Looking Back — May 22, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/05/2024 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Happy holidayers hit the roads over the first long weekend of the summer, and close to 25,000 of them found their way to Clear Lake.

A “firecracker day” prank brought city firefighters running to the Wheat City Arena early yesterday, and quick action after their arrival prevented what could have been a major blaze. Pranksters placed a small lit firecracker into a crack in the wall of the hog barn at the south end of the arena complex.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Patricia Hearst faces the possibility of life in prison as she is hunted as a kidnap suspect rather than a kidnap victim.

Tasker Enterprises Ltd. of Winnipeg has been awarded a $823,755 contract for the first reconstruction phase of the $6.5-million motor parkway in Riding Mountain National Park.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Crane operators ripped down the rear wall of the Salvation Army’s Eventide Home at the corner of Sixth Street and Victoria Avenue. The 45-year-old building will be replaced with a $2.5-million, 60-bed personal care home.

Lifting the alcohol ban in the main campground at Riding Mountain National Park on the long weekend failed to resolve a four-year-old dispute between park officials and local merchants. Rain and near-freezing temperatures lowered park attendance and washed out an experiment both sides hoped would permanently decided the controversy over alcohol.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Brandon University president Dennis Anderson was given a vote of confidence by a review committee of the university’s board of governors and will serve a second term.

The price of pre-roasted coffee beans soared to about US$1.33 a pound on the futures market in New York, a hike of about 7.6 cents in just one day and up from about 75 cents a pound in January.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

It will cost $807,000 for the City of Brandon to build a new water booster station in the north end. Council has awarded the contract to Regent Construction for the booster station, which will be built next to the new Corral Centre commercial development. The provincial government will chip in $422,400.

After a couple of false starts, Dr. Charles Wilson is retiring for real. Wilson, vice-president of medical services for the Brandon Regional Health Authority, packs up his medical bag May 28. Dr. Andrew Baron, a former Winnipeg physician with experience in family practice and medical administration, will join the RHA on June 7. A native of Scotland, Wilson spent 30 years in Brandon in obstetrics and gynecology before jumping to administration in 1998, for what was supposed to be a two-year stint before retirement.

TEN YEARS AGO

Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services says it has initiated a review of Specialized Foster Homes after confirming a second high-profile crime has been linked to youths who live in one of them. The first incident involved the beating of a respite worker at a city home earlier this month. The second was a barn fire near Souris in which no injuries were reported.

Polar bears and planes, pirouettes and Pooh featured prominently as Prince Charles and his wife Camilla spent the last day of their four-day royal tour in the Manitoba capital on Wednesday.