Top news stories of 2025

Some of the biggest stories of the year in Brandon and Westman were rooted in citizen advocacy.

In Brandon, safe school advisory committees were set up in response to an incident that shocked and horrified the community. On June 10, a 15-year-old Black student was seriously injured in a sword attack at École secondaire Neelin High School that the city’s police chief called a “targeted act of hate” by a fellow student. Two more victims — who were chased by the assailant but not physically injured — were later confirmed, and the 16-year-old accused faces three counts of attempted murder.

June saw mounting pushback against a proposed RCUT intersection near Carberry — the site of a fatal crash in 2023 that killed 17 people. After sustained opposition, Premier Wab Kinew announced in July that the province was abandoning the controversial design. In November, Kinew took it a step further and announced an overpass at a cost of $100 million — about five times the cost of the RCUT.

In May, the community of Clear Lake was blindsided by Parks Canada’s ban on motorcraft for the season. Bitter feelings led to the formation of Fairness for Clear Lake, which filed a judicial review. Parks Canada eventually revealed that the ban was imposed after a legal threat — and a First Nation chief later claimed responsibility.

In October, news broke that a Montreal-based company, Deep Sky, had announced plans to build a $200-million facility near the RM of Pipestone and the Municipality of Two Borders. At public meetings, questions and concerns were raised about the project’s impact and feasibility — and the fate of the proposal remains up in the air.

The year also saw a federal election that returned the Liberals to power in a minority government under a new leader and sent a new Conservative member of Parliament for Brandon-Souris to Ottawa, triggering a hard-fought provincial byelection in Spruce Woods later in the year.

These stories and many more are included in The Brandon Sun’s Top News Stories of 2025.

Jan. 2: Skiers try out Brandon’s handrails

Professional skiers, including U.S. Olympic gold-medal skier Alex Hall, visited Brandon in January and spent an afternoon grinding a 30-foot handrail in Rideau Park.

The American ski group named MAGMA drove up from Salt Lake City, Utah, to ski the long staircase behind the Rideau Park Personal Care Home, which will be part of their annual movie coming out in November.

X Games bronze-medal winner Hunter Hess told the Sun that Brandon was the right place to be at the right time that week.

Jan. 6: Train collides with truck near Virden

A Canadian Pacific Kansas City train collided with a white truck about five kilometres east of Virden.

Manitoba RCMP spokesperson Paul Manaigre told the Sun officers from the Reston and Melita Detachments responded to the collision, which occurred at 2:50 p.m.

“The driver of the pickup truck suffered serious injuries,” Manaigre said in an email on Sunday afternoon.

Jan. 7: PMH hires 16 security guards to patrol BRHC

Prairie Mountain Health hired 16 new security guards in January to patrol the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

Treena Slate, the CEO of PMH, said the safety of staff, patients, residents and visitors is paramount, adding, the guards fill a “critical role in upholding the highest standards of safety and accountability within PMH facilities.” The guards ease the burden on law enforcement, she said.

The guards working at BRHC were a first for Westman, said Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara, adding they are the first to be hired by a health authority outside the city of Winnipeg.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when they are accessing health care and when they are providing it,” Asagwara said.

Jan. 9: Nurses flag acute understaffing at BRHC

Nursing staff employed at the Brandon Regional Health Centre’s Renal Hemodialysis Unit raised the alarm to flag acute understaffing and a glaring lack of mental health resources in early January.

A licensed practical nurse said calls to the management regarding these issues have been ignored, leading to mounting frustration among the current nursing ranks.

“There’s absolutely zero support from management for the front lines, and we have been losing staff like crazy because management does not support us in anything that we want to bring forward,” said the nurse, who spoke to the Sun on the condition of anonymity.

Jan. 9: First Nations Police Service chief believed dead in residential fire

A fatal residential fire in the RM of Portage la Prairie in January was believed to have claimed the life of Manitoba First Nations Police Service Chief Doug Palson.

Portage la Prairie RCMP received a report of a structure fire at a residence off of Road 30 W in the municipality, located north of High Bluff, at 4:50 a.m. on Jan. 8.

The residence was confirmed as belonging to Chief Palson.

RCMP, along with the Portage la Prairie Fire Department, responded to the scene. Once the fire was extinguished, investigators discovered human remains inside the home.

In a press release, RCMP stated the identity of the deceased is yet to be confirmed.

However, in an earlier press release, Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council Police Commission chair Sherri Thomas said it’s believed that Palson died in the fire.

Jan. 13: Section of McKenzie Seeds building demolished

The City of Brandon demolished Building 30, a section of the historic McKenzie Seeds building, due to safety concerns stemming from severe structural issues.

The demolition followed attempts to engage with the property owner, Brandon Fresh Farm (BFF), which went unanswered, a city spokesperson said.

The decision was unavoidable after a floor collapse within the building revealed critical structural failures, the city’s building safety manager Murray Fischer told the Sun.

Jan. 14: Paramedic shortage sounded off by PC MLA

Information provided to the Sun from the Progressive Conservatives highlighted a shortage of paramedics in four Westman communities in the Prairie Mountain Health region.

Shoal Lake’s EMS station had one paramedic for 13 intended positions. In Virden, there were nine out of 17 positions filled; Russell had five paramedics out of 13, and Erickson had two of four positions filled.

“I think for residents of those communities, it’s a very legitimate fear that there may not be an ambulance there if they need it,” said Progressive Conservative MLA Kathleen Cook.

Jan. 14: Maple Leaf workers succeed in bargaining for better wages

Workers at Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon ratified a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that brought on higher wages, shift premiums and other improved financial support for workers.

The workers are represented by UFCW Local 832, with 61 per cent voting in favour of the new CBA, lead negotiator Jeff Traeger said.

The deal, finalized on Jan. 7, marked a significant milestone following months of negotiations, the union president told the Sun.

Jan. 15: former Teacher jailed for sexually exploiting teen student

A court in Killarney sentenced a former teacher from the Turtle Mountain School Division to jail in January following a guilty plea on charges of sexual exploitation of a teenage student dating back to 2010.

The male teacher, whose name was withheld to protect the identity of the victim, was teaching in the Brandon School Division when the charges led to an arrest in 2021.

The teacher pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation — defined as an act where a person in a position of authority or trust touches or invites a young person to touch for a sexual purpose.

He was sentenced by a provincial court to six months of jail time and 18 months of supervised probation.

Jan. 16: Brandon names Wardrop city manager

For the first time since the end of August 2024, Brandon has a new permanent city manager.

The City of Brandon announced that Dave Wardrop has been hired as the Wheat City’s 11th city manager.

Wardrop starts his new job on March 17 and is coming to Brandon from the Municipality of West St. Paul, where he had been working as the community’s chief administrative officer for the previous year and a half.

Jan. 17: Elderly couple attacked with bat ahead of State of the Downtown event

Hours before a promotional event for Brandon’s core, called “State of the Downtown,” an elderly couple was randomly attacked by a baseball-bat wielding man on Rosser Avenue.

Anita Labonte was sitting at her desk at Huddle Brandon on the corner of Rosser Avenue at Seventh Street just before one on Jan. 15, when she saw a man covered in blood walk by. The man was carrying a bat.

“That’s the reason I noticed him, because the back of his sweat pants were soaked in blood. It was extreme, and I said to my co-worker that I thought he was injured or something,” said Labonte.

“He crossed the street, and he approached a gentleman and an older woman. They were having almost a confrontation, and it looked to be aggressive,” said Labonte.

“And that’s when he swung and hit the guy in the face. The guy fell back and hit the brick wall in front of the library sign,” Labonte said.

Jan 20: Brandon woman who was oldest Canadian dies

A Manitoban who was the oldest Canadian died.

Hazel Skuce, who lived to be 112 years and 331 days old, died in January. She had been the oldest Canadian since June 25, 2024.

In 2019, Skuce told the Sun she couldn’t attribute her longevity to anything special.

“I think what happens, happens,” she said. “I’m just happy today and the next day, and so on.”

Skuce, who was the 21st-oldest Canadian in history, according to an online list of Canadian supercentenarians, was a longtime teacher in Brandon. She is still fondly remembered by many of her students, decades after she put her chalk stick down for the last time.

Jan 23: Carberry residents upset with BMO branch closure

After providing banking services in Carberry for more than a century, the BMO Bank of Montreal told customers it would close its local branch in July of 2025.

The closure was expected to pose a problem for many of the town’s residents and businesses, Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead said.

“This came out of left field for us,” Muirhead said, “We’re trying to keep Carberry vibrant, so we have decided to fight back.”

Jan 24: Homelessness in Brandon saw dramatic jump in 2024

The number of people who are homeless in Brandon increased dramatically during the past four years, a new report says.

The report, released in January, stated that at least 229 people lived homeless in Brandon in October, when the most recent count took place.

Released by the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (BNRC), the report also focused on chronic homelessness becoming an issue of growing concern. It pegged the average number of days survey respondents reported being homeless during last year at 211.

“The data suggests, that at the very least, one-third of survey respondents are experiencing chronic homelessness,” the report pointed out.

Jan. 24: Woman held for embezzling $500,000 in municipal funds

The RCMP said it arrested Amber Fisher, 40 — a resident of the Rural Municipality (RM) of Grandview on Jan. 16 — for allegedly defrauding the municipality of more than $500,000.

Fisher reportedly committed the crime while working as the chief administrative officer for the municipality of Gilbert Plains, which filed a complaint against Fisher after firing her.

The arrest was made following a lengthy two-year investigation conducted by Manitoba RCMP and the Dauphin RCMP detachment, beginning in 2022.

Jan. 25: Province to invest $1 million in WMCA upgrades

The Manitoba government announced it is investing $1 million to support renovations and upgrades to the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium (WMCA) in Brandon.

The investment will ensure the auditorium’s long-term viability and success, the province’s minister for municipal and northern relations, francophone affairs and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, Glen Simard, announced.

“This facility is a hub for the arts and a vital part of the cultural fabric of Brandon and beyond,” Simard said. “This funding goes a long way to ensuring financial stability for the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium and also clears some space in the City of Brandon’s municipal budget.”

Jan 27: Property tax hike trimmed to 6.9%

Some surplus cash, a couple of opportune housekeeping decisions, and a little financial hand up from the province helped reduce the City of Brandon’s 2025 budget by several percentage points in January.

City councillors went into the second day of budget deliberations with a proposed budget that called for an 11.7 per cent increase in property taxes, and ended the day having whittled it down to a 6.9 per cent increase in the municipal portion of a resident’s tax bill.

For a single-family residential property assessed at $301,300, that works out to a total of $2,300.88 per year – a reduction of slightly more than $100 from the earlier proposed budget.

“There was good discussion and debate at the table,” Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett told the Sun on Saturday afternoon. “I’m really proud of the council we have, because there’s lots of varying opinions. There’s not really blocks, there’s people who think things through.”

Saturday’s finalized budget was set to head back to council in a few months for ratification.

As expected, council’s deliberations centered around fleet replacement and maintenance costs, and a reduction in new hire costs.

Jan. 29: Parks Canada says boats back on Clear Lake for the summer

Parks Canada in January determined that eradicating zebra mussels from Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park was not feasible and announced it would initiate a new plan to bring boats back to the lake with the stipulation of “one boat, one lake.”

The federal agency made the first announcement in a news release posted online in January, which included how the decision was made after “input and advice” from Indigenous advisers, the provincial government and leading scientific and international experts.

The plan was not a surprise for locals, said George Hartlen, CAO of Friends of Riding Mountain National Park, who added he works closely with Parks Canada and is a member of the Wasagaming Chamber of Commerce.

Jan. 30: PMH ordered to cut spending on agency nurses

The Manitoba government ordered Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) to reduce its spending on agency nurses by 15 per cent by March 2026.

The directive is “part of a systemwide effort to refocus funding on nurses in the public system,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a news release.

“Prairie Mountain Health has consistently been dealt a bad hand,” Asagwara stated, blaming the former Progressive Conservative government for giving Prairie Mountain “little to no support” by cutting services, closing emergency rooms and firing nurses.

The 15 per cent reduction in spending that PMH had to meet within 13 months was based on figures from the “2024/2025 utilization, according to information supplied to the Sun by a Manitoba Health spokesperson.

Jan. 31: School nutrition programs launch in 2 Brandon schools

Harvest Manitoba in January expanded its Meals2Go student nutrition program to two schools in Brandon, marking a new milestone in the initiative’s growth.

The expansion of the program to city schools would include the provision of essential weekend and summer meal kits for students at the Betty Gibson and King George schools — the first schools in the Wheat City to be included in the program.

More than 600 meal kits were delivered to the two schools to ensure the students have consistent access to nutritious food outside school hours, president Vince Barletta told the Sun.

The school division was hopeful the program will expand further in Brandon, assistant superintendent Jon Zilkey said.

Feb. 5: MFNPS headquarters moving near Brandon

The Manitoba First Nations Police Service said it will be moving out of its headquarters in Portage la Prairie to a new First Nation-owned facility on the edge of Brandon.

