Steinbach

UPDATE 8:30 am

Environment Canada has now issued an Air Quality Warning for all of southern Manitoba for Monday. 

Smoke from wildfires in northern Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan is causing very poor air quality and reduced visibility. 

The smoke will improve in most locations this morning, once the rain starts.

It notes that as smoke levels increase, health risks increase, and residents are asked to limit their time outdoors and consider reducing or rescheduling outdoor sports, activities, and events. 

As emergency officials work to find hotel space for wildfire evacuees on the Prairies, a Manitoba Indigenous group says it has welcomed residents from the Pimicikamak Cree Nation at a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont.

The organization, which represents Indigenous peoples in Manitoba, said in a social media post that the first of the evacuees from Pimicikamak were greeted Sunday at the airport in Hamilton with snacks and drinks before being loaded onto a bus for the last portion of their trip.

Canada's premiers are heading into to a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Saskatoon Monday armed with their wish lists for major "nation-building" projects that could buttress the economy in the face of a U.S. trade war.

Carney asked the premiers to each pass on five suggestions for national infrastructure projects, and Monday's meeting will aim to identify the ones that will make the final cut to be fast tracked using legislation Ottawa may introduce as early as this week.

Steinbach Christian School is celebrating 75 years of providing Christ-centred education, a milestone that has brought generations of alumni, staff, students and community members together to reflect on the school's growth and enduring values. 

What began in 1949 as a small educational institution tied closely to Steinbach Bible College has since expanded to nearly 500 students and 48 staff members, with grades now ranging from kindergarten to Grade 12. 

While they were playing some elite ball heading into the provincials in Stonewall this past weekend, the smaller schools St. Joachim/Réal-Bérard were perhaps viewed as underdogs, but the team was relentless both at the plate in the field on their way to capturing the fastpitch provincial title.

Head Coach Pat Tetrault says he's still soaking in that his team are the provincial champs. "It feels fantastic," Tetrault says with a big smile. "I got to say, it's been pretty amazing."

The City of Steinbach is urging the Province of Manitoba and the Max Rady College of Medicine to take bold steps to address the ongoing rural doctor shortage, calling for a new rural admissions stream that would reserve 15 medical student seats annually for future rural family physicians. 

The school year may be winding down, but the heat is ramping up—with a heat blast last week, and temperatures heading into the upper 20s later this week.

As those summery highs start to take effect in the southeast, the Hanover and Seine River school divisions are sharing how they keep their students and staff cool.

Assessing heat conditions

Summer heat is not as black and white as winter cold, with numerous factors influencing condition assessments.

Art lovers and curious festival-goers will find plenty to celebrate at this year’s Summer in the City festival in downtown Steinbach, especially within the vibrant hub that is Artists in the City. Cassandra Kornelson, one of the event organizers, describes the area as "the heartbeat of the artist part of the festival," where the creative spirit of the Southeast takes centre stage.

Canada Post has rejected a request from the union representing about 55,000 of its workers to send their ongoing labour dispute to binding arbitration.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers made the request in a statement Saturday, saying it was inviting Canada Post to a fair, final and binding arbitration process to resolve negotiations that have dragged on for months without producing a new collective agreement. 

It was an uncomfortable Sunday evening for some people in Steinbach when the power went out while it was still 27 degrees.

This meant no air conditioning units were used and fans were not running.

The outage occurred shortly before 8pm.

Manitoba Hydro reported that approximately 1600 customers were impacted. A downed power line is reported to have caused the outage.

Power was restored by 9:30pm.