AgriInsurance program is expected to provide farmers with nearly $5 billion in coverage on an estimated 9.55 million acres for the upcoming crop year.

That continued stability was announced Tuesday at Ag Days by federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba ag minister Ron Kostyshyn.

Want to know more? Check out this week’s paper.

Recently The Pas Legion has voted in a new president, Roger Nikolychuk. Roger is no stranger when it comes to volunteering as Legion member, for he has strong family ties to The Pas Legion that started with his mother, Angie, who was the former president of The Pas Legion. Serving The Pas Legion has become the Nikolychuk family’s legacy.
“I’ve been a Legion member with The Pas Legion for 29 years, but I wasn’t really active until about 2014, when I became involved with it through the air cadets,” said Angie. “My kids were in air cadets at the time, and the Legion sponsors the air cadets and monitors their activities closely, so we naturally started giving back to The Pas Legion for everything they gave for the cadets.

When thinking about the Grub Box being in existence for 50 years, since 1973, I’ve had to go back in history some 70 years, to the early 1950s, when I was in my teens. I had a part time job working for Mabel and Gilbert Jones at Jones’ Grocery, stocking shelves, burning garbage and delivery groceries to customers with a bicycle during the summer and on a toboggan throughout the winter months. I kept this part-time job all through my teens until I left The Pas at age 19, to join the RCMP.
After a few years of police work and a better part of a year on the RCMP Musical Ride in 1961, I got out of the force, got married and pursued getting into business to fulfil the entrepreneurial blood in my veins. Firstly, here in The Pas in the service station business, then to Saskatoon again in a new Esso service station.
In 1967, still living in Saskatoon, I received several phone calls from my previous employer, Gilbert Jones, who wanted to retire, but couldn’t find anyone to buy his grocery business. Initially he was told, ‘I don’t know anything about the grocery industry’. His reply was, ‘I will teach you’. I told him I didn’t have the kind of money needed to buy his business. He then told me I didn’t need any and that he would finance the purchase. With that my family was packed up and moving back to The Pas.

Physician and nurse shortages, as well as closed ERs, are issues that aren’t going to be solved any time soon, especially for rural and northern Manitoba communities, but there is another option. The online service Q-Doc has had a successful year in providing patients with virtual appointments with physicians and nurse practitioners, to help people who don’t have access to immediate healthcare in their community and to prevent unnecessary visits to the ER. Q-Doc has seen substantial growth over 2023, when it came to service providers and patient usage.
“There have been a lot of highlights in the past year for Q-Doc,” said Q-Doc Co-founder Dr. Norman Silver. “At the end of 2022, we had 62 physicians and as of now we have 113, along with 30 nurse practitioners as part of a pilot project with the provincial government that went really well. So, provider wise, we have gone up about 80 percent in that capacity. We were able to recruit 30 nurse practitioners in a month. The nurse practitioner pilot went really well and allowed patients to be seen through Q-Doc as a result.

The Town of The Pas held a special budget meeting and a regular council meeting on January 8, in council chambers. During the citizens period, a representative from The Pas and Area Animal Shelter presented a financial request to council to help with the operations of the shelter. The organization planned on submitting the same request to the R.M. of Kelsey and Opaskwayak Cree Nation, since they serve those areas as well.
Council put forward a resolution to amend the policy to the Sales and Extensions of Lots From the March 1, 2018, Land Development Incentive. The policy was originally created to allow the approval of first and second extensions, however since then, council has approved third and fourth extensions, which led to a precedent being set.

