Parents Sentenced to More Than a Decade

A Swan Valley Couple has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison each after they were found guilty of neglecting their infant twins. The parents can't be named to protect the identity of the children, but the 40-year-old mother was sentenced to 18 years behind bars, while the 57-year-old father was sentenced to 12 years.

In January, both parents were found guilty of two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, and failing to provide the necessities of life. The mother was also found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault.

In July 2019, Child and Family Services apprehended the children from their home when social workers found them with bruises and scrapes on their bodies. The twins were airlifted to the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg, where it was discovered that both had more than 20 fractures in their bodies.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Dec 13, 2022 - 2:44 pm

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities held a bye-election recently to fill vacant director positions after the Municipal election left several open spots. Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson put his name forward to fill the open spot in the Parkland District.

"I reached out to all of the municipalities prior to the election and spoke to several Mayors, and Reeves, and Heads of Council, and some of them have told me some of the things they were already thinking, but I'll definitely do my best to meet with them, or reach out to them, and bring all issues forward."

Jacobson has been interested in taking on a bigger role within AMM for some time and says that the regular elections for the role will be coming up in June 2023, so it'll be a good opportunity to try out the role before running again for a full two-year term.

"I would say it has been something that I've been thinking about for some time. I was first elected in Swan River in 2010, and over the first few years, I had grown some awareness of the AMM and some interest in it. After serving my first term as Mayor I thought, lets give this a try and see how this goes."

Jacobson says that it's a position he's been interested in for a while and wants to help bring the area closer together.

"I want to bring the AMM and the Parkland a little bit closer together. One of the things I thought would be an effective way of communicating between all the Parkland municipalities is to, maybe once a year, have all our heads of councils meet, and discuss some of our common issues, goals, and what we can bring forward to the AMM, and also to ministers and to the provincial government, and also the federal government."

Jim Manchur, the Reeve of Gilbert Plains, is the other AMM Parkland Director.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Dec 13, 2022 - 6:00 am

A special weather statement is in effect for a large portion of southern Manitoba including the Parkland.

Late this evening, a "prolonged snow event" over southeastern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba is expected to begin and could bring somewhere between 20 to 30 cm of snow to some places by the time the weekend arrives.

A Colorado Low is sneaking its way up to Manitoba from the American Midwest. Conditions are to start improving on Friday as the Colorado Low heads eastward. Unfortunately, as it heads out, it will make way for some Arctic air which will make temperatures much colder.

Read the full special weather statement here.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Dec 13, 2022 - 5:25 am

Roblin Conservation Officers are on the lookout for the people responsible for the killing of two elk by gunfire.

In the early morning hours of December 6, two cow elk were shot from Provincial Trunk Highway 363 leading toward Togo, Saskatchewan. The elk were left in the field.

If you have any information, you're asked to call the Roblin District Office at 204-937-6452.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Dec 12, 2022 - 2:33 pm

The Northwest Metis Council opened its new governance office this afternoon in Dauphin. Vice President Francis Chartrand says the relationship between the Manitoba Metis Federation and the City of Dauphin is really strong.

"The City of Dauphin is our partner, and they know who the Red River Metis are, and I'm so proud to say that. This is part of reconciliation, and I'm so proud to be working with the City of Dauphin, and a proud resident of the City of Dauphin."

Chartrand went on to talk about the commitment they're showing to the Parkland region, through investments in the communities.

"We built a daycare here, it cost us 1.6 million dollars. We built a new childcare centre in Swan River, it cost us 1.7 million dollars. We built a childcare centre with a governance office in the community of Duck Bay, it cost us 500 thousand. This build cost us five million dollars, we've invested approximately 10 million in the Parkland, and I'm so proud to be metis today."

Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand also spoke at the opening. He says that one thing this building, and all the other MMF buildings in Dauphin brings is opportunity.

This particular area, in my view, is very important. I know how hard it was hit when you see the jail closing down here, you guys took a very strong position, losing all those jobs, losing all those people that are going to be renting or buying homes. So I'm proud to say, this short area here, there'll be about 150 people employed here in the next little while."

The building itself will be home to more than 100 MMF staff that will support programs in the area, and a pharmacy that is expected to open in the new year. At the grand opening, the Northwest Metis Council also unveiled a Louis Riel Statue at the entrance.

From Left: Executive Peter Fleming, Executive Richard Genaille, Vice President Francis Chartrand, and President David Chartrand

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Dec 12, 2022 - 1:52 pm

Emergency crews are on the scene of a crash on Highway 5, West of Gilbert Plains.

The highway is closed and a detour is in place.

We will provide more information when it becomes available.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Dec 12, 2022 - 12:38 pm

The Virden RCMP is investigating a homicide that took place on Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation over the weekend.

