Chris Sumner

Scott Siemens, R.M. of Morris Reeve had a big focus on growth and the record setting pace this year. 

"We are very pleased with the growth in the R.M. this year," stated Siemens. "We have a record 23 housing units that were started, and many of them are complete, and I know there are an additional seven that just began construction this week. We are very pleased with our developments, and how they are filling up. It feels like we started them just in time." 

Around 12:40 p.m. Saturday afternoon Highway 75 from Morris to the U.S. Border was closed.

#HWY75 From Highway 14 to Morris
Status: Closed

A 49-year-old man was taken to hospital, and may be facing several traffic tickets, after a motorcycle collision Tuesday night.

Around 8:25pm, Morris RCMP responded to a report of a single vehicle collision on Provincial Road 201, a couple miles east of Dominion City near the corner of Road 17E.

A passerby came across an injured male laying on the road, and the subsequent investigation determined he was thrown from his motorcycle after striking the bridge over the Harlow Drain.

Rosemary Siemens is bringing her Sunday Hymn Serenade program, and her mission to bring back the hymns, to the radio. Sunday, October 1st at 1pm on CFAM Radio 950/AM1250 Radio/CJRB Radio 1220 is the debut of the monthly 15-minute program which will feature Rosemary sharing songs and the stories behind them.

The reach of the online version of Sunday Hymn Serenade has been amazing, with Siemens noting they've had over 100 million views on Facebook and YouTube, with more than 380,000 subscribers.

The first in person opportunity to vote in the upcoming provincial election starts Saturday. Advance polls begin today through September 30th.

Manitobans can vote at any one of 300 advance polling locations in the province. Hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. 

Manitoba's 43rd general election is expected to officially get underway today, with the writ being dropped and the election period beginning. Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is expected to make the election call at some point today.

Over the next few weeks there are a number of important dates:

September 11th is the close of candidate nominations.

Southern Health has issued a statement following the sudden death of Dr. Anna Kolakowski, a longtime physician in Morris.

Dr. Kolakowski was killed Saturday, a victim of what RCMP are investigating as a murder-suicide. 

The following is the statement sent out by Southern Health on Thursday. 

People from across the country have started a nearly three-week train journey from Quebec City to Abbotsford, B.C. as part of the Russlaender Memories of Migration Tour.    The three-part train tour from July 6th through 25th, is re-enacting the historic migration of 21,000 Mennonites from Russia to Canada beginning in 1923. 

The tour is a collaborative effort among Canadian Mennonite historians and heritage enthusiasts, one of those is Aileen Friesen, the co-director of the Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg.

The Manitoba NDP have announced Morden's Ken Friesen will be its candidate in the upcoming Provincial election October 3rd. The nomination meeting was held last Thursday, June 22nd.

Friesen was born and raised in Winkler, met his wife in Winnipeg, and moved to Morden in 2019. Friesen noted coming back to the area was one of the best decisions they ever made.

Why did he put his name forward for the nomination?

Fourteen graduates wrapped up their high school career at Nellie McClung Collegiate in Manitou yesterday, with the school's grad ceremony taking place. The class had Co-Valedictorians; Kieran Reid and Bethany Sanders.