When Canada was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the recently completed World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden, there were plenty of disappointed Canadians who realized the defending champions wouldn’t even medal this year.
However, there were a few pockets here and there who were cheering loudly when the American team defeated host Sweden for the gold medal, including some, right here in the Valley.
Or should we say they were cheering on Lane Hutson, the dynamic 19-year-old defenceman from Team USA. His father, Rob Hutson, was born in Bowsman and they still have family here in the Valley, guaranteeing a strong local Hutson cheering contingent.
Hutson wasn’t just a member of Team USA, he was a key cog, playing huge and important minutes. The five-foot, 10-inch, 161-pound left-shot blueliner finished with six assists and 14 penalty minutes in the tournament (anyone who watched the tournament can attest the officiating was suspect at best). The second-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens was also a solid plus-eight in his plus/minus.
But most importantly, Hutson – who was born in Barrington, Ill., got to hear the American national anthem played after the final game of the tournament, and had a gold medal draped over his neck, signifying his team was the best in the world.
“It felt really good to win – to be with this team, at that moment, I couldn’t be happier,” said Hutson. “I was really part of history.”
Many observers expected a final between Sweden and the United States. These two teams, in various forms, have met each other in high-profile games over the past two years, with each claiming victories over each other – including Sweden defeating the USA in the final of the Under 18 championship two years ago.
“With our age group, the rivalry really started in the Under 18s,” said Hutson. “We were able to beat them out for the bronze last year (at the World Juniors), but beating them for the gold this year, that was the cherry on top.”
And the Americans were literally in hostile territory, as Sweden rallied around their team in a major way. The cheering was never-ending, and that was something the young Americans had to contend with.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played in an atmosphere like that before,” noted Hutson. “There was constant clapping, cheering – it was really special.”
Gold medal in hand, Hutson is now back in North America, playing with his college team Boston University. As well, Hutson has to think about his hockey future. Before the tournament, Hutson spoke with some representatives of the Canadiens, who wished him well in not just the World Championship, but the rest of his school year.
“We talked about my goals this year, and winning gold was one of them, so that’s checked off,” says Hutson.
“I also have goals with Boston University (currently ranked second in the nation behind Boston College), and that includes winning a championship with them as well,” he added. “So, they have encouraged me to keep going, as I’m going to have a lot more meaningful games coming up.”
As of early January, the soon-to-be 20-year-old Hutson has nine goals and 23 points in 16 games with Boston University – his second year with the team. The alternate captain really turned heads last year as a rookie, scoring 15 goals and adding 33 assists in 39 games. So, a Frozen Four appearance is definitely in the cards for this up-and-comer.
Hutson’s college career mirrors that of his father Rob, who after a strong junior career in the BCJHL with Bellingham, went on to star with the University of Illinois-Chicago before enjoying a long career in professional hockey.
And Lane is quite aware of his father’s roots – he spoke about spending the summer in the Valley as a youth, and has nothing but positive memories of spending time where his dad grew up.
“Dad grew up there, and when I was younger, we would go there every summer,” says Hutson. “I remember enjoying my time there – the weather was great, and my uncle had a place we would stay at with a huge garden and there was always lots to do.”
Hutson isn’t the only one following in his father’s footsteps. His older brother Quinn is a current teammate at Boston University, while his younger brother Cole is already committed to joining the team next season. Cole is also ranked to go in the first three rounds of the upcoming NHL draft as well. Finally, the youngest of the bunch, Lars, is a talented 15-year-old prospect himself.
So, with a World Junior championship in hand, a run at a national championship in the NCAA on tap this spring, and a professional hockey career on the horizon, 2024 is shaping up to be quite the year for Hutson and his family.

On Jan. 13, at approximately 6:20 p.m., Swan River RCMP responded to a stabbing on Main Street in Swan River. A 33-year-old male was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries. Swan River RCMP along with Major Crime Services, continue to investigate. Here, a Swan River RCMP member watches over the crime scene located in the 1200 block of Main Street on Sunday (Jan. 14). Check next week’s Star and Times for further details, if available.

The Parkland Rangers are slowly falling out of the playoff race in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League after a pair of losses over the weekend.

The Rangers dropped a 5-3 decision to the Winnipeg Wild, Saturday in Winnipeg, before losing 7-1 to the Interlake Lightning, Sunday in Teulon.

