Portage

Gary Sloik settles into his seat at the Portage Golf Club, where a group of seniors now gathers for morning coffee after relocating from their winter spot at the Herman Prior Activity Centre. The tradition, he explains, has bounced between locations for years—starting pre-pandemic at the Canad Inn office, shifting to Herman Prior during COVID-19, and returning to the golf club each summer.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum has officially opened for the 2025 season, with Quilt Week and the Homesteaders’ Village welcoming visitors as of May 12. Located near Austin, the museum now operates daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This season features a mix of tradition and new experiences across the site, which includes more than 25 heritage and replica buildings.

Rob Pehura, head coach of the Central Plains Sea Lions, reflects on a season of swimming for his team as the swimmers are tackling back-to-back meets across Manitoba and beyond. The team recently competed in Kenora and Winnipeg, with athletes like Carson Pehura—Robert’s son—gearing up for high-stakes events like the Mel Zajac International Meet in Vancouver.

Balancing competition and adaptation

Pehura notes the grueling schedule has been a test of endurance.

With the long weekend upon us, many Portagers may be looking for ways to spend time with friends, family, loved ones, or by themselves.

We've compiled a list of activities for this May long weekend that you and yours can enjoy.

#1: Relive history at a local museum

The Fort la Reine museum is opening this weekend, and new this season is the CPR Rail Exhibit, located in the Visitor Centre.

The exhibit came to be with the help of the local CPR Heritage Station, and delves into the wealth of history behind the railways that helped bring our region to life.

The sexual assault case of five hockey players faced another major upheaval Friday, abruptly converting from a jury to a judge alone in order to avoid a mistrial that would have rebooted the proceedings for a second time in less than a month.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia ruled to discharge the jury Friday over concerns about possible jury bias. The move came after a juror sent a note to the Carroccia indicating some members of the panel felt two of the defence lawyers were laughing at them as they came into court each day.

Environment and Climate Change Canada is looking into reports of tornadoes near Sperling, Gretna, and Niverville after severe storms moved through southern Manitoba on Thursday.

Tornado investigations underway

Dave Carlson, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says they are still working to verify if tornadoes actually touched down in those areas.

"We got those reports late last evening and we're working together with Northern Tornadoes Project to verify those," Carlson notes.

Much needed rainfall has arrived across Southern Manitoba, and for some locations the last 24 hours is the first accumulating precipitation (more than trace to a millimeter) in three to four weeks.

"As a moisture filled low pressure system pushed northward out of the Dakotas yesterday, several rounds of showers and embedded thunderstorms moved across the region mid to late Thursday afternoon, before general rainfall began early in the evening," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner.

Update: 

Power has now been restored to the area.

Original Story:

Manitoba Hydro was reporting several power outages across the province Friday morning including an area southwest of Lake Manitoba.

A spokesperson says they were dealing with numerous scattered outages throughout southern Manitoba related to today’s stormy weather.

Crews were working on restoring power for about 200 customers in the Westbourne/Macdonald area.

Power was expected to be restored by about 9:30 a.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 15TH

NHL
Playoffs - Round 2
Game 5
Winnipeg 4 Dallas 0
Dallas leads series 3-2

Playoffs - Round 2
Game 5
Carolina 3 Washington 1
Carolina wins series 4-1

AAAA Varsity Boys Baseball

Michelle Cutting of Portage la Prairie has started an unusual service to help pet owners struggling without a local veterinarian. Her solution? A pet transportation service to shuttle animals to clinics in nearby communities.