Looking Back — June 6, 2018

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/06/2018 (3049 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 1968: Robert Kennedy dies one day after shooting 

SIXTY YEARS AGO

A unique move of the Cumming and Dobbie Ltd. coal yard holdings on 10th Street began yesterday as a 100-ton and 35-foot-high coal dock moved slowly through the streets hauled by a low-bed truck. Hundreds of people lined the sidewalk along the route of the hauling operation as linemen snipped at patched lines too low to allow the dock to pass by.

Sen. James Gladstone, the first Indigenous member of the Canadian Senate, visited Brandon today during a tour of Manitoba.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, his pregnant wife, Ethel, by his bedside, died at 3:44 CDT, a little more than 25 hours after the shooting assault at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

After 46 years of service as the CNR assistant foreman, S.A. McKee retired recently.

More than 200 residents of Kenton and the RM of Woodworth turned out in good number today for the sod-turning ceremony and to see the start of a project to dam Barr’s Creek near the village to provide a water supply. Brush clearing was completed during the winter.

FORTY YEARS AGO

There is no vendor beer for sale in Brandon. The manager of the two hotels in Brandon which still had vendor beer this morning assured The Sun they would be sold out by noon. And because of a provincewide brewery strike/

lockout, no more will be delivered. Meanwhile, the Brandon branch of the Liquor Control Board and most vendors were sold out of all but imported beer.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Continuing scorching temperatures and lack of precipitation have sent commodity prices skyrocketing at the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange. While many farmers watch their crops wither, some farmer and speculators will reap the harvest of the price boom.

Due to the heat wave, in its fourth day, many schools without air conditioning in several divisions have cancelled afternoon classes.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Tom and Cindy Kieper of Russell are Manitoba’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 1998. The couple was judged on progress in areas such as soil, water and energy conservation, crop and livestock production farm management and community contributions. Western Manitoba was also well-represented among the runners-up. They include Blair and Betty Foote of Killarney, Bruce and Connie Christopher of Russell, and Doug Turnball and Carol Lanz Turnball of Binscarth.

The Neelin High School choir will be representing Manitoba in Ottawa on Canada Day. The acclaimed choral group was invited to take part in Unisong ’98, a festival that brings choirs from across Canada together in the name of unity. The singers were recommended for the trip by the Manitoba Choral Association, based on their performance at Choralfest ’97 in Winnipeg.

TEN YEARS AGO

Difficulties in filling dozens of nursing positions in the Assiniboine Regional Health Authority have forced the province to start the recruitment of foreign workers from the Philippines to fill the gap. Health Minister Theresa Oswald made the announcement yesterday as part of a package of new health investments to the overstretched RHA.

Labour shortages and commercial development are two main priorities the new Brandon Chamber of Commerce president wants to address in the coming year. Ron Cumming was officially sworn into the chamber’s top job yesterday, taking over from outgoing president Lee Bass. Cumming, general manager of Brandon Bearing Ag & Industrial Supply, said he hopes to help the city grow by attracting new commercial development.