Robyn Wiebe

Grade nine students at Morden Collegiate Institute (MCI) are spending more time in math class than ever before.

Julie Kalinowski is a grade nine math teacher at MCI and says a full year of math, instead of just one semester, will better prepare kids for math in through the rest of high school.

“The grade nine math curriculum is really pretty rigorous, and this way students are able to spend more time working with it in order to feel more confident as they leave grade nine and head toward grade ten.”

Morden Menzies Medical Centre held an information night on Wednesday to help over 24,000 users of the community clinic and healthcare system in the region, navigate through abbreviated services due to staffing shortages.

Dr Kevin Earl explained the goal of the night.

Morden's Tracey Krause is one of the seven candidates running in the Morden by-election, vying for one of the two vacant councilor seats. She moved to Morden 6 years ago, but was raised here, and wants to continue to be a voice for all people in the community. 

Chris Abrams has declared his intention to run for one of two Morden City Councilor seats left vacant after newly elected Florian Lassnig resigned, followed by the resignation of Mayor Brandon Burley two weeks later. Councilor Nancy Penner then resigned her council position to run for Mayor, leaving a second vacant councilor seat. 

Abrams has lived in Morden for the past thirty years with his wife and has raised his three wonderful children here. Now he likes to spend time with his grandchildren as well.      

Winkler's Masen Rempel doesn't really remember when his mom, Sherri, was in a wheelchair when he was little, but he has seen pictures. Sherri lives with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and before surgery and lots of physio, was confined to a wheelchair, which at first, she admits, she hated. She said it was her only way to get around and said it was very helpful, until she learned to walk again. 

Masen's grandmother showed him a news article about collecting tabs for wheelchairs and it inspired him to do the same.  

After a year of establishing a new Citizens on Patrol Program (COPP) in Morden, a little recognition for efforts made has come its way.  

COPP Coordinator Shannon Sylvester explained. 

"We had gone into Winnipeg to the annual general meeting of all Manitoba Citizens on Patrol Program volunteers and Morden was recognized for their group that has started in Morden."  

She said although founder of the Morden COPP Shane Houser has stepped back to focus on other commitments, the group has been able to grow. 

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre (CFDC) has just completed one more of the special projects it has been working on for a year. 

With help from the Federal Canada Cultural Spaces Fund (Department of Canadian Heritage / Government of Canada) with $67,595 and the Provincial Building Sustainable Communities Program with $62,075 governments support, together with $6,600 coming from the Signature Museums Endowment Fund, plus other CFDC funds for a total investment of $139,723, a professional 3D System has been purchased and is already working on two very important projects.   

After a summer of trying something new, Morden City Council put out a survey for the entire community to give their input into the closure of a portion of 8th St downtown, beside the iconic clocktower all day, for the entire summer. The area had been closed other years for the weekly Farmers' Market and for Suncatch Concert Series, this year the leap was taken to try something that had been talked about for years. 

Deputy Mayor Gord Maddock said they had heard a lot of feedback from certain groups but wanted to give everyone a chance to have their say. 

Three empty seats around the Morden City Council table didn't stop the remaining councilors and staff from conducting business at Monday night's public council meeting.  

Deputy Mayor Gord Maddock said there's still lots of work happening. 

Last week, Morden Police received a warrant of arrest for a 20-year-old male for failing to comply with an arrest warrant. The male turned himself in a couple days later, on the strength of the warrant. He was given a promise to appear in Court in January and released. 

Thursday, officers were called to an accident at the intersection of Hwy 3 and 1st Street. A vehicle made a left turn in front of another vehicle, causing a collision. No injuries were reported and both vehicles were towed from the scene.