Portage

As Dana Williams likes to say, they do a lot more than sell sofas and mattresses at Dufresne Furniture & Appliances in Portage la Prairie.

“We don’t just sell furniture,” she explains. “We help families make memories around the kitchen table, give them a healthy night’s sleep and create a safe refuge where they can relax and unwind from the daily grind.”

As the season changes and children return to classrooms, illness and its prevention once again become a topic of concern for families, school administrators, and the community.

Amid an abundance of advice, old wives’ tales, and myths surrounding catching a bug, one might wonder what the best practices of prevention are and how to think about illness overall, especially at a time of year when children are gathered in the proximity of the classroom. 

Chris Leckie, Fire Chief for the MacGregor Fire Department, says the Glow Golf fundraiser is set for September 20 at the MacGregor Golf Course. Registration begins at 7 p.m., with tee-off at 8 p.m.

“The night golf is happening on September 20th, and you have the MacGregor Golf Course, and it's a fundraiser for the MacGregor Fire Department,” says Leckie.

The department ran the event years ago before pausing it, then revived it last year with strong support.

The Manitoba First Nations Police Service (MFNPS) has a new chief at the helm, and it’s a familiar face. After serving in the role on an interim basis since January, Jason Colon has officially been appointed Chief of Police.

Colon, who brings more than 27 years of policing experience, says he’s ready to guide the service into its next chapter.

It’s harvest season, and for many farm families, that means long days in the field, unpredictable weather, and the familiar hum of combines moving through the crops. For the Moran family, it also means carrying on a legacy that stretches back more than a century.

Shaun Moran, one of the family owners of Moran Farms, has been working the land for 51 years. He says the operation is deeply rooted in tradition.

“My great-grandfather started in 1906, so together, we've had six generations on the farm,” Moran explains. 

Deputy Opposition Leader Jeff Bereza says he was alarmed to learn that James Hilton, the man accused in the death of Portage resident Kellie Verwey, had been released to an unsupervised treatment facility before disappearing. Bereza says he was notified of Hilton’s release late last week and was surprised that tighter monitoring was not in place given Hilton’s history.

Harvest is well underway across the province, and while cold weather may still be a little way off, now is the time to start planning for fall soil testing, which is a key step in setting up next season’s success.

The camping season is winding down at Portage la Prairie’s Island Park Campgrounds, with officials reflecting on a year significantly impacted by poor weather and widespread wildfires in Manitoba.

Heather Greenlay, General Manager of the Portage Industrial Exhibition Campgrounds, which operates the site, says it has been a different season marked by a noticeable drop in bookings compared to recent years.

A new survey conducted by Probe Research for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) and the Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM) shows overwhelming support for federal funding to help communities build and upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure.

Eighty-three per cent of Manitobans strongly agree or somewhat agree that Ottawa must step in to support projects such as treatment plants, sewer pipes, and sewage lagoons.

AMM president Kathy Valentino says the findings confirm what municipalities have been saying for years.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH

MJHL EXHIBITION
Virden 8 Portage 1 
Niverville 3 Selkirk 2 

MLB
Toronto 4 Houston 3

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH

MJHL EXHIBITION
Portage at Virden, 7:30 PM
Winnipeg Blues at Niverville, 7:30 PM