Rural Round-up - Feb. 27, 2013

Neepawa Banner

Residents and businesses will now have their say about a controversial new garbage bylaw proposed by Neepawa town council.

According to unaudited 2012 financial statements the town lost more than $160,000 on garbage pickup.

The new service will require residents to pay $3 for ‘bag tags’ on any garbage exceeding two bags per week. While businesses will be broken into classes and pay a minimum of $200 per year or it they have one large bin and need weekly pickup, will be paying $6,000 for service.

Russell Banner

RCMP were called to a collision involving two semis in Binscarth.

A semi truck ran and stop sign and collided with another semi causing one to flip over and get hung up on the CN train tracks. One of the drivers was charged for failing to stop at a stop sign and CN officials were notified of the collision and both trucks were towed away.

Crossroads This Week

The Southwest AAA Bantam Cougars are hosting an exhibition game against the Yellowhead Chiefs on March 9 in honour of teammate Nick Fletcher.

Fletcher, a defenceman from Melita, was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of six, but has managed to persevere to play elite level hockey with the Cougars.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Puck drops at 8 p.m. at the Shamrock Centre in Killarney.

Roblin Review

Roblin town council will revisit the way tax dollars fund essential services.

Town CAO Twyla Ludwig said the town is shifting the method taxation for specific services that benefit the community at large from assessed value of a property to the owning the property itself. Services such as police and fire protection benefit everyone and council feels people with higher assessments shouldn’t have to subsidize those with lower assessed properties.

“So that (all property owners) are paying the same,” Ludwig said.

Grandview Exponent

Grandview town council has a new councillor. Cameron Dingwall narrowly defeated Joseph Safronetz by four votes, collecting 138 to 134.

There was a 38 per cent voter turnout in the by-election.

Crossroads This Week

Roblin’s Jayce Hawryluk is thrilled to be able to pursue his hockey career close to home with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Hawryluk, who is the son of Terry and Sandra. “I’ve always wanted to play in the WHL and to play for the Brandon Wheat Kings. It is so close to home. My parents come to almost every game.”

Crossroads This Week

Hamiota’s Justin Knight’s stepped up his game during his second season with Lakeland College men’s volleyball team.

The 6-foot-1 leftside played in a team-high 68 sets, averaging 2.2 kills per set, 2.5 points and 2.4 digs.

“Justin is a fierce competitor,” Rustlers head coach Taylor Dyer said. “He works really hard at making himself a better player.”

Dauphin Herald

The Parkland Professional Hockey School will not hit the ice in Dauphin this summer.

Citing declining enrolment and increasing costs, head instructor and founder of the school, Brad Church, said the week-long hockey camp will take the year off.

“It’s unfortunate. It’s disappointing,” Church said. “I’m not going to ask the people of Dauphin to pay crazy amounts of money to come to a hockey school.”

The Gazette

Glenboro will host the 55th year of the Tiger Hills Festival of the Arts. The two-part event takes place March 18-21 and April 23-25.

“The arts are definitely alive and well in our area,” event promoter Marilyn Cullen said. “We have entries from all over and they’re up over last year, with 384 entries.”

Boissevain Recorder

There were no takers for the Turtle Mountain School Division retirement incentive package. In order to qualify for early retirement a teacher had to be 55 years or older and have been a teacher for ten years in the division. This year, 14 teachers qualified, but none took the $10,000 retirement bonus.

Next year, the pool of eligible retirees rises to 21.

Minnedosa Tribune

A local group is entering into negotiations to develop 64 acres of land in the southwest corner of Minnedosa.

The group — Clint Moffat, Ken Kane, Norman Sims, Bruce and Chad Burton, Elvin Birch, Andrew Lakin, Glen Newton, and Stuart Lewis — is the only group that expressed interest in the development, meaning the town will skip the tendering process.

“I think everyone in the group recognizes that the town needs to grow, and building housing is one piece of that,” Lewis said.

Reston Recorder

Pipestone’s Aly Turnbull grabbed five award, totalling more than $7,000 at Assiniboine Community College’s 11th annual awards celebration.

More than 135 scholarship awards and bursaries totally more than $155,000 were awarded.

Killarney Guide

Chris and Jacqui Johnson were busy filling prescriptions at their new location in the Killarney Shoppers Mall.

The couple own and operate the Killarney Pharmacy, which now boasts a lot more floor space.

“We are both very happy to be here,” Chris said. “We were cramped at our other location and now we have double the space.”

Virden Empire-Advance

Virden’s Mitch Van Teeling is enjoying a successful season in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Dauphin Kings, who are ranked fourth nationally.

“Mitch is one of the top two-way players in our league,” Kings assistant coach Marc Berry said. “His return added a lot of depth and stability to our top-six group of fowards.

Van Teeling also got an opportunity to play in his hometown against the Virden Oil Capitals on Jan. 13.

“It was great to play in Virden ... It brought back a lot of memories and it’s great to see how well the community is supporting the team,” he said.

Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition February 27, 2013