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Another province-wide strike could be on the horizon.
MGEU members employed by Manitoba Public Insurance voted overwhelmingly this past week to reject the latest contract offer, and to initiate strike action.
No official strike date has been announced as of yet, but a release from the union says preparations for job action will begin today.
The union represents apprioximately 1,700 MPI employees across the province, including here in Dauphin.
The news release adds that the union has asked MPI to return to the bargaining table, as soon as possible in hopes in negotiating a new agreement and averting any job action.
The members have been without a new contract since September 26th of last year.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Harvest Sun Music Fest and Mountain Market take place on Saturday and Sunday and it is a great showcase of Manitoba musicians, creators, and growers.
As usual, the festival will feature lots of different musicians and bands, all from Manitoba. The music is just one part of the festival, which supports the community overall.
"It's supporting the maker and grower community and the heritage of the town and the space that we live, and trying to bring attention to keeping your food purchases as local as you can and to support the people who contribute to the community in that way", says festival director, Nadia Kuhl.
The festival, which is in its 18th year, has all Manitoba musicians and bands.
"We love to honour the music that gets made in our province", added Kuhl.
One of a few highlights of the festival is the quilt show on saturday from 11 to 4 which Kuhl says is a very worthwhile walk-through.
"Our second stage for the festival is in the middle of the quilt zone, there's gonna be musicians playing in there in the middle of all the quilts, it's pretty phenomal when you're walking through hundreds and hundreds of quilts hanging through the arboritum/garden area in the heart of town".
Also nearby will be an antique car show on main street, the Kelwood Agricultural Fair on saturday, and the mountain market.
There is camping available this year, but keep in mind that it is unserviced, so you will have to rely on your own power supply and water. Admission is by donation and they have a suggested donation of $45. You can pay online through their website, harvestsunmusicfest.com, or you can pay at the gate.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
Manitoba's liquor strike maybe have an end in sight as talks are to resume between MGEU and MBLL.
The Manitoba Government Employee Union has been on strike for over a week, closing multiple stores across the province in an effort to gain fair wages for their workers.
A bargaining session is planned for Friday and MGEU President Kyle Ross is looking forward to making some headway in this situation.
"We are hopeful tomorrow's meeting will be productive and will lead to many more bargaining sessions so that we can reach an agreement that respects and values our members and gets them back to work,"
While province-wide strikes have been in full effect for just over a week and a half, limited job action and other forms of protest have been happening for nearly a month.
Workers in the Liquor and Lottery sector have been without a contract for well over a year, as their last one expired in March of 2022.
MBLL has yet to issue a statement about the resumption of negotiations but has already explored options for binding arbitration.
Kyle Ross hopes that this step forward in negotiation will lead to an agreement to end the strike in a mutual way.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
A new jail for Dauphin will be the focus of an announcement by the Manitoba NDP on Friday.
Party leader Wab Kinew will be in Dauphin for the announcement, where he is expected to announce the construction of the Dauphin Community Centre for Justice if his party forms the next government after the October 3rd election.
The building would replace the Dauphin Correctional Centre which was closed by the Progressive Conservative government in May of 2020.
Local NDP candidate Ron Kostyshyn will join Kinew for the announcement.
Justice was the focus of a presentation by Kinew earlier this week in Winnipeg, where he promised that his party would be tough on crime if they were elected to power.
That includes what Kinew called helping people suffering from addictions, and to "bring the hammer down" on those who deal drugs, as well as a promise not to defund the police.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Manitoba Liquor Strike has had many effects across the province as products have stayed at a standstill.
With Liquor stocks drying up, especially in more remote locations, some people may begin to feel the effects on their health.
Alcohol withdrawal is an often overlooked problem, due to the prevalence of drinking in many cultures, but Dr. Erin Knight says it's much more dangerous than people realize.
"Some of the early symptoms that people might notice if they are starting to have alcohol withdrawal is anxiety, insomnia, feeling sweaty or shakey, or nausea and vomiting are common signs."
