Rivers Dam Restoration Contract Announced

The Manitoba Government announced this afternoon they have awarded the contract for the design of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Rivers Dam on Lake Wahtopanah to KGS Group Limited. Unprecedented water levels in the summer of 2020 saw 80 people evacuated from their homes due to worries that the 60-year-old dam wouldn't be able to hold the record water levels.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk made the announcement today.

As a government, we want residents in these communities and all Manitobans to be safe and have confidence in their local infrastructure. That is why we are investing in this critical infrastructure to make sure the Rivers Dam is properly engineered and built safely and to provincial and national standards

There was some interim repair work that has been working well, completed on the dam last year, but this new project will bring the dam up to current standards so it will be safe during extreme flood events.

Construction is expected to start next year, and take around three years to complete.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 29, 2022 - 2:57 pm

Prairie Mountain Health has announced some changes to Covid-19 testing sites and respiratory clinics across the health region.

The Dauphin testing site location, located at 301 Main Street North (former Potoski Medical Clinic), will not have its hours of operation change and will remain Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Brandon’s Van Horne drive-through site will see a change regarding hours of operation effective April 1st. The new hours of operation effective April 1 are Monday to Friday 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
7th Street Health Access Centre walk-up testing location in Brandon will also see a change of hours of operation effective April 1. The new hours of operation will be Monday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For more information on testing clinics in the health region head to Prairie Mountain Health's website here.

Meanwhile, there will be some closures of Respiratory Clinics in the region and they are as follows:

Effective April 8, the remaining Respiratory Clinics that have been operating in Brandon and Dauphin will close.
Effective April 8, joint COVID testing sites and Respiratory Clinics located in Neepawa and Russell will close (at the end of that day).

You can get more information about the respiratory clinics on the Prairie Mountain Health website here.

Details: Contributed by Eric Fawx; Published: Mar 29, 2022 - 2:08 pm

Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives is hosting three Start your Grazing Plan Workshops. The first one is at the Brooksdale Farm on April 12th, the next is at the Ericksdale Community Center on April 13th, and the last is at the Grandview Kinsmen Community Center on April 14th.

MBFI General Manager Mary-Jane Orr said they are very excited about the speaker they have for the events.

Our main speaker is Steeve Kenyon from Greener Pastures, who comes out from Alberta where him and his wife opperate a diverse family farm that focuses on using grazing management as a tool to improve the quality and productivity of their pastures.

The workshops will also feature optional hands-on training for participants. You can find all the information you need about the workshops, and register for the events here.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 29, 2022 - 1:07 pm

The RCMP in Manitoba has released information about their Project Divergent which was set up to prevent international drugs from being smuggled into Canada.

During the bust the RCMP along with multiple other police forces worldwide were able to seize the following:

110 kilos of cocaine
41.4 kilos of methamphetamine
3 kilos of fentanyl
.5 kilos of MDMA
14 handguns
5 assault-style rifles, and
More than $445,000 in Canadian currency

In total, the following 22 people have been charged with numerous offences:

Enrico Funk, 29, from Freidensruh, Manitoba
Artjom Gotting, 32, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Nathaniel Cabal, 31, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Trinh Ducthang Dinh, 31, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Zuhair Mohammad-Zarif, 27, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jesse James Whyte, 26, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Damion Patrick Ryan, 41, from Ottawa, Ontario
Kelvin Lee Nelson, 27, from Burnaby, BC
Mazin Nzar Zandy, 24, from Burnaby, BC
Andre Omar Steele, 41, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Brittany Girardeau, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Albert Theodore Jansen, 39, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Sharon Jonatanson, 66, from Libau, Manitoba
Scott Matthew Jonatanson, 27, from Libau, Manitoba
Caitlin Jones, 22, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Owen James Quesnel, 33, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
William Solomon Gooding, 24, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Brian Christopher Yakimoski, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jeffrey David Gaudet, 32, from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Dylan Durval South, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba

Meanwhile, Kiefer Michael Kramar from Winnipeg and Denis Ivziku from BC are at large and currently evading arrest.

If anyone has any information about their whereabouts they are asked to call the RCMP at 204-983-5420.

The Manitoba RCMP would like to thank their partners for their assistance in this bust including:

Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia
BC RCMP
Quebec RCMP
National Division RCMP in Ontario
RCMP Liaison Officers in Bogota, Colombia; Rome, Italy; Washington; and Los Angeles
Winkler Police Service
Homeland Security Investigations out of Grand Forks, North Dakota
Ontario Provincial Police, Biker Enforcement Unit, which also includes officers from the Ottawa Police Service
Colombian National Police
Hellenic Police in Greece
Health Canada
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)
Forensic Accounting Management Group (FAMG)
Public Prosecution Service of Canada

Details: Contributed by Eric Fawx; Published: Mar 29, 2022 - 12:42 pm

Plenty of hot and sunny days are on the way but so are those pesky ticks.

Ticks are out and about when the temperature reaches +5 which is expected to later this week. Roxane Plett from the Dauphin and Ste. Rose Vet Clinic says the time is nearing when you should start checking your pets every day for ticks that could latch on to them.

There are also a few options to keep ticks off your pets.

"There are pills that can be given that when the tick latches on, it will kill the tick," said Plett. "There is also some repellent that deters the tick from latching on. Something I would stay away from are collars, they aren't great."

Roxane says the staff at the clinic is available to answer any questions you have when it comes to keeping your animals tick-free. You can call the Dauphin Vet Clinic at 638-3044 or the Ste. Rose location at 447-2701. If you do spot a tick, gently get ahold of the tick and pull it off. Follow that by washing your hands.

