Steinbach

A collision on Highway 52 is causing traffic delays in the westbound lanes, just past Loewen Boulevard.

As of 5:15 p.m., the right lane remains temporarily closed, causing slowed traffic.

Motorists should drive with caution through the area.

No further details are available at this time.

The latest update from the Manitoba Wildfire Service indicates that conditions remain largely unchanged from recent days. 

Officials say the majority of the province remains at a high fire danger level. 

Crews are actively responding to 83 wildfires. So far this season, 237 wildfires have been recorded in Manitoba, above the average for this date of 191 total fires. 

With the end of the crop year coming up on July 31st, we are starting to see a seasonal slowdownof grain movement.

CN's Assistant Vice President of Grain, David Przednowek says even with the seasonal decline, they have still registered just over half a million tonnes of grain movement per week over the past couple of weeks.

"We are seeing the demand for CN supply hopper cars for grain movement decline. You know, in the past couple of weeks we've seen orders for CN supply equipment in that 3334 car per week range. "

Two people are dead after two single-engine planes crashed in mid-air south of Steinbach, Man.

Adam Penner, president of Harv's Air pilot training school, says the two were students and were practising takeoffs and landings in small Cessna planes this morning.

He says the two appear to have tried to land at the same time and collided a few hundred metres away from the small runway.

He says the planes are equipped with radios, but it appears the two pilots didn't see each other.

RCMP are assuring residents of Steinbach and area that they're doing what they can following a fatal plane crash in the community.

"It is tragic for a small community like Steinbach, but we're doing our best to get to the bottom of this. There's no safety concerns for anybody in Steinbach at this time. This is an unfortunate incident and we're doing our best," says Cpl. Melanie Roussel with the Manitoba RCMP's media relations team.

Soups On, a local organization providing meals to families and individuals in need, will be the next recipient of donations from this year’s KPMG Taste of Summer Charity BBQ. 

One big family gathering  

Norma Hildebrand, Lunch Program Coordinator at Soups On, says the days they serve the community feel like a family gathering. 

Ducks Unlimited Canada agrologist has promoted winter cereals for decades and remains hopeful about the crop’s future

Winter wheat was a big deal on the Prairies from about 2006 to 2014.

Total acreage ranged from 800,000 to 1.3 million, with the lion’s share of the crop seeded in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Ken Gross, a Ducks Unlimited Canada agrologist who has promoted winter cereals for decades, described that period as the “second wave” of winter wheat on the Prairies.

Bruce Burnett, Director of Weather and Markets with Glacier Farm Media says that's mainly driven by various factors affecting the broader oilseed market.

Two pilots are dead following a tragic plane crash this morning south of Steinbach.

At 8:45 am, Steinbach RCMP were notified of the crash involving two planes. It was a mid-air collision in the Rural Municipality of Hanover.

RCMP, along with the Hanover Fire Department and emergency medical services, attended and located the wreckage of two small, single-engine aircraft.

The pilots were pronounced dead on scene. There were no passengers aboard.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada was notified. 

No further details are being released. 

Rainfall across the prairies and even provincially has been quite variable this year.

Some areas have seen some pretty wicked storms bringing heavy rain, high winds and hail.

The Canadian Crop Hail Association says storm activity across the prairies in the last two weeks of June resulted in farmers filing well over 2000 hail claims.

According to the report mid-June thunderstorms dropped pea- to toonie-sized hail across Western Canada.