Brandon Sun – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

New build seen as downtown catalyst

By Alex Lambert 4 minute read Yesterday at 10:49 PM CDT

A new 72-unit apartment complex in Brandon’s downtown is expected to draw more business to the city’s core, officials say.

Developers and city officials held a sod turning on Wednesday for the three-building complex at 1200 Pacific Ave., which is slated to be completed in December 2027.

“Today marks an exciting milestone, not just for this project, but for the future of housing and downtown development in Brandon,” Mayor Jeff Fawcett said during the groundbreaking eremony.

The Eddy Residences, named after the former Prince Edward Hotel that once stood in Brandon’s downtown, include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units that will be rented out at market rate.

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Severed fibre optic line leads to 911 outage

Connor McDowellLocal Journalism Initiative 4 minute read Preview

Severed fibre optic line leads to 911 outage

Connor McDowellLocal Journalism Initiative 4 minute read Yesterday at 10:37 PM CDT

Manitoba 911 service was restored Wednesday hours after a reported fibre cable cut rendered the emergency number offline to many residents outside Winnipeg.

Bell MTS sent out a notice at 4:13 p.m. stating that connection had been restored to the Brandon Public-Safety Communications Centre, which lost its connection following a cut fibre cable at an undisclosed location.

“Both wireless and wireline emergency call services are available again and the affected Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in Brandon is reconnected,” Bell said. “We thank Manitobans for their patience as we work to address the damaged infrastructure.”

The company is investigating a “third-party fibre cut” that led to the service disruption in rural Manitoba. The Brandon service is one of two public safety answering points and serves “most of the province outside the Winnipeg area.”

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Yesterday at 10:37 PM CDT

Local

A dump truck feeds hot asphalt into a pacing machine that spreads it evenly along the right lane of westbound Richmond Avenue on Tuesday afternoon. The work is taking place on a 1.6-kilometre stretch between Second and 18th streets, at a cost of $5.97 million. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)

Richmond Avenue upgrade going full bore

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Preview

Richmond Avenue upgrade going full bore

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Yesterday at 10:44 PM CDT

Construction on Richmond Avenue in Brandon is expected to wrap up by the end of the summer, the province said.

Provincial crews have been working to upgrade the pothole-filled road for the past couple of weeks, closing some intersections and making access to area businesses more difficult.

The work is taking place on a 1.6-kilometre stretch between Second and 18th streets, at a cost of $5.97 million.

Richmond Avenue was voted as the province’s fifth worst road in CAA Manitoba’s Worst Roads campaign earlier this year. It was also voted the ninth worst in 2025 and tied for the 10th worst in 2024.

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Yesterday at 10:44 PM CDT

Local

The panel sided with Noni Classen, the independent commissioner who oversees Manitoba’s new teacher disciplinary system, agreeing that, based on a balance of probabilities, teacher Josh Braaksma committed professional misconduct. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Roblin teacher stripped of professional licence

By Maggie MacintoshLocal Journalism Initiative Reporter 6 minute read Preview

Roblin teacher stripped of professional licence

By Maggie MacintoshLocal Journalism Initiative Reporter 6 minute read Yesterday at 10:45 PM CDT

WINNIPEG — A Roblin teacher has been stripped of his professional licence after an undercover police investigation found he sent explicit messages to a social media user he believed to be a 15-year-old girl.

Manitoba cancelled Josh Braaksma’s credentials — listed in the province’s online registry under his full name, Joshua William Braaksma — on July 6. His certificate was suspended on an interim basis in the fall.

The misconduct case involving Braaksma, who has taught and coached in the Mountain View School Division over the last decade, is the first to be resolved via a “written hearing.”

“Having regard to the nature, content, and context of (his) communications, the panel finds that the teacher’s conduct renders him unsuitable to be a teacher,” the disciplinary decision states.

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Yesterday at 10:45 PM CDT

Local

Tornado researchers visit Rossburn

By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative 7 minute read Preview

Tornado researchers visit Rossburn

By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative 7 minute read Updated: 9:08 AM CDT

The Northern Tornadoes Project used satellite imagery and on-the-ground staff and interns to document the damage of the tornado that ripped through a home near Rossburn this year.

A staff member from Winnipeg drove in with two interns to survey damage and interview community members and survey the area, NTP research meteorologist Dylan Painchaud-Niemi said in a recent interview. Painchaud-Niemi was the survey lead for the Rossburn tornado site, and spent two days in the area gathering information through difficult, rainy weather, he said.

“We’ll kind of zigzag our way through the roads. We may be on foot a little bit, just talking to property owners, and then we fly a drone around … to look at damage from above, which sometimes does help,” he said. “We’ll go through that, find the start and end points.”

Painchaud-Niemi is trained to associate certain types of damage with wind speeds according to engineering research, and he uses that knowledge on-site to categorize the magnitude of storms. In the case of Rossburn, the worst damage point was at the historic home of Brian and Bernadine Brown, where the roof and some upper walls were torn off by wind.

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Updated: 9:08 AM CDT

Local

RCMP search for 10 and 13-year-old boys who went missing in Nutimik Lake in Manitoba on July 18, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Manitoba RCMP (Mandatory Credit)

Body of one of two missing boys found in Manitoba’s Whiteshell Provincial Park

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Body of one of two missing boys found in Manitoba’s Whiteshell Provincial Park

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: 9:08 AM CDT

LAC DU BONNET - The body of one of two boys believed to have been swept into fast-moving rapids in a Manitoba lake last weekend has been recovered.

