Candace Derksen

After a few tough years, the Mennonite Collegiate Institute's (MCI) Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to pause operations of the private Christian school effective the end of June.  

MCI is an Anabaptist Christian high school (gr. 9-12) located south of Altona in Gretna, Manitoba. The school was founded in 1889 and in those 136 years it attracted students from all over southern Manitoba, including many from here in the Southeast. 

After a few tough years, the Mennonite Collegiate Institute's (MCI) Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to pause operations of the private Christian school in Gretna, effective the end of June. 

CEO, Kris Harms, says the timing of the announcement is unfortunate, but is tied to the fact that the decision was not made lightly.

"It's a very serious situation." That from Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew in an update on the province's wildfire situation Thursday, who says fire fighters from across Manitoba and beyond continue to blazes on several fronts. 

As of Thursday morning, Kinew said there were 16,800 evacuees registered in Manitoba. Many of which have been put up in hotels across Manitoba, occupying about 1,700 rooms. 

He added, it's been great to see people step up and provide donations, volunteer at shelters and even take evacuees into their homes. 

"It's a very serious situation." That from Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew in an update on the province's wildfire situation Thursday, who says fire fighters from across Manitoba and beyond continue to blazes on several fronts. 

As of Thursday morning, Kinew said there were 16,800 evacuees registered in Manitoba. Many of which have been put up in hotels across Manitoba, occupying about 1,700 rooms. 

He added, it's been great to see people step up and provide donations, volunteer at shelters and even take evacuees into their homes. 

Deer fawning season is just around the corner, and a provincial wildlife official is drawing attention to a frequent source of conflict that comes with it.
    
Janine Wilmot, a wildlife conflict biologist, says, often, people will see a deer fawn out on its own and, assuming it's been abandoned, they'll want to bring it to safety. 

"It's actually way better to leave it be," she explained, noting the doe will usually leave their fawns alone for hours while they go feed. "It could be six or even eight hours later when they come back."

Border Land School Division (BLSD) officials are keeping an eye on the wildfire burning in the RM of Piney around Carrick, Badger, St. Labre and Florze.

While none of the people evacuated from Carrick or Badger are students or staff from the division, that is not the case for staff living in Woodridge who were evacuated Wednesday evening, noted Superintendent Krista Curry. She says the division has told staff and families to stay safe and follow evacuation orders, adding they'll be checking in with those affected to see how they can be supported.

Does this vehicle look familiar to you?

If so, you're asked to contact the Altona Police Service.

In a social media post on Tuesday afternoon, the department said it is looking for the owner of the vehicle, described as a dark coloured sedan equipped with red and blue flashing lights on the dashboard.

Police say this is relation to an incident at the Altona Park that happened Sunday evening. 

The Morris Advanced Robotics team closed out the VEX World Championships in Dallas, Texas with a 3-7 record. 

In the final update, leader, JP Jamieson, noted the team (88875M) lost its final two matches (the last by only one point).

"(There was) lots of great learning from playing teams from all over the world," he added.

Overall, the team (88875M) finished #221 out of the over 800 teams at the tournament in the Skills Competition. This is a season high for both their driver score, and autonomous score.

It was all hands-on deck very early this morning as fire fighters responded to a house fire in Morris.

According to a social media post, members of the Morris Fire Department got the call at 1:05 a.m.

Once on scene, it was determined more help would be needed, and a mutual aid call was sent out to the St. Jean Fire Department.

No other details on the incident are available at this time.

The Community Orchard in Altona will continue to take shape this spring.
    
A-CAN, the grassroots group behind the effort, planted a shelter belt and built some berms at the site, located just north of the Community Garden, last year.