Portage

The Polar Plunge is making its highly anticipated return to Portage la Prairie today, with participants preparing to jump into icy waters for a great cause. Hosted at Stride Place, the event raises funds for Special Olympics Manitoba, and organizers are excited to see it back after a few years of changes.

Kristen Tompsett, an event organizer, shared her excitement for the plunge.

"We're ready, we're bringing in the tank tomorrow, and we'll be all set to fill it up with water. It's always so much more fun when you have spectators cheering on the participants."

After a decade of serving as Carman Area Foundation’s chair, Janine Lodder is gearing up to exit the position.  

Accordingly, it’s no wonder that one of the most exciting and rewarding times of the year — grant season — is especially significant for her in 2025.  

For the rest of the community, it’s also a time to think about which organizations could use a helping hand to strengthen the area’s resources.  

A tightly contested matchup between the Portage Terriers and the Northern Manitoba Blizzard went the Dogs' way by a score of 2-1 on Friday night.

Just before the halfway mark of the first period, Grant Dardis put a long shot through traffic on goal, and beat the Blizzard netminder. The goal would stand as the only one in the frame. 1-0 Portage after 20 minutes.

A miscue by the Terriers in the neutral zone gave Northern Manitoba a break, which Miguel Bouvier converted to tie the game at 1. The score would not change from there in the second period.

The La Verendrye School (LVS) girls' basketball team celebrated an exciting victory in their season finale, securing the championship with a dominant 64-37 win over École Arthur Meighen. The win capped off an undefeated season for the team, a remarkable achievement that left both players and coaches with pride.

Head coach Samantha Turner reflected on the success, saying,

"It was very exciting. All three of us coaches are so proud of the girls. It was the best basketball they've played all season. They had a great attitude and didn't give up the entire game."

Peacefully on Thursday, February 20, 2025, Rick Gunderson passed away at Douglas Campbell Lodge with his loving family by his side in Portage la Prairie, MB at the age of 80 years.

The Community Foundation of Portage and District held their 7th annual ‘150 Women Who Care’ event last night at the William Glesby Centre. 

The event, which sold out in less than an hour, saw a room full of 150 women, gathering to show they care about local non-profits and their dedicated causes.  

"Manitoba has a new distinction, and that distinction is, in January of 2025, we have the highest inflation rate in Canada." 

That's from Portage la Prairie MLA Jeff Bereza who outlines affected items including fresh and frozen meat prices that are up almost nine percent, fresh vegetable prices up four percent, dairy prices up four percent, and the cost of renting a home up seven percent. 

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20TH

MJHL
Winkler 3 Niverville 2
Neepawa 5 Virden 3

Zone 4 High School Hockey
Playoffs - Semi-Final - Best of 3
Morden Thunder 7 NPC Nighthawks 2
Morden leads series 1-0

SEMHL
Playoffs: Round 1 - Best of 5
Game 4
Morden 3 Notre Dame 0
Series tied 2-2

Canada defeated its archrival the United States 3-2 in overtime in the 4 Nations Face-Off final on Thursday night in what was an emotionally-charged affair for players and fans alike.

The rematch between the two sides was intense, although it did not consist of three fights in the opening nine seconds, as the preliminary round game in Montreal did last Saturday, a 3-1 win for the Americans.

Connor McDavid scored the game winner, while Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett scored in regulation for Canada. Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson replied for the U.S. 

Seventy per cent of Canadians are in favour of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on the United States, a new poll suggests.

Nearly half of respondents to the Leger poll — 45 per cent — said they were strongly in favour of such tariffs, while 25 per cent said they were somewhat in favour.

U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to impose steep tariffs on imports from Canada and other countries.