Portage

The Portage la Prairie Bear Clan remains steadfast in its commitment to strengthening community connections and eagerly envisions advancements as we approach 2025.

Coordinator Randy Lilley took on his role with the organization just under a year ago and says he has relished being a part of a great group of people.

The Portage la Prairie Regional Library is trying to keep the joys of reading alive, and they've been gaining traction over the past few years.

Jen Kendall, director of the Portage Regional Library, attended the Rotary Club of Portage la Prairie meeting on September 3. She says over the past three years, she's worked to improve the experience for all library lovers. This includes both their selection and library layout.

Tristan Chandler, a recent high school graduate from Portage Collegiate Institute, is settling into life at Itasca College in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where he will pursue both his education and a baseball career. Chandler, who was awarded a scholarship to play baseball at the college level, expresses his excitement about the opportunity.

"It's pretty awesome. I'm very fortunate to get a scholarship and I'm just enjoying my time."

Training camp has kicked off for the Portage Terriers, with hockey players from across Canada and some from the US making the trip to Portage. Several players took part in pre-camp skates at Stride Place, including Rhett Perrin and Parker Scherr. Both are returning players from last season.

Parker Scherr and Rhett Perrin caught up with PortageOnline to discuss being back in Portage for the season. Scherr, who hails from Edmonton, Alberta, is joining the team for his third season and says several of the guys have already gotten out on the ice.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes (1-1) mounted a furious sixth inning rally and staved off elimination Friday evening with a 7-3 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries at Blue Cross Park. The best-of-three American Association West Division Series is now even at a game apiece.
 
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Portage la Prairie MLA Jeff Bereza is taking steps to prepare the community for the upcoming National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Bereza recently announced the presentation of two one-time Orange Shirt Day Fund Grants on behalf of the Government of Manitoba to the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation (PCRC) and Long Plain School.

A Saskatoon high school student remembers the pungent smell of burned hair going up her nose, and something like the strong scent from a Sharpie marker, moments after she watched a schoolmate being set on fire.

She had just stepped out of her Grade 9 social studies class for lunch on Thursday, she says, when she saw two other girls in a hallway. A girl in a crop top poured liquid from a black canister onto the head of the girl standing next to her.

When a father and son were arrested this summer in Ontario over an alleged terrorist plot, U.S. authorities say the news spooked a 20-year-old Pakistani national and Canadian resident named Muhammad Shahzeb Khan.

They say Khan used encrypted messaging to warn that because of the arrests "here in Toronto," there was a need to "lay low" on his own alleged plans: killing as many Jewish people as possible in New York around the Oct. 7 anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel.

Among changes made to federal policies for foreign workers, the allowance for what has come to be commonly known as 'Flagpoling' to renew a work permit appears to be coming to an end. Portage la Prairie is temporary home to such workers who are now facing this dilemma 

Portage Learning and Literacy Centre's Miriam Ghitale explains that this refers to leaving Canada to cross the U.S. border, applying to renew their permit, and immediately returning to work here.

Tributes poured in Friday for Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, who died after collapsing outside the Winnipeg Law Courts building. 

Merrick, the first woman elected to the role, was talking to reporters about two court cases when she said she felt dizzy and fell to the ground. 

Fire and paramedic crews arrived, performed chest compressions and carried Merrick away on a stretcher to an ambulance, which sped off with its siren on.