PembinaValley

Funeral For:  William Willy Friesen 
Funeral Date: April 24, 2025 
William Willy Friesen, 86, of Steinbach passed away Friday, April 18th at Bethesda Regional Health Centre. He is survived by 3 daughters, 3 sons, 2 sisters, 1 brother, and their families. He was predeceased by his wife Helen, 1 daughter, 1 son, 2 grandchildren, and 7 siblings. 
The funeral service for Willliam Willy Friesen will be held Thursday, April 24th at 11am at Birchwood Funeral Chapel with burial at Heritage Cemetery. 
Viewing will be at the chapel prior to the service.  

A strong community is built not just on shared spaces, but shared values. And this Thursday, April 24th, Morden residents are invited to live those values by supporting the Food for All fundraiser at Gardenland Co-op, running from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hosted by CFAM Radio 950, Country 88, and The Eagle 93.5, this important event raises both non-perishable food items and cash donations for Many Hands, a local organization supporting people experiencing food insecurity in the region.

Cattle market analyst Anne Wasko from Gateway Livestock says that's largely due to tariff uncertainties leading up to April 2nd. 

She notes despite that cattle prices in Western Canada have remained strong, hitting record highs across all classes of cattle with slaughter cow prices hitting another high last week.

Other than some isolated drips and showers the last couple weeks, there has been a general lack of rainfall so far this Spring across the region. That changed Tuesday with the first widespread accumulating event of the season.

"It was the combination of two low pressure systems kind of meeting over Southeastern Saskatchewan and Southern Manitoba that led to the event we had yesterday," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "One of the disturbances originally came out of Alberta, with the second pushing northward out of North Dakota."

Tempers flared at the Manitoba legislature Tuesday as the Opposition Progressive Conservatives questioned the NDP government about a contract for mental health therapy, suggesting it may have been for the benefit of Finance Minister Adrien Sala.

Tory Greg Nesbitt tabled a document that shows the Finance department recently signed a contract for $10,205 with a counselling services provider in Winnipeg. The provider advertises services including stress management, grief counselling and conflict resolution.

The waning days of the federal election campaign saw voters turn out in record numbers for advance polls and party leaders attempt to poke holes in each others' platforms.

Elections Canada said in a news release Tuesday that the four days of advance polling between Friday and Monday set a new record for turnout, with 7.3 million people casting ballots early.

That's up 25 per cent from the 5.8 million people who took part in advance voting in the 2021 federal election.

There are signs of Spring across Winkler, including a variety of public works related clean-up operations. Mayor Henry Siemens says street cleaning has been underway for about two weeks, already.

After doing some work indoors, the U13 AAA South Central Cubs are ready to head outside onto the diamond and start the 2025 season.

Coach Scott Edwards admits this time of year is special as a new season is on the horizon. "We're feeling good, it's been a bit of a grind through the last month as we worked through indoor sessions, given the climate we're in. We've gotten to the point where we have made our team and we're ready to get out on the baseball filed here in the next week or so. We're all very excited."

On April 14th, a member of the Pembina Valley received a very special invitation.  

Adolfo Cuetara, the executive director at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre (CFDC) in Morden, was invited to a meeting between 18 ambassadors to Canada and the Government of Manitoba, including Premier Wab Kinew.  

Following a comprehensive investigation by Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation’s inspection and investigation section, the FALG program was suspended in February for Alberta’s largest cattle financing co-operative, alleging a number of financial mismanagement and regulatory issues.
 
As negotiations continue to reinstate the Feeders Association Loan Guarantee program to the Picture Butte Feeder Co-operative, the provincial cattle feeders association is making its feelings known.