The new facility will be part of a future conference centre that is currently under construction at the corner of Highway 10 and the Trans-Canada Highway on land owned by the Waywayseecappo First Nation.

“The big thing is space,” MFNPS Interim Chief Jason Colin said. “We’ve kind of outgrown the area that we’re in right now, and so we need the appropriate office space for our service, which is continuing to grow certainly in the last couple of years.”

Feb. 6: Contractors fined after pleading guilty

A group of local contractors admitted in February that they violated the federal Competition Act roughly 10 years before during a scheme to bid on projects for Manitoba Housing.

Geoff Gregoire, Guy Pringle, James Kauk, Ryan Lamont and Doug Gunnarson appeared in Brandon Court of King’s Bench to plead guilty under the act. The contractors reached an agreement with the Crown prosecutor to accept fines as high as $61,000 each on condition that the criminal charges against them be stayed.

The agreement came as the Crown acknowledged weaknesses in its evidence that could undermine the case. Defence lawyers added it was a representative from Manitoba Housing who had approached and encouraged the contractors to bid on the projects in a way that led to the Competition Act violations.

Feb. 8: Child porn investigation ‘horrific’: Bates

Hundreds of hours of pornographic imagery of children were discovered after police raided a home in Brandon and arrested a man who was involved in foster parenting and connected with a daycare.

Police are withholding the accused’s name to protect the identity of the children who lived at the home and attended the daycare.

Police Chief Tyler Bates told media in February that officers will have to go through many hours of material after seizing several devices connected to production of child pornography.

“When you’re developing reasonable probable grounds with respect to offences being committed, you look at all available forms of evidence,” said Bates. “There are many interviews that remain. And there is, as I’ve indicated, a plethora of electronic devices that need to be analyzed.”

Feb. 13: Buying in on ‘Buy Canadian’

In the midst of a looming trade war with the United States, a growing number of Brandon consumers have heard the siren call and started to search for made-in-Canada goods in the grocery aisles.

“There’s been a lot of customers asking for Canadian products ever since the projected tariffs,” said Dan Lange, food store manager for Heritage Co-op’s Richmond Avenue location in Brandon. “It’s our regular customer base looking for the Canadian product, yeah.”

Heritage Co-op, which operates five grocery stores in western Manitoba, has always had a certain segment of its customer base looking for local products.

But since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 25 per cent general tariff on Canadian imports into the United States in March, a surge in Canadian pride has translated into a renewed interest in the twin bandwagons of “buy Canadian” and “buy local.”

Feb. 22: Brandon council joins call for bail reform

Brandon councillors joined a growing call for bail reform in February, and asserted that Brandon has suffered a drain on police resources and social order because the Canadian justice system does not appropriately punish repeat offenders.

Brandon councillors voted in support of a motion from Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) to write a letter to the Government of Canada as well as the Province of Manitoba. The letter is agreed to describe an increasing crime rate in Brandon that has jeopardized public safety and is tied to federal policies that do not appropriately hold offenders accountable.

Speaking with the Sun, Luebke said the impact of rampant crime is affecting residents.

Feb. 27: BSD trustees agree on 6.78% tax hike

A nearly $6.7-million shortfall forced Brandon School Division trustees to approve a 6.78 per cent property tax increase during budget deliberations in Februrary. The board spent nearly six hours deliberating on ways to cut expenses and reduce the initially projected property tax hike of 8.79 per cent.

For the owner of an average single-family residential home with an assessed value of $301,300, the 6.78 per cent increase will mean an additional $121.29 in taxes, according to the administration.

The month before, Brandon City Council voted to raise property taxes by 6.9 per cent, lower than the 9.4 per cent increase last year.

March 1: Family hopes province will cover drug

A 29-year-old Rivers man is hoping Manitoba’s Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara will take steps to approve coverage for a drug that could improve and extend his quality of life.

It’s a drug Jeremy Bray says he’s missing out on because of his age.

Bray was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare neurodegenerative disease that causes his muscles to progressively weaken.

“I only have the use of my left thumb and my face and voice, so really, once I lose my thumb, which will happen at some point, I’ll lose the ability to work, to drive my wheelchair, to do a lot of what gives my life meaning,” Bray said.

March 4: Four teens accused of beating and robbing a woman

Four teens face charges after 30-year-old woman was beaten up and robbed outside The Town Centre in downtown Brandon in March.

The Brandon Police Service says that video surveillance showed the woman surrounded by three females, who began punching her. They knocked her to the ground and continued to punch and kick her while she was down, police said.

A male, police add, joined in the assault as well.

When police arrived at 800 Rosser Ave., the suspects were gone and had taken the woman’s cellphone.

March 5: Man dies after dog attack

A 56-year-old man has died after being attacked by dogs on the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation, the Sun has learned and RCMP confirmed.

On Feb. 21, Yellowhead RCMP, which also encompasses Hamiota and Shoal Lake, responded to a report of man being attacked by five dogs at a residence on the First Nation, about 110 kilometres north of Brandon.

When an officer and emergency medical services (EMS) arrived, a man was seen “lying motionless face down in the snow being attacked by the dogs,” according to Sgt. Paul Manaigre of the Manitoba RCMP Media Relations Unit.

The man was transported to Brandon Regional Health Centre and later transferred to a Winnipeg health-care facility, where he was treated and then released into the care of his family, stated Manaigre.

RCMP said they were made aware that the 56-year-old had died while at a hotel in Winnipeg on Feb. 23.

March 11: China tariffs hit canola, pork sectors

China’s decision to impose tariffs on Canadian pork and canola is set to have significant repercussions for the Prairies, which rely on exports.

Over the weekend, China announced retaliatory tariffs on more than $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products, including a 100 per cent tariff on its imports of Canadian canola and peas and 25 per cent on pork. The move is a response to levies Ottawa introduced last October.

The Chinese commerce ministry said the tariffs, which take effect March 20, match the 100 per cent and 25 per cent import duties Canada slapped on China-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminium products last year.

March 12: School board halts all travel to U.S.

The Brandon School Division board of trustees has passed a motion suspending all student and staff travel to the United States, as well as the booking of future travel, citing concerns over the ongoing Canada-United States trade war and safety risks.

The motion, introduced during Monday evening’s board meeting, passed with a 6-3 vote.

It was moved by vice-chair Duncan Ross and seconded by trustee JimMurray. An extended back-and-forth debate ended when trustee Kim Fallis moved to stop further discussion and called for a vote. Ross, in introducing the motion, expressed strong opposition to U.S. policies under the Trump administration.

“The Trump administration is intent on destroying the economy of our nation and annexing our country,” he told the board. “I believe that all Canadians have a duty to respond as best they can to protect Canada.”

March 18: Fire temporarily closes landfill

A section of Brandon’s Eastview Landfill was on fire early Monday morning with flames that could be seen from about a kilometre away, forcing the city to close the landfill for several hours while fire crews fought the blaze.

More than half a dozen firefighters from Brandon Fire and Emergency Services responded after receiving a call at about 6:45 a.m., said deputy fire chief Kevin Garrioch.

“We got called at approximately quarter to seven, with the initial response of eight members including a brush truck, a tanker and a pumper,” Garrioch said, adding, “But we were able to cut that down to four firefighters fairly quickly and then just two trucks on scene for a while, and we were back in service by 11 o’clock.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. It is the second significant fire at Brandon’s landfill in two months.

March 21: Budget brings benefits to Westman

Brandon’s post-secondary institutions will see more funding this year, at least three new schools are planned in Brandon and Neepawa, and the Keystone Centre may find itself awash in black ink by the end of the fiscal year.

Those were a few of the key takeaways from the 2025 Manitoba budget that will go to benefit residents of western Manitoba.

The province has committed to building two new schools in Brandon, including a school in southwest Brandon for the Brandon School Division and a French-language school for Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine.

The builds are part of the planned construction of 11 new schools across Manitoba over the next three years, including a new regional high school in the town of Neepawa.

March 22: Rivers Dam project cost rises to $65.7M

The NDP government has allocated $65.7 million to upgrade the Rivers Damat Lake Wahtopanah.

The figure, included in Thursday’s provincial budget, represents an increase of $18.7 million from the $47 million that was announced four months ago by Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor.

Rehabilitation work began on the 63-year-old Rivers Dam in the summer of 2023. The project was announced the year before by the Progressive Conservative government. Upgrades are expected to be completed by 2027.

March 24: Party surprised by Maguire’s decision not to run

Brandon-Souris Member of Parliament Larry Maguire has announced he will not seek re-election in the April 28 federal election, citing health concerns that could impact his ability to participate in the upcoming campaign.

The decision, announced Sunday afternoon, was a “surprise” to many, including his fellow local Conservative party members and supporters.

Maguire told the Sun he had initially expected the undisclosed health issue to be minor but was informed by his medical team it would require a more significant procedure, necessitating a period of recovery.

The news prompted him to reconsider his political future, ultimately leading to his decision to step away from public office.

March 25: Jackson takes reins from Maguire

The last few days have been tumultuous ones for conservatives in western Manitoba.

Less than two hours after Prime Minister Mark Carney dropped the writ for a federal election on Sunday, Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire had announced he would not be seeking re-election.

And then, less then 24 hours later, Manitobans learned that Grant Jackson, the Progressive Conservative MLA for SpruceWoods, had resigned his seat, having been appointed by the party to run in his cousin’s stead.

“Yeah, it’s been a wild 24 to 28 hours, I guess you’d say,” Jackson told the Sun Monday afternoon. “It’s been an emotional day, too.”

March 26: Trustee Blaine Foley resigns from board

Brandon School Division trustee Blaine Foley announced his resignation during the board’s general meeting on Monday evening, ending his tenure of nearly four and a half years.

Foley cited his pursuit of a teaching career and the need to avoid professional conflicts as the primary reasons for stepping down. The resignation will take effect at the end of March, he told the board.

“I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to serve the community, and I am thankful for all the people who supported me,” Foley said in an interview with the Sun. “I’m thankful for

the leadership of the board and the senior administration for their efforts and support given to me to serve as a trustee.

March 27: Accused killer already faced murder charge

A 27-year-old Brandon man accused of first-degree murder in the death of a fellow inmate was already facing charges in the killing of another inmate at Brandon Correctional Centre when the second offence occurred.

Jarrod Lloyd Paul, who is now serving time in Stony Mountain Institution, has been charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of a 23-year-old man at BCC last December.

Three weeks before the killing, Paul was charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of an inmate in the fall of 2024.

April 2: Killings raise questions about inmate safety

The violent deaths of two inmates at Brandon Correctional Centre has caught the attention of the John Howard Society.

“I was very upset to hear that this had happened,” said Chris Schneider, who has been a member of the not-for-profit’s board for the past decade.

“BCC and the John Howard Society have worked very closely for many years — we have a very good working relationship — and so (we need) to have conversations about how did this happen? What were the circumstances that led to this happening? What sort of policies or decisions might we implement or discuss to set up the parameters to where this could not happen again in the future?” Schneider said.

A 27-year-old Brandon man is accused and co-accused in the killing of two fellow inmates at BCC in two separate beatings that happened in 2024. Jarrod Lloyd Paul faces two charges — first-degree and second-degree murder — in connection with the killings.

April 3: Kinew pledges $10.7M more for farmers

Hours before sweeping new U.S. tariffs were unveiled Wednesday, Premier Wab Kinew visited the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Brandon to pledge increased support for Manitoba’s agriculture sector.

Kinew announced the province will provide $10.7 million in matching funds for the federal AgriStability program, which helps producers affected by large declines in income margins.

The $10.7 million for the AgriStability program is in addition to $140.8 million announced in the 2025 Manitoba budget for business risk management programs, including AgriInsurance, Wildlife Damage Compensation and AgriInvest.

The budget earmarks $100 million for agriculture as part of a $500-million contingency fund to respond to the effect of tariffs and a prolonged trade war.

April 8: Armed thieves hit farms near MacGregor

Four suspects were caught on camera on the property of Triple Star Manufacturing near MacGregor, stealing an all-terrain vehicle and slashing the tires of a parked truck. Some people were later arrested in connection with the event.

Farmer Dean Toews told the Sun while standing in his barn Monday afternoon that an ATV had been driven out of a bay door.

It’s the seventh time the family farm has been robbed. He was one of three property owners in the area to fall victim to a string of robberies on the weekend.

April 4: NDP makes good on $6M promise

Brandon’s Park Community Centre will receive $6 million in provincial funding toward a redevelopment project that will include a licensed, non-profit child-care facility with 62 new spaces.

Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard made the announcement during a news conference in the community centre on Thursday morning, surrounded by Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett, the centre’s board members and the child-care provider.

“Over the past year, our government has continued to work with our partners in the City of Brandon and the Brandon YMCA to set down the foundation and planning for this redevelopment,” said Simard, who is the MLA for Brandon East.

“Today’s announcement gets us closer to the goal of providing Brandon with services its families are looking for.”

