Looking Back — April 29, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/04/2024 (881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

It will cost $1.25 to have a haircut tomorrow. Brandon barbers are increasing all their prices by 25 cents May 1 — the first increase in eight years.

Well-known Brandon businessman Harold Crystal died in Rochester, Minn., yesterday. He was 61. Crystal was born in Brandon, the son of a pioneer family. He was formerly associated with the Crystal Hotel operation and at the time of his death was president of Crystal Brothers Ltd., a real-estate holding company.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

The dike separating some 400 acres of Stanley Cochrane’s land from the Sioux Valley First Nation has been removed.

Graeme Haig of Winnipeg, until recently president of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party, was installed as the new president of the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce. Haig took over from David Coppleman of Russell.

Barney Thordarson, retired professor of English at Brandon University, died today after a brief illness. Thordarson taught in the arts, science and education faculties at Brandon University for about 25 years before retiring in 1972.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Brandon University’s board of governors rejected a recommendation of its budget committee and set a tentative increase of 10 per cent for next year.

The Manitoba Institute of Agrologists has presented its first agricultural journalism award to Brandon Sun reporter Hank Daniszewski.

When Mark Garfield finally made it home to his farm near Rapid City Saturday morning, his one-and-a-half storey house has been reduced to a pile of ashes. No one noticed the fire partly due to the lack of visibility during a storm which dumped up to 16 inches of snow in the area.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

The University of Manitoba will eliminate about 100 full-time positions, force employees to take six days off without pay a year and raise tuition by five per cent under a new budget passed yesterday.

The provincial government will use video lottery revenues to create jobs for 700 youths and young adults this summer.

The government’s “green team” project for provincial parks will be expanded this year to include municipal and community parks.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Smoking bans in Manitoba are proving somewhat hazardous to the health of the gaming industry. The provincial government’s gaming revenues are forecast to drop this year by $27 million — about 10 per cent — according to figures in the provincial budget.

Rural Manitoba’s harness racing industry will be guaranteed a stable source of funding for the next few years while the province replaces its fleet of video lottery terminals. The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation announced it will start replacing the province’s 5,375 VLTs beginning with machines at Assiniboia Downs, the racetrack on the west edge of Winnipeg. As well, MLC will provide an extra $156,800 to the Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit this year, followed by $500,000 after that.

TEN YEARS AGO

Waywayseecappo First Nation evacuees with homes in the direct path of a roughly 100-foot embankment are anxiously awaiting what it will mean for their community once it bursts. Once the embankment fails, it will send rushing water through a valley in Waywayseecappo, which could be disastrous for homes, Highway 45 and other roadways and infrastructure in its path.

Low-income families looking to purchase their first home are encouraged to apply for the Solutions to End Poverty Permanently program. The fourth STEPP home, located at 503 Rosser Ave. East, is complete and ready for a family.