Top stories of 2017 in The Brandon Sun

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This article was published 29/12/2017 (2935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Here are the top stories that The Brandon Sun reported on in 2017. Stories that qualified in our 25 most clicked stories at brandonsun.com were not eligible for this list.

• Jan. 6 — ‘It’s discrimination’: Dad lashes out against BSD’s French immersion lottery

Paul Alexandre, who moved to Canada from France 16 years ago, said he was “shocked” to learn his four-year-old son’s future enrolment at École Harrison — Brandon’s only single-track French immersion school — would be left up to chance with the division’s lottery-style selection process.

“There is an obligation to provide education in a minority language,” Alexandre said. “We are not being given something that is guaranteed by the constitution. We are made to compete against English-speaking students — the majority language students — and it’s discrimination. That’s how we feel about it.”

• Jan. 19 — Sun turns 135 with a legacy of keeping the community linked in

The halls of The Brandon Sun’s downtown office building serve as a shrine to the community newspaper’s 135-year history.

The first edition of The Brandon Sun rolled off the printing press on Jan. 19, 1882 — 135 years ago, kicking off the newspaper’s legacy of keeping the community linked in.

• Jan. 26 — Hartney losing chunk of its history

Hartney’s main street has been drastically changed as a number of historic buildings collapsed under the weight of all the snow received this year.

Five of the 11 buildings that line East Railway Street — built at the turn of the century after a devastating fire in 1899 — will be demolished after their roofs caved in, unable to handle the heavy and excessive snow that accumulated over the last few months.

• Jan. 28 — Sisters stick together at Fairview Personal Care Home

The Milne sisters — who may be the oldest siblings in Manitoba living under one roof — got along so well three of them married into the same family.

There must have been something about those Templeton boys from Basswood. Margaret was the first, tying the knot with Hugh. Then Gertie married Tom and Olive found love with Bob. “That was funny, wasn’t it?” Margaret said aloud.

Decades later, the Milne sisters, originally of Newdale, are still close — by blood, marriage and now through housing. They each live at Fairview Personal Care Home in Brandon.

• Feb. 6 — ‘We are really moved by this love’

An adoptive mother of a Syrian son, Andrea Oswald found herself lost in the days following the fatal shooting of six people at a Quebec City mosque on Jan. 29.

She resolved to drop off a bouquet of flowers at the Brandon Islamic Centre, where she was greeted at the door and invited inside with open arms.

Oswald relayed this story during a prayer and open house at the centre — a followup to the interfaith vigil that was held at St. Matthew’s Cathedral on Feb. 1.

“I want our hearts to come together,” she said. That is “what Canada is about.”

• Feb. 7 — BU boosts downtown presence

Brandon University will pursue a major downtown development that may include student residences and senior housing, as well as commercial and academic use.

City council voted to sell two properties (129 11th St. and 156 Ninth St.) to BU for $1 each. This, along with an agreement in principle with Renaissance Brandon, will expand the university’s downtown footprint to six parcels of land.

“This is a really transformational kind of a development,” said Scott Lamont, BU vice-president (administration and finance). “It’s such a large piece of property that we’re in the process of assembling and it’s probably one of the largest developments that have happened — certainly in the downtown area — for decades.”

• Feb. 11 — Sifton Reeve Rick Plaisier remembered for dedication to community

A committed public servant and educator, Rick Plaisier endeavoured to make whichever community he lived in better.

Plaisier, reeve for the Municipality of Sifton, passed away at the age 68.

Whether he was serving as an elected official, teaching the next generation of leaders or volunteering, Plaisier gave it his all, recalled Stan Cochrane, a Sifton councillor who became Plaisier’s next-door neighbour at Oak Lake Beach.

“Whatever he got involved in, he was always able to take the lead and make sure things got done,” he said.

• Feb. 22 — School taxes set to jump 2.85%

After approximately five hours of disconsolate deliberation, Brandon School Division’s budget is one step closer to being finalized. After trimming nearly $1 million from the proposed budget, BSD trustees settled on a 2.85 per cent mill rate increase. Based on a house assessed at $251,000, property tax would increase $46.70 a year — or $3.89 per month.

“I don’t think we can pretend that this is a budget that everyone is going to be happy with — we heard quite loud and clear from members of the public who are quite concerned with tax increases, and despite that, we’re at a 2.85 per cent that a lot of people will be unhappy with,” BSD chair Kevan Sumner said.

