because they were missing critical information, including what the rates would be from OSS, the waste management company that serves the area.

"We never got any hardcore evidence of what we were going to get [back from the government] for our MSN tipping fees... They basically are going to give us $5,000 out of whatever grants we're going to get from that, so we can't really sustain [a recycling program] when last year, our cost was $38,000 to have recycling pickup in Benito," he adds.

According to Schneider, they also explored the idea of transitioning to picking up recycling once a month, instead of twice a month.

"We were struggling to understand what it was going to cost. We [didn't] know what the additional fuel surcharges were going to be. Nobody gave us information in regards to that, so that we can make a proper decision on how to go about it...Even at... $40,000 and there [are 200] households in Benito... each person would have to pay an additional $200 for curbside pickup," he adds.

Schneider went on to say that it would be unreasonable to go ahead with that, since most Benito residents are seniors living on a fixed income.

He also points out that although residents are able to bring their recyclables to the maintenance shop themselves, many seniors living in the area would struggle to get them there.

Furthermore, Grant Schneider believes that the amalgamation of the former Village of Benito into the Municipality of Swan Valley West has made it more difficult to get funding.

"It makes it tough on these little communities to run the programs... If you don't get the proper grants, like we did when we used to be the Village, of course, it makes it harder to facilitate these programs [and] make them run," he adds.

Schneider says that curbside recycling pickup could return to Benito in the future, but there are no concrete plans for that at this time.

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Contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

Published: Sep 19, 2022 - 6:15 am

The Winnipegosis Fire Department is raising money to bring a fuel cache to the area for STARS Air Ambulance. Currently, when STARS responds to a call in the area, they drop off the trauma team and then have to leave and refuel in Dauphin or Gypsumville.

The extra stop can add significant time, in a situation that's life or death, and the department wants to make calls to the area more efficient. Deputy Chief Brent Benson says with the right equipment, they'd arrive on the scene before stars, and immediately start helping with the process.

"We would meet them at the scene where they're going to be helping the patient. The flight from Winnipeg is just a little bit longer than it would take for us to get to the scene. That would allow us to have a landing zone ready for them, or assist the local fire department in having a landing zone ready for them, as well as having the fuel there so they could land, the trauma team would go help the ambulance crew get the patient ready for transport, and we would start refueling with the pilot."

Having the fuel on the scene means that once the trauma team has the patient ready for transport, they'd be able to immediately leave the scene, rather than have to wait for the helicopter to return from refueling.

"It really improves how far they can go, because currently, we're on the outer range of where they can operate from. To go much further north than Winnipegosis, it's kind of hard for them to even get there in the first place, and then have enough fuel to even get to a fueling station. So for us to be able to refuel them on-site would save an immense amount of time for them, and potentially save the lives of the patients they're helping."

Benson says the project will cost around $15,000, and while they have some donations of equipment already, they're raising money to purchase a trailer. Sponsor logos will be placed on the trailer, which will also be used at public education events.

"It's only a few incidents a year right now where they've been called out, but these are in remote areas, and even though we have fabulous ambulance personnel, with incidents to sever they basically have to go straight to Winnipeg anyways, so this would save three to four hours of travel time for the most severe trauma's that occur in these rural areas, and we think it'll save lives."

People interested in donating, or looking for more information about the project can contact the Winnipegosis Municipal Office at (204) 656-4791.

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Contributed by Sam Brownell

Published: Sep 19, 2022 - 6:00 am

Today marks the start of Tim Hortons' Smile Cookie Week fundraising campaign.

The Dauphin Tim Hortons will be participating again this year, with all the proceeds raised from selling Smile Cookies this week going to support Maamawi Park and the 4 Season Toboggan Run.

This year, Tim Hortons teamed up with six local businesses, which have each been assigned a day where they'll be matching and donating funds from each Smile Cookie sold at the Dauphin Tims; today's Smile Cookie sales will be matched by the Dauphin Home Hardware.

Last year's Smile Cookie Week was able to raise $27,174 for the Dauphin Friendship Centre and the Parkland Humane Society, which allowed the Dauphin Tim Hortons to be ranked as one of the top 10 locations in Canada.

Anyone interested in pre-ordering Smile Cookies can do so by calling 204-638-3299.

More information on Smile Cookie Week can be found on the Tim Hortons website.

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Contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

Published: Sep 19, 2022 - 6:00 am