April 8: Embattled RM of Cornwallis reeve steps down

The embattled reeve of the Rural Municipality of Cornwallis has stepped down after 23 years on council, citing a lack of support from fellow council members and “fundamental differences in values, priorities and approaches to governance.”

Sam Hofer announced his immediate resignation in a letter to residents, saying he could no longer effectively serve the community. Elected reeve in 2022, Hofer said his decision did not come lightly, but was made in the interest of upholding the integrity of the office.

In October 2024, council passed a motion calling for Hofer to resign after an investigation by the Manitoba Ombudsman allegedly found he had inappropriately shared privileged information. However, Hofer defied those calls to resign, instead saying the matter would be left to the courts to decide.

April 12: Birdtail gets ‘fresh start’ with new chief

Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation elected a new chief — 25-year-old Tréchelle Bunn. She is the first woman and the youngest person to ever hold that leadership role.

Bunn said she has always dreamed that one day she would be able to give back to her community by “running for chief.”

“It wasn’t until some community members asked me, and some elders approached me to see if I would run for chief, that I said, ‘You know what? If the community is calling upon me, I’ll answer that call,’” she told the Sun Friday, one day after she was elected. “Being the chief of my nation is the greatest honour of my life.”

Bunn won with 191 votes, more than double the 85 votes received by her opponent, Gloria Chalmers-Rach.

April 15: Roads near Minnedosa get $20.3M upgrade

The Manitoba government announced a budget to spend $20.3 million to reconstruct provincial trunk highways 10 and 16 near Minnedosa.

Work was set to begin in the spring on the upgrades, which will renew about 22.1 kilometres of highway.

As a key commerce route in southwest Manitoba, Highway 10 would receive new bituminous pavement between highways 1 and 25 and between the south and north junctions of Highway 16. The work would also include new bituminous pavement for Minnedosa’s rest stop at the north junction of Highway 16.

Surface improvements were also planned on Highway 10 between Highway 24 and the south junction of Highway 16, and on Highway 16 from Highway 250 to Highway 10.

April 16: Blue Door closing permanently

Escalating safety concerns and ongoing operational challenges are listed as reasons why the Blue Door drop-in centre in downtown Brandon was permanently closing.

The drop-in centre was a safe haven for the city’s homeless since it opened in December 2021.

The board of directors of the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, which operates the facility, announced the decision on social media.

“We recognize the profound impact this will have on clients, staff, and our community. Our commitment to finding alternative supports continues, and we deeply appreciate the dedication of all who have been part of the Blue Door’s mission,” the Facebook post stated.

The Sun’s requests for an interview with BNRC’s board chair were not answered by press time.

April 19: Woman died after Blue Door assault in March

Just over a month before the Blue Door drop-in centre in downtown Brandon was permanently closed, Brandon police responded to “a very serious assault” on the premises, Brandon police Chief Tyler Bates told the Sun.

The woman who was the victim of the assault subsequently died, he said. The cause of death was still being determined at the time.

“There was a very serious assault that took place there on March 11,” Bates said Thursday, “and the victim of that serious assault died in hospital shortly thereafter, so that particular matter is still under investigation.

A 33-year-old woman has been charged with assault with a weapon and aggravated assault in connection with the other woman’s injuries. She was still in custody with a court date scheduled for the summer.

April 25: Resource Centre puts programs on pause

The Men’s Resource Centre in downtown Brandon has suspended three of its community programs until security concerns and other issues are “thoroughly addressed,” the group said in a social media post.

Ross Robinson, executive director of the John Howard Society, which operates the centre, said it is a proactive and “temporary” pause.

“We haven’t had any issue here,” Robinson said. “We’re just being proactive because we’ve seen that the demand for our services has risen greater than what we can provide, and we need to be able to navigate this properly and safely.

“So we’re shutting down the group stuff until we can figure out how we’re going to manage the demand on our services,” he said.

April 26: Carrier eyes potential return of Brandon-to-Toronto flight

The skies over Westman may soon get a little busier, as the possibility of direct flights between Brandon and Toronto returns to the radar.

WhileWestJet has stated it has “no new network information to share” at the moment, a recent social media post by Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett was more explicit.

Fawcett, in his post, said Brandon is now being “considered for a direct flight” to Toronto Pearson International Airport and encouraged residents to complete a survey aimed at assessing the travel needs of Westman residents heading east.

The survey, conducted by the Brandon Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the city’s economic development office, is a key step in gauging demand and building a case for the potential route.

WestJet public relations co-ordinator Julia Brunet said the airline acknowledged the community’s interest and its support for the ongoing service to Calgary.

April 28: Brandon University faculty votes no confidence in leadership

Brandon University’s leadership faced scrutiny as BUFA passed a no-confidence motion against top administrators, while the university defended its actions, citing independent reviews and initial improvements underway.

The administrators are acting president Kofi Campbell, president David Docherty (currently on medical leave), and associate vice-president (People and Talent) Kristen Fisher.

The faculty’s concerns, aired during their annual general meeting last week, revolved around frustrations over accountability, campus safety, decision-making transparency and administrative responsiveness.

The failed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project, which cost the university $6 million, was a key factor behind the vote, BUFA president Gautam Srivastava told the Sun.

April 29: Jackson ‘humbled’ by decisive win

Grant Jackson won the riding of Brandon-Souris in Monday night’s federal election, securing a seat for the Conservatives and becoming the youngest-serving MP for the riding since its creation in 1953.

“I’m just so humbled that the people of Brandon-Souris have put their faith in me,” said Jackson. “I’m going to celebrate with my friends and supporters and then I’m going to go to sleep, honestly.”

When asked about what type of change the riding could expect as he takes over from longtime MP Larry Maguire, Jackson said there was a lot of overlap between the two politicians.

On the topic of priorities for the riding, Jackson said the Brandon Municipal Airport is one focus moving forward. He said he supports upgrades so that bigger planes can land safely and the airport can connect more flights.

May 3: Masterpiece installed at Riverbank

A massive and impressive bronze sculpture depicting 11 caribou crossing a river was installed at the Brandon Riverbank Discovery Centre, fulfilling a vision that took nine years of planning, designing and creating.

The sculpture, titled “Seal River Crossing,” is eight feet high, 34 feet long and about eight feet wide. It is placed along the Discovery Centre entrance on Conservation Drive.

“What an awesome day — it couldn’t be better,” said sculptor Peter Sawatzky. “This is the most complex and biggest piece that’s going to be here, so everything went well, and I’m thrilled.”

The official name of the garden is the Peter Sawatzky Sculpture Park.

May 3: Isleifson announces candidacy for mayor

Former MLA Len Isleifson has announced he will run as a candidate for mayor of Brandon in next year’s municipal election.

In a news release on Friday, he said his campaign will focus on three key pillars — enhancing public safety, promoting sustainable economic growth and improving access to community services.

Isleifson served two terms as Progressive Conservative MLA for Brandon East, from 2016 to 2023, when he was defeated by New Democrat Glen Simard.

Before entering provincial politics, he served as a Brandon city councillor, with duties including stints as deputy mayor and chair of the Brandon Police Board.

May 7: Elevator goes up in flames

A beloved grain elevator burned to the ground in Waskada, despite the efforts of more than 40 firefighters who responded from three different communities to battle the blaze.

The fire was just too massive, said Carson Spence of the Waskada and Area Fire Department.

“It was unbelievable,” Spence told the Sun in a phone interview late Tuesday afternoon. “It was just like a snowstorm of fire and ashes coming down. And all we could do was keep watch.

“We protected our Co-op store and watered down all the buildings around it. But embers blew into our park and burned the picnic tables there.”

About three hours after the blaze started, the elevator caved in, said Waskada resident Don Wickham.

May. 8: Review launched after jail guard stabbed

Brandon Correctional Centre has launched an internal review after a correctional officer was stabbed twice in the back at the facility.

Brandon police say the 47-year-old male correctional officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Police responded to the incident at 8:44 p.m., and the correctional officer was transported by ambulance to the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

A 41-year-old male inmate faces charges of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, aggravated assault of a peace officer and assaulting a peace officer causing bodily harm.

A spokesperson for the province said the internal review may give rise to adjustments.

May 10: Sioux Valley chief stands ground

Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Chief Vince Tacan appeared before a crowd of protesters and told them that he would not comply with their demand that he resign.

“I’m going to say right now that I’m not stepping down,” Tacan told the crowd of about two dozen people.

“We had a meeting yesterday the council decided they are not stepping down — they said they are not going to be bullied into stepping down.”

A group calling itself the Concerned Members of Sioux Valley called for Tacan’s resignation by 4 p.m., asserting that he is violating the constitution by skipping community meetings.

May 13: Kruck awarded province’s highest honour

Although an award is the last thing he expected, a Brandon man said he is honoured to be chosen for his work helping the less fortunate in the Westman area.

“I would never have guessed that I would have been awarded this,” said Glen Kruck, who was selected as one of 12 recipients of the 2025 Order of Manitoba. “To be selected … just blows me away.”

He was the only person from western Manitoba to be awarded the province’s highest honour.

The 69-year-old, who now lives in Portage la Prairie, said he got involved with helping the homeless and less fortunate because he was in a similar situation when he was growing up. He said his family was on welfare and sometimes struggled to get by.

May 14: Officer shoots woman on Trans-Canada

An officer shot a 54-year-old woman who was armed with a weapon and acting erratically on the Trans-Canada Highway, RCMP said.

Carberry RCMP responded at about 9:30 p.m. after several witnesses reported an unknown person walking in and out of traffic and causing a disturbance on the highway near Road 88 West.

The first officer to arrive saw a woman climbing up onto vehicles while in possession of an edged weapon, RCMP said in a news release; and the officer tried to de-escalate the situation, but the woman continued to act erratically while “brandishing” the edged weapon.

The officer approached the woman and repeatedly told her to drop the weapon, but she “turned and advanced quickly toward the officer with the edged weapon,” RCMP said.

The officer then shot the woman. Officers provided medical aid until emergency medical services arrived.

May 14: Site chosen for new Brandon K-8 school

A new Brandon K-8 school is getting closer to reality, with a finalized location picked out.

The site for the new school is pending Brandon City Council approval of an application to rezone land in the city’s southwest corner, south of Lakeview Drive, from agricultural to educational use.

The school, which the rezoning application said can hold up to 1,000 students, is one of the two new schools in Brandon announced in the 2025 provincial budget on March 20. The other school is part of Division scolaire franco-manitobaine.

Brandon School Division Supt. Mathew Gustafson said the division has been above or near capacity at all but one school west of Sixth Street since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

He said the new school, which doesn’t have a timeline for opening yet, will relieve pressure on the other schools in the area and will also have a daycare.

May 15: Pelican Lake launches boat plan to keep invasives out

Just one boat launch was open to visitors at Pelican Lake this season while the Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes implemented a plan to shun aquatic invasive species.

Reeve Darren Seymour provided the Sun with an update ahead of the launch, describing how the RM plans to implement a “one boat, one lake” policy this summer.

Seymour said all travellers would be directed to the boat launch near Ninette, where watercraft inspections would take place. The remaining 20 accesses around the lake were closed to the general public using barriers, chains and a combination padlock.

May 16: Province gives $120M boost to college

The provincial government is giving a $120-million boost to Assiniboine College’s Prairie Innovation Centre, Premier Wab Kinew announced in Brandon onThursday.

“It’s a game changer,” said Assiniboine College president Mark Frison after the announcement.

The funding breaks down to $60 million for capital costs — with $40 million going to the Prairie Innovation Centre and $20 million for a new 216-seat child-care facility inside the centre — and $60 million in bridge financing to allow construction to begin by the end of the year.

Kinew made the announcement at the Brandon Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Province Luncheon at the Keystone Centre, in front of about 550 business leaders from the region.

May 16: Treasurer ‘lucky’ to get house arrest, says judge

The former treasurer of a community centre in Brandon was sentenced to two years less a day of house arrest after she admitted to stealing more than $48,000 from the centre.

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said it was a sentence she could not have endorsed if the money hadn’t been paid back in full.

In provincial court, Hewitt-Michta looked Chereese Martin, 31, in the eyes as she said her actions represented a profound betrayal of the trust placed in her by Valleyview Community Centre.

Martin had previously pleaded guilty to stealing $48,000 from the community centre in a series of 336 e-transfers over the span of 22 months beginning in 2022.

Martin will serve her sentence from her home with strict rules that her sentence supervisor will enforce, followed by two years of unsupervised probation.

May 16: Neepawa doctor to lead by example

As the new president of Doctors Manitoba, Neepawa family physician Dr. Nichelle Desilets says she intends to lead by example and be a voice for rural Manitoba.

“It really is an honour and privilege to be chosen to represent your profession in an organization like Doctors Manitoba,” Desilets said recently in her Neepawa clinic.

Desilets, 39, said she got involved at the board level because she saw “flaws in the health-care system” and had ideas about how to advocate for better care for her patients in rural Manitoba.

Doctors Manitoba represents more than 4,000 physicians and qualified medical students across the province.

