Portage

The United Way Portage office for West Central Manitoba hosted a luncheon Thursday at noon to introduce its campaign team and chair, and to kick off its new fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise $229,000 to support the eight service agencies under its wing.

Community engagement co-ordinator Megan Romphf said they are already in the midst of the 2024 campaign season.

“It’s a great day to come and learn about what we’re doing in the community, who we’re supporting, and why we’re doing it,” she said.

A local gas station proved that crime doesn't pay when a suspect tried to use stolen Amazon packages to pay for their gas.

Now, the Lundar/Ashern RCMP are requesting the public's assistance in identifying this suspect who, on September 12, at 5:35 p.m., attended the Fas Gas Plus on Highway 6 in Lundar and tried to pay for fuel using stolen Amazon packages. The driver fled the gas station in a vehicle which was reported stolen out of Winnipeg earlier that day.

Bill Vigars, who led the promotion of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope in 1980, has died at the age of 78. 

His wife, Sherry MacDonald, confirmed the news in an interview, saying Vigars died of congestive heart failure on Thursday surrounded by loved ones at a hospital in White Rock, B.C. She said he fought a "long, tough battle" that began when he had a heart attack in June. 

Vigars is survived by his wife, two children, a stepson and one grandson. He will be honoured at a private ceremony of life early next year, MacDonald said.

The Portage Terriers and Winkler Flyers will meet for their second matchup of the season, exactly one week after their first.

Winkler won the initial matchup 4-1, as Portage could convert only once on eight powerplay opportunities, while giving up three goals during their six penalty kills.

The Terriers penalty kill is riding a hot streak to go along with goaltender Mitchell Kathler's back-to-back shutouts. Kathler has stopped 38 shots in the last two games, but will undoubtedly see more than the average of 19 he has faced in the previous games.

Portagers are preparing to be thankful once again, and several citizens and temporary residents shared their reasons with PortageOnline.

Brendon Brydges, Head Coach of the PCI Trojans football team, says he's focused on people this year.

"I'm thankful for my family and for my coaching staff."

Kyle Pettinger, owner of Mil-Jeanne Flowers & Axcenz, has quite a list of things he's thankful for in 2024.

A growing number of Liberal MPs are banding together to convince Prime Minister Justin Trudeau it's time to step down, although he appears to retain support from his cabinet.

Trade Minister Mary Ng said Friday she had full confidence in Trudeau as word began to spread about a growing revolt. Ng was travelling back to Canada with Trudeau from Laos, where they were attending a summit of southeast Asian countries.

Stéphan Perreault and his team have been helping restore power in North Carolina since Hurricane Helene hit in late September, and they don't expect to be heading home any time soon.

They are some of the hundreds — possibly thousands — of Canadian line workers who have been called into service to help rebuild power grids after Helene and now Hurricane Milton have left millions of Americans in the dark.

In a challenging game on Wednesday, October 9, The PCI Trojans football team faced a tough defeat by the Fort Frances Muskies 23 – 18. Despite a shaky start, the team displayed a remarkable turnaround, scoring 12 unanswered points after halftime.  

Coach Brendon Brydges noted a significant mentality shift at the end of the first half.  

“We realized we could compete that second half.”  

With minor hockey teams around the area settling in for another the season, major changes will be happening behind the scenes at the board level of Portage Minor Hockey.

Friday, the president, vice-president and a newly elected board member this season all resigned their posts and will be leaving the board immediately. 

The move came as a surprise to the rest of the directors and an emergency board only meeting has now been planned this weekend so they can decide how to proceed and what the best course of action is for the remainder of the 2024/2025 season.

The leaves have changed colour, the wind has become fiercer, and the McCain Interactive Fountain has closed for the season, indicating that fall is here and winter is approaching.

According to the city's director of operations, Jocelyn Lequier-Jobin, there isn't an exact day on the calendar to shut off the fountain, but the city usually turns it off near the end of September.

"This year, we had it on a little longer than other years, with our beautiful September weather, it was getting used right until the end," she laughed