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Wayne Becks was back in court earlier this week.

The 40-year-old Dauphin man was charged with several offences including Aggravated Assault and uttering threats, following an incident in November of 2022. 

Yellowhead RCMP says a serious assault resulted in a woman suffering severe, life-altering injuries. 

Becks was in Minnedosa Court on Tuesday, where he was remanded in custody to April 2nd.

The Mountain View School Division is hosting a public budget meeting this Thursday, and they want parents to weigh in on the conversation.

Secretary-Treasurer Lori Slepicka details how you can voice your opinion on the coming changes.

"You can register on our website, MVSD.ca and we ask actually that everybody registers whether they're going to attend virtually or in person. It will also be live-streamed so a link will be sent out to those people who register to attend virtually."

As well, Slepicka details what some of those changes entail.

"We are looking at tax increases this year. The proposed increase to the mill rate for the entire division right now is one point. what that would do is generate an additional 2.98 million fo the entire division for the 2024 school year."

The budget forum will be held on March 7th, at 7 pm at the MVSD district office.

There’s a chance we could get another batch of rebate cheques from Manitoba Public Insurance.

A report says the corporation’s reserves are looking good, and if approved by its board, another round of rebates could be on the way in the coming months.

During COVID, MPI issued three rounds of cheques totaling about $ 491 million because claims costs dropped with fewer vehicles on the road.

Talk of another rebate comes despite the fact Manitoba Public Insurance has gone way over budget on a project to upgrade the Crown corporation’s information services.

‘Project Nova’s’ budget has reportedly reached about $290 million, almost three times the original number.

The province has released its February Flood Outlook Report, which indicated a low to moderate risk of significant spring flooding across Manitoba.

The report, which came out prior to the massive snowfall that hit southern and central Manitoba over the weekend, said the forecast was due to normal- to below-normal soil moisture at freeze-up and normal- to well-below-normal winter precipitation for most of Manitoba.

The spring flooding risk is low to moderate for the Red River and tributaries and is low for the Assiniboine, Souris, and Qu’Apelle Rivers as well as in northern Manitoba. 

The spring flood risk is moderate for the Interlake region, as there is a risk of ice jam-related flooding on the Fisher River and the Icelandic River.

The report adds most Manitoba lake levels are normal to below normal for this time of year and within their capacity ranges, adding the risk of lake flooding is low for most Manitoba lakes.

However, the risk of flooding may change depending on weather conditions including the amount of precipitation between now and the spring melt.

The next flood outlook will be released in late March.

Three people face charges after RCMP executed a search warrant on a home on the Ebb & Flow First Nation.

Ste Rose RCMP were joined by Manitoba West District CREST unit and Police Dog Services in executing the warrant on February 29th.

Among the items seized were several drugs, including pre-packaged cocaine, meth and crack cocaine.

Prepaid credit cards, cash, firearms, ammunition, and other drug-related paraphernalia were also collected by MOunties.

Seven people in the home were originally arrested, but four were eventually released without being charged.

39-year-old Brian Houle of Ebb & Flow and 42-year-old Connie Malcolm of Bacon Ridge each face two counts of Possession for the purpose of trafficking, a count of possession of property obtained by crime, and several firearms-related offenses.

Both are due to appear in Dauphin court on April 11th.

Police also arrested 29-year-old Denee Baptiste of Ebb & Flow on an outstanding warrant for breach of a conditional sentence.

Baptiste has been remanded into custody.

The city says snow removal crews will begin the process of removing windows today from Main Street and the Business area.
 
They made that announcement on their Facebook page, adding that they are also asking businesses in these areas to ensure that their sidewalks have been cleared into the parking lanes so a thorough cleanup can occur.
 
Crews will also be working on day 2, 3, and 4 areas of the city

Parks Canada has announced the re-opening of more roads within Riding Mountain National Park following last weekend's snowfall.

The Highway 19 road into the park, as well as Rolling River Road, were both re-opened on Tuesday.

But park officials caution that there are snow-covered and icy sections on both of these roads, adding that motorists should drive with care.

They also say Lake Audy Road remains closed. 

March is Kidney Awareness Month, and Prairie Mountain Health is encouraging everyone to learn more about protecting their kidneys, and to know the risks and warning signs of kidney disease.

A release from PMH says Manitoba has the highest incidence and prevalence of kidney disease in Canada, with as many as 1 in 10 adults in the province thought to be living with the disease, with most of them not even knowing it.  

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common factors leading to kidney disease among adults, with other risk factors including obesity, smoking, and having heart disease, as well as a family history of kidney disease and using drugs that are damaging to the kidneys. 

Symptoms of kidney disease can include high blood pressure, anemia, weak bones, and nerve damage.  

Kidneys can lose 80 per cent of their function before any symptoms are felt.  

PMH encourages you to go to www.kidney.ca to take a self-screen test to see if you are at risk.

You are also encouraged to talk to your doctor about kidney disease.  

The investigation continues into the circumstances of the recent death west of The Pas.

An autopsy is scheduled for this Friday for the 19-year-old man who was found dead just over a week ago.

Peter Charlette was found dead in a wooded area near Pas on February 25th, after reportedly being last seen the night before.

Peter's Mother is concerned that foul play was involved, seeking answers to why he'd be in such a remote location without his phone or jacket.

Currently, the RCMP in the Pas do not expect foul play, but they will wait until the completion of the autopsy before making any firm statements about this death.

Even though the Dauphin area has seen more snowfall this winter than normal, it has been one of the warmest winters on record in Manitoba.

Environment and Climate Change Canada Senior climatologist David Phillips says an indication of how warm it has been this winter is the number of days where we have seen temperatures frail to get above -30.

"Normally, we would have had 13 by now.  This year, we have had none.  In fact, the days below -20, which is kind of a cool day, we would normally see about 47 of them in a winter in Dauphin.  This year, we have had 19, less than half of what you would get."

Phillips says we have been consistently mild since the start of winter.

"November was 3.5 degrees warmer than normal, December was on fire, it was almost 7.5 - 8 degrees warmer than normal.  In January we did have the polar vortex, but it was still more than two degrees above normal in Western Manitoba.  And February was almost five degrees warmer than normal."

Mail service in Dauphin is starting to return to closer to normal following the weekend snowfall.

A delivery service alert for Dauphin, as well as for Brandon and Portage la Prairie has been downgraded from red to yellow, meaning carriers will make every effort to deliver today, but delays may still occur due to icy conditions, or some addresses may not be reached because of those conditions.

Canada Post is urging homeowners in the city to clear all ice from their stairs, walkways, and driveways, in order to ensure safe access for mail carriers. 

A yellow service delivery alert for the remainder of Manitoba has been lifted, meaning operations in those areas have returned to normal.