May 17: Blindsided by boat ban

Cottage and business owners at Clear Lake say they were blindsided when Parks Canada announced that motorboats are banned from the lake, a reversal from its January decision to allow them this season.

Several members of the community told the Sun that the policy change came as a complete surprise. They said the reversal has created business uncertainty and disrupted vacation plans.

Parks Canada said only non-motorized watercraft will be allowed on Clear Lake and outlying waterbodies for 2025 while the agency continues to study the spread of zebra mussels.

May 20: Protesters slam Pelican Lake boat plan

Dozens of irate residents are protesting the RM of Prairie Lake’s new program to regulate boat entry to Pelican Lake.

About 60 people gathered at the Ninette Gas Service on Monday to voice concerns about the cost and encroachment of a new “one boat, one lake” policy for the lake.

Essi Kruger, who organized the protest, said she will be impacted by the policy because it will reduce tourism and harm her business.

“If we lose sales like we did this weekend, I don’t know how long we can keep our doors open,” Kruger told the Sun. “That’s just the truth.”

Kruger said a significant portion of business takes place during the summer months, and fears that traffic will decline as launching a boat on Pelican Lake becomes more expensive and accesses to the lake are blocked off for visitors.

May 22: Parks Canada urged to reverse boat ban

More than 2,200 people have signed an online petition calling for Riding Mountain National Park to let motorized boats back on Clear Lake this summer.

The petition, available on change.org, was launched on the long weekend after Parks Canada announced the boat ban on Friday, reversing a January decision to allow motorized boats as long as they were used only on Clear Lake.

Brian McVicor, past-president of the Clear Lake Cabin Owners Association and one of 2,267 people to sign the petition as of Wednesday afternoon, said Parks Canada has lost the trust of the public.

“Everybody was in favour of the one-boat, one-lake policy, so people are really upset over this because the issue has been misrepresented, and they’ve been lied to,” he said.

May 23: Protesters pan RCUT intersection

Protesters opposing an RCUT intersection north of Carberry evening lined the side of a gravel service road near the intersection of Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada, which the province is redesigning in the wake of an accident there that claimed 17 lives.

“Safety not shortcuts,” “Listen to the people who use it every day” and “How many more accidents before they listen” were just some of the messages on signs in a crowd of around 175 people.

Jordan Dickson, 31, one of the organizers of the rally, said the RCUT model isn’t safe for the kind of people who live and drive in the area, who include farmers and truckers.

“There’s hundreds, if not thousands of trucks … plus all the other everyday passenger traffic coming through here,” she said.

The province had said that building an overpass wasn’t feasible at the time, as it would cost too much, but Dickson said the cost doesn’t matter when it comes to people’s lives.

May 23: Balcaen bill for drunk-driving victims passes

The Manitoba Legislature unanimously passed a Progressive Conservative private member’s bill Thursday meant to commemorate the victims of drunk driving in the province.

Brandon West MLA Wayne Balcaen, who is the party’s justice critic, introduced Bill 232, the Victims of Impaired Drivers Commemoration Day Act, in remembrance of the 2022 death of Jordyn Reimer and all other impaired driving victims.

The bill will proclaim May 1 as a memorial day for impaired driving victims. The PCs said no other Canadian jurisdiction has such a commemoration day.

May 24: Lift stations expected to go $5 million over budget

The City of Brandon’s lift-station project is expected to go $5 million over budget.

Council approved an extra $1.7 million for work to happen on the new South End Lift Station, bringing the total up to $23.7 million.

“(It’s) for the benefit of growing the city,” said Mark Allard, general manager of development services.

Allard said council originally slated a maximum of $30 million for the project, which includes two lift stations, a gravity sewer and other work. But council only made $22 million of it available, which is why administration had to ask for more money.

He said the city is still within its budget right now, but is expected to spend $35 million in total, which is $5 million over budget by the time the second lift station is done.

The two lift stations, which are part of the wastewater treatment process, are located at the corner of 34th Street and Patricia Avenue and the corner of 18th Street and Patricia Avenue.

May 28: Birdtail murderer receives life sentence

A Brandon judge sentenced a Birdtail Sioux First Nation man to life in prison on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of 40-year-old Jeffrey Elk.

“I hear about the loss of a father, a spouse, a member of a community, a child that will not have the benefit of her father’s guidance,” Justice Scott Abel said in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench.

“Nothing I can say or do today will ever make that better.”

Michael Raymond Hanska, 30, pleaded guilty to the murder charge along with three assault charges that happened while he was in custody.

Two of the assaults were on other inmates in the Brandon Correctional Centre, and the third was the assault of a corrections officer at Milner Ridge Correctional Centre in Lac du Bonnet.

May 29: 17,000 ordered to flee from north

WINNIPEG — More than 17,000 residents of northern communities scrambled to escape advancing wildfires Wednesday as the Manitoba government declared a state of emergency and the firefight was hampered because resources were stretched thin.

“With the wildfires in northern Manitoba intensifying, our government has triggered a provincewide state of emergency to help us through this crisis,” said Premier Wab Kinew at a 5:30 p.m. news conference, his second of the day to address the situation.

“The safety of Manitobans is, and will always be, our No. 1 priority.”

The City of Flin Flon and the First Nations of Pimicikimak and Mathias Colomb issued mandatory evacuation orders. All residents and visitors were told to get out before midnight.

May 29: Youth sentenced for attack on BU student

A 15-year-old Sioux Valley boy was sentenced to two years of probation on Wednesday after spending five months in custody for attacking and robbing a woman near the Brandon University campus.

The woman — a student at the university — suffered serious injuries in the attack.

On Nov. 23, 2024, a student was on her way to visit friends who live in residence on the BU campus when the youth and an adult co-accused attacked and robbed the woman.

The youth pleaded guilty during a previous court appearance on April 8, and Manitoba Associate Chief Judge Donovan Dvorak said the youth admitted to kicking the victim in the head three to five times.

Lonstrup said the woman now has multiple triggers, including nighttime, darkness, riding the bus and walking alone on campus. He said her friends have told her they don’t feel safe. Staff and students have openly called for better security.

May 29: Brandon plumbing company fined in worker’s 2022 death

A Brandon plumbing company was sentenced to pay $7,500 after one of its employees died on the job after inhaling toxic fumes in 2022.

Lockhart Plumbing & Heating pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court on Wednesday for failing to provide proper workplace safety training after the death of 29-year-old Jordan Old, a red-seal plumber. An autopsy revealed that Old went into cardiac arrest after inhaling hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

Defence lawyer Maria Grande said Lockhart has prepared workplace policies and improved safety training, including critical task procedures and job hazard analysis, all of which has been shared with Workplace Safety.

May 30: Brandon sends firefighters to Lynn Lake

Five Brandon firefighters and two of the fire department’s officers are on their way to Lynn Lake to help protect the evacuated town from the wildfires that are burning around it. All five are trained paramedics.

They, along with a shift officer and a training officer, left the Wheat City early Thursday morning, said Brandon Fire and Emergency Services Chief Terry Parlow.

“They won’t be fighting any forest fires,” Parlow said. “They’ll have two focuses once they get to Lynn Lake. They’ll be going around the community making sure there are no hot spots in the urban centre of the town. And they’ll also be doing property protection with water and sprinklers to make the community safe in the event the fire gets close.”

Lynn Lake is about 1,157 kilometres north of Brandon, with a population of around 600. Except for essential workers, everyone was evacuated Monday because of an out-of-control wildfire north of the community, which the province estimated is 7,000 hectares in size.

June. 6: BU appoints Christine Cnossen as new president

Brandon University has a new president and vice-chancellor. Christine Cnossen is expected to begin her term in September.

The incoming president is an accomplished academic and senior university executive with more than 25 years of experience in higher education leadership across Canada and the United Kingdom, Sumner said.

Cnossen is originally from Canada and is a dual citizen of Canada and the Netherlands. She holds degrees from McMaster University, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Hull, where she completed her PhD in sociology and social anthropology.

June. 11: Neelin student injured in sword attack

Brandon police took a 16-year-old male into custody following a sword attack at École secondaire Neelin High School that prompted a lockdown of the building.

A 15-year-old male student was rushed by ambulance to the Brandon Regional Health Centre in serious condition after suffering stab wounds to his chest, forearms, hands and thighs, police said.

He was later upgraded to stable condition.

Brandon Police Service Insp. Jason Dupuis said the victim’s “injuries were significant and serious.”

Dupuis said police responded to a call from a Neelin student saying “a male is going crazy and holding a sword.”

Officers used a Taser on the suspect and arrested him.

As a precaution, the school was placed under lockdown. A post by the Brandon School Division Tuesday afternoon noted that the lockdown had been implemented “due to an intruder in the building with a weapon.”

June 12: Attacker intended to harm others: Bates

A 16-year-old accused of using a sword to stab a fellow student multiple times at a Brandon high school had intended to hurt more students before police interrupted him, police say.

“It’s clear that the suspect had malicious intentions,” Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Certainly, the harms that were intended were beyond the individual victim involved.”

On Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy was rushed to Brandon Regional Health Centre in serious condition after he was stabbed in the chest, forearms, hands and thighs at École secondaire Neelin High School. Bates said the victim remains in stable condition in hospital.

The accused teen, who is in custody, is facing charges of attempted murder, uttering threats, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and disguise with intent. He appeared in a Brandon courtroom Wednesday morning.

June 14: Neelin victim recounts terrifying attack

Chinonso Onuke, the Grade 10 student at École secondaire Neelin High School who was the victim of a stabbing on Tuesday, is now recovering at home after undergoing major surgery in Winnipeg.

The 15-year-old, known to friends and family as Nonso, was attacked inside the school by a fellow student wielding what Nonso described as a “big, ancient-looking sword.”

Speaking in his first interview since the incident, Nonso recounted the terrifying moments that unfolded inside the school hallways.

“I had just left (a classroom) and was walking toward the office when I saw a guy in a weird costume. I asked his name, he responded, and I turned to leave,” he recalled.

“When I looked back, he pulled out the sword and first stabbed me in the abdomen. I fell over, and he slashes my leg, and I get back up. He stabbed me again, and I ended up grabbing the sword and pushing it away, running straight to the office.”

Other people were around, he said, but they were “frozen in shock.”

Nonso is now focused on recovery and returning to school.

June 17: Searchers scour city for missing teen

Brandon police and a search party began scouring the city looking for a missing 18-year-old man who disappeared near the middle of June.

A search party of about 50 people were looking for Owen Bedford on Monday morning, covering areas around Houstons Country Roadhouse and searching high-population areas and spots with a lot of trees. By the afternoon, the search was focused by the river near the Toyota dealership and the number of people looking grew to more than 60.

The teenager was last seen in the area in the early hours of a mid-June Sunday.

June 19: Kinew meets with sword attack victim

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew personally apologized Thursday to the 15-year-old victim of last week’s sword attack and his family “as a leader in the Indigenous community.”

Kinew, accompanied by Deputy Premier and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, visited the family of Chinonso Onuke at their home near Sprucewoods on Thursday morning.

The family, still reeling from the trauma of the June 10 attack at École secondaire Neelin High School, welcomed the visit and invited the Sun to witness the event.

June 19: Clear Lake coalition seeks judicial review of boat ban

Cottagers and businesses at Riding Mountain National Park are asking for a judicial review of a decision by the federal park’s superintendent to ban motorboats on Clear Lake just weeks after giving them the green light.

In a notice of application to the Federal Court of Canada, filed earlier this week by several organizations and individuals, including Clear Lake Country Destination Marketing Organization, Clear Lake Cottage Owners Association and Clear Lake Country Boat and RV Storage, are asking a judge to declare the decision was “invalid or unlawful” and allow motorboats back on the lake.

June 20: Body of missing teen retrieved from Assiniboine River

The search for Owen Bedford turned tragic on Friday after Brandon police confirmed they had found his body.

The body of the missing teen was retrieved from the Assiniboine River, after volunteers had helped search for five days.

Bedford, 18, went missing in mid June.

June 26: Carberry residents reject RCUT, demand overpass

Residents blasted the provincial government at an open house where for the first time the restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) design was named as the “preferred alternative” for the intersection of Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada Highway.

The fourth round of community consultation on the intersection turned into a one-way shouting match at times, with community members fuming over the proposed change.

About 150 people packed into the Carberry Collegiate gymnasium where about 30 placards and maps illustrated why, according to the province, an RCUT intersection is the best option for the intersection.

“It is time for rural residents to get the same treatment as urban areas,” community member Debra Steen said to a representative from one of the consulting firms hired by the province. “We’re tired of getting the cheapest solution. You need to go back to the government and tell them this needs to be re-looked at. We demand an overpass.”

July 5: Hundreds of Lynn Lake residents arrive in Brandon

About 300 evacuees from Lynn Lake were expected to be lodged in Brandon by the end of Friday, with hundreds more scheduled to arrive today, a Red Cross official told the Sun.