RCMP in Lac du Bonnet say they received a report on Wednesday evening of a body near the shore on Nutimik Lake, and they later confirmed it was 10-year-old Maximo Au Ramirez.

Police say the boy's family has been notified, and the search continues for the remaining boy, who is 13.

Police were called to the possible drowning Saturday afternoon near Sturgeon Falls Trail in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

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Updated: 9:08 AM CDT

Local

A large-scale art exhibition featuring 15 artists, including Dhairya Vaidya (from left), Shan Pullan, Chris Reid and Emil Reid will be open to the public beginning Aug. 6 at The Town Centre in Brandon. The exhibition showcases more than 45 pieces of artwork that will be displayed in vacant storefront windows as a way to revitalize the space. (Tessa Adamski/ The Brandon Sun)

Town Centre spaces to transform into art gallery

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Preview

Town Centre spaces to transform into art gallery

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Yesterday at 10:39 PM CDT

Vacant storefront windows in The Town Centre mall in downtown Brandon will become an unexpected public art gallery, featuring more than 45 artworks beginning next month as a way to revitalize the space.

The large-scale exhibition titled “Re/Fenestration” runs from Aug. 6 to Nov. 28, showcasing 15 artists from southern Manitoba. The exhibition is hosted by Rural Arts Westman (RAW), an artist-led collective dedicated to supporting and connecting artists across Westman.

Chris Reid, a member of Rural Arts Westman, said the upcoming exhibition explores the idea of reframing.

“By placing it within The Town Centre, (we’re) asking people to sort of reconsider how we use malls or how we use those public spaces,” she said.

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Yesterday at 10:39 PM CDT

Business

Prime Minister Mark Carney makes a statement outside the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council in Ottawa, on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

PM Carney says Canada is united, stronger now than when the U.S. trade war began

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

PM Carney says Canada is united, stronger now than when the U.S. trade war began

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: 12:10 PM CDT

CHARLOTTETOWN - Prime Minister Mark Carney said unity is Canada's greatest strength as he and the premiers huddled Thursday to prepare a response to fresh tariff threats from the United States.

Carney told reporters ahead of his meeting with the first ministers that Canada is "in a stronger position than we were when this trade war started," thanks to the focus of the people around the table.

Gathering with the premiers in Charlottetown, P.E.I., Carney spoke about the Fathers of Confederation who signed the binding agreements to form the federation in the same location.

"We may face similar challenges to the Fathers of Confederation but we have many more advantages. We are more diverse, more prosperous, more generous, and we have the lessons of history that when Team Canada is united, there is nothing we cannot do," Carney said.

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Updated: 12:10 PM CDT

Local

Man pleads guilty in human smuggling case at Canada-U.S. border

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Man pleads guilty in human smuggling case at Canada-U.S. border

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: 9:10 AM CDT

WASHINGTON - A man from Puerto Rico has pleaded guilty to bringing people into the United States across the Canada-U.S. border for financial gain.

A news release from the U.S. Department of Justice said 38-year-old Jesus Hernandez Ortiz picked up a group of twelve people — including two young children — who had just crossed the border into Vermont in 2023.

He was expecting to be paid $400 per person.

"The northern border is incredibly dangerous and anyone encouraging or facilitating the smuggling of aliens, especially children, across the border in these remote locations is putting lives at risk," Matthew Millhollin, acting deputy executive associate director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, said in a news release.

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Updated: 9:10 AM CDT

Soccer

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, and President Donald J. Trump talk as they wait to congratulate the Spanish players after the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump role in World Cup red-card ruling for Balogun pushes Norway toward FIFA ethics complaint

Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Trump role in World Cup red-card ruling for Balogun pushes Norway toward FIFA ethics complaint

Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 9:05 AM CDT

GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s role in clearing Folarin Balogun from a mandatory one-game ban at the World Cup is set to provoke a formal complaint to FIFA ethics investigators.

The Norway soccer federation said Thursday its board of directors will consider filing the complaint at its next meeting, likely on Aug. 6.

“We need our leader in FIFA to say that this was an error,” Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness told London daily The Times in an interview published Thursday.

After Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a one-game ban for Balogun’s red-card tackle against Bosnia-Herzegovina was deferred so he could play against Belgium with a quarterfinals place at stake.

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Updated: 9:05 AM CDT

Local

Nurse practitioner wants province to cover visit fee

By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative 4 minute read Preview

Nurse practitioner wants province to cover visit fee

By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative 4 minute read Updated: 9:08 AM CDT

A private nurse practitioner in Rapid City is advocating for the Manitoba government to cover patient visit costs, which she said are a barrier to health-care access for people in the community.

The nurse, Michelle Weighell, called on residents last month in a community newsletter for RM of Oakview residents to sign letters and send them to Minister of Health Uzoma Asagwara. The letters advocate for the government to change its funding model for nurse practitioners outside of health authority employment.

Weighell operates a private clinic, where health-care services, such as lab testing, can be billed to the province. But she says she takes issue with the fact that patient visits are not publicly funded.

“I don’t like having to charge people, but I do have to be able to provide food and shelter for my child. So that’s a requirement,” she said. “What I am charging is $60 — and that was a rate set to not provide an unnecessary burden on the public.”

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Updated: 9:08 AM CDT