• Feb. 25 — Complex divisions in Deloraine

The rift between the supporters and opponents of a joint curling club and community hall in Deloraine was depicted by the makeup of the room.

The supporters were seated in the front of the standing room-only hall at Harvest Community Church on Feb. 24, while most detractors were situated in the back.

The split was exposed by the smattering of applause following each speaker.

At debate was the proposed $3.7-million complex, which opponents have ruthlessly fought despite a referendum six months ago the municipality thought would stifle the controversy.

• March 2 — ESL students speak out

After reading the news of federal funding being cut from Assiniboine Community College’s English language program in the newspaper, an entire class of ESL students marched along Rosser Avenue to The Brandon Sun’s newsroom to make sure their voices were heard.

The class of about 16 students spontaneously broke from their afternoon studies and arrived on The Brandon Sun’s doorstep — some teary-eyed, some angry — eager to share their stories about how the proposed cuts would affect them.

• March 9 — Snowmobiler survives being hit by semi

It looks like a snowmobiler — who was out helping stranded motorists when he was hit by a semi-trailer travelling on a closed portion of highway — is doing OK considering his ordeal, according to a witness.

Meanwhile, that witness’s heartfelt video — in which he implores drivers to stay off highways when they’re closed due to bad weather — has gone viral after it was posted on Facebook.

“That wasn’t supposed to go viral, I’ve never done anything like that before,” said Brandon resident Jordan Jones.

A blizzard shut down highways across Westman. Approximately 78 vehicles were stranded on the Trans-Canada Highway, backed up west of Brandon due to a collision.

• March 11 — Canadian Blood Services closing Brandon clinic due to strained operations

Brandon’s Canadian Blood Services Donor Clinic is closing, with its 17 staff members given a 90-day termination notice.

The twice-weekly and every-other Saturday operation at The Town Centre will be replaced by a twice-monthly mobile blood donor clinic that’ll drive in from Winnipeg starting on June 15 at a yet to be determined location.

The 11 Westman area mobile blood donor clinics that are currently serviced out of the Brandon office will be discontinued during a scattering of dates leading up to the local office’s June 8 closure.

These include mobile clinics in Dauphin, Deloraine, Erickson, Glenboro, Hamiota, Killarney, Minnedosa, Neepawa, Souris, Virden and Boissevain, which collect a combined 2,900 units of blood per year.

• March 13 — Vincent Massey principal ‘a true inspiration’

Well-respected Brandon educator and Wheat Kings public address announcer Michael Adamski lost his battle with oligodendroglioma, a form of brain cancer, in March.

Mark Adamski said that his brother lived his passions, as principal during the day and public address announcer during the evenings, with announcing another means of connecting with the game he loved.

Even when Adamski’s cancer progressed more quickly than anticipated, he kept up the fight with an optimism that Mark said would forever solidify his brother’s status as a role model.

“I’m just really proud of him,” Mark said. “I’m happy to be his brother and I know he gave it his all and I miss him.”

• March 25 — Boyd Stadium project gets off the ground

A year after the untimely death of beloved football coach Kevin Boyd, his dream of developing a new stadium for local youth is gaining momentum.

Close friend and colleague Blaine Moroz said it is a bittersweet time as they launch the fundraising campaign for Boyd Stadium.

“I never thought that this would be the name that was on it,” Moroz said. “He should be beside me, instead of watching over me, but we’ll do his legacy true with this project.”

• March 28 — Downtown Brandon boosters oppose development charge

The city held a development charges forum Monday night, with a focus on downtown. About 25 people attended the meeting at the A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex, including local architects, engineers, developers and low-income housing advocates.

Some developers questioned why downtown is even being considered for the new charges, since the new infrastructure is needed on the outskirts of the city.

• March 29 — More animals found dead with their ears cut off: RCMP

Brandon RCMP have turned up more dead animals, which, like previously found animals, were located without ears.

According to an RCMP press release, police found three dead coyotes and a raccoon in a ditch where the remains of a pony were found previously. A goat was also in the location. All of the animals had their ears removed.

The goat, which had been tied up with a rope, was the first animal to be found in a ditch less than 10 kilometres north of Minto on Highway 10.

The same resident later found a pony nearby. It, too, was missing its ears. The latest find brings the total number of dead animals found in the area to five.

• April 8 — Sioux Valley battles rising water

With water flowing freely over Highway 21 south of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, the community’s main link was closed, forcing the evacuation of residents with medical needs.