Nearly 600 residents are being forced to leave their homes — two weeks after an initial wildfire evacuation ended — as a new blaze threatened to cut electricity to the northwestern Manitoba town.

For many, including Trent Farrow and his family, it’s the second time in a matter of weeks they’ve been forced from home.

“We were home for about two weeks, and then we got sent out again,” said Farrow, who was among the first arrivals to land at Brandon Municipal Airport on Friday afternoon.

“We (have) nowhere to go, no vehicle and stuff. But you know, it worked out,” he said.

July 9: Mazer remembered as builder, business icon

Brandon is mourning the passing of Robert (Bob) Mazer, a leader in agriculture, business and community development, whose legacy spans generations and industries.

Mazer passed away Sunday at age 75, surrounded by family, following a brief but courageous battle with cancer.

He was widely recognized as a builder, the driving force behind Mazergroup and a steadfast supporter of Brandon’s growth and progress, the group’s chief financial officer, Wally Butler, who worked with Mazer for 28 years, told the Sun on Tuesday.

“I affectionately called him ‘Bob the Builder,’” Butler said. “That’s really what he did all his life—build things.”

July 10: Province scraps unpopular RCUT design

The Manitoba government has scrapped a controversial plan for the intersection of Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry.

Premier Wab Kinew announced Wednesday that the province was abandoning the restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) design for the intersection where 17 people were killed in a bus crash two years ago.

“After hearing clearly from the community, our government will not proceed with the (RCUT) design,” Kinew said in a written statement. “While engineers identified it as a safe option, rural Manitobans told us it’s not the right fit.”

Kinew said the province will take a fresh look at the intersection.

“We’re listening, stepping back, and developing a new approach that prioritizes safety and reflects local needs,” he said.

July 12: Swan River arson attack knocks out radio stations across region

Several Westman radio stations were down after an arson fire in Swan River Thursday morning severely damaged the master control facility for the region.

Swan River RCMP are searching for a man believed to have started the fire, which the business owner says he believes was a targeted attack. Police say a preliminary investigation determined the cause of the fire to be incendiary.

The fire broke out in the building on the 500 block of Main Street shortly after a man riding a bicycle passed the property, RCMP said in a news release Friday. The unknown man was seen on video surveillance from the area.

July 12: Kinew denies Spruce Woods funding is tied to byelection

Premier Wab Kinew says the three funding announcements made in the Spruce Woods riding since Tuesday — totalling more than $17 million — aren’t connected to a coming byelection.

“I’m going to work hard to make life better for everybody in Manitoba, and so we’ll do that all the time, whether or not there’s a byelection looming,” Kinew said during an announcement at Oak Lake Provincial Park on Friday.

The funding announced this week includes just under $17 million for the Oak Lake Dam, $95,000 for an aeration project in Oak Lake and $500,000 for the Spruce Woods Housing Co-op.

Those pledges are in addition to Wednesday’s announcement that the province is scrapping the RCUT design for Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada Highway north of Carberry.

July 16: Hotels maxing out as evacuees near 1,000

Hotel capacity is close to maxing out in Brandon as the city deals with the influx of almost 1,000 wildfire evacuees.

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett says the lack of space due to 950 to 1,000 evacuees currently in hotel rooms has created a challenge for upcoming events in the city.

“We’re a community that does large events, and our hotels are (nearly) full in a state of emergency,” Fawcett told the Sun Tuesday. “Trying to accommodate large events has been a bit of a task.”

July 18: Hells Angels form Brandon chapter: Bates

The Hells Angels motorcycle gang has established a chapter in Brandon, the city’s police chief confirmed Thursday.

“There’s a fairly new chapter of Hells Angels in the city,” Tyler Bates told the Sun. “There are certainly several organized crime groups.”

A source informed the Sun this week about large gatherings of Hells Angels wearing their colours on the North Hill in Brandon.

Bates said police are aware of the motorcycle gang’s presence and are actively monitoring it, along with several other organized crime groups that may not be as visible or stand out as much.

July 19: Brodie centre reno worth $52 million

The NDP government’s injection of $52 million to renovate the Brodie Science Centre at Brandon University will guarantee the facility’s future, says Kofi Campbell, BU’s acting president and vice-chancellor.

Campbell said he was told about the multimillion-dollar figure Wednesday morning by Premier Wab Kinew and Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable before a news conference that was held at the university.

“Absolutely thrilled,” Campbell told the Sun on Friday. “This has been a huge priority for us for quite a long time, so this is incredibly important for our future. We are all extremely ecstatic with this news.”

The upgrades to the 55-year-old building and its facilities will make the Brodie Science Centre state of the art, allowing the university to acquire new equipment to replace some of the pieces that are getting on in years, Campbell added.

The $52 million was not announced during Wednesday’s news conference, but the province confirmed the amount on Friday.

July 22: Seven historic buildings in Westman make annual top-10 ‘endangered’ list

A century-old picturesque home on the 1300 block of 10th Street in Brandon once owned by prominent educator B.J. Hales is worth saving, according to Gordon Goldsborough of the Manitoba Historical Society.

“The Hales house is so attractive and is quite a beautiful building,” said Goldsborough.

“As you look at the front, it has two windows on the second floor that have what looks like eyebrows on its roof line, with a brick facade and stucco on the back.”

The house at 1312 10th St., built in 1912, has the dubious honour of being on the top-10 list of endangered buildings in the province.

Of the 10 listed last week, seven are in western Manitoba.

July 24: Greenstone breaks ground on $10M expansion

A manufacturing company in Brandon’s east end is almost tripling the size of its building to foster growth and introduce new technology.

The manufacturer, Greenstone Building Products, hosted a groundbreaking event on Wednesday at 4000 Richmond Ave. East. Shovels hit the dirt where a structure will be built, adding 46,000 square feet to the company’s existing building.

Greenstone spokesperson Tim Dornin told the Sun that the company has outgrown its current space. It plans to scale up production and make room for a new product.

The expansion project will cost $10 million, Greenstone business manager Tilda Fortier said through a company representative.

The expansion made official on Wednesday comes alongside a growing staff roll. The team has sized up in the past decade from about 10 members on the floor to 40, and the number of designers upstairs in the building has similarly grown from one to 10, Tim Dornin said.

July 25: ‘True Manitoba hero’ honoured

A Brandon police officer was awarded the Order of the Buffalo Hunt for the bravery he displayed responding to a sword attack at a city high school in June.

Brandon Police Service Const. Moshe Linov and other first responders were honoured by Premier Wab Kinew at a press conference at Brandon City Hall on Thursday afternoon.

Linov, who is a BPS school resource officer, said he was just doing his job.

“It’s what I was trained for, and it’s what I was prepared for through all of my police career,” he said. “It was one of the events that I didn’t think about myself. I have a call, I have an armed attacker in school, and my job is to go and deal with it. It’s what I did.”

On June 10, a person entered École secondaire Neelin High School wearing a disguise and armed with a sword. Chinonso Onuke, 15, a Grade 10 student, was cut severely on the hands, chest and thigh. He attended Thursday’s ceremony with his family.

July 30: Nurses say workplace culture getting worse

The president of the Manitoba Nurses Union is painting a bleak picture of how the province’s nurses feel about workplace culture and safety on the job amid a shortage of front-line workers.

It’s time for the government to take action, Darlene Jackson said Tuesday in an interview.

“I’ve talked with nurses from Prairie Mountain, members who talk about growing violence and safety issues in their facilities. It’s all over this province,” Jackson said.

The union’s recent survey of its 13,000 members found that 44 per cent reported that their workplace culture has worsened in the last year, while 34 per cent said it’s the same and only 15 per cent said it has improved.

Safety was a recurring issue in the survey, which had nearly 1,500 respondents.

July 31: Shooting victim ‘put everybody first’

A woman who was killed in a suspected targeted shooting early Monday morning is being remembered as a loving and selfless person by her family in Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation.

Vanessa Bone, a 33-year-old mother of four, is journeying to the spirit world this week, her family said, following her sudden death. Family have gathered outside her home and dug a fire pit, ignited it with medicine, and stewarded the flames for more than 48 hours.

The fire ritual guides Bone through her four-day journey to the other side, family members told the Sun. They were grieving together around the bonfire, as its smoke drifted skyward on Wednesday afternoon.

“She never went to bed angry with anybody,” said one man, sitting in a lawn chair in the hot afternoon sunlight. “She put everybody first. She never held any grudges. She was always there.”

No arrests had been made in the shooting as of Wednesday afternoon and the investigation is ongoing.

Aug. 1: City greenlights $139M water upgrade

The City of Brandon awarded the single largest construction contract in its history Monday as council voted to go forward with a $139-million project to improve drinking water quality.

The cost will be split between the city, the province and the federal government.

Brandon City Council awarded the contract worth $127,871,394.77 to NAC Constructors Ltd. for a new membrane building, which will be part of the city’s water treatment facility on 26th Street North.

After the upgrades are completed, the city’s water is expected to exceed provincial operating-licence requirements.

Aug. 1: Algae forces closure of popular Minnedosa water park

A popular water park was temporarily closed at Minnedosa Lake due to algae on the water, marking a first for the park since it opened in 2019.

Splish Splash Water Park, a collection of inflatable play structures on the water next to Minnedosa Beach, was taking it day by day after closing on Thursday. On Friday afternoon, the park was still closed and the owners were waiting for algae to die off, co-owner Connor Champagne told the Sun.

The park re-opened on Saturday morning. Splish Splash wrote on social media that zero toxins had been discovered as a result of water testing, and that the algae was almost gone.

Aug. 11: Handshake brings hundreds together

On a rainy Saturday morning, the line along the 49th parallel was anything but quiet. Hundreds of people — some clutching umbrellas, others simply braving the drizzle — stood face to face across the invisible border between Canada and the United States.

At a signal, they reached forward, clasping hands in a symbolic act that has meant peace and co-operation for generations: the Handshake Across the Border.

It was the first time in decades the International Peace Garden had hosted the event, and for many participants, it felt deeply personal.

“We’re thankful for the Peace Garden,” said Danny Luecke of North Dakota, attending for the first time with his wife and children. “Even though maybe on a national level there are frustrations, we still want to be friends. That handshake is about showing that friendship.”

Aug. 15: PMH scrambles to fill Brandon ER shifts

In an email marked “URGENT Request,” Prairie Mountain Health asked its physicians to cover four days at Brandon Regional Health Centre’s emergency department, including this weekend’s shifts.

When the memo was sent Wednesday, there were 10 vacant ER shifts from Thursday to Sunday for day, evening and night shifts.

The Sun learned about the vacancies from an anonymous source and saw a copy of the email that was sent to physicians by Prairie Mountain Health.

“Due to unforeseen physician shortages, we are looking for urgent help in the Brandon ED, particularly for this week,” the email stated.

As of Thursday afternoon, all the shifts had been filled. Prairie Mountain Health told the Sun that it takes all necessary steps to ensure the Brandon ER remains open and staffed 24-7.

Aug. 20: Carberry festival paused after missing funds discovered

Carberry’s fourth annual Homecoming Festival will be postponed after the organizers allegedly discovered “misappropriated funds.”

The discovery led the Carberry Homecoming Committee to remove one of its members and conduct an internal investigation.

The committee announced the postponement and apologized for any inconveniences it may cause in a social media post on Friday.

Aug. 21: Gender education, health care hot topics at byelection debate

Gender education was awkwardly debated during the second all-candidates debate in the Spruce Woods byelection on Wednesday night.

Progressive Conservative Colleen Robbins was the only candidate at the debate who vocalized concerns about sexuality issues in public schools, saying she believes parents need to be responsible for their children.

“What I do know is, simply, I don’t believe that teachers should be responsible,” Robbins said. “Our parents should be responsible for their children, not the teacher … I believe that the parents should be involved until their child is an adult.”

Liberal candidate Stephen Reid, a teacher, refuted the idea that educators are involved in children’s identities in this way. Reid said he believes that teachers are not nudging children toward any changes to their sexuality or body identities in local schools.

NDP candidate Ray Berthelette did not offer comments on the issue.

Aug. 23: Pickleball hub opening pushed to early 2026

The anticipated Wheat City Tennis and Pickleball Hub — a $3-million multi-sport facility being built at 1201 Pacific Ave. — will open later than expected.

Originally set for commissioning this October, the project is now projected to be ready in January or February, Concept Homes Construction co-owner and project manager Joel Schultz told the Sun.

“We just hit some unforeseen delays, but the guys are back working hard now,” Schultz said. “The roof shows up in September — we’ll get that on and keep going. From here, we should be in pretty good shape.”

Aug. 27: Tories by a nose

Progressive Conservative candidate Colleen Robbins spent about 15 minutes hugging the roughly 50 supporters who chanted her name as she emerged from the back of Woodfire Deli in Souris on Tuesday evening.

“A win is a win” was the repeated theme from the new Spruce Woods MLA-elect Robbins and PC leader Obby Khan as they celebrated her close win by 70 votes over NDP candidate Ray Berthelette.