Officers, along with EMS, responded to a report of a stabbing at a residence just after midnight on Saturday morning. They found a 26-year-old female from Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation with life-threatening injuries, and she was pronounced deceased a short time late.

An investigation then led to the arrest of 26-year-old Rennie Kristyna Williams, from Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation, who has been charged with Second Degree Murder. Williams was remanded into custody and is appearing in court in Brandon today.

Virden RCMP, along with RCMP Major Crime Services and Forensic Identification Services, continues to investigate.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Dec 12, 2022 - 11:06 am

The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair does not take place until March of next year, but nominations are open for the annual BMO Farm Family Awards.

The award highlights farm families who are active in their communities in agriculture and outside of it too.

"Any farming family can be put up for nomination, we're looking for that community involvement as well as the agricultural involvement. There's a lot of farm families that have many interests in local communities, from being coaches, to volunteers on boards, to even participating in local government", commented Mark Humphries, the General Manager of Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, which hosts the fair.

Humphries says the winners of the award will receive V.I.P. treatment at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, including getting an opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at the fair. There will also be an award luncheon for them and they will be recognized during an evening performance. All nominees will receive a plaque to display at their farms as well.

"It's a lovely recognition of what farming folk do, we're always really happy to see them at the fair, and hear about what contributions they make to not only agricultural and farming in general, but also for local communities", said Humphries.

The deadline to submit a nomination is January 30th, 2023, and the form can be found here. The criteria is pretty simple, nominees must:

Be actively involved in agriculture and community.
Rely on agriculture as a major source of income.
Have some family members reside on the farm that are active in primary agriculture.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Dec 12, 2022 - 6:00 am

Ron Kostyshyn has put his name forward and is running as the NDP Candidate for Dauphin in next year's provincial election.

Kostyshyn has a long career in both provincial and municipal politics, previously serving as the MLA for Swan River, and during that time was the Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Initiatives. He most recently served as Reeve of the Mossey River Municipality.

"Often when you get involved with municipal politics, you always get involved in other areas of politics. So I'm proud to say that I was involved with the Intermountain Watershed for a number of years, had the opportunity to be the Manitoba conservation district association president in the province of Manitoba as well, sat on the planning district for a number of years, and also was the AMM board member for 8 years."

Kostyshyn says that the first topic that comes to mind when thinking about issues that are affecting the Parkland on the provincial level, is healthcare.

"For example the Grandview situation, and I know that our leader Wab Kinew has brought it up at questions period. You've got a community like Grandview, who are trying their best to keep the hospital going as best they can in partnership with the regional health authority and the province of Manitoba. Unfortunately, there are challenges that they're facing right now, and I'll give you one example, is the fact we've got a number of retired nurses that are preparing to come back to help out in the emergency situation."

Kostyshyn says that the promises that've been made by the Conservative government to have retired nurses re-registered at Red River College don't seem to be happening.

"We discovered that Red River Community College, at this stage of the game, has no opportunity to provide those services to have nurses re-educated or re-registered, to provide their experience."

Another topic that Kostyshyn Focused on was the jail closure in Dauphin.

"I'm not okay with the jail closure that took place a number of years ago. In perspective, when we talk about rural economic development, when you start to lose 80 jobs, and an estimated cost of about 9 million dollars into the Dauphin constituency economy, that was probably one of the largest challenges that the Dauphin constituency had to deal with."

Kostyshyn says that's one of the driving forces behind a number of issues that made him want to run for MLA.

"To take the 80 jobs that were lost in the Dauphin constituency, it's like losing 8000 jobs in Winnipeg. I wonder if it was in Winnipeg whether that would've actually happened."

On top of a career in politics, Kostyshyn has been a producer for over 40 years in both the cattle and grain sectors. He says that helps him know what the issues that are important to the area are, including the crown lands act which he views as the most troubling issue.

Kostyshyn says he was talking to someone in the Eddystone area, and there are around 20 family farm ranches that have disappeared since the act was introduced. He says it's a very bad sign for rural economic development.

"That's 20 families that have now relocated somewhere else, only to have one individual or one corporation now running the operation. That is a sign of challenges for rural economic development. That is 20 families that now have no more children going to schools, so then it becomes a domino effect of business closures simply because you have school closures because you don't have as many children, you have less population. I guess to sum it up, population drives economic development, no matter what community you're from, and once you start to lose population, that's a challenge that all communities in the Dauphin constituency will be faced with."

In 2018, the province went through the process of re-drawing the borders of nearly all ridings, meaning the Winnipegosis area, which Kostyshyn is a resident of, is now a part of the Dauphin riding.

The provincial election is currently scheduled for October 3^rd, 2023, but the Progressive Conservative government has the ability to call the election early if they chose to do so.