Shannon Dueck

Don Plett of Steinbach has entered his last year as a Senator. 

Plett was appointed to the Senate in 2009. Before that, he was the President of the Conservative Party of Canada for seven years. In Canada, Senators can only serve until the age of 75. Plett will reach that milestone on May 14th of next year. 

"I'm, I guess in my sunset time," says Plett. "I've got a year left until I reach that golden age that I have to look for something else to do."

Elected officials are applauding the efforts of a grassroots team pushing for the paving of a 12-kilometre stretch of Provincial Road 210.

Spokesperson Bill Stowe says PR 210 from Woodridge to Highway 12 is in "absolutely horrendous" condition. The majority of this road is gravel and Stowe says the 12-kilometre stretch should only take about eight minutes to drive, but these days can take up to 20 minutes.

Wayne Anderson is Reeve for the Rural Municipality of Piney. He says that road is in bad condition both in spring and any time it rains. 

There is a rainfall warning in effect for much of southern Manitoba.

Natalie Hasell with Environment Canada says there is a low-pressure system sitting over North Dakota that is going to bring a lot of rain, beginning later in the day on Thursday. 

Hasell says we can expect rain, at times heavy, to begin late Thursday evening. Between 10 and 15 millimetres of rain is anticipated Thursday night. Friday's forecast also calls for rain, at times heavy, with another 10 to 20 millimetres expected. Periods of rain are also expected Friday night. 

It's that time of year when there's an increased chance of thunderstorms. A meteorologist is warning that thunderstorms can be hazardous even if they are not considered severe. 

Natalie Hasell with Environment Canada says they define severe thunderstorms as those that produce heavy rain, large hail, strong straight-line winds, and maybe a tornado. But, even if it is not severe, a thunderstorm is still defined by lightning, which itself can be threatening.

RCMP officers in Manitoba are being extra diligent this week in cracking down on impaired drivers. 

Canada Road Safety Week runs from May 14th to the 20th, which includes the Victoria Day long weekend. Traditionally this weekend, RCMP see more people on Manitoba roadways. 

Construction is expected to begin later this year on rehabilitating the bridge at Ste. Agathe.

According to a provincial spokesperson, the Louis Riel Bridge along Provincial Road 305 is expected to be tendered this spring. It is anticipated that construction will then begin this summer.

The province says this investment will significantly extend the service life of the existing bridge. It will also increase the roadway width on the bridge and provide a dedicated sidewalk that is protected from traffic with a concrete barrier. 

The daughter of a missing woman from the Rural Municipality of Piney says it is very difficult to try celebrating a holiday when she does not know where her mother is. Vanessa Backman made that comment just days before Mother's Day. 

The MLA for La Verendrye is looking for answers after the Woodridge Community Club was given an order to decommission its community well.

Konrad Narth says this order was the result of an inspection done by the Department of Environment and Climate Change through the Office of Drinking Water. He notes the letter to the community club dated April 10, 2024, stated that the community was ordered to make a number of facility upgrades including the installation of a chlorination system. 

The southbound lanes of Highway 75 from Morris to Ste. Agathe have been closed again for the next while.

In May of last year, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure (MTI) began work on a 24.5-kilometre-long concrete reconstruction project of the southbound lanes. A provincial spokesperson says there is still a six-kilometre long section of the project, just north of Morris, that will be completed this summer.

The Official Opposition Leader for Manitoba says he will continue to hold Wab Kinew to account as he leads the Progressive Conservatives for another 12 months.

The PC Party of Manitoba announced this last week that it will select its next leader on April 26, 2025. Wayne Ewasko has been Interim Leader since January. 

"To get the news of the date being near the end of April, 2025 is good news," says Ewasko. "And I look forward to seeing how the whole process works out and see who we pick to be not only our next leader next April, but the next Premier of Manitoba."