Robbins, a former nurse and longtime Tory volunteer, finished with 2,805 votes to Berthelette’s 2,735 — as per Elections Manitoba’s unofficial results. Liberal contender Stephen Reid ended the evening garnering 444 votes.

Berthelette said he had conceded the election and there were no plans to ask for a recount.

For the NDP, the election results were “an amazing outcome,” Premier Wab Kinew said.

“This was a test, the first big test for the new PC leader, and he failed,” Kinew said at The Backyard at Aberdeen where about 60 NDP supporters gathered. “This was the worst outcome they ever got, by far.”

Aug. 27: Parks Canada replaces Riding Mountain superintendent

The Parks Canada official at the centre of the Clear Lake boat ban earlier this year is being transferred out of Riding Mountain National Park.

Field unit Supt. Leanne Cooper is taking a similar role with the federal agency in central Northwest Territories.

Riding Mountain MP Dan Mazier, who had called for Cooper to be replaced and the “one boat, one lake” policy to be reinstated during Question Period in late May, said the move was “a good first step.”

“Something had to change within the management,” he said Tuesday. “That is what we see now. So, we’ll see what the future superintendent does.”

Cooper is being replaced by Tom Sheldon, who was a policy manager with Parks Canada, according to an email to staff from Parks Canada CEO Ron Hallman that was obtained by the Sun. The change is effective Sept. 11.

Aug. 28: Food Truck Warz not returning to city

Food Truck Warz will not return to Brandon this September after the organizers decided to step away and were unable find anyone else to take the reins, owner Darryl Wolski said.

Wolski and his business partner, Jody Sass, announced earlier this year that Food Truck Warz was no longer worth it. The event became a stress and a headache to organize, and was too much work for a team of two, Wolski told the Sun on Wednesday.

“It wasn’t fun anymore,” Wolksi said. “I feel a sigh of relief not having to do this thing in a few weeks.”

Aug. 30: Health region recruits eight new rural doctors

Prairie Mountain Health has recruited eight new international medical graduates. The newly recruited doctors include three for Swan River, two for Roblin and one each for Neepawa, Souris and Virden.

The full-time physicians have been recruited through the provincial Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates, which assists foreign-trained doctors to obtain their medical licence to be able to practise as a family physician in Manitoba.

Six of the new physicians have already started, while the other two are set to start in September.

The two that haven’t yet started are in Swan River and Souris.

Sept. 2: BU receives report on failed $5M project

Brandon University has received a consultants’ review of its failed $5-million Enterprise Resource Planning project, a document that points to flawed software selection, poor vendor assessment and weak governance as the root causes of the collapse.

The ERP project, launched in 2020 under the “Renew BU” initiative, was intended to modernize the university’s academic and administrative record systems by replacing its outdated 1978 homegrown software. After four years and millions spent on development, the project was officially halted in early 2024, leaving BU without a functional system.

Earlier this year, the university hired BDO Canada to provide the institution with an independent analysis of the project’s evolution and the final decision to terminate it.

Sumner said lessons from the report would guide both the administration and the board in future initiatives.

“Nobody’s happy with how the ERP implementation worked out … but the board is committed to making sure that as we move forward, we have the benefit of better understanding where these errors were made.”

Sept. 3: Teen remembered as ‘smart, funny, beautiful’

Madison Young was looking forward to heading back to school this week and was about to start a new job at Walmart before her life was cut short early Sunday morning.

Her mother, friends and other family members are remembering the 17-year-old after she was hit by a vehicle after leaving a party just outside of Brandon.

RCMP are investigating the crash that occurred at around 3:15 a.m. on Road 107 West in the Rural Municipality of Cornwallis. A 17-year-old boy who was driving the vehicle, who is from Virden, along with a 16-year-old boy who was walking on the road with Madison, were uninjured, RCMP said Tuesday.

Police don’t believe alcohol was a factor. The driver stayed on scene.

Yvette Young, the girl’s mother, said her daughter was “smart, funny and beautiful.”

“My daughter was amazing,” Young said Tuesday. “She was going to be successful in whatever she did, and it’s just a shame that was taken away from her so soon. She didn’t even get to start living her life yet.

Sept. 5: City sues Hydro for civic complex explosion

The City of Brandon is suing Manitoba Hydro for negligence following an explosion at the city’s Civic Services Complex nearly two years ago that sent one person to hospital.

The explosion happened on Sept. 7, 2023 in the complex’s mechanical room because of “overpressure” in the building’s natural gas system.

The Civic Services Complex at 900 Richmond Ave. East held the city’s bus fleet and some administration offices.

Along with sending one city employee to hospital, the building and contents also sustained damage in the explosion. The building is currently being repaired at a cost of about $1 million.

The city, in a lawsuit filed in Winnipeg Court of King’s Bench on Aug. 27, said “the resulting damage was caused by the negligence of Manitoba Hydro.”

Centra Gas Manitoba Inc. — a subsidiary of Manitoba Hydro — is also listed as a defendant.

Sept. 5: Colon named chief of First Nations police service

A new police chief has been appointed for the Manitoba First Nations Police Service, ending a national search for a candidate since the death of the former chief.

Jason Colon was named to the top position on Wednesday. He steps in after serving as interim chief since January.

The decision was announced by the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council Police Commission.

The MFNPS oversees detachments in nearly a dozen First Nation communities across Manitoba.

A swearing-in ceremony will be held at a later date.

Sept. 6: Residents pack town hall to oppose cell tower site

West end residents crowded a town hall event Thursday night to oppose a proposed cell tower on 34th Street that has been at the centre of developing pushback this summer.

More than 70 people showed up at the Westridge Community Centre for a tense consultation session hosted by the tower applicant. Residents questioned the host, asserting the 35-metre cell tower proposed for 1009 34th St. is not welcome.

Price Leurebourg hosted the town hall on behalf of Shared Tower Inc., which is applying to build the cell tower. Leurebourg spent most of the two hours fielding questions, at times objecting to the repeated interruptions.

Sept. 11: Critics pan Shared Health fix for paramedic shortage

A plan by Shared Health to provide free training for emergency medical responders — but not for paramedics — is being criticized by the Paramedic Association of Manitoba and the union representing 7,000 allied health workers.

To address the shortage of paramedics in Westman, Shared Health has offered 11 people full tuition scholarships for emergency medical responder (EMR) training for rural areas.

Once the 11 EMRs are trained, Shared Health said they would be offered positions within PMH and encouraged to progress through full paramedic training.

Paramedic association administrative director Rebecca Clifton said she wonders why the government is not offering Manitobans educational bursaries for paramedic training in the first place.

“Simply getting butts in seats is not an appropriate path forward when it comes to paramedic care,” Clifton said.

Sept. 15: Carberry hunter lands reality TV deal, begins filming

Carberry-based hunter Justin Lilley has signed a multi-season deal with Wild TV to star in a new hunting reality series, “Beyond the Blind Hunts.”

The agreement, finalized last month, commits Lilley to four seasons — 52 episodes in total — showcasing his and fiancée Ruth Spence’s hunts across Canada and beyond. Each season will include 13 weekly episodes that are replayed throughout the year, offering viewers an intimate look at the challenges and rewards of life in the wild.

For Lilley, the deal represents the merging of two passions: the outdoors and film production. Before becoming a hunter, he operated a small videography business, giving him the technical skills to capture hunts on camera.

Lilley’s journey into hunting began only about six years ago, when his brother bought a bow and encouraged him to try target shooting.

Sept. 15: HIV cases rises sharply in region

In the last three years, the Prairie Mountain Health region has seen a steep increase in the number of people with HIV — from six to 75 reported cases since 2022.

In 2022, there were six people in the PMH region who were diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus. That number more than tripled to 19 in 2023.

The government’s annual HIV surveillance report for 2024 hasn’t been released yet, but preliminary numbers show that last year the number jumped to 44 people with HIV in the health region.

Sept. 17: $1.5M spent to date on school expansion

The Manitoba government has spent more than $1.5 million so far on an expansion at Maryland Park School that will see 14 new classrooms added next year.

The figure reflects spending to date, with the total cost of the project exceeding that amount, Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt told the Sun on Tuesday.

While the province did not disclose the final budget for the project, Schmidt said construction remains on time and on budget.

“Because of procurement processes, we are not allowed to share the total project cost; that information is confidential,” Schmidt said.

“The project is about one-third complete, and we are really excited to get those 14 new classrooms open and ready to serve the students in Brandon by September of 2026.”

Sept. 20: Vigil for Charlie Kirk draws about 250

Roughly 250 people held a vigil in Brandon Friday evening to honour American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot to death a week and a half ago while speaking at a university in Utah.

They lit dozens of candles and brought dainties for after the vigil ended at the old firehall on Princess Avenue.

The 31-year-old Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, was shot dead while holding a public debate at Utah Valley University.

Mourners prayed and sang the Canadian national anthem to start off the event. Later, some people read scriptures from the Bible and spoke about what Kirk’s death meant to them.

Sept. 20: MASC offices reopen in Virden and Shoal Lake

VIRDEN — Two Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation offices — closed under the Progressive Conservatives — have reopened in Westman.

Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn visited Virden on Friday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at one of the new offices, with the other one opening in Shoal Lake.

“It’s definitely an opportunity to celebrate,” Kostyshyn said.

The two new MASC office locations will provide in-person services for clients who are in the agriculture industry. Farmers are regaining the service after the former PC government closed the offices in 2021.

Sept. 23: Charges stayed in Blue Door beating

The Crown Attorney’s Office has stayed charges against a 33-year-old woman who was accused of seriously assaulting another woman at a downtown Brandon drop-in centre earlier this year. The victim later died.

The woman was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in relation to the woman’s injuries. After reviewing the case and receiving more information, the Crown’s office said charges were stayed because there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.

Stayed charges can be re-laid up to one year after the stay.

The Blue Door closed about a month after the incident. Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation announced the closure on its Facebook page and cited “escalating safety concerns and ongoing operational challenges.”

Sept. 24: More victims confirmed in Neelin sword attack

Two more victims have been confirmed in last June’s sword attack at a Brandon high school — and the 16-year-old accused now faces three counts of attempted murder.

The two additional victims were chased, but not physically harmed, Brandon’s police chief said. The Crown is also seeking to have the youth sentenced as an adult if convicted.

The boy was originally charged with one count of attempted murder for his alleged attack on a fellow student and two separate counts of assault with a weapon, along with other charges.

The Crown recently upgraded the assault-with-a-weapon charges to attempted murder in relation to the two other victims, Crown attorney Jennifer Comack told the Sun in an email Tuesday.

“It is our position that we have a reasonable likelihood of conviction and that it is in the public interest to proceed on the charges of attempt murder for all three victims,” she said.

The Crown also gave notice of the intention to seek an adult sentence should the accused be convicted or plead guilty.

Sept. 25: Police to launch crisis response unit

A crisis response unit pairing Brandon police officers with mental health professionals will hit the streets as early as next month, the city’s police chief told the Sun.

The new initiative came out of the Brandon Police Service’s Downtown Public Safety Strategy engagement summary released last Friday.

The summary highlights the “remarkably consistent” themes of discussion that arose from several consultation meetings, with an emphasis on mental health.

“Everyone just wants a safe and viable downtown. We want downtown to be a welcoming space, receptive to business, so that we can see people shopping and enjoying the spaces down there and just feeling safe. Everyone’s on that same page,” Insp. Dana McCallum said.

Sept. 27: Brandon barber crowned best in Canada

Brandon-based Mario Andino has been named Best Barber in Canada, earning a national title just three years after picking up a pair of clippers for the first time.

The Elevate Barbershop stylist outshone competitors from across the country in the Wahl of Fame’s 2025 Canadian Barber of the Year contest, which began on Instagram and ended with industry judges crowning him No. 1 last week.

Andino received a trophy, a $1,000 sponsorship in barbering tools, and brand ambassadorship.

Most importantly, he secured a fully funded trip to Chicago next year to represent Canada at a global championship, where the winners from 18 countries will compete for the world title.

Oct. 2: Packers aims to ‘unleash pork business’

Maple Leaf Foods has finalized its spinoff of Canada Packers Inc., making its pork plants in Manitoba and Alberta a separate company.

As of Wednesday, the pork processing plant in Brandon became part of Canada Packers.

“It’s been a while to get here, but I feel great, and especially from the Brandon perspective,” president and CEO Dennis Organ said Wednesday.

“One of the things that we’re talking about is unleashing the pork business.”

The corporate split will allow the 6,355 Richmond Ave. East plant to grow in production and create more jobs, Organ said.

Oct. 2: Judge dismisses action against MVSD trustees

Dauphin’s Court of King’s Bench has dismissed a court action by a Mountain View School Division trustee against several of his colleagues after they voted to pause the return to students singing “God Save the King” daily.

In Manitoba, youth are required to sing the first verse of the royal anthem on all regular school days. However, the regulation has not been enforced in more than 25 years.

In January, the board of trustees of MVSD passed a resolution that school administrators and staff would not be required to enforce the regulation until completing specific steps, which include reviewing letters of concern and consulting with education officials in the province.

