Candace Derksen/Terry Klippenstein

“In Canada, only 14% of children receive a comprehensive eye exam by Grade 1.” -- National Coalition for Vision Health. 
 
"Students who do not read proficiently by the end of Grade 3 are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma than proficient readers." -- Hernandez, Donald J. 2011. Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation 
 

Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia has transformed the city of Zaporizhzhya into a fortress, stressing residents with the constant threat of bombing.

The Mennonite Benevolent Society (MBS) has operated a family center in the city since 2002, taking a three-pronged approach to community outreach.

A grassroots group has been formed in Altona to raise awareness of the history and experience of Indigenous peoples in Canada.  

Spokesperson, Dorothy Braun, says members from the Altona United Church and the community at large were drawn together by the words of Murray Sinclair, chairman of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2009 to 2015.

The clean-up continues after post-tropical storm Fiona tore a path through Atlantic Canada this past weekend. 

Irv and Tammy Loewen, along with their friends Gerry and Laurie Sawatzky, from Altona were on a ferry to the island when they learned that the Maritimes were about to be hit.  

After touring Charlottetown and enjoying a post-dinner stroll in the gentle rain, Tammy and Irv retired for the night in their hotel, a solid brick building constructed in 1931. 

Tammy says their experience with Fiona was a little surreal.

The Altona campground experienced a busy and successful summer in 2022.

"If we want to look in terms of comparison to last year numbers in 2021," explains Recreation manager Eric Hildebrand, "We had an increase of just over thirty-five per cent in nights booked for this past summer and a twenty-one per cent increase in overall reservations or bookings in 2022 compared to 2021. So, really an outstanding season for our campground facility within the Altona Centennial Park."

Fifty-four years after West Park Motors opened it's doors in 1968, the Altona dealership has been sold to the Pinnacle Auto Group based in Winnipeg.  

Former owner, Ray Loewen, sensed Pinnacle was the ideal company to carry the dealership into the future.

"They've got a strong family orientation, run their dealerships very much the way we've tried to run West Park over the years. And so I felt comfortable knowing that if we sold to them, that Brian and his team would look after our people, would look after our customers and would look after the community."

On Saturday, June 25th, Roseau Valley School in Dominion City proudly handed out diplomas to nineteen graduates. 

Abbey Chubaty and Darci Wilkinson were chosen as co-valedictorians for the Class of 2022.

Chubaty will never forget taking that walk across the stage.

RCMP are warning the public of the latest trick employed by online scammers. Sextortion is used to extract a ransom from victims under threat of posting fake sexually explicit images of their targets to social media. 

Corporal Shea Argue, with the Pembina Valley detachment, says the primary targets are teenagers and young adults, but notes older adults are vulnerable as well.

As one of the benefactors of the Province's Building Sustainable Communities Fund, the Plum Coulee Pedestrian Bridge project will receive more than $64,000. 

June Letkeman is a spokesperson for the Pedestrian Bridge Committee. 

"I'm just super happy that we finally got it because we'd applied a couple of years and didn't get it. This extra $64,000 is just huge for us because we can do our Phase One of the project, which is the engineering, geotechnical analysis and design, and hydrologic study and things like that."

A $10,000 fundraising campaign has kicked off to cover the cost of planting additional trees around the Access Field ball diamond in Altona.

Project spokesperson Ken Wiebe says they're calling it, One Hundred Trees For Access.