As a result, Parkland’s record falls to 10-15-2-1 for 23 points, five back of the eighth-place Norman North Stars.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot was pleased with the team’s play against Winnipeg.

“I thought, for the most part, we were in that game right from pretty much start to end,” he said.

Twice the Rangers trailed by three goals, but they pulled to within one with 2:41 remaining.

“We didn’t quit. We had good structure. We had good work ethic and we found a way to keep the game close,” Carefoot stated, adding he wondered to himself whether to pull the goalie or not. “One of my veteran players heard that and said, ‘what have we got to lose?’ So we did (pull the goalie) and tried to make a push and in the end, they got the empty netter to make it 5-3. But overall, it was a good game,” he said.

Sunday’s game was a result of a lack of self-discipline on the part of some of the Parkland players, who had a late night despite getting back to their hotel by 10 p.m.

As a result, one player slept in and missed the team breakfast at 9 a.m., which did not please the coaching staff, while others were not attentive during a video session prior to leaving for Teulon.

During the pregame warmup, the Rangers did not leave the ice in time, resulting in a delay of game penalty to start the contest. Interlake, subsequently, opened the scoring on that power play to start the game and things went down hill from there.

“Everybody was off. Guys that we lean on to perform really well, those guys were all off. We didn’t have our routine. Everything about our routine was off,” he said. “And it goes back to the night before and it goes back to the morning. And then we can’t expect these players, you can’t sleep in and then go on the ice and be a high-performance athlete and perform at a high level when you’ve only been up for three hours.”

Carefoot admitted to being angry at the situation and felt it was a lack of self-discipline that resulted in Sunday’s loss.

“At some point there has to be some self-accountability,” he said, adding the Rangers have proven they can play with any team in the league, with the exception of the Brandon Wheat Kings. “But in order to do that, our structure has to be good and our work ethic has to be good. It’s just all those little things that we talk about. We have the capabilities of doing all that,” Carefoot said. “But the moment we choose to either take a shift off or a game off, or in this case, some guys chose to basically not want to show up at all, it’s very frustrating.”

Having said that, Carefoot recognizes that Interlake is one of the top teams in the league, currently sitting in third place.

“Interlake is for real. They’ve got a nice roster there. It’s not a fluke or an accident that they’re a top four team this year. I think that’s great to see. The last several years, they’ve been battling at the bottom end, so I think that’s great for their program,” he said.

The Rangers will look to right the ship this weekend when they face the second-place Southwest Cougars in a home-and-home, beginning, Friday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m., with the rematch in Souris on Saturday.

The teams split a home-and-home, Jan. 6 and 7.

Southwest is another team the Rangers can compete with.

“They’re very structured. They don’t have any flashy players that pull you out of your seats, but they have non-negotiables that play within their structure. Hopefully, we can match that and we can be ready, because every point now going forward is just so important,” Carefoot said. “The game results over the weekend, the teams that we’re battling with, they either split or they found a way to get four points. So we need points. And so we need to be ready to execute and, hopefully, that’s the case.”

The Dauphin Kings were busy at the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s (CJHL) trade deadline, with five deals made.

The deals started, Jan. 5, with the Kings sending forward Blake Boudreau, 20, to the Carleton Place Canadians of the Central Canada Hockey League for a player development fee (PDF).

Boudreau had 10 goals and 16 points in 25 games for Dauphin this season.

In a move that surprised many Kings fans, 20-year-old defenceman Anthony Bax, who led the team in scoring with 32 points, including 13 goals, was shipped to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers, the top team in the CJHL.

In exchange the Kings get forward Ashton Paul, 19, and future considerations.

In 28 games this season, Paul had four goals and 19 points.

Last season, playing with OCN, Paul tallied 26 goals and 56 points in 57 games.

Defenceman Nolan Wickham, 20, was sent to the Winkler Flyers for defenceman Ty Pratte, 18, and a second round draft pick in this year’s draft.