Paul Coffey, who is one of the nine MVSD trustees, filed an affidavit in Dauphin’s Court of King’s Bench in which he stated that the “law is not optional.”

“No board has the authority to suspend provincial statutes or regulations,” he said. “If the board disagrees with a regulation, the proper response is to advocate for lawful change.”

Oct. 3: Province takes Souris woman’s savings

SOURIS — A Souris foster mother and daughter say they are in danger of losing their home after the province’s Public Guardian and Trustee branch took $37,000 of the foster daughter’s money without her approval.

Pattie Cunningham said she and her foster daughter, Zoey, are in danger of living on the street because Zoey can’t access her money.

Cunningham, who works at a personal care home, said Zoey had agreed to pay rent after she became an adult because less CFS money was coming in and Cunningham couldn’t afford to pay the bills and other expenses otherwise.

Zoey, who is 18, aged out of the foster system in April. She has lived with Pattie since she was four months old.

Oct. 4: Health region eyes move out of Town Centre

Prairie Mountain Health is looking to move out of Brandon’s Town Centre mall and has eyed two potential properties for office space — also in the city’s downtown.

The regional health authority has been a lease holder in The Town Centre for at least 25 years, with more than 100 employees working in public health, mental health, home care and administration.

PMH hired Winnipeg-based Capital Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. in March to search for space. The company contacted two potential candidates for relocation.

Based on a document dated June 2025 that the Sun received this week from PMH, the Winnipeg real estate broker has presented the property owners with a request for proposals to lease out space to the health authority.

One location is 1020 Princess Ave., which is currently an empty lot. It contains the properties adjacent to 10th Street and Princess Avenue and formerly housed the Strand Theatre.

The second potential location is the Westoba Credit Union building at 220 10th St. It has a total space of 16,000 square feet.

Oct. 9: Recycling depots face permanent closure

The City of Brandon’s three recycling depots will permanently close at the end of the season due to litter complaints and contamination issues.

City council voted to go ahead with the permanent closures at its regular council meeting on Monday, also opting to close the Keystone Centre recycling depot one month early.

Administration’s recommendation to also permanently close the city’s five organic waste drop-off sites was deferred until budget time.

Recycling bins will now be centralized at the Eastview Landfill at 765 33rd St. East. Starting Oct. 15, residents will be able to drop off their recycling at the landfill 24-7 without fees. After business hours, materials can be placed in bins outside the gate.

The messes from the depots have been a rising concern.

Oct. 10: Westman chosen for carbon capture plant

A Montreal-based carbon-capture company is set to build one of the largest facilities in the world in western Manitoba at a cost of about $200 million.

No site has been selected for the future 100-employee Deep Sky facility, but the Rural Municipality of Pipestone and the Municipality of Two Borders are “promising” locations, a company spokesperson told the Sun.

Jason Vanderheyden, Deep Sky’s vice-president of government relations and public affairs, described the area as “very lucky” when it comes to building a carbon-capture station.

Deep Sky hopes to start construction in the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval from the province.

The goal is for the entire facility to be open no later than 2031, as the business would be able to capitalize on a federal tax credit.

Oct. 10: Pair face 41 charges in mail thefts

Spruce Plains RCMP arrested a Brandon man and a Boissevain woman after an investigation triggered by numerous reports of thefts from Canada Post mailboxes in rural communities across Westman.

The RCMP received the reports from late November 2024 into the early months of 2025, RCMP said in a press release on Thursday.

The reports came from the communities of Neepawa, Arden, Minnedosa, Kelwood, MacGregor, Carberry, Rapid City, Glenella, Erickson, Onanole, Sandy Lake and Rivers.

Oct. 10: K9 teams get a real-world workout

A disaster training site in Brandon was used to certify search-and-rescue dogs from across Western Canada on Thursday.

The practical training site for Manitoba Emergency Services College hosted teams from Calgary and Vancouver, along with some officers from Brandon Police Service.

The site at the Brandon Municipal Airport saw K9 handlers testing obedience, locating human victims in a rubble pile and rappelling down the side of a building.

Oct. 14:Sportsplex arena reopens after $7M reno

The City of Brandon reopened the Sportsplex arena on Saturday afternoon after completing a two-year, $7-million renovation of the facility on Knowlton Drive.

The retrofit includes a new state-of-the-art ice plant, upgraded boards and lighting, and refurbished seating for 800 spectators, marking a milestone for one of the city’s recreation hubs, which first opened its doors in 1971.

The reopening celebration drew residents, skaters and representatives from Assiniboine College hockey, who took to the ice for the first skate on the new surface.

Oct. 15: Gustafson announces retirement from BSD

Brandon School Division Supt. Mathew Gustafson has announced his intention to retire next summer.

Board chair Linda Ross shared Gustafson’s resignation letter during Tuesday night’s general board meeting.

“It is with great difficulty that I give my notice to retire from my role as superintendent and CEO of the Brandon School Division, with my final day of employment on Aug. 7, 2026,” Ross read from his letter. “I am honoured to have been able to serve the students, parents and staff of the Brandon School Division since 2002.”

He said the decision to make his retirement effective in 2026 was to give the board time to find his successor.

Oct. 17: Mozdzen sweeps school trustee race

Candidate Shawna Mozdzen swept the competition Thursday night, winning more than half the votes in a seven-person contest for a Brandon School Division trustee seat, unofficial election results show.

She received 2,229 votes — 56.7 per cent of the total — and came in 1,767 votes ahead of second-place finisher Henry Sieklicki.

Mozdzen, a school support and educational assistant, ran on a platform of ensuring students and families feel supported, included and safe in local schools.

“I’m deeply grateful for the support I’ve received this month — I appreciate it all,” Mozdzen told the Sun as the last polls were reported.

Oct. 20: FBN to open centre in Brandon

Farmers Business Network (FBN), North America’s agtech marketplace, is expanding its footprint in Manitoba with the opening of a state-of-the-art distribution centre in Brandon.

The new facility, expected to be fully operational by the end of November, aims to provide faster, more reliable access to crop inputs for farmers across the region, supporting the 2026 growing season.

The Brandon facility, located on the southeast side of the city, is a brand-new construction built by Crane Construction to meet Agri Cam Warehouse Standards Association (AWS) guidelines, ensuring safety, environmental compliance, and operational efficiency, its country manager Breen Neeser told the Sun.

“Spanning an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, it is designed for rapid handling of over 200 crop protection products, fertilizers, seed treatments, and inoculants,” he said.

Oct. 22: Ottawa funds harm reduction vans in Westman

Three outreach programs in Westman will receive almost $1.1 million in federal funding for harm-reduction efforts aimed at addressing the overdose crisis.

Part of the funds will be used to purchase and outfit a van in Brandon and one in the Dauphin area to provide mobile outreach.

The van will visit places where people are at risk of overdose, including encampments and shelters.

Oct. 23: Mayors intensify push for bail reform

Even as the federal Liberals are poised to introduce their justice-reform bill today, Manitoba mayors are continuing to press for meaningful changes to bail laws.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham spent his afternoon Tuesday advocating for those changes in Ottawa’s House of Commons, while Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett spoke out about bail reformon social media.

In a video posted to Brandon City Council’s Facebook page and reposted by Brandon police, Fawcett said there are too many violent repeat offenders on the city’s streets.

“Our communities are paying the price while the same individuals cycle through the system, reoffending with little consequence,” he said. “It’s time to put our communities first.”

Fawcett said he will post biweekly videos sharing “repeat-offender stories” in Brandon to support his call for bail and sentence reform — something Gillingham has done weekly since mid-September.

Oct. 25: Chief owns boat ban

The chief of a western Manitoba First Nation is taking responsibility for the boat ban at Clear Lake, saying he threatened Parks Canada with legal action if motorboats were allowed back this year.

Chief Dwayne Sonny Blackbird of Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation told the Sun Friday that he called an official at Riding Mountain National Park last spring and threatened to take action if boats were reintroduced.

The action came from his deep interest in the health of the lake, he said.

Blackbird said he made the threat because he is inspired by a strong family history at the lake. The introduction of zebra mussels, and the failure to contain the invasive species, charged him to action, he said.

Until the chief is satisfied that there is a strong plan to manage zebra mussels, he will fight any effort to put motorboats back on the lake, he said.

“I want to protect my culture and my heritage,” he said. “I’m going to fight till I’m dead.”

Nov. 9: Kinew names Simard as first NDP candidate for 2027

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew kicked off preparations for the next provincial election by announcing Glen Simard as the first nominated candidate for the 2027 campaign.

The premier made the announcement during his Saturday afternoon address at the Keystone Centre’s MNP Hall, which was filled with party delegates for the New Democratic Party’s convention. In making Simard as the first nominated candidate, Kinew said the Brandon East MLA had met every target for canvassing, fundraising and organizing, and symbolized the NDP’s message about the kind of seats it aims to secure and build from as it prepares for the 2027 election.

Simard, who represents Brandon East and serves as Minister of Municipal and Northern Relations, is a candidate who reflects the NDP’s blend of grassroots engagement and practical governance, the premier said.

Nov. 13: Residents air concerns about Deep Sky carbon-capture facility

Residents were left with a lot of unanswered questions after a community-organized town hall in Pipestone on a carbon-capture facility proposed for the area.

Montreal-based Deep Sky plans to build one of the largest facilities in the world in western Manitoba at a cost of about $200 million. The Rural Municipality of Pipestone and the Municipality of Two Borders have been described by the company as “promising” locations for the 100-employee facility.

The event included an informational video on carbon capture and prepared answers from Deep Sky that were read aloud by an organizer.

About 250 people packed the Pipestone Community Hall for the meeting.

Nov. 14: Keystone Centre launches foundation

The Keystone Centre has announced the creation of a foundation to support the ongoing operation, improvement and accessibility of the non-profit facility.

The new Keystone Centre Foundation will focus on educating the community on the importance of the regional hub, volunteer executive director Barry Cooper said during an official announcement at the centre on Thursday.

The foundation’s fund will invest tax-receiptable donations over time, with the Keystone Centre able to use the annual interest or a portion of the capital investment for specific projects, the centre said in a news release Thursday.

Nov. 14: Piwniuk announces departure

Turtle Mountain Progressive Conservative MLA Doyle Piwniuk said he announced his intention to step away from the legislature on Wednesday to give the party time to find his successor.

The timing was right, he said, because the NDP has already started ramping up its plans for the next election.

“When the NDP had their convention (last weekend) and they name a campaign manager and they actually nominate the Brandon East MLA, I want to make sure that we’re ready,” Piwniuk said.

At the NDP annual convention in Brandon last weekend, the party nominated Brandon East MLA Glen Simard to run in the next provincial election. Premier Wab Kinew also told NDP members to start preparing for the election, which is scheduled to take place in October 2027.

Nov. 14: Assiniboine unveils $750k community hub

Assiniboine College added a $750,000 community workspace to its east Brandon campus on Thursday, fitted with modern tools like 3D printers.

The college’s grand opening for the workspace, called the Creative CoLab, took place in the afternoon at the Victoria Avenue East campus. The event showcased features such as a projector, a laser engraver, crafting stations, cameras, scanners and a conference table on a wide-open floor plan.

The facility will be primarily used as a community space, said college president Mark Frison. Though part of the college, it is open to everyone, he said, and the goal is to foster collaboration in the area.

Equipment in the workshop was chosen for its connection to the digital world, Jana Sproule, chair of media and office tech in the college’s school of business, told the Sun.

The range of equipment, such as wide-format printers and flatbed scanners, plays into that role, she said.

Nov. 15: Keller breaks ground on $47M housing build

A $47-million project that will add 165 rental units to Brandon’s housing stock was officially launched Friday morning.

Keller Developments, a general construction contractor, broke ground at 1501 Braecrest Dr. on the North Hill for Apollo Heights Phase 2, with politicians and other guests hoisting shovels for the sod-turning ceremony.

The project marks a significant expansion of housing availability in a fast-growing part of the city, company president Evan Keller told participants.

Nov. 15: Vote count resumes without electoral officer

Three ballot boxes that were locked away in the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation government office on Thursday night were opened and counted on Friday afternoon without the presence of the electoral officer who had signed off on the boxes.

According to a livestream on the First Nation’s YouTube channel, Jennifer Bone was leading the race for chief last night at press time after a tumultuous two days of vote counting.

Electoral officer Burke Ratte shut down the First Nation’s ballot count on Thursday amid concerns for his safety and those of his team, he told the Sun on Friday. He said he dealt with multiple threats throughout the day, and that a group of people had

forcibly opened a locked door to the building during the election proceedings.

“It’s pretty bad. I mean this is just terrible,” he said in a phone interview.“We had so many threats of violence thrown at us during the polling time, and we had to leave after I started the ballot count last night.”

Nov. 18: Brandon to get $3B turbine facility

A $3-billion combustion turbine facility is proposed for Westman as Manitoba Hydro anticipates power shortages in the coming years.

