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The provincial government has announced that it is introducing no-cost coverage of prescription birth control beginning on October 1st.

In a news release, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara stated that prescription birth control is a right and not a luxury, adding this move will save people hundreds of dollars while ensuring Manitobans are fully in control of their bodies and their choices.

The government announced a plan to make prescription birth control free for all Manitobans in their spring budget.

The Manitoba Pharmacare Program will cover the full cost of about 60 commonly used birth-control methods including the pill, intrauterine devices, hormone injections, and others.

To obtain the free coverage, eligible Manitobans who do not already have coverage from another federal or provincial program can present their prescription and their Manitoba Health Card at a pharmacy for a birth control product.

Learning skills to help someone that is considering suicide is the purpose of a pair of ASIST clinics coming to the Parkland in October. 

The two-day workshops will teach suicide intervention skills and give participants the opportunity to learn and practice a life-saving intervention model.

The clinics are set for October 9th and 10th at the Dauphin Community Health Office, while the other is set for October 24th and 25th at the Swan Valley Health Centre Boardroom. 

The registration fee is $125, with the registration deadline being October 2nd for the Dauphuin session, and October 17th for the Swan River clinic. 

To register for either session, you can contact Lana at 204-638-2218 extension 1713, or email lparker @ pmh-mb.ca

Any efforts by the federal government to bring the rail lockout to a close will not have the support of the federal N-D-P.

 Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not support back-to-work legislation or any interference in the bargaining process involving Canada's two biggest railways.

Singh says he thinks Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City expect the Liberals to ``swoop in to help the corporation and hurt the workers with binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will have more to say soon on what it will do to ensure a quick solution to the conflict.

Meanwhile, experts say a major rail work stoppage in Canada will have an effect on the country's economy.

C-I-B-C senior economist Andrew Grantham says a one-week lockout would lower the third-quarter annualized gross domestic product by about 0.4 per cent

He says that figure would more than double if the dispute stretches to two weeks, as more sectors would be forced to stop production.

The railways were expected to return to the bargaining table today with the union representing 93-hundred railworkers who were locked out overnight.

with files from The Canadian Press

Some high praise for the Dauphin Medical Clinic.

Recently, they were presented with the 2024 Teaching Site of the Year award by the University of Manitoba's Department of Family Medicine during their annual Inspire DFM Awards.

The awards recognize staff, faculty, residents and teaching sites that elevate the Department of Family Medicine, improve healthcare, and help to train the next generation of family physicians.

The Clinic was nominated for the award by Dr. Chavi Tejpal, who is a postgraduate year 2 lead resident at the Parkland Family Medicine Residency Unit. 

She said the residency program is the second oldest rural training program in Canada for family medicine, and thanks to those strong roots and training, it provides more than academic opportunities for its residents. 

She added the program fosters a culture of collaboration and support among inter-professionals, providing residents with invaluable opportunities for interdisciplinary learning to enhance patient care.

Dr. Tejpal says the program fosters a culture of collaboration and support among inter-professionals, providing residents with invaluable opportunities for interdisciplinary learning to enhance patient care.

The Community of Russell celebrated a major milestone today, with the grand opening of their new Community Cancer Care Centre.

Gloria Tibbatts, co-chair of The Expanding Community Cancer Care (ECCC) committee, has worked on this upgrade for quite some time.

"It took us approximately 10 years to raise that $1.8 million, and the estimated cost of the building was $2.5 million, but the Manitoba government confirmed its commitment of $700 thousand to support the remaining cost of the project."

These funds were raised through community efforts from the surrounding area, as the ECCC committee contains members from 15 different communities.

From Gala's, bake sales, hockey fundraisers, donations, and more Tibbatts was proud to get this project done with the help of this collaborative effort.

Treena Slate, CEO of Prairie Mountain Health was also thrilled to see this come together.

"The unit itself is beautiful. It will provide an enhanced space for people going through the cancer care journey, it's bright, it's open, it's spacious, and we're just really happy to see this come to be."

