Busy morning for Hanover Fire Department, including crash involving cows

One person was taken to hospital early Friday morning, following a highway crash south of Steinbach involving two cows. 

Hanover Fire Chief Paul Wiebe says their crews were called to the scene shortly after 5 am. It happened along Highway 12, just south of Road 32 North, or Ridge Road.

Wiebe says there were two occupants in the vehicle. The driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. 

According to Wiebe, both cows died in the crash. Wiebe says they are investigating where the cows came from.

Morning crash slows traffic near Blumenort

Emergency crews are currently at the scene of a collision north of Blumenort.

It involved at least two vehicles at the intersection of Highway 12 and Road 42N.

A motorist passing through there says the collision has slowed traffic in the northbound lanes. As of 7:30 am, the left northbound lane is blocked by emergency crews. 

A tow truck is currently on scene.

This is a developing story and we will provide more details as they become available. 

Prosecutors say alleged smugglers at Manitoba border cared more for money than lives

A prosecutor urged a jury Thursday to find two accused human smugglers guilty, saying the men cared more about money than people's safety and their actions led to the deaths of a family of four in a prairie blizzard.

"They knew they were risking people's lives," Michael McBride said in his closing arguments after three days of testimony in U.S. district court.

"To them, all of those people were nothing but dollar signs."

Hockey For All: SMHA Raffle a huge success

The Steinbach Minor Hockey Association recently held the Steinbach Minor Hockey Raffle. 3076 raffle tickets were sold, successfully raising $60,000 to cover the registration fees of their members. 

Raffle prizes included: 

1st place - $5000.00 cash (Winner- Jess Loewen)
2nd place - $2500.00 cash (Winner- Karen & Wesley Fontaine)
3rd place - $1000.00 gift card to Harvest Honda (Winner- Savannah Neudstadter  
30 additional $250 cash prizes and gift card to local businesses 
Early bird: 2 Winnipeg Jets tickets

Identifying the biggest yield robbers for canola in 2024

2024 will go down as the year of canola disease.

That is according to Curtis Rempel, Vice President of Crop Production and Innovation with the Canola Council of Canada. Rempel says diseases were primarily root and lower stem. He notes this was partially due to the wet and cool conditions felt in large parts of the Prairies.

"For a lot of stubble-borne fungi, which are primarily disease-causing organisms, they are all fungal-related," explains Rempel. "The cool, damp conditions really allow the fungus to take off."

Housing boom: October building permits in Steinbach reach nearly $30 Million

Steinbach is experiencing a building boom, with a significant uptick in housing developments across the city. October 2024 saw impressive numbers in building permits, signaling strong growth for the year. City Council recently received an update on the building permit activity, which shows a thriving housing market and a steady increase in both residential and commercial developments.