Candace Derksen

The Morris pool is going to get about $600,000 in updates later this year. 
    
Melissa Lamotte, the Town's facilities manager, says a beach style/zero-entry will be created, and the pool's membrane, pumps and concrete will be replaced.

Three years of planning and fundraising came to a head Wednesday as the community gathered at Morris School to help turn the sod on a multi-sport court project. 

"It is so exciting. We started this project in 2021 and we are just about there," said Susan Chartier, chair of the Red River Wellness Committee, a local group formed specifically with the purpose of replacing the outdoor basketball/tennis court at the school.

There are now more opportunities for people to camp in Emerson. 

While 10 new campsites became available for the start of the season on May Long weekend, officials gathered to officially cut the ribbon on Thursday. 

"We're pretty excited about it," said Dave Carlson, Reeve for the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin. "It's a great enhancement for our park and it's good for tourism."

The new sites are a pull-through style and can accommodate larger RVs and camper trailers. They are also fully serviced with water, electric and sewer hookups. 

It all happened on November 2nd, 2012.
    
13-year-old Jaired Heinrichs was cleaning up his parents' yard in Rosengart, getting it ready for a family gathering, when he decided to pour gasoline on a pile of burning leaves to speed things up.

Pembina Valley RCMP are looking for the public's help in solving a month-long investigation. 

Around 4 a.m. on April 17th, officers were called to a break-in at McGee's Restaurant in Carman. 

According to surveillance footage, police say two suspects used a crowbar to get into the business through the back. Once inside, they stole two cash registers with $300 inside. They took off on foot before police arrived. 

RCMP believe these suspects to be involved in another Break and Enter that took place five days earlier at the flower shop in Carman. 

The orthopedic team at Boundary Trails Health Centre (BTHC) was able to perform more hip and knee replacement surgeries than planned last year. In total, 639 surgeries were completed. That's 139 more than planned, according to the Government of Manitoba. 

The 2022 Manitoba Sunflower Festival Queen is back in Altona after visiting the town's Australian sister city, Emerald.
    
Halle Hildebrand was joined by her parents, sister and aunt, as well as First Princess Amber Thiessen and her mom. She and Amber participated in the 2023 Central Highlands Sunflower Festival, along with Emerald's 2022 queen, Piper Rhoda. 

Indoor vape use has Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) officials looking to install vape detectors in some schools. While vaping isn't exclusively happening in the high schools, Superintendent Dan Ward says that is where use is the highest. 

"Certainly, our principals and our teachers and our staff and our parents are concerned," he said. "They're concerned because of the health impacts of vaping and what we don't know about the long-term impacts of vaping, especially for young people and our teenagers."

An effort to improve cellphone service in and around Plum Coulee has come farther than ever before. 

Bell MTS is proposing to erect a 104-metre guyed tower about 700 metres north of Highway 14 and Road 15 West and is now inviting feedback from the public.

"We've never seen (it get) that far before, so this is encouraging!" said Reeve Don Wiebe. 

Police are looking for two people following a Break and Enter at a Carman business last month.

According to Pembina Valley RCMP, video surveillance shows two suspects come up to the back of the local flower shop around 2 a.m. on April 13th, and then attempted to gain entry through a side entrance before using a plank of wood and a crowbar to forcefully get in through a back door. Once inside, police say the duo cut phone wires, broke a flower pot, and stole cash before taking off on foot, heading north into the back alleyway 20 minutes later.