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Brandon Police Service vehicles sit parked in a fenced-off portion of McTavish Avenue just west of 10th Street in Brandon on Monday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Half-block of McTavish to close permanently

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Yesterday at 9:41 PM CST

A small stretch of McTavish Avenue in Brandon is set to be permanently closed to allow for easier access for the Brandon Police Service at its headquarters.

The 1000 block of McTavish Avenue was originally closed in September 2022 to allow for the construction of the BPS detention facility, which opened last year. It has remained fenced off since.

“What we’re looking for is an opportunity to have a safe space,” BPS Deputy Chief Greg Hebert said during a council meeting earlier this month.

“Originally we talked about needing more space, but really it’s to transfer our detainees into our building.”

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Pelican Lake town hall rescheduled

By Connor McDowellLocal Journalism Initiative 2 minute read Preview

Pelican Lake town hall rescheduled

By Connor McDowellLocal Journalism Initiative 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:48 PM CST

The RM of Prairie Lakes has rescheduled a public forum on the one-boat, one-lake policy that was introduced this year.

The town hall — originally planned to take place in early January — has been moved to Feb. 15 at 2 p.m., Reeve Darren Seymour told the Sun on Monday.

The rescheduling was needed because the municipality fell behind on work during the holidays and flu and cold season, and officials are also hoping to get feedback from the provincial government before the town hall.

The event will be held at Ninette Community Hall.

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:48 PM CST

RM of Prairie Lake Reeve Darren Seymour. (The Brandon Sun files)
RM of Prairie Lake Reeve Darren Seymour

Free bus rides in Brandon on New Year’s Eve

1 minute read Preview

Free bus rides in Brandon on New Year’s Eve

1 minute read Yesterday at 9:46 PM CST

Brandon Transit is offering free bus rides for people celebrating the new year.

The free rides are from 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve to 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, the city said in a post on its Facebook page.

The free rides are for all transit routes, along with access transit.

Transit buses will only run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on New Year’s Day, aside from the early morning routes, the city said.

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Yesterday at 9:46 PM CST

A man is seen boarding a Brandon Transit bus at the downtown terminal between Rosser and Pacific avenues. (The Brandon Sun files)
A man is seen boarding a Brandon Transit bus at the downtown terminal between Rosser and Pacific avenues. (The Brandon Sun files)

Woman reported missing found dead

1 minute read Preview

Woman reported missing found dead

1 minute read Yesterday at 9:44 PM CST

A 41-year-old Ebb and Flow First Nation woman who was reported missing last week was found dead on Sunday.

Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP received a report on Dec. 24 that Becky Samantha McIvor had been missing since Dec. 20.

McIvor was found deceased in a wooded area near Ebb and Flow First Nation on Sunday afternoon, Mounties said in a news release that evening.

Police said no criminality is suspected, but the cause of her death remains under investigation while RCMP await autopsy results.

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Yesterday at 9:44 PM CST

An RCMP collar tab pin. (The Canadian Press files)
An RCMP collar tab pin is seen in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

The value of giving back

By Matt Goerzen 16 minute read Preview

The value of giving back

By Matt Goerzen 16 minute read Yesterday at 9:33 PM CST

For longtime residents of Brandon and western Manitoba, the names Gord and Diane Peters need little introduction. Gord, co-founder of Cando Contracting (now Cando Rail & Terminals), and his wife, Diane, are prominent Brandon philanthropists and community champions who have been widely recognized for their substantial financial donations and volunteer efforts.

The pair served as fundraising co-chairs for the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba’s “Restoring the Glory” campaign that focused on saving and rejuvenating the city’s historic Dome Building, originally built for the 1913 Dominion Exhibition.

They have also made several donations to Assiniboine College, and to numerous initiatives through the Brandon Area Community Foundation. Most recently, the Peters donated $1 million to the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation to support the construction of the facility’s new critical care centre.

Shortly before Christmas, Brandon Sun editor Matt Goerzen sat down with the couple in their condo at the Riverside Lifestyle Estates to ask them about their approach to community stewardship and what they hope the next generation of philanthropists can learn from their experiences.

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Yesterday at 9:33 PM CST

Diane and Gord Peters in their condo at Riverside Lifestyle Estates in Brandon. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
Diane and Gord Peters in their condo at Riverside Lifestyle Estates in Brandon. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Winter pavilion taking shape at Wasagaming

By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative 3 minute read Preview

Winter pavilion taking shape at Wasagaming

By Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative 3 minute read Yesterday at 9:31 PM CST

A large snow building is being erected in Wasagaming this winter to enhance the recreational area in the cold season and host events such as a fashion show.

The Klar So Winter Pavilion is being built as an arched hallway — 16 feet high at its peak — that stretches 48 feet in length, said Karly McRae, chair of the Clear Lake Country Destination Enrichment Organization.

The structure will have two side rooms attached to the hallway, and the interior design will include a wall of ice harvested from Clear Lake.