Things might get even worse, with the Assiniboine River expected to crest within a few days.

The idea of evacuating one’s home is not something taken lightly, with Sioux Valley resident Yvette Taylor expressing a reluctance to leave her home in the lead-up to the closure of Highway 21.

“I’m not going,” she said defiantly, later conceding that she would leave if necessary, but wasn’t happy about it.

• April 22— Longtime Brandon folk fest artistic director Shandra MacNeill looking for living kidney donor

Shandra MacNeill is in a race against time to find a living kidney donor after recently learning her immediate family members are not a suitable match.

In the past year, MacNeill’s kidney function has gone from approximately 40 per cent to eight per cent, and is now in Stage 5 kidney failure.

“It’s a strange thing for someone who is really active and a doer, to be slowed down so much,” she said. “I’m basically at the point where I can get up and I can be on my feet for about five minutes on a good day, and then I have to rest for half an hour.”

• April 26 — Residents speak out in bid to save Eighth Street bridge

A public consultation meant to gather feedback about a future pedestrian bridge veered off path when North End residents criticized the decision to demolish the Eighth Street bridge.

Roughly 50 people attended the meeting at the North End Community Centre. When it came time for questions, some residents asked why it needed to be torn down, others suggested it could just be repaired and save on the costs of demolition.

• May 3 — Tories plan P3 for new school

Brandon is a giant step closer to getting a new school built in its southeast corner.

The Manitoba government is planning four new schools — one in Brandon and three in Winnipeg — and is looking to partner with the private sector to make it happen, Premier Brian Pallister announced on Tuesday.

The plan is to build a kindergarten to Grade 8, English-track school in southeast Brandon with the capacity to hold 450 to 675 students.

The facility will also include a daycare with enough space for 20 infants and 54 preschool students.

• May 6 — Man who died in Deleau-area house fire ‘really enjoyed life’

Police are not treating the death of a 62-year-old man who died in a blaze in the Municipality of Sifton as a criminal act.

RCMP officially determined there was no criminality in the fatal house fire, which, according to community members, claimed the life of Garth Denbow.

Firefighters located the body in the residence as they were fighting the blaze. Nobody else was in the home.

• May 11 — New terminal a big hit

One of the first travellers to use the new arrivals entrance at Brandon Municipal Airport described it as “beautiful, airy and bright.”

Tannis Nostedt was a passenger on WestJet’s flight from Calgary. Arriving at 12:45 p.m., it was the first flight to be greeted by a fully operational terminal building.

In addition to the esthetically pleasing aspects, Nostedt was excited to see some of the more practical and convenient touches — particularly the baggage conveyor belt.

“You used to have to walk across the field and drag your bag across the dirt,” she said. “This is beautiful.”

• May 24 — Alexander resident badly hurt in Bali bike accident; GoFundMe campaign launched

Tiffany Green was days away from returning to Canada from her travels in Bali when she broke her back in a biking accident.

She was biking back to her homestay after enjoying a meal at a café. Her brother, Scott Green, said she was riding down a hill when she encountered a sharper turn than she was expecting.

“She basically went over the front of the handle bars and landed on her shoulder and the rest of her body bent back overtop of her,” Scott said.

She was thrown into a rice paddy field in a remote area. Realizing she would not be seen by passersby, she managed to drag herself to the road.

• June 2 — BU president Fearon leaving to take reins at Brock

After nearly three years at the helm, president Gervan Fearon is leaving Brandon University.

Fearon will move on to become Brock University’s next president and vice-chancellor.

“There are so many really wonderful things about the university and about Brandon as a community that it definitely is a hard item,” he said. “We’ve got family in the Toronto area … kids and parents and the like, so it’s one of those life-balance considerations as well.”

• June 15 — Couple of 47 years to lead Brandon Pride March as grand marshals

With “Hello, I’m gay” proudly emblazoned on their rainbow-coloured shirts, Amelia Reid and Margaret Yorke took a big step forward during last year’s Brandon Pride March.

They “weren’t brave enough” to participate in Brandon’s first-ever Pride March in 2015, Yorke said; a concern they pushed aside after hundreds of people showed up to support the effort.

After even more people turned out for last year’s event, Reid and Yorke’s concerns about going public with their decades-long relationship were eroded even further.

This year, the couple, now both 79 years of age, led the Brandon Pride March as its grand marshals.