The symptoms Dr. Knight has listed here are just the early stages, which can occur as early as 6 to 12 hours after the most recent drink.
As withdrawal progresses, Dr. Knight notes things can get much worse.
"Some people who are at risk of severe alcohol withdrawal can have more serious outcomes including seizures and delirium. In the context of alcohol withdrawal acute delirium is called Delirium Tremens, and if people do get to that stage of alcohol withdrawal it actually can be a fatal process if it's not treated properly"
Dr. Knight says it can be hard to predict who will have the more severe reactions to withdrawal effects, but notes that it can be exacerbated by combining other drugs with alcohol, primarily other sedatives.
As the body goes through this list of symptoms, Dr. Knight states these ailments peak around the 3-day mark before they subside, but that can change depending on how much alcohol an individual consumes.
Whether an individual is looking to quit drinking or runs into a situation where alcohol is not readily available, Dr. Knight recommends consulting a medical professional in order to mitigate these potentially deadly side effects.
For those looking for assistance with alcohol addiction, visit the Addiction Foundation of Manitoba's Website to find the local office that is closest.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Beginning August 17th, registration agents with Elections Manitoba will be spanning out across the province, visiting newly constructed neighbourhoods and areas of high mobility - such as apartment blocks and post-secondary campuses.
Their goal is to register people that might not otherwise be already signed up to vote in the October 3rd provincial election or might have moved from another region in the province.
Targeted registration is used to improve the accuracy and completeness of the Manitoba voter registry.
Agents will be wearing identification when they arrive at your door and will ask for the name, address, phone number, birth date, and gender of all eligible voters in the home.
To be eligible to vote, you must be at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen, and have lived in Manitoba for at least six months prior to election day.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The ROGerKimLee Festival will take place this weekend from Friday to Sunday.
The festival honours a few friends of festival director Derrick McCandless, who all passed away during the COVID pandemic. They are Roger Young, Tim Russell, and Lee Oreniuk. A trio of Manitobans who were very much involved in music and lots more. Read more about each of them, here.
"So we couldn't do anything for them the first year, because of COVID, but we did have a get together at our place here in Eriksdale. We had about 50 people, it was raining, it was absolutely miserable, but from that weekend we decided you know what? Let's just have a festival."
Upon the success of that festival, McCandless and others involved decided to keep it going as an annual event.
The music lineup for the weekend includes a variety of music from musicians and bands including Frannie Klein, The Solutions, DMac & The Handsome Wanderers, and more. Make sure to take in the annual open jam on Friday night in which musicians will be paired or grouped together and have to come up with a song.
The weekend will also feature beer gardens, a maker's market, a show n' shine, kids activities and more.
You can buy tickets to the festival on their website, rogerkimleemusicfest.com. You can also camp there if you would like.
Organizers are also already planning for great things for next year's festival as well.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
Pet rescue agencies across Manitoba are seeing a significant rise in the number of animals being surrendered, and it is an issue that the Parkland region is not immune to.
Officials with the Parkland Humane Society say they are currently at their maximum capacity for both dogs and cats, adding that they are unable to transfer animals to other shelters in the province due to similar capacity issues.
Pregnant animals, strays, and not being able to care for the animals are just some of the reasons being given for the four-legged creatures being turned in.
They add they have particularly noticed a huge increase in animal surrenders in the past 6-8 months.
The Parkland Humane Society says they are actvely looking for more foster homes and volunteers willing to help care for these animals.
If you can help out, you are asked to visit the shelter on 2nd avenue NW, or check out their website, parklandhumanesociety.com.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
The past 8 days brought significant rains to lots of fields in Manitoba and the northwest region saw a good portion of it.
Inglis saw the most at 54mm total. Dauphin had the second-highest total at 48.5mm. Ethelbert, Roblin, and Ruthenia all got at least 40mm. So far this growing season, San Clara has gotten the highest amount of precipitation at 234mm while Rorketon has received the least at 111mm.