"We worry about the deer tick most here. They are very small and you'll usually see them in the brush, they transmit Lyme disease and we're always worried about that," she added. "Most commonly you should check your pets ears, armpit area and around their head."

If you are planning on going out for a walk, you can prepare and make sure you're ahead of the game.

"We have some great products that work for up to 12 weeks that will help to prevent ticks," added Plett. "The best bet is to stop in at the clinic and we will gladly help you pick the best product for your pet, we'll get you covered."

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Mar 29, 2022 - 4:47 am

The Dauphin City Council held its second meeting of the month tonight. Here are some highlights from the meeting.

Dauphin Fire Department Cheif Cam Abrey gave a recap of their 2021 Year in Review. A recap of that review can be found here.
As part of the City Managers report:
- The city has moved its facilities to mask friendly, following the province lifting mask mandates on March 15^th
- The city met with members from the Pine Creek and Ebb and Flow First Nation to discuss the Municipal Development and Services Agreement on March 24^th. Following the meeting, a partnership between the two first nations and Petro Canada was announced. Information about the announcement can be found here.
- The City is working to reach an agreement with Riding Mountain National Park regarding the Edwards Lake Water Agreement. Edwards creek has been the city’s water source since the 1930s. Talks have been stalled for a number of reasons, but the City Manager spoke about the new progress made.

On March 17 the Director of Public Works and Operations and I met with four representatives of Riding Mountain National Park to resume the process to work toward an agreement. We reviewed reports regarding the existence and condition of the pipe diversion infrastructure as well as the general characteristics of Edwards Lake and the watershed. It was identified that the city will require an Impact Assessment of the infrastructure in the lake/creek prior to continuing work on the Agreement. Therefore, we are working with RMNP to determine the type of Impact Assessment required and which consultants can perform that type of work. We will continue to work with RMNP toward the agreement.

In the ICT Managers report, they announced the city's new website is complete, and information has been transferred, but there is still some work left before it is launched.
- The city staff still needs to be trained on website alterations, and the staff will still need to alter any of the transferred information before the site is launched.

The next Dauphin City Council meeting is scheduled for April 11th. You can watch it on the City of Dauphin YouTube page here.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 28, 2022 - 6:26 pm

Early Sunday morning, Swan River RCMP got a report that a man had been shot at a house in Benito. There were four people at the house when the door was kicked in and three people entered with Firearms.

The robbers demanded money and jewelry, tied up the four occupants, and ransacked the house. One of the victims, a 26-year-old male was shot, while the other three were assaulted. The man that was shot was rushed to the hospital where he remains in stable condition.

According to the police, some of the individuals were known to each other. There were a number of belongings, including a vehicle, stolen from the house. An investigation is currently underway.

If you have information, please call Swan River RCMP at 204-734-4686, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online here.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 28, 2022 - 3:28 pm

Manitoba will no longer be providing daily COVID updates. Instead, the province will be releasing a weekly report on Thursday, updating the public on what the week's numbers are.

According to top public health officials, the daily case numbers were no longer accurate once the fast-spreading Omicron Variant made it impossible for the province to keep up with testing. The province has taken down both its online dashboard and its website used to break down cases by location.

The next weekly COVID Update will be released on March 31. Weekly updates can be found here.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 28, 2022 - 3:15 pm

Manitoba has announced provincial park reservations will open next Monday, April 4th, and expand every few days until April 13th. The province has decided to add an additional two launch dates, to help spread the user load on its system.

The launch dates and times are as follows:

April 4 at 7 a.m. for all cabins, yurts, and group-use areas
April 6 at 7 a.m. for campsite reservations at Birds Hill, Falcon Beach, Falcon Lakeshore, and West Hawk Lake
April 8 at 7 a.m. for campsite reservations at all western and northern region parks (Asessippi, Bakers Narrows, Clearwater Lake, Duck Mountain, Manipogo, Paint Lake, Rainbow Beach, Rivers, Spruce Woods, Turtle Mountain, William Lake, and Wekusko Falls)
April 11 at 7 a.m. for campsite reservations at Grand Beach, Nopiming, and all remaining Whiteshell campgrounds (Caddy Lake, Big Whiteshell, Brereton Lake, Nutimik Lake, Opapiskaw, Otter Falls, Betula Lake, and White Lake)
April 13 at 7 a.m. for all remaining locations (Birch Point, Camp Morton, Hecla, Hnausa Beach, Lundar Beach, Moose Lake, St. Malo, Stephenfield, Watchorn, and Winnipeg Beach)

On top of the additional booking dates, the province has made some changes to its system. They plan to have its new system fully implemented by next year, but they've made a few changes now to address some of the issues that users have experienced in the past.

Additional computing resources have been added to increase system performance;
Improvements to increase the stability of the queue and reduce the likelihood of users losing their place in line; and
Immediate confirmations at the time of booking are provided by web page messaging with a confirmation email sent within 24 hours to help speed up the performance of the service.

The province has also made policy changes to make it easier for more people to enjoy cabins and yurts. The maximum stay in a cabin or yurt is now seven days, which is down from fourteen days last year. They've also limited the number of sessions you can book on opening day to two instead of the normal three.

See the full provincial news release here.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 28, 2022 - 2:37 pm

The Roblin Famers Market isn't starting until May 14th, but they have started taking applications for vendors. Kelcey Harrison is running the Farmers Market and she's excited to give small businesses a chance to get their products to the public.

I think it'll be really great for the community and those businesses that dont have a brick and mortar space.

The plan is to host the market every second Saturday throughout the summer at the Lakeside Yoga & Healing studio. You can find the application form here, and you can contact Kelcey for more information at 306-620-8311.