• June 22 — Brandon Sun hosts Community Leader Awards

Angela McGuire-Holder won the inaugural Community Leader of the Year Award. McGuire-Holder, a teacher for almost 25 years, is instilling the virtues of volunteerism in approximately 600 of its members.

Other award winners included Ray Redfern, Hamid Mumin, Robyn and Jason Sneath, Lindsay Hargeaves, Wenda Anderson, Michael Adamski, Dean Oakden, Blaine Moroz, Jim Ferguson, Chad Stiles, Kristen Hiebert, Jeff Cristall, Jason Krieser, Terry Browett, Dennis Gullett, Bernie Chrisp, Chris Heide, Jackie Wells, Hanna Koversky and Brooklyn Magauthi, Mackenzie Clark, Meryl Orth and the Grade 7 class at St. Augustine School.

• June 27 — Man pleads guilty to pimping wife

A Crown attorney will ask a judge to impose a sentence of 30 months in prison for a man guilty of profiting from human trafficking by prostituting his wife.

Crown attorney Deidre Badcock said the victim told police it was her husband who would arrange her to meet other men, and he was the one who took the money.

“Sometimes he would tell her she had to go, whether she wanted to or not,” Badcock said.

• July 3 — Pen pals since 1970s finally meet in person in Brandon

Two international pen pals who have been exchanging handwritten letters for more than four decades finally met in person.

Susan Johnson made the 1,500-kilometre trek from her home near Admire, Kan., to visit Cheryl Fairbairn in Brandon over the Canada Day long weekend.

“Since we met, it’s been as if we were neighbours,” Fairbairn said. “We were just chatting away … We’ve just been visiting, reminiscing, catching up.”

The women, both 59, first became pen pals in the mid-1970s when they were 16 years old. It all began when they joined a fan club through a teen magazine for one of their favourite bands — the Canadian pop-rock group called Edward Bear, best known for its hit single, “Last Song.”

• July 6 — ‘That’s not us’: Neepawa residents decry racist graffiti

The Land of Plenty has an abundance of welcoming citizens, according to Neepawa residents decrying a recent graffiti spree that turned the town’s slogan into a racist decree.

The Welcome to Neepawa sign on the east side of town was defaced with a derogatory term used to malign Asians, particularly of Filipino, Korean and Vietnamese descent.

“We don’t want to give them the satisfaction of glorifying or acknowledging what they did, trying to put our community in disarray,” Mayor Adrian de Groot said. “That’s not happening here. People are stepping forward and assisting, saying, ‘That’s not us.’”

• July 18 — Waskada man uses toilet plunger to thwart intruder

A man from Waskada is the talk of town after fending off a home intruder using only a toilet plunger.

“Captain Sh–er” — as Dustin Matthews has since become known as — took justice into his own hands when he whacked an unwanted visitor over the head with the common household item.

“I know I gave one of them a goose egg he’s not going to forget any time soon,” said Matthews, a trained electric engineer. “I’m not normally a violent person, but I don’t appreciate a no-knock entry into my home.”

• July 26 — BU ripping out hedges to open up campus

Brandon University planned on doing some landscaping before students come back in September, including ripping out the hedges and trimming some of the pine trees separating the university from 18th Street.

Revamping the university’s front yard is one of the goals laid out in BU’s Campus Master Plan — a long-term vision for the physical growth and enhancement of BU’s campus over the next 20 to 30 years.

• Aug. 3 — Deloraine model makes good in Big Apple

Jake Dietrich didn’t think his face would pop up on sports websites for reasons that had nothing to do with his talents in hockey.

For a rural guy from Deloraine, uprooting himself to New York City where he found employment in the high-profile modelling world is definitely unique, and it certainly wasn’t sought. It was a chance meeting with a modelling booker, during a stop in Toronto.

He’s modelled for big names in the fashion industry, such as Joseph Abboud, Michael Kors and Uniqlo.

• Aug. 4 — After a lengthy search process, the Keystone Centre has a new boss

The board announced Jeff Schumacher has accepted the position of general manager and will begin his new role this week.

“We’re thrilled about Jeff assuming the role of GM at the Keystone Centre,” said Coun. Shawn Berry (Linden Lanes) and chair of the Keystone Centre board. “His past experience, industry contacts and passion for managing facilities like the Keystone, is exactly what we were looking for in a new GM. He will bring fresh ideas and new ways of operating the business that our board is really looking forward to.”

