Robyn Wiebe

Chris Abrams has declared his intention to run for one of two Morden City Councilor seats left vacant after newly elected Florian Lassnig resigned, followed by the resignation of Mayor Brandon Burley two weeks later. Councilor Nancy Penner then resigned her council position to run for Mayor, leaving a second vacant councilor seat. 

Abrams has lived in Morden for the past thirty years with his wife and has raised his three wonderful children here. Now he likes to spend time with his grandchildren as well.      

Winkler's Masen Rempel doesn't really remember when his mom, Sherri, was in a wheelchair when he was little, but he has seen pictures. Sherri lives with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and before surgery and lots of physio, was confined to a wheelchair, which at first, she admits, she hated. She said it was her only way to get around and said it was very helpful, until she learned to walk again. 

Masen's grandmother showed him a news article about collecting tabs for wheelchairs and it inspired him to do the same.  

After a year of establishing a new Citizens on Patrol Program (COPP) in Morden, a little recognition for efforts made has come its way.  

COPP Coordinator Shannon Sylvester explained. 

"We had gone into Winnipeg to the annual general meeting of all Manitoba Citizens on Patrol Program volunteers and Morden was recognized for their group that has started in Morden."  

She said although founder of the Morden COPP Shane Houser has stepped back to focus on other commitments, the group has been able to grow. 

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre (CFDC) has just completed one more of the special projects it has been working on for a year. 

With help from the Federal Canada Cultural Spaces Fund (Department of Canadian Heritage / Government of Canada) with $67,595 and the Provincial Building Sustainable Communities Program with $62,075 governments support, together with $6,600 coming from the Signature Museums Endowment Fund, plus other CFDC funds for a total investment of $139,723, a professional 3D System has been purchased and is already working on two very important projects.   

After a summer of trying something new, Morden City Council put out a survey for the entire community to give their input into the closure of a portion of 8th St downtown, beside the iconic clocktower all day, for the entire summer. The area had been closed other years for the weekly Farmers' Market and for Suncatch Concert Series, this year the leap was taken to try something that had been talked about for years. 

Deputy Mayor Gord Maddock said they had heard a lot of feedback from certain groups but wanted to give everyone a chance to have their say. 

Three empty seats around the Morden City Council table didn't stop the remaining councilors and staff from conducting business at Monday night's public council meeting.  

Deputy Mayor Gord Maddock said there's still lots of work happening. 

Last week, Morden Police received a warrant of arrest for a 20-year-old male for failing to comply with an arrest warrant. The male turned himself in a couple days later, on the strength of the warrant. He was given a promise to appear in Court in January and released. 

Thursday, officers were called to an accident at the intersection of Hwy 3 and 1st Street. A vehicle made a left turn in front of another vehicle, causing a collision. No injuries were reported and both vehicles were towed from the scene. 

Snow came a bit earlier this year, triggering the start of the first snow clearing parking ban in Winkler. The ban was enacted for the first time mid-afternoon Thursday.

Mayor Henry Siemens reported how it went. 

Morden City Council has approved a new project going ahead at the Hillside Cemetery on Highway 3 West of Morden. 

Director of Parks and Urban Forestry Shawn Dias explained. 

"We just approached council to get their approval for earmarking some funds for cemetery reserves for restoration of some older monuments. So typically, when there's no family available to help with either lifting or repair if needed, then that falls back onto the city and it's our responsibility and it's important to us to keep the cemetery upkeep and maintenance looking nice." 

Progressive Conservative MLAs were sworn in last week taking their new role as the Opposition Party of Manitoba. 

Morden-Winkler MLA Carrie Hiebert was given the role as the Shadow Minister for Housing, Addictions, and Homelessness.