Wickham had two goals and 10 points in 29 games this season, while Pratte had a goal and an assist in 15 contests for Winkler.

Defenceman Aidan Brook, 20, along with forward Rhett Perrin were traded to the Portage Terriers in exchange for defenceman Brett Magarrell, 18, as well as a third and fifth round pick in this year’s draft.

Brook played 31 games this season, tallying four goals and 13 points, while Perrin had a goal and three points in 17 games.

Magarrell played 30 games with the Terriers and recorded a goal and six points.

Another deal saw the Kings send the list rights of forward Kai Clayton to the Swan Valley Stampeders for a PDF.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the trade landscape has changed with advisors now representing players.

Players, Hedley said, now have to consent to trades, which he understands when they are sent to a different league. But giving consent when being traded within the same league makes no sense to him.

“I think it’s going to have to be looked at,” he said.

Hedley tried to improve the team’s offence, but the deals he was working on fell through.

“Our original plan was to add some offence, some experienced guys that could score,” he said.

When those deals didn’t work out, Hedley gave the team’s 20-year-olds a choice to stay with the Kings or be moved to another team.

“We wanted to be fair to the 20-year-olds,” he said.

Only Logan Walker and Alex Senf chose to stay.

“They didn’t even hesitate. They came back in and said they wanted to be Kings, they wanted to wear the crest. They felt we had a good young group and we could challenge,” Hedley said.

Dealing away Brook and Wickham is particular was hard with both players being in their third year with the team, as well as being part of the championship squad that won the league in 2022.

“There’s all kinds of respect on our end for those kids. We just felt that they deserved a chance, they made the decision and we accommodated them,” Hedley said.

Hedley likes the return he got in the various deals.

“We think that we got some good young players back in return with Ty Pratte from Winkler and Brett Magarrell from Portage. Both are 18-year-olds that are going to be good D-men in the league,” he said. “In fact, if you look at our back end now, I really think we got younger, but we got more mobile and we’ve got real good speed, real good attitudes and real good work ethics.”

The Kings won their third straight game the day before the deadline, beating the Neepawa Titans, 3-0, with Cole Sheffield making 29 saves to record his second shutout in three games.

Hedley said the team played with a renewed energy and emotion in that game.

“We’re looking forward to working with this group and the work ethic and compete. Kyan Grouette has really helped us out as far as work ethic. He’s a real good addition,” he said.

Fans will get their first chance to see the new players in the lineup tonight when the Kings host the Stampeders at 7:30 p.m.

The Kings then visit the division-leading Virden Oil Capitals, Friday, before hosting the Niverville Nighthawks, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

After all of the delays getting started, progress on the reconstruction Main Street South has been substantial.

The mild weather the area experienced up to last week allowed for excellent conditions for the contractor to construct several segments of the service road alignments along the eastern and western sides of the highway.

“Progress has been great thus far,” director of Public Works and Operations Mike VanAlstyne said. “We’re probably right on schedule. It was always intended that they would work on that, but the efficiency of the weather helped greatly with getting that in as quick as they did.”

As well as part of the drainage plan for the area, the majority of the western retention pond has been dug and the access to the eastern retention pond has been constructed off of Whitmore Avenue.

VanAlstyne expects work on the eastern pond itself to begin this week, leading to progress on another exciting project.

“The contractor will be hauling material from the east pond to Maamawi Park to begin the construction of the toboggan hill,” he said. “The plan is to start hauling material there Tuesday.”

Looking back to the drainage system, VanAlstyne expects work to begin on the construction of some of the storm sewer piping required over the next few weeks.

But, he added, things will be slowing down a bit when it comes to the highway work itself.

“Work along the highway corridor is temporarily on hold until the gas main relocation work takes place, which is expected to begin near the end of January,” VanAlstyne said, adding the gas main currently runs along the west side of the highway. “Until then there can’t be a lot of work done on the road alignments. It’s going to be slow for a couple weeks, from what we can see, but there’s lots of excavation work happening on the east pond.”