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Michelle Martens stands outside her home in Elkhorn surrounded by broken trees after a tornado ripped through her backyard Sunday evening. (Rylee Gerrard/The Brandon Sun)

Tornado touches down in Elkhorn

By Rylee Gerrard 5 minute read Updated: 10:42 PM CDT

ELKHORN — A tornado that swept through the Elkhorn area on Sunday night tore trees from the ground, downed power lines and caused widespread property damage across the region.

Elkhorn resident Michelle Martens was standing outside her home when she saw the storm coming toward her Sunday evening.

“It looked like a big white shelf coming this way,” Martens said Monday, standing in her yard surrounded by broken branches and deep holes where established trees had been uprooted and tipped over.

“It wasn’t even dark. It was white, low clouds that were just moving really fast,” she said.

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Sep. 1, 6 AM: 14°c Cloudy with wind Sep. 1, 12 PM: 20°c Windy

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15°C, Partly cloudy with wind

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Elder Susie McPherson and a women's drum group lead a walk to mark International Toxic Drug Poisoning Awareness Day on Monday afternoon in Brandon. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)

Brandon walk ‘very personal’ for addictions minister

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

Brandon walk ‘very personal’ for addictions minister

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read 10:39 PM CDT

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith joined about 80 people in Brandon on Monday for a community walk to raise awareness about substance use.

Speaking in Princess Park before the walk, Smith said she lost her father to an overdose more than 22 years ago and has also lost a sister and other family members.

“So it’s very personal to me,” she told the Sun. “Community support has played an important role in helping me and family through the losses.”

The walk, which marked International Toxic Drug Poisoning Awareness Day, followed a route from Ninth Street to Victoria Avenue and onto Eighth Street before returning to Princess Park.

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10:39 PM CDT

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One of 22 photos released in July showing the muddy mess inside the Dauphin Regional Health Centre left by floodwater. The hospital's temporary emergency department is scheduled to open Sept. 7 on the main floor and will provide services 24-7. (Supplied)

Health-care workers worry Dauphin ER opening rushed

By Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

Health-care workers worry Dauphin ER opening rushed

By Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Updated: 10:37 PM CDT

WINNIPEG — The province says it is on track to reopen the flood-damaged Dauphin hospital emergency department on Labour Day, but some health-care workers worry the reopening is being rushed.

The temporary emergency department will operate on the main floor of Dauphin Regional Health Centre, using temporary power and water while restoration work continues in other areas of the hospital. The facility was forced to close on July 1 after significant flooding hit the region. More than 50 patients had to be evacuated.

When it opens Sept. 7, the temporary emergency department will provide services 24-7, a Manitoba government news release said.

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said it’s her understanding crews are “rapidly cleaning” an area of the flooded hospital, but said critical necessities, like running water and flushing toilets, will be missing.

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Updated: 10:37 PM CDT

Local

The Brandon courthouse. (File)

Cocaine dealer set up shop in Brandon hotel room

By Tessa Adamski 2 minute read Preview

Cocaine dealer set up shop in Brandon hotel room

By Tessa Adamski 2 minute read 10:35 PM CDT

A 41-year-old man pleaded guilty on Monday to possessing almost two kilograms of cocaine with the intent of trafficking the drugs through an operation he had set up in a Brandon hotel room last spring.

The Brandon Police Service started investigating Joseph Hildebrand in April after officers suspected he was trafficking cocaine in Brandon and the surrounding area, federal Crown attorney Eric Epp said in Brandon’s provincial court on Monday.

On May 20, police were surveilling Hildebrand and saw his vehicle parked outside a residence on 17th Street, Epp said. The investigation found he had booked a suite at the Super 8 by Wyndham along the Trans-Canada Highway.

“Additional surveillance and inquiries revealed that Mr. Hildebrand was using the hotel as temporary residence and a base of operations for the suspected drug trafficking activities,” Epp said.

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10:35 PM CDT

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Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba president Tim Rowan stands inside the Dome building on Monday afternoon. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)

Keystone Centre, Provincial Ex receive $155K

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

Keystone Centre, Provincial Ex receive $155K

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read 10:34 PM CDT

The Manitoba government is investing $155,000 to support tourism and event infrastructure in Brandon through funding for the Keystone Centre and Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba.

The funding, provided through the province’s From the Ground Up — Safe Healthy Communities for All program, includes $100,000 for the Keystone Agricultural and Recreational Centre and $55,000 for the Provincial Ex.

Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard, who announced the funding Monday, said the two organizations play an important role in attracting visitors and hosting events in western Manitoba.

The Keystone Centre will use its funding to upgrade the Brandon Multiplex, including dasher boards and glass at the Flynn Arena.

