Shannon Dueck

The price of natural gas is about to go up for customers in Manitoba.

The Public Utilities Board (PUB) announced Wednesday morning that it has approved the application by Centra Gas Manitoba Inc to increase the current Primary Gas rate. The increase will take effect May 1st.

According to the PUB, the new rate is projected to increase the bill for a typical residential customer by approximately 20.5 per cent, or $150 per year. Primary Gas rates will be reviewed again in August.

The Red River continues to climb. Since Tuesday, the Red has risen at all locations between Grand Forks and St. Adolphe, including:

Provincial crews are deployed in a number of communities in the Red River Valley preparing for and implementing ring dike closures. Those preparations are underway in the Town of Morris.

"Better to be safe than sorry," said Mayor Scott Crick.

The overland flood warning for southern Manitoba has been extended until midday on Tuesday.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure is reporting that water levels on most tributaries in the Red River basin and along the Red River main stem are rising quickly in response to the weekend rainfall and will continue to rise over the coming days. Daily average temperatures around zero is slowing down the melting of the remaining snow. Daily average temperatures are expected to increase to above zero on Tuesday.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre has issued an overland flood warning for southern Manitoba from the Saskatchewan border eastward to Provincial Trunk Highway (PTH) 12 and from the United States border northwards to PTH 1. The warning could extend north of PTH 1 between PTH 5 and PTH 16, and north of PTH 1 between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg.

These areas could receive more than 50 millimetres (mm) of precipitation of a mix of rain and snow, with some localized areas receiving up to 80 mm by midday Monday.

The vice president of the Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association says she truly believes that there is growing interest in our province toward sustainable energy. Lorena Mitchell notes so many people are now aware of their impact on the environment and are wanting to learn how they can do better, particularly around building energy-efficient homes.

It was another busy morning for camping enthusiasts in Manitoba.

The second phase of the province's reservation system opened Wednesday morning at seven o'clock. This phase includes campsite reservations at Birds Hill, Falcon Beach, Falcon Lakeshore and West Hawk Lake.

Environment Canada is calling for the next few days to be wet, snowy and windy in southeastern Manitoba including the City of Winnipeg.

Natalie Hasell says there is a system passing through that started as rain Tuesday morning. About five millimetres of rain is expected. As temperatures began to drop Tuesday night, that rain turned to light snow for many areas.

The temperature is expected to climb above the freezing mark on Wednesday and so the snow will again turn to rain, before becoming snow again Wednesday night and Thursday.

A flood watch has been issued for the Red River from Emerson to the Red River Floodway. The river is forecast to spill over its banks at some locations with peak flows within the Red River Valley expected to occur between April 8 and 15.

A man from St. Malo has been charged with second degree murder following the death of an inmate at Stony Mountain Institution.

On January 1 of this year, Stonewall RCMP responded to a report of an Aggravated Assault at Stony Mountain Institution. Officers were advised that a 36-year-old male was found unresponsive in his cell. He was transported to hospital in critical condition. On February 7, RCMP indicated that the 36-year-old had died from his injuries and that his death was being treated as a homicide.