Brandon Sun – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

The pristine Seal River watershed is one of eight areas in Manitoba proposed for federal protection. All of them raise concerns about public access, a Manitoba Wildlife Federation senior adviser says. (The Brandon Sun files)

Wildlife group wants feds out of land management

By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative 4 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation is trying to prevent the federal government from gaining control over land-management decisions in Manitoba due to concerns about public access, a senior adviser told the Sun on Friday.

The federation put out a call to action on Thursday for the provincial government to create a “Made in Manitoba” solution to manage protected areas and parks in the province.

Senior policy adviser Chris Heald said the goal is to keep land-management decisions local to Manitoba, where politicians are more accountable to the public.

“If we don’t like the way they’re managing our park system or the protected areas, we have the ability, in four years, to elect a different government,” he said. “With the federal government, it’s a lot different, right? Because then the Parks Canada bureaucracy is managing that.”

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Khan accuses NDP of failing to deliver

By Alex Lambert 5 minute read Preview

Khan accuses NDP of failing to deliver

By Alex Lambert 5 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Manitoba’s opposition leader told a Brandon audience on Friday that voters “have to turn this province around” after the NDP failed to deliver on its promises.

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan also urged supporters to donate to the party at a fundraising breakfast at The Eagles Nest Bar and Grill, where he also outlined the Tories’ plans.

“We believe in a vision that encompasses all Manitoba. I firmly believe that there is a way of running things fiscally responsible while being socially accountable and helping people while giving people a hand up,” Khan said to a crowd of about 60 people.

Khan said the party wants to get people out of drug addictions and psychosis and into recovery. It also wants to help get people “off the streets” and into recovery, along with helping people with mental health struggles, he said.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Obby Khan, leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party, speaks during a fundraising breakfast held by Brandon West MLA Wayne Balcaen at The Eagles Nest Bar and Grill in Brandon on Friday morning. (Photos by Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Shilo Inn Restaurant partners with Chicken Chef franchise

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

Shilo Inn Restaurant partners with Chicken Chef franchise

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

SPRUCEWOODS — Shilo Inn Restaurant has signed a new agreement with the Canadian franchise Chicken Chef, with the restaurant now operating under the combined name Chicken Chef Shilo Inn.

The transition has already brought positive results, co-owner Jackshil Patel, who took over the restaurant last year, told the Sun.

“Since we got Chicken Chef, the business is going pretty well,” he said in an interview. “We get good support from the base and the community. They’re supporting us.”

The addition comes amid what Patel described as growing interest in the Chicken Chef brand across smaller communities.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Chicken Chef Shilo Inn owners Jackshil (right) and Parth Patel say customer response has been strong from both residents and members of the nearby military base since the unveiling. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)

New Minnedosa doctors will keep ER open 24-7

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Preview

New Minnedosa doctors will keep ER open 24-7

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

MINNEDOSA — The impending arrival of two internationally trained doctors means the Minnedosa ER can be open 24-7 starting this fall, says the hospital’s acute care manager.

With the two additions, Minnedosa will have a total of six doctors, which is “huge,” Lana Hogg said.

Hogg, along with a recruitment and retention co-ordinator for Prairie Mountain Health, provided one of the new doctors with a tour of the Minnedosa Health Centre on Friday morning.

She showed Dr. Karen Aquino different parts of the small hospital, including patient, treatment and operating rooms, the laboratory and X-ray area and the three-bed emergency department, which currently closes every Thursday, Hogg said.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Lana Hogg, manager of health services for the Minnedosa Health Centre, gives Dr. Karen Aquino a tour of the health centre on Friday morning. Aquino will be joining the hospital in the fall after finishing the Manitoba Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates through the University of Manitoba. (Photos by Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Violent motel robbery nets four-and-a-half-year sentence

By Skye Anderson 5 minute read Preview

Violent motel robbery nets four-and-a-half-year sentence

By Skye Anderson 5 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

A man was sentenced to four and a half years behind bars for his part in a violent three-on-one robbery at a Brandon motel that left the victim with lacerations and fractures.

Ethan Cook, 22, pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery in Brandon provincial court on Friday.

The Crown recommended a sentence of four and a half years, while defence argued that a four-year sentence would be more appropriate.

Crown attorney Nikki Boggs read from an agreed statement of facts as she detailed the offence.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

The front doors of the Brandon courthouse on 11th Street. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)

Man pleads guilty to impregnating 14-year-old

By Skye Anderson 3 minute read Preview

Man pleads guilty to impregnating 14-year-old

By Skye Anderson 3 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

A Birdtail Sioux First Nation man has pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl, resulting in her pregnancy.

The 28-year-old man pleaded guilty to two counts each of sexual interference and failing to comply with his probation order in Brandon provincial court on Thursday.