Winter wheat and fall rye harvest are both about 90% complete in the northwest region and field pea harvest is underway but is only 5% done. Harvest overall is still in the early stages as total progress in the province sits at 3%.
Spring cereals could also start to be harvested this week on some fields, depending on weather conditions.
The summary for the northwest region, which includes the Parkland, is below. You can view the entire crop report here.
Warm start to the week and then a change to cool, wet weather up until the weekend. Rain set in mid-week and a couple of days of scattered showers brought varied precipitation amounts. Dauphin weather station receiving the most at 49 mm and Swan River the least at 5 mm, with some heavier localized amounts near Roblin. Alonsa had the highest daytime temperature last week at 27.7°C while Rorketon had the coolest over night temperature at 3.4°C. Although the rain was welcome across the region due to recent dry conditions, it also posed a slight delay in pre-harvest applications and some harvest operations.
Fall rye and winter wheat harvest began over the weekend in most of the region. Harvest in the Dauphin and Swan Valley area is approximately 90% complete. Perennial ryegrass harvest also began last week and is mostly complete. Yields are unknown at this time.
Spring cereals are mostly in the hard dough stage, with some later seeded fields in the soft dough stage. Pre-harvest applications have been ongoing as stages are reached. Dependant on weather conditions, harvest may begin this week.
Most of the canola across the region is podded and maturing. Approximately 10 to 15% of the canola remains flowering but should wrap up shorlty. Upper pods on plants are small, this may affect yield in some crops. Some sunscald is appearing with recent high temperatures. Aster yellow symptoms are very noticeable in some fields. Flea beetle pressure has been heavy in the last week and tops of plants are found covered in flea beetles. Lygus and some bertha armyworm has been reported in canola.
Field peas are in the R6 to R7 stages. Field pea harvest is continuing as crops reach maturity, with a pause last week due to rain. Desiccation continues in fields that have reached the appropriate stages. Initial reports of yield are lower than normal as first fields harvested are the ones that did not receive adequate moisture. Progress is approximately 5% complete.
Soybeans are mostly at the R6 stage and advancing. Recent precipitation was welcomed last week for soybean fields.
Bertha armworm monitoring is done for the year. Trap counts remain low across the Northwest region. The highest counts are Durban and Minitonas at 146 and The Pas at 277. Both counts remain below threshold levels, however monitoring is always recommended. Grasshopper pressure continues, and is especially heavy in some areas across the region.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
Features that increase road safety have been installed at the site where a deadly accident took place this summer.
In response to the June 15th bus crash that took the lives of 17 people from Dauphin and the surrounding area, as well as another crash at the end of July, several measures have been installed, with more being considered.
In order to increase visibility, fresh lines have been applied to the roads, and to increase awareness of the upcoming intersection, rumble strips are also now on the road.
The future will see the addition of advanced warning signs, as well as the replacement of the existing signage for better visibility.
Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure are continuing to analyze the intersection for other methods or infrastructure to improve the safety of the intersection.
A spokesperson from MTI stated, “The preliminary field investigation was completed on July 28, 2023, and MTI’s consultant is currently completing the safety analysis for the intersection. MTI expects a final report in late fall,”.
While RCMP investigations continue around the June 15th bus crash, the hope is that these increased safety features, and the ones to come, will prevent such tragedies from happening again.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Representatives from Western Financial Group out of Gilbert Plains were in Dauphin yesterday to present a donation of $10,000 to the Support Our Seniors fund.
"We decided that this was something that needed to be recognized and made a little bit more special with a donation on part of Western Financial", said Joyce Furkalo, an insurance advisor at the company.
Fellow insurance advisor, Nancy Beatty, was also on hand and mentioned Western Financial Group's support of local communities like Dauphin, Gilbert Plains, and Grandview. The company has supported organizations like the Parkland Humane Society and helped with projects like refurbishing the Gilbert Plains Golf Ball.
If you would like to contribute to the Support Our Seniors fund, you can do so through the Dauphin and District Community Foundation's website. You can also stop in at Dauphin City Hall at 100 Main Street South or phone 204-638-4598.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