The position had been vacant since Neil Thomson resigned at the end of February.

• Aug. 21 — ‘I’m fighting for Canadian culture’

A Brandon man who is the vice-president of a national “anti-Islam” group denounced by critics for spewing hatred is adamant his actions are defensible because he is standing up for his family and country.

In a combative phone interview with The Brandon Sun, Jesse Wielenga, a 30-year-old father of two who works as a pipefitter in Alberta and has a residence in Brandon, snapped back at the suggestion the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam Canada is a hate group.

He insists he is not a white supremacist despite posting a slogan on Facebook with white-supremacist origins. He also refuses to call himself a racist in spite of racist comments he posted and endorsed on social media.

• Aug. 31 — Evacuees escape northern wildfires

A steady stream of evacuees arrived at Brandon Flight Centre after wildfires forced them out of their remote northern Manitoba communities.

Worried and weary passengers were greeted by Canadian Red Cross representatives before being bused to local hotels.

“It was a long, hectic night last night,” said Elizabeth Fiddler, a resident of Garden Hill First Nation. “Power went off for I don’t know how long — a blackout.”

• Sept. 12 — Deadly 1957 explosion still echoes

Before a heap of bricks dropped from the sky and punctured the building below, eyewitnesses say the 40-metre smokestack that towered over Brandon seemed to lift in the air.

It was like the brick chimney levitated, before it tumbled, causing 30 metres of bricks and mortar to collapse without warning 60 years ago. The tragedy killed two people who worked at the Manitoba Power Commission’s steam plant and badly injured three other employees.

“The one thing that sticks out in my mind was the white dust, it was everywhere,” said Jack Tennant, The Brandon Daily Sun photographer whose still images captured the tragedy unlike the city had ever known.

• Sept. 25— Virden blaze ‘devastating’

Christy Gabrielle envisioned her business in a heritage building she admired when she began restoring one of Virden’s brick-veneer structures last year.

Then all her hard work went up in smoke after a fire in an electronic store gutted three century-old storefronts — one was occupied, while Gabrielle renovated the other two.

“I think that I’m still in shock, actually,” an emotional Gabrielle said the day after firefighters spent 15 hours to extinguish the devastating blaze that gutted irreplaceable buildings in Virden’s downtown. “I’m a single mother of four. I was trying to build something for them, in the future.”

• Oct. 12 — Simard survives Souris crash

Robert Simard cannot describe the moment his truck swerved into an oncoming semi-truck. He doesn’t know if he entered the opposite lane suddenly or gradually. He only knows he wasn’t awake.

“I wake up to a loud bang, a bunch of windshield pieces flying into my face, followed by the air bags,” said Simard, plopped in a wheelchair and sporting a happy-go-lucky demeanour he says didn’t fade even in the hour after a crash he is fortunate to survive.

Speaking with candour, Simard, a 34-year-old business owner from Souris who grew up in St. Lazare, admits the accident on Aug. 10 this year was his fault. He shouldn’t have driven after a 12-hour shift. He said his near-death experience has changed the way both he and his business will approach overnight shifts going forward.

He doesn’t shy away from describing the responsibility he bears for the accident, or how he hopes it can become a teaching lesson for others.

• Oct. 14 — Brandon lands 2019 Brier

Canada’s national men’s curling championship is returning to Brandon.

The Wheat City will host the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier at Westman Place at the Keystone Centre from March 2 to 10.

This will be the third time Brandon has played host to the Tim Hortons Brier. Brandon previously hosted in 1982 and 1963.

“I’m delighted to see the Tim Hortons Brier returning to Brandon for the first time in almost 40 years,” Resby Coutts, chair of Curling Canada’s Board of Governors, said.

• Oct. 14 — Service in Brandon celebrates the life of Las Vegas shooting victim Tara Roe

Rather than dwell on the evil that took Tara Roe’s life, loved ones instead chose to celebrate her 34 years of life during a public service.

The service was held at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre in Brandon, where more than 500 people came out to celebrate a life that was cut short by a lone gunman who fired on a crowd of people attending a country music festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.

“We shared, with laughter and tears, her happy times, her accomplishments, our memories of her and why she was loved so much, by so many,” Tara’s father, Mark Smith, said while seated beside his wife Brenda.

• Oct. 21 — His smile would ‘light up any room’; man killed in hit-and-run remembered at funeral in Waywayseecappo

Cody Severight was remembered by family and friends as a kind, generous and funny young man with an infectious smile.

