Westman

Taking care of your mental health is critical and farmers across the prairies are as vulnerable as any other industry, maybe even more so when you consider how stressful the industry can be. 

Farmers in Manitoba now have greater access to vital mental health resources thanks to the Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program (MFWP), which offers no-cost counseling to farmers, their families, and employees over the age of 16.  

Just under 11,000 people have taken out memberships in the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in time to vote for next month's leadership race — up from 2,200 members the party had when the race was launched last summer, party officials said Monday.

The party did not release a breakdown of how many memberships were sold by each of the two candidates before the Feb. 28 cutoff. Neither did the candidates' teams.

During his final days in office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing for long-promised reform to the RCMP. 

A government report released Monday, which highlights concerns about Canada's capacity to meet "the new threat environment," says it's time to modernize the police service to focus on "the most serious forms of criminality."

It says the government’s vision should be to establish the RCMP as a "world class, intelligence-led, federal policing organization."

Prairie farmers say planned Chinese retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products are causing loads of uncertainty, while threats of U.S. levies and industry issues have created further problems. 

Bill Prybylski, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, says China's 100 per cent tariffs on canola oil, meal and peas scheduled for next week are already being felt, as markets have taken a hit. 

Westman area singer-songwriter, Julianna Moore, is finally able to talk about being a contender on this season's Canada's Got Talent, being one of the only two Manitobans on this year's show.

Julianna Moore hails from St. Lazare, now lives in Brandon and is a music teacher in the Ecole O'Kelly School in Shilo, MB.  She is a member of two Westman area community choirs; Konektis and Novos and performs at a variety of local venues with her beautiful voice while playing multiple instruments she's gifted in, including guitar.

Grade 2 Trophy: Britta Kroeker

Senior Canadian and Late 20th/21st Century Composers Scholarship: Evan Raes

Senior Sonata and Classical Composers Scholarship: Violet Sawatsky

Senior Own Choice: Evan Raes

Senior Romantic, Impressionist and Early 20th Century Composers Scholarship: Violet Sawatsky / Evan Raes

Senior Baroque Scholarship: Owen Raes

Senior Sight-Reading Scholarship: Owen Raes

"Don't be shy." That's the message from Sgt. Lance Goldau with the RCMP'S Border Integrity Unit here in Manitoba, who says the public shouldn't hesitate to reach out to his team if they see something they feel is suspicious. 

Westoba, a division of Assiniboine Credit Union is now accepting applications to their Inspire program for major community infrastructure projects up to $10,000.00 until the March 31st deadline.

For more information and updates, please visit the Boissevain Festival of the Arts Website and Facebook pages.

Karissa Kirkup, coach of the Brandon U18 AAA Female Wheat Kings, is proud to see the growth of opportunity for women in hockey, but she also says there's room to push for more.