Portage

It's been decided. Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) is permanently closing its doors.
    
In June, the board of directors announced it was pausing operations of the private school in Gretna. That led to a meeting with the school's society church delegates earlier this month where a motion to permanently close the school and liquidate all assets passed with a majority vote of 26-21 with four abstentions.

This decision ends a 136-year legacy of developing young peoples’ God-given gifts in an Anabaptist Christian setting 

It was a big milestone for a longtime local business in Portage la Prairie. On Tuesday, DC Security celebrated 30 years since opening its doors, and owner Dean Cairns marked the occasion with a barbecue and fundraiser at the shop.

“Today is awesome,” says Cairns. “Great to see all these people come out."

The event brought in a steady stream of about 200 visitors and longtime supporters.

Along with the food, roughly $1,300 in donations was collected in support of Central Plains Cancer Services. Cairns is planning to top that amount up to $2,000.

Residents of the Municipality of North Cypress–Langford are being notified of a planned water outage scheduled for Thursday, July 17 at approximately 9:30 a.m.

The interruption is required to complete a line repair in the area.

Once the repair is finished, a boil water advisory will be issued as a precautionary measure.

Updates will be shared by municipal officials as they become available.

TUESDAY, JULY 15TH

American Association Baseball
Sioux Falls Canaries 2 Winnipeg Goldeyes 0

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16TH

Manitoba Junior Baseball League
Playoffs - Best of 3
Game 3
Winnipeg South Junior at Pembina Valley Orioles - 7:00 PM
Series tied 1-1

Thousands of Manitobans remain out of their home communities due to wildfires.

With recent cooler weather — accompanied by rain in some areas — there was no word of additional evacuations as of Tuesday afternoon.

But the 13,000 residents of Thompson were still being told to be ready to evacuate if necessary as the forecast called for drier weather and strong winds.

The Canadian Red Cross was already housing evacuees in Winnipeg.

RCMP say they've arrested the pilot of a small aircraft that was allegedly hijacked from Victoria and flown to Vancouver International Airport, where other flights had to be temporarily halted.

RCMP in Richmond, B.C., say in a statement that a report came in just after 1 p.m. Tuesday about a Cessna that "had been hijacked" and was on its way to Vancouver.

Police say the "sole occupant" of the plane was arrested after it touched down. 

The company that owns a rail line and port in northern Manitoba has increased its capacity to transport goods, as governments eye potential growth in trade through Hudson Bay to overseas markets.

Officials with Arctic Gateway Group said Tuesday a new dedicated critical mineral storage facility has been built at the Port of Churchill, tripling the port’s storage capacity for critical minerals.

Mil-Jeanne Flowers & Axcenz in Portage la Prairie is cooling off, literally, after completing a much-needed renovation to its walk-in cooler.

The expansion comes just in time for the busy summer and fall seasons, giving the shop more room to store fresh blooms and meet growing customer demand.

Owner Kyle Pettinger says the upgrade has been a long time coming.

Big changes are coming to garbage collection in Portage la Prairie.

Starting August 1, the city is switching to an automated system using standardized 360-litre solid waste carts.

To help prepare residents, a public open house is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment.

Representatives from the city and contractor MWM Environmental will be on hand to answer questions and give people a chance to see the new carts in person.

While wildfire smoke continues to blanket parts of Manitoba in haze and poor air quality, the agricultural impact is only one part of a much more serious situation, says Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Jill Verwey.

Verwey, who farms near Portage la Prairie, acknowledges that smoke-filled skies can sometimes reduce crop stress by lowering sunlight intensity and cooling temperatures during sensitive growth periods. But she says that benefit comes with a heavy cost.