The regional health authority will also support this project further, contributing to annual operating costs related to the expansion, including staffing and supplies.

A 28-year-old Sandy Bay First Nation man accused of discharging a firearm earlier this month  Ebb & Flow First Nation has been released from custody on a promise to appear in court on a later date.

Billy Roulette is slated to return to court on October 8th.

Meanwhile, a new court date has also been set for a man arrested during a traffic stop in Dauphin in May.

32-year-old Wayne McKay, who faces several drug possession related offences, has had his matters adjourned to August 27.

More details have been provided on the gruesome killings that took place in McCreary, giving us a clear timeline of events of that day.

Staff Seargent Richard Sherring gave this info in a press release at 1 pm today, starting with events early on August 16th, at 1:20 AM.

The Suspect, Marlin Glover, allegedly forced his way into a 37-year-old female's home, and she managed to escape the situation and hid in a nearby wooded area.

Glover is then thought to have gone to a nearby residence, where he killed a 66-year-old woman, a 65-year-old man, and a 35-year-old man. These individuals were found to be the Mother, Father, and brother of the 37-year-old female.

Glover then traveled down Road 84 West and took his own life.

The RCMP was first made aware of Glover's remains at roughly 10:10 am that day and found the 3 other victims as part of a wellness check at 10:40 am.

Since last November, Glover had been under a restraining order from the 37-year-old female, and as part of this safety issue had two firearms and his PAL seized.

The 37-year-old female was found by RCMP 11 hours after she fled her house, and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

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The RCMP will unveil more details today of their investigation into multiple deaths on Friday near McCreary.

According to an initial release by Ste Rose RCMP, a 41-year-old man was located dead from self-inflicted injuries on Road 84 West at around 10:10 Friday morning.

A short time later, officers attended another home where they found the bodies of a 66-year-old female, a 65-year-old man, and a 35-year-old man. 

At the time, Mounties confirmed that the four individuals knew each other and that their deaths were related. 

Staff Sergeant Richard Sherring of RCMP Major Crimes Services will provide the update during a 1 pm news conference at  RCMP Headquarters in Winnipeg.

CKDM News Now will have details of the News Conference later this afternoon. 

The community of Arden is set to rock this weekend as their Whitemud Music Festival is set to return for a second year.

Taking place Friday and Saturday, the festival was the brainchild of Rob Cameron and a few others back in 2020, but had to be held off until 2023 due to the pandemic.

Cameron says Friday's headliners are a band from Mexico that is returning to the festival for a second straight year.

"They are called the Beast.  They play all of the Touristy bars in Puerto Vallarta throughout the winter and they make a ton of friends and connections with all of the Canadians that go down there.  They usually come up in late May or early June to Canada and they tour all around all summer.  We know the guys and we have had them in Arden a few times for dances at our hall.  And last year, we had them booked as our headline for the Friday night."

Cameron says it begins Friday night at 7 pm and continues through to 1 am, with Saturday's performances going from noon to 1 am.

He adds they have a trio of tribute bands headlining Saturday's lineup.

"A Tom Petty tribute band called Damn the Torpedoes, which are based out of Winnipeg.  And then another Winnipeg-based band that does an AC/DC tribute band.  And they call themselves For Those About to Rock.   And then to end off the night, we have another band out of Winnipeg who are a Guns N Roses tribute who call themselves Rattlesnake Suitcase. "

The event is being held at Lansdowne Centennial Park, with free camping available to anyone who purchases a ticket.

The event is a fundraiser for the Arden Curling Club and Lansdowne Recreation. 

Tickets are $80 for a weekend pass, $40 for a Friday pass and $60 for Saturday,

They are available online through EventBrite, and in person at the gate during the festival.

More information can be found on the Whitemud Music Festival Facebook Page. 

Over the past seven days, precipitation has fallen across most of the province, focusing heavily on the Central, Eastern, and Southern Regions.

Several Interlake stations and the Swan Valley station in the Northwest logged no rain whatsoever. The most was seen at the Kane Station totaling 54.8mm.