“Cody was well known … as outgoing and happy,” said Betty Ann Razor, who read the eulogy at the funeral.

She fondly recalled his “contagious laugh” and a “smile that would light up any room.”

Approximately 100 people gathered at the Waywayseecappo Community Band Hall to say farewell to Severight, 23, who was killed in a hit-and-run in Winnipeg on Oct. 10.

• Oct. 26 — From wheelchair to lawn care

After leaving it to Chance, they’ve turned up aces.

Chance Toder and his family took a risk, more than a year ago. They wondered if the wheelchair-bound young man, with only partial sight, could ride a lawnmower with one hand. They gambled, that their investment in time, money and hope would pay off.

One year in, it clearly has. The Elkhorn resident has gone from wheelchair to lawn care, and he’s looking to expand his workload even more.

“I love being out here,” Toder, 22, said. “Everybody is friendly out here. Everyone doesn’t see me as a person in a wheelchair, they see me as a normal person.”

• Nov. 11 — Brandon convenience store clerk left fearing for his safety after shot fired in his direction

A man from Brandon has quit his job after an intruder fired a gun in his general direction.

In a matter of seconds, Mo Twaha, working behind the counter at a city convenience store, turned around to find a masked man pointing what looked to be a shotgun at his face. Twaha ignored orders to stay put despite being told he’d be shot and, instead, ran from behind the counter when a shot was fired maybe 10 feet from him.

• Nov. 14 — Task force recommends closing four ERs in Westman, replacing them with urgent care facilities

A major health-care revamp in Westman, proposed by a regional task force, would close four emergency departments and replace them, initially, with urgent care facilities.

The recommendations would result in a transformation of hospital services in Killarney, Boissevain, Melita and Deloraine, if approved by the provincial government.

• Nov. 21 — Reservist killed during training at CFB Shilo saw military as a way to contribute, his family says

The family of an army reservist who died at CFB Shilo over the weekend says the infantryman was someone who “loved a challenge.”

Cpl. Nolan Caribou of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Regiment was found dead after participating in an army reserve training exercise.

In a statement released through the Department of National Defence, Caribou’s family described him as someone who was very determined, despite the challenges he encountered while in the military, and that he did so with integrity.

“Being in the military was one way for Nolan to contribute — a way for him to seek resolution to address the challenge of society’s inability to be peaceful, not just for himself but for everyone.”

• Nov. 27 — Dauphin in mourning after mayor dies in Florida

Manitobans are remembering Eric Irwin as someone who cared deeply about his community and who strived to get things done.

The mayor of Dauphin died while vacationing with his family in Florida.

“City Council, Administration, and the citizens of Dauphin express condolences to the family and friends on his passing,” a statement from the City of Dauphin read. “Mayor Irwin loved his family and his community. His leadership brought many projects in our community to fruition — from fundraising to facility planning.”

• Nov. 29 — Boy, 12, pleads guilty in car theft, bus crash

A 12-year-old boy who stole a car and ran a city bus off the road and into a building caused an estimated $1 million to $2 million worth of damage during his joy ride, Brandon provincial court heard.

“The stealing of this car and the accident that ensued at the hands of (the accused) … is one of the most excessive incidents that I have seen,” Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter said.

The boy pleaded guilty to a number charges, including theft of a motor vehicle and multiple breaches of his recognizance.

• Dec. 1 — Sex offender opening toy car museum

A registered sex offender is opening a toy car museum and art gallery in his Brandon area garage.

The man was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Aug. 8, 2014, for sex-related offences, less time served.

These included the possession of child pornography and “sexual interference” related to a months-long sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student in Thompson while he was a teacher 40 years her senior.

• Dec. 13 — Life of expectant mother in Rapid City ‘turned upside down’ after husband’s tragic death

An expectant mother in Rapid City is in mourning after her husband, who was building the home where they were supposed to start their family, died in a construction accident.

“She’s going to be raising this baby on her own,” Whitney Roberts said of her friend who she grew up with in Deloraine. “She’s gone from two incomes, counting on Bryce to help support her and the baby while she’s off (work), to now doing everything on her own. We just want to take away a little bit of stress.”

Caryn’s husband, Bryce Vincent Waldon, died on Dec. 2 in an accident that occurred while he was building their home at the family farm in Rapid City. He was 33.