The provincial government announced the proposal during its throne speech. The project would install additional combustion turbines at the Brandon Generating Station and be in place by 2030 at the latest.

Hydro expects a “sustained winter peak capacity deficit” by 2029-30, it wrote in its filing. It envisioned a new plant with two 250-megawatt simple-cycle combustion turbines near the existing Hydro generating station in Brandon.

The build announced Tuesday will have three dual-fuel combustion turbines generating a combined 750 megawatts of power — one more turbine than originally proposed.

Nov. 19: Brandon council rejects cell tower proposal

Brandon City Council voted against a proposed cellphone tower on 34th Street at its regular meeting Monday after about 40 residents packed the gallery in opposition to the planned site.

But Mayor Jeff Fawcett — one of two council members to vote in favour of the tower — warned that the decision means cellphone service in the area could worsen after a Rogers Communications tower is decommissioned next year.

Community members gave a collective sigh of relief and a round of applause echoed around the gallery after council voted 7-2 against the location.

Nov. 21: Overpass construction to start in 2027

The newly announced overpass north of Carberry will be completed by 2030 and come at a cost of $100 million, Premier Wab Kinew announced Thursday.

Construction on the Trans-Canada and Highway 5 intersection will start in 2027 and take two and a half years to complete, Kinew told a group of about 50 residents at the Carberry Community Memorial Hall.

The crowd gave the premier a standing ovation.

“We heard loud and clear the response,” Kinew said. “Now we’re back here with something that we think fits the bill.”

The decision to build an overpass, initially announced in Tuesday’s throne speech, comes after community pushback earlier this year against the province’s “preferred option” of a restricted crossing U-turn, or RCUT, over fears it would be difficult to navigate for large vehicles and could be confusing.

Nov. 26: $28.5M for Westman water projects

The provincial and federal governments are spending $28.5 million to help fund water and wastewater projects in Brandon and Boissevain, Premier Wab Kinew announced Tuesday.

Kinew told a crowd of municipal leaders at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities fall convention in Winnipeg that the NDP government and Ottawa are spending nearly $77

million on five projects around the province in support of water and wastewater facilities.

In Westman, $22 million is going for water and wastewater projects in Brandon, and $6.5 million for a lagoon in Boissevain.

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the funding, which isn’t earmarked for anything in particular, will help cover the costs for multiple projects, including the city’s $139-million upgrade of the 26th Street water treatment facility and $40 million for lift station and water main work.

Nov. 27: Bray happy province covering medication

A Rivers man born with spinal muscular atrophy said the Manitoba government’s sudden change of heart to fully fund his coverage for an expensive medication is “surreal.”

Jeremy Bray — who was diagnosed with a rare motor neuron disease that causes his muscles to slowly weaken — and his family met with Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara pleading to have the cost of his drug treatment covered, but Manitoba’s position remained unchanged until the next afternoon.

The province made a one-year commitment to pay for Bray’s treatment, which is estimated to cost $300,000 annually.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew recognized Bray’s “remarkable tenacity and perseverance” in advocating for his health and felt “moved by the media reports overnight” in the wake of Bray’s meeting.

Dec. 2: Province pledges $500K for school safety

A new $500,000 provincial investment in school safety across Manitoba is expected to speed up ongoing security upgrades in the Brandon School Division, Supt. Mathew Gustafson told the Sun.

“Any investment in terms of school safety is a good investment,” Gustafson said Monday.

Currently, fewer than half of Brandon’s schools are operating with controlled-access systems, although several others are in the process of having systems installed.

Premier Wab Kinew announced the new funding Monday at the head office of the Manitoba School Boards Association in Winnipeg. Kinew and Manitoba Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said the funding will support all 37 Manitoba school divisions to “strengthen safety measures, including controlled access to facilities.”

The announcement follows an incident last Thursday in which a convicted sex offender allegedly hid in a washroom at Darwin School in Winnipeg’s St. Vital area and ambushed a child, grabbing her before she managed to escape and seek help.

Dec. 3: Drug trafficker sentenced to 12 years

A man described as being the leader of a drug trafficking network in Brandon was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday.

“His activities were the kind of things that tear communities apart,”

federal Crown attorney Hugh Crawley said. “The kind of thing that makes communities less livable, less pleasant, undermines the safety and protection of the community.”

Jorg Rautenberg, 61, was convicted last week of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, along with conspiracy to possess proceeds of crime, intentional

discharge of a firearm reckless to the safety of a human life, assault and assault with a weapon.

Dec. 4: Knife-wielding woman found not criminally responsible

A knife-wielding woman who was shot four times by an RCMP officer on the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry last May has been found not criminally responsible in Brandon provincial court.

Last week, a provincial judge accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence that Jacqueline Armes was not criminally responsible for the charges of assaulting a police officer, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and mischief under $5,000.

Armes remains in custody and is scheduled to appear before the Mental Health Review Board on Jan. 5.

The incident took place on the Trans-Canada Highway near Road 88 West in the RM of North Cypress-Langford on May 12. Because the matter included an officer-involved shooting, the Independent Investigation Unit reviewed the circumstances.

The officer involved was cleared of any charges in September, but the IIU did not release a formal report to the public because Armes was dealing with criminal charges in relation to the incident.

Dec. 4: Waddell elected Cornwallis reeve with 71% of vote

Former councillor Mike Waddell was elected reeve in the Rural Municipality of Cornwallis in a decisive vote Wednesday evening.

Waddell won with 389 votes — 71.3 per cent of the total — compared to former reeve Bill Courtice’s 156, senior election official John Armstrong told the Sun shortly after the votes were counted.

Waddell said while he’s “relieved” that he won, he will postpone his celebration with family until when he’s sworn in.

Waddell, 55, works as a car salesman and owns the coffee-shop newsletter News In A Minute. He previously served as a councillor in Cornwallis between 2014 and 2018.

Waddell campaigned on improving communication and transparency with the public and other municipalities, and bringing stability to the RM.

Dec. 6: Food prices set to rise in 2026:report

A soup kitchen, food bank and women’s centre in Brandon worry more people will be facing food insecurity next year after a national report predicts overall food prices will increase by four to six per cent.

Canada’s 2026 Food Price Report, released Thursday, estimates the average family of four will spend up to $17,571.79 on food — an increase of $994.63 from this year.

Food prices are impacted by multiple factors, including climate change, Canada and U.S. trade relations, consumer behaviours and changes in retail business models, according to the 39-page report, produced by several universities, including Dalhousie University.

Between 180 and 240 community members access a meal each day at the Brandon soup kitchen, which has served more than 51,000 meals this year, up from 46,000 in 2024, Braun said.

Dec. 9: Zebra mussels now reproducing in Clear Lake

Parks Canada has confirmed that zebra mussels are reproducing in Clear Lake following the agency’s 2025 aquatic invasive species monitoring.

In an update, the agency said it found more evidence of the invasive species from tests conducted between June 16 and Oct. 6, when staff collected 251 environmental DNA samples from Riding Mountain National Park.

Zebra mussels have been found in multiple life stages in the lake, Parks Canada spokesperson Anisa Baker told the Sun on Monday.

The update stated the agency plans to decide on watercraft management for Clear Lake by February 2026. Motorized craft have been banned from the lake for the past two years.

Clear Lake has been grappling with the presence of zebra mussels since their first confirmed detection in November 2023, when a cluster of 48 live mussels was discovered.

Dec. 10: Deep Sky meeting receives mixed reviews

A company that hopes to set up a carbon-capture facility in southwestern Manitoba said a meeting in Pipestone went “as it should have.”

However, one area resident and people on Facebook said they weren’t so happy with how the event unfolded.

The meeting, put on by Montreal-based Deep Sky, was held to provide information to residents and allow them to ask questions about the company’s plans.

Kim MacKenzie, who lives in the Rural Municipality of Pipestone, told the Sun, “They couldn’t give the answers to the tough questions. They could give answers to superficial questions, but not the tough technical questions.”

Jason Vanderheyden, Deep Sky’s vice-president of government relations and public affairs, said while the company’s representatives weren’t there to be cheered on, the event went as planned.

Dec. 11: Customers line up to buy U.S. liquor

The return of U.S. liquor products sparked a lineup at a Brandon Liquor Mart on Wednesday — and the province said that was par for the course all over Manitoba.

“The Liquor Marts selling U.S. liquor today were very busy — all locations reported long lineups at store opening and the heavy traffic continued well into the afternoon,” a Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries spokesperson said Wednesday.

Popular U.S. brands sold out on the first day at some locations, but restocking will continue, the spokesperson said.

The province now plans to continue refilling Liquor Mart shelves until all U.S. inventory is sold out.

The government store at the corner of 10th Street and Victoria Avenue was one of a dozen locations across the province to restock U.S. products.

Dec. 12: Brandon case triggered grocery store law

The provincial government’s new grocery-store legislation meant to combat high prices was triggered by the business practices of a Brandon store, the Sun has learned.

Brandon East MLA Glen Simard proposed the legislation, which removes property controls for grocery stores, in response to a local Sobeys renewing its lease on a long-shuttered property.

Sobeys renewed a five-year lease at the former location at 1645 18th St. in 2023, after the store closed in 2017. The company’s aim was to prevent a competing grocery store from opening in the building, a Shindico representative told the Sun at the time.

The company opened a new Sobeys South location across the street at the Shoppers Mall the same year the former location closed.

Simard said the Sun’s reporting on the Sobeys lease is what gave him the idea to propose the legislation.

“There’s no reason why maybe a discount grocer can’t be in here. No reason why a direct competitor can’t be here,” Simard said.

Dec. 13: Tacan contests Sioux Valley election in court

The former chief of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation has launched a legal bid to overturn the results of last month’s election for chief and council.

Vince Tacan filed a challenge in the Court of King’s Bench in Winnipeg on Nov. 27, asking the court to invalidate the election of Jennifer Bone as chief and five councillors.

Winnipeg lawyer Jamie Kagan is representing Tacan in the case, along with three other plaintiffs.

“The short version is we are in court on Jan. 5, hopefully to declare the election null and void,” Kagan said in a brief phone interview Friday. “We have made a proposal to have a new election and we’re hopeful that’s what the court will order.”

Tacan, Bone and the original election officer, Burke Ratte, have filed affidavits in the case, according to records in the Court of King’s Bench.

The court action follows a tumultuous election on Nov. 14 and 15 in which Bone was ultimately declared the winner by 371 votes to 212 for Tacan, the incumbent. The process spanned two days, saw an RCMP response and involved a switchover in election officers after the ballots had been collected.

Dec. 16: Council passes roadside-memorial policy

Brandon City Council has approved a new policy that could replace roadside memorials with city-made commemorative plaques.

Council approved the policy unanimously after discussing its importance and whether changes were needed.

The new policy would mean bronze plaques could be placed near the crash site as a memorial to the person who died. It would allow the city to remove items such as flowers, personal items and decorations once the plaque is placed.

Nicole Sutherland, whose 15-year-old son Antoine was killed when a car struck him at the intersection of Victoria Avenue and McDiarmid Drive in October 2023, told the Sun on Monday that she is “appalled” by the policy.

Sutherland said she had worked with the city for a plaque to be set up where the memorial for her son currently sits, and thought that the plaque was only going to be used for her son’s site. She said she “had no idea” the city would make a policy out of it.

Councillors argued about the details of the policy, such as the length of time to wait before removing memorabilia from the affected intersections, and whether the plaque should stay up indefnitely.

Dec. 17: Helping Hands asks city for funding boost

Helping Hands soup kitchen is asking Brandon City Council for more money to help it stay afloat as prices rise and donations decrease.

The organization is requesting a $15,000 lump sum, an increase in its annual grant from $30,000 to $50,000 and an exemption on property taxes, which currently sit at $7,500 per year.

“We’ve never had to consider what will happen if we run out of money,” board chair Andrea Epp said at Monday’s council meeting. “We’ve always been able to just kind of coast with the amount of donations that we’ve had and the level of usage that we’ve had at the centre.

“It’s just no longer at a point where we can continue to coast and we have to make some serious plans for the future.”

The $15,000 lump sum would go toward creating a strategic plan, she said.

Dec. 20: College unveils Auriat Family Broadcast Studio

Assiniboine College unveiled the Auriat Family Broadcast Studio on Friday, after a $25,000 donation from the family to support media education and community broadcasting.

The studio is located in the college’s Centre for Creative Media, which opened in 2022 at the Victoria Avenue East campus.

The recognition, announced during a grand-opening event at the centre on Friday, reflects both the Auriat family’s long-standing commitment to education and Kerry Auriat’s role in local media and civic life, college president Mark Frison said. The donation will have a direct impact on students training in radio and creative media programs.

Kerry Auriat said his decision to support the broadcast studio was motivated by his admiration for the college’s growth and innovation.

“I love what the college is doing. The college is an exciting, on-the-move, dynamic place,” Auriat said. “They’re always coming out with new programs and new facilities, and Brandon is very fortunate to have two first-rate educational institutions.”

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