Crown attorney Sarah Kok read an agreed statement of facts detailing the man’s offending. The man can’t be named due to a publication ban.

On Sept. 18, 2024, Manitoba First Nations Police in Birdtail Sioux First Nation began an investigation into a historical sexual assault involving the accused.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Helping Hands gets funding lift

By Alex Lambert 4 minute read Preview

Helping Hands gets funding lift

By Alex Lambert 4 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

The head of Brandon’s Helping Hands said the soup kitchen is “grateful” after it was awarded extra funding from the City of Brandon late last month.

City council approved an additional $20,000 for the non-profit as part of its 2026 budget, on top of the $30,000 it provides in an annual grant.

The city’s contribution comes after the province allotted $200,000 from its sale of U.S. liquor over the holidays.

“This has us not as concerned about the future of Helping Hands,” Andrea Epp, chair of the Helping Hands Centre of Brandon Inc. board, said about the funding from both levels of government for the 111 Seventh St. location.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Andrea Epp, board chair for The Helping Hands Centre of Brandon, is shown at the non-profit community organization on Thursday. The soup kitchen will receive an additional $20,000 from the city, as well as $200,000 from the province’s sale of U.S. liquor over the holidays. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

4 times the legal limit; cocaine

2 minute read Preview

4 times the legal limit; cocaine

2 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

BLEW 4 TIMES OVER THE LIMIT

A woman faces charges for driving impaired after blowing four times the legal limit on Thursday, Brandon police say.

Police received a report of a possible impaired driver stopped at the intersection of 12th Street North and Stickney Avenue at around 12:45 p.m. The caller told police the vehicle had been stopped for 20 to 30 minutes, the Brandon Police Service said in a news release.

The caller said the woman was honking at pedestrians, made “obscene gestures” when approached and seemed heavily impaired, police said.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

UN nuclear watchdog says it’s unable to verify whether Iran has suspended all uranium enrichment

Stephanie Liechtenstein, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

UN nuclear watchdog says it’s unable to verify whether Iran has suspended all uranium enrichment

Stephanie Liechtenstein, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

VIENNA (AP) — Iran has not allowed the United Nations nuclear agency access to its nuclear facilities bombed by Iran and the United States during a 12-day war in June, according to a confidential report by the watchdog circulated to member states and seen Friday by The Associated Press.

The report from the International Atomic Energy Agency stressed that it “cannot verify whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” or the “size of Iran’s uranium stockpile at the affected nuclear facilities.”

Iran has four declared enrichment facilities, but the report warned that because of the lack of access, the IAEA “cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran.”

The report stressed that the “loss of continuity of knowledge ... needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency.”

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

FILE - The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency flies in front of its headquarters during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

Rubio plans to visit Israel next week as US-Iran tensions remain high after latest talks

Sam Mednick, Sam Metz And Matthew Lee, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Rubio plans to visit Israel next week as US-Iran tensions remain high after latest talks

Sam Mednick, Sam Metz And Matthew Lee, The Associated Press 6 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make a quick trip to Israel early next week, the State Department said, as tensions between the United States and Iran remain high after their latest nuclear talks and American forces gather in the region.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel had earlier urged staff who want to leave to depart, joining other nations in encouraging people to leave the region and signaling that U.S. military action might be imminent. The announcement of Rubio's visit could indicate a longer timeline for any potential strike.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters earlier as he left the White House that he was “not happy” with the way talks are going.

“I’m not happy with the fact that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have. I’m not thrilled with that. We’ll see what happens. We’re talking later,” Trump said. He said it would be “wonderful” if Iran negotiated “in good faith and conscience,” but said, “they are not getting there.”

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

FILE - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee poses for a photo during an interview in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

A new Gallup poll shows how Americans’ sympathies have shifted in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Linley Sanders, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

A new Gallup poll shows how Americans’ sympathies have shifted in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Linley Sanders, The Associated Press 6 minute read Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — American sympathies in the Middle East have shifted dramatically toward the Palestinians, according to new Gallup polling, after decades of overwhelming support for the Israelis.

That shift accelerated during the war in Gaza. Three years ago, 54% of Americans sympathized more with the Israelis, compared to 31% for the Palestinians.

Now, their support is about evenly balanced, with 41% saying their sympathies lie more with the Palestinians, and only 36% saying the same about the Israelis.

The numbers reflect how support for Israel has become deeply contentious in the U.S., with profound implications for American politics and foreign policy. The changing sentiment has been largely driven by Democrats, who are now much more likely to sympathize with Palestinians. U.S. assistance to Israel has been a major dividing line in the party’s primaries this year.

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Friday, Feb. 27, 2026