Looking Back — June 6, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/06/2023 (1207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

A tide of humanity, perhaps two million strong, today paid homage to Pope John XXIII, who dedicated his life to a fight for peace and died fearing war.

Every agricultural chemical dealer in the province who sells insecticides to farmers will have to obtain a licence by next week, Agriculture Minister George Hutton said.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Brandon is approaching the size of a city in which more attention must be paid to social planning, according to George Murray, executive director of the United Appeal.

Skylab’s astronauts were ready today for a two-man space walk to try to unjam a solar wing.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Jill Habing, a 19-year-old student at Brandon University and hostess at The Keg restaurant, is one of 12 finalists chosen to compete in the Miss Manitoba Pageant this month at Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg.

Brandon’s Chad Johnson took the chilly wind in stride at the Manitoba High School’s Athletic Association AA track and field meet yesterday and so doing, breezed to victory in the junior boys’ 800-metre and 1,500-metre races.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Federal Agriculture Minister Charlie Mayer concluded a two-day Prairie tour by announcing that the federal grain transportation subsidy, known as the Crow Benefit, will be paid directly to farmers instead of the railways. The $650-million subsidy covers two-thirds of the cost to get Prairie grain to port.

Regulations came into effect this week to outlaw darkly tinted windows that have put the finishing touch on generations of sinister-looking muscle cars.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Four speakers and a strobe light sit atop a wooden pole on Douglas Street, and will soon sound an alarm over a 17-block radius. The apparatus makes up a part of Brandon’s emergency alerting system and will be tested for its first time June 9. The estimated $170,000 pilot project — $132,000 of which was granted by Industry Canada — could lead to approximately 13 more such towers being constructed throughout the city.

Brandon’s own Carolyn Burgoyne didn’t make the “Canadian Idol” cut, but she won’t let that take the grin off her face. “I remember walking out of the room after I was cut, and I was smiling. ‘Why are you guys crying? We’re the top 70 in Canada,’” she told the other 21 singers who were also struck off the list Wednesday night. The 20-year-old karaoke hostess was one of 16 singers selected from the thousands who auditioned for the show in Winnipeg earlier this spring.

TEN YEARS AGO

If work isn’t done now to prepare for an increasing senior population, the City of Brandon may be “caught behind the 8-ball” down the road, according to city community development co-ordinator Richard Greer, who, along with nursing students John Dempster and Cass Chisholm, launched the Age-Friendly Brandon initiative last fall.

Washed-out culverts meant a Brandon man’s truck plunged about 15 feet into the bottom of a creek bed after it left the road near Dauphin on Tuesday evening.