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10:34 PM CDT

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Swan River RCMP have seized cocaine, various drug paraphernalia, more than $1,500 in cash and three pellet guns in an ongoing drug trafficking investigation on Friday. (Supplied)

Six charged in Swan River RCMP drug bust

2 minute read Preview

Six charged in Swan River RCMP drug bust

2 minute read 10:33 PM CDT

Swan River RCMP charged six people in connection with a drug bust that yielded cocaine, three pellet guns, cash and drug paraphernalia on Friday.

The suspects were arrested around 4:15 p.m. at a property on the 300 block of Seventh Avenue South in Swan River as part of an ongoing drug trafficking investigation, RCMP said in a news release on Monday.

The detachment’s investigation unit executed multiple search warrants, starting with the residence and followed by outbuildings and vehicles associated with the property.

RCMP seized about 45 grams of powder cocaine, scales and packaging materials, nearly $1,600 in cash and three pellet guns, Mounties said.

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10:33 PM CDT

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The Brandon courthouse. (File)

Girl, 14, admits assaulting teen in mall food court

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Preview

Girl, 14, admits assaulting teen in mall food court

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read 10:32 PM CDT

A 14-year-old girl apologized in Brandon provincial court on Monday for assaulting a girl in the Shoppers Mall food court in April before a judge sentenced her to 10 hours of community service.

“I’m so sorry for what I did. I really regret it now and just think it sounds really dumb,” said the teen, who can’t be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

“If I could go back, I just like, wouldn’t have done anything,” she said.

The girl, who is going into Grade 10 at a Brandon high school, pleaded guilty to assaulting another teen in the mall food court on April 7.

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10:32 PM CDT

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Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith and John Howard Society of Brandon executive director Michelle Lemoine cut the ribbon during the opening of the society's new 24-unit transitional housing complex on Monday morning, while Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard (left), society's care coordinator Janelle Zazalak (second left), and Carla McDonald, who is the director of transitional housing, look on. (Supplied)

Brandon transitional housing complex officially opens

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

Brandon transitional housing complex officially opens

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read 10:31 PM CDT

The John Howard Society of Brandon officially opened its new 24-unit transitional housing complex on Monday morning.

The three-storey building on 16th Street North was designed to provide housing and support for men leaving incarceration, requiring a community residential facility or transitioning out of homelessness.

The facility will help people stabilize their lives and reconnect with the community, Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith, who cut the ribbon, told the Sun.

“It’s been a community effort,” Smith said. “It’s helping to transform lives.”

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10:31 PM CDT

Local

Tornado touches down near Elkhorn

2 minute read 10:54 AM CDT

A tornado touched down in southwestern Manitoba Sunday evening.

The tornado and heavy thunderstorms were reported near Elkhorn, a community in the Rural Municipality of Wallace-Woodworth, about 105 kilometres west of Brandon.

The heavy storms and winds were caused by a frontal passage, when two separate air masses move over the same location, said Stephen Berg, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“(It was) a pretty active system, that’s for sure,” Berg said Monday morning.

Lifestyles

Congo’s Health Minister Roger Kamba administers an Ebola vaccine to a health care worker in Kisangani, Congo, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Samy Kamanga)

Congo authorities report more than 6,000 confirmed Ebola cases and nearly 3,000 deaths

The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

Congo authorities report more than 6,000 confirmed Ebola cases and nearly 3,000 deaths

The Associated Press 1 minute read Updated: 9:20 AM CDT

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s authorities said Monday that the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history has topped 6,000 cases with 2,911 deaths.

More than 1,360 people have recovered from the virus, in what authorities said was an “encouraging” development.

The outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. Last week, the virus has spilled into two new health zones in the region.

The World Health Organization has said that it remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

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Updated: 9:20 AM CDT

Local

A voter leaves a polling station after casting a ballot in the federal election in Calgary, Monday, April 28, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Liberals sweep trio of byelections in Chicoutimi, Toronto and Vancouver

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Liberals sweep trio of byelections in Chicoutimi, Toronto and Vancouver

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: 11:16 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals swept a trio of byelections Monday including picking up a seat from the Conservatives in Quebec.

Daniel Gobeil will be the next MP for Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, replacing Conservative representative Richard Martel, who stepped aside after being appointed to the Senate.

In North Vancouver-Capilano, longtime Liberal staffer Braeden Caley will return to Ottawa this fall as the MP for North Vancouver-Capilano.

Liberal candidate Tanveer Shahnawaz will become the next member of Parliament for Beaches-East York in Toronto.

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Updated: 11:16 PM CDT

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