Candace Derksen

A new biological method for treating sludge at the Plum Coulee lagoon is showing some promise.
    
Municipality of Rhineland council approved the 20-week treatment, through Clean Water Pro based in Carman, earlier this year.

"We're still waiting for an independent report, because that's what they agreed to, but their own report looks pretty encouraging," said Wiebe. 

According to the information supplied by the company, the sludge went down between 6 and 14 inches throughout the lagoon.

Now that we've had a few accumulating snowfalls, residents are being reminded of the Town of Altona's snow clearing bylaw. The message comes as local police say they continue to field complaints from public works crews trying to clear snow from residential streets. 
    

Altona police are investigating a pair of incidents that took place at two apartment complexes last Wednesday in Plum coulee.
    
According to the Altona Police Service's regular activities report, officers were called to the first building regarding a possible break and enter where extensive damage to a doorknob was reported, but it appeared no one got inside. 
    

'What's the downside of strengthening the Border?'

That's the question Premier Wab Kinew posed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc during an emergency meeting First Ministers meeting this week to discuss the potential impacts of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's threat of steep new tariffs. Trump has committed to imposing a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods brought into the United States unless both countries enhance border security in an effort to curb the flow of drugs and illegal migrants into the U.S.

After 15 years in operation, Friesens Corporation has made the decision to close up its package manufacturing division, think4D.
    
Started in 2009, President and CEO Chad Friesen says think4D was intended to diversify the products offered by the company, noting, at the time, 99 per cent of Friesens business was books and book production. 

Hundreds of Indigenous students in the province now have some help paying for post-secondary schooling, thanks to the Business Council of Manitoba.    
    
This year, the Council doled out 400 Indigenous Education Awards worth $3,000 each, for a total of $1.2 million. That's twice what was handed out in 2023/24. Half of the total, about $600,000, was raised by Council members and boosted by an increase in support from the Government of Manitoba with a dollar-for-dollar matching commitment.

After a one-year hiatus, Altona's popular Community Christmas Day Dinner is making a return this season.

Margarita moved to the community from Toronto two years ago and has taken over coordinating the over-30-year-old tradition.

It all started with a conversation during a volunteer shift at the Rhineland and Area Foodbank.

A homeowner in Plum Coulee got an unexpected wake-up call very early Friday morning.
    
According to the Altona Police Service, a man was banging on the caller's door at 4:30 a.m. and, when the homeowner answered, found the man in emotional distress and complaining of chest pains. The man also told the homeowner that he'd walked to Plum Coulee from Boundary Trails Health Centre, located between Winkler and Morden. 
    
Altona police and paramedics responded to the situation, and medics returned the man to hospital.

The numbers are in, and the Morris and Altona Tim Hortons Holiday Smile Cookie campaign raised tens of thousands of dollars for the respective communities.
    
According to Rupesh Patel, owner of the Morris and Altona Tim Hortons locations, indicated in Altona, 12,131 cookies were sold during the week, raising $18,196. 8,161 cookies were sold in Morris, raising $12,196.

Manitoba Hydro says some of its customers will start to receive automated calls or texts about billing.