The pavilion is part of a larger effort to build on Clear Lake’s winter season.

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Yesterday at 9:31 PM CST
Winter pavilion taking shape at Wasagaming

Brandon police officer cleared for pushing man into cell, causing fall

By Skye Anderson 3 minute read Preview

Brandon police officer cleared for pushing man into cell, causing fall

By Skye Anderson 3 minute read Yesterday at 9:43 PM CST

Manitoba’s police watchdog has cleared a Brandon Police Service officer who pushed an unco-operative man into a detention cell, resulting in him striking his head on the concrete floor and losing consciousness.

A report from the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba that was released Monday revealed that the man sustained a three-centimetre cut to his head, which was closed with four staples.

The civilian director concluded the report with a finding that the officer was “reasonable in his actions” on May 8 when the incident took place.

IIU investigators interviewed the affected person, who police identified as Orlando Bell in their report to the IIU, along with two police associates and two witness officers.

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Yesterday at 9:43 PM CST

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba's Winnipeg offices. (File)

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba's Winnipeg offices. (File)

Nurses signing on for critical care centre

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Preview

Nurses signing on for critical care centre

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Yesterday at 9:29 PM CST

Prairie Mountain Health is having success in recruiting nurses to work in the soon-to-be-opened Brandon hospital critical care centre.

Around 30 positions have been posted online for the internal medicine unit, which has seen interest from internal PMH staff and nurses working outside the health region and province, said Prairie Mountain CEO Treena Slate.

PMH has recruited nurses from Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan to work in the new building so far, she said.

“We are having good success in filling a lot of those positions. So, that’s really good.”

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Yesterday at 9:29 PM CST

Visitors to the Brandon Regional Health Centre pass by the under-construction critical care building on Monday. The facility is scheduled to open early in the new year. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
Visitors to the Brandon Regional Health Centre pass by the under-construction critical care building on Monday. The facility is scheduled to open early in the new year. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

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PC MLAs unimpressed with report on media support

By Alex Lambert 4 minute read Preview

PC MLAs unimpressed with report on media support

By Alex Lambert 4 minute read Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025

The recommendations of a recent all-party report on how to support Manitoba’s news media don’t go far enough, says a member of the committee that was tasked with drafting it.

MLA Greg Nesbitt says he and fellow Progressive Conservative MLA Konrad Narth weren’t given a proper chance to provide input, and they want their names taken off the report.

“It wasn’t an all-party report, and that’s why we asked to have our names removed,” Nesbitt said.

The report, released on Dec. 19, included recommendations that the government spend 25 per cent of its advertising on local media, explore options to offer support through tax credits and develop a reporting mechanism for advertising spending, which would allow outlets to see where advertising money is being spent.

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Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025

Greg Nesbitt
Greg Nesbitt

China stages military drills around Taiwan to warn ‘external forces’ after US, Japan tensions

Kanis Leung, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

China stages military drills around Taiwan to warn ‘external forces’ after US, Japan tensions

Kanis Leung, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:16 AM CST

HONG KONG (AP) — China's military on Monday dispatched air, navy and rocket troops to conduct joint live-fire drills around the island of Taiwan, which Beijing called a “stern warning” against separatist and “external interference” forces. Taiwan said it was placing its forces on alert and called the Chinese government “the biggest destroyer of peace.”

Taiwan’s aviation authority said more than 100,000 international air travelers would be affected by flight cancellations or diversions.

The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at what could be the largest-ever U.S. arms sale to the self-ruled territory and at a statement by Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan. China says Taiwan must come under its rule.

The Chinese military did not mention the United States and Japan in its statement on Monday.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:16 AM CST

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), front row second from left, poses with other military officers after promoting to generals, back row, from left, Yang Zhibin of the Eastern Theater Command and Han Shengyan commander of Central Theater Command in Beijing on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Li Gang/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), front row second from left, poses with other military officers after promoting to generals, back row, from left, Yang Zhibin of the Eastern Theater Command and Han Shengyan commander of Central Theater Command in Beijing on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Li Gang/Xinhua via AP)

Man facing murder charges after couple dies in shooting on rural Alberta road: RCMP

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Man facing murder charges after couple dies in shooting on rural Alberta road: RCMP

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:16 AM CST

GRANDE PRAIRIE - Mounties in Alberta say a man who was on the lam has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder after a husband and wife died in a targeted shooting on a northern rural road.

Cpl. Troy Savinkoff says Grande Prairie RCMP received a call for an active shooting early Saturday near the intersection of Range Road 35 and Township Road 730.

Savinkoff says David Lagace, who was 54, and his wife, Michelle, who was 44, were found dead next to their car, and their alleged killer was nowhere in sight.

The spokesman says investigators quickly identified a suspect named 42-year-old Curtis Phillip Halladay.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:16 AM CST

RCMP personnel are seen during an active investigation in Montreal on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
RCMP personnel are seen during an active investigation in Montreal on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

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