Soil moisture has been maintained well throughout the season, and the accumulation of growing degree days in strong supply, slightly varying at 95%-105% depending on location.

Early harvest numbers also continue to roll in, as winter wheat and fall rye crops are well past half done, at 60% and 72% respectively.

Most of that is being driven by the Central, Eastern, and Southwest areas, as both the Northwest and Interlake areas are just beginning.

Early yield estimates are 80 to 110 bu/acre in the Central region and an average of 75 bu/acre in the Eastern region.

In other cereals, Spring cereal harvest has started, with 3% of spring wheat and oats, and 15% of barley estimated as complete. With the latest spring wheat is in the soft to
hard dough stage.

Spring wheat quality is rated mostly good with 5% of the crop being reported as poor in the Southwest, Northwest, and Central regions.

Corn ranges from the R1 to R3 stage.

Oilseeds are beginning to be harvested, with canola beginning in the Central and the earliest-seeded sunflowers have completed flowering and reached seed development. Most flax fields are in growth stage 11.

Pulses and soybeans made progress, with field pea harvest ongoing in the Central Region, with most other areas mostly in the R 7 stage.

Soybeans in the Southwest, Northwest, and Interlake regions are mostly in the R4 to R5 stage. In the Central and Eastern regions, soybeans are at R5 to R6.

The warm weather and rainfall did create ideal conditions for forage and pasture growth across most of the province, and good progress has been made in putting up hay and silage.

Dairy producers are mostly done with their second cut of alfalfa, and the first cuts of beef hay have also been completed.

Drying conditions haven't been ideal though, as the humidity has left some heavy dew in the mornings.

Dugouts are at 70% of normal capacity, and water supplies are reported to be adequate.

Last week left the Northwest Region with hotter, drier conditions, leading to some good time for crops to grow and some of the harvest to begin.

Grandview received the most precipitation at 42 mm. Temperatures were in the mid to high 20s with Birch River station recording the highest daytime temperature of 29.3 degrees. The lowest overnight temperature was at Ruthenia station at 6.8 degrees.

Most spring wheat is in the dough development stage with the earliest seeded fields moving towards maturity. The later-seeded fields continue to catch up, and small start to spring wheat harvest so far.

The majority of canola crops have completed flowering and continue in pod development and maturity. A small start to swathing/desiccation has begun on the earliest maturing fields.

The recent heat has helped advance Soybean crops. They are in the R4-R5 stage and are looking good with more pod fill evident. 

I'm sure many producers in the area are antsy to get harvest started, and hopefully, the forecast ahead shows us some more favorable conditions than the rain from the past couple of days.

Stay safe, and here's wishing you the best of luck this harvest season. 

The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) amounts were increased in July after an annual rework of the numbers, and many of those payments will be seen this week.

This rework led to an increase in the CCB earlier this, year meaning eligible families could be pocketing more.

These payments go towards Canadian residents with kids under 18 at home and vary a bit with the child's age.

Parents could receive a maximum payment of $648.91 for each child under the age of six years, and For every child aged six to 17 years, the maximum CCB payment will be $547.50, a 4.7 percent increase from last year for both.

The benefits come at a reasonable time, as many parents are likely gearing their children up for the school year, which is increasingly costly.

Following this week's payout, the payments are expected again on Sept. 20, Oct. 18, Nov. 20 and Dec. 13.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a special day for the residents of Russell. 

A Grand Opening for the new Community Cancer Care Centre in that community will take place at 10 am tomorrow, with a barbecue to follow right after.  

The project, which was recently completed, added an additional 33-hundred square feet to the existing Cancer Care Manitoba chemotherapy treatment space in the Russell Health Centre.

The facility now includes an expanded nursing station and medication storage area, as well as the creation of a dedicated patient bathroom, nourishment area, and waiting area. 

Funding for the $2.5 million project came from the provincial government, as well as the Expanding Community Cancer Care Committee, which raised $1.8 million towards the construction and equipment costs for the project.