The majority of North and South America experienced at least a partial glimpse of the annular solar eclipse that occurred on Saturday morning (Oct. 14). An annular
eclipse describes when the moon orbits in front of the sun, but does not block the full circle, leaving a ‘ring of fire’ at the time of maximum eclipse. While solar eclipses typically
happen once, or even twice a year somewhere on the globe, the occurence of one being visible from any one location can be rare. The next time the maximum shadow of a total or
annular eclipse will pass over Canada will be on April 8, 2024, after which Canadians will have to wait until 2044, when the path of totality is calculated to pass over a large swath
of the Canadian Prairies

The Dauphin Kings ended a four-game home stand with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Neepawa Titans, Saturday at Credit Union Place.

Trey Gnetz was the overtime hero for Dauphin, snapping home a shot past Neepawa netminder Mason Lobreau, who was stellar in goal, making 44 saves.

For Gnetz, it was his first of the season.

Also scoring for Dauphin were Alex Senf with his first, Blake Boudreau with his fifth and Rhett Perrin with his first.

Dylan Schrader, Kyle Weisgarber and Cooper Kasprick scored for Neepawa, with Kasprick’s goal coming on a power play with 4:32 left in the third to tie the game.

Cole Sheffield picked up his league-leading sixth win of the season, making 17 saves in the process.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley noted Neepawa had five different players dressed from the night before when they lost 9-2 to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, which made a difference in their play.

“I’m glad we got the two points. They hang in there and they work hard. We had so many chances and real good looks. Lobreau plays well. You’ve got to be lucky to be good and good to be lucky and he was both,” he said.

The Kings dominated from the opening faceoff, with a strong forecheck.

The line of Ethan Williment, Perrin and Gavin Nemis was outstanding all night, Hedley said, pointing out Nemis stripped the puck off a Neepawa player in the neutral zone leading to Gnetz’s game winner.

“I was really happy with those three. Just our work ethic overall is really good. We’re working hard,” he added. “The stick battles tonight had to be definitely over 50. Stick battles are usually one of our indicators on how hard you’re working. I thought with the stick battles tonight, we turned a lot of pucks over.”

The Kings used their speed to break out of their zone well, Hedley added, which led to some good scoring chances.

“Coming up through the dots and we drove the paint really well. Senf’s goal was a really nice play. That’s the kind of stuff we have to do. Because our D-men are so active, we can drive three guys to the net and still get that fourth guy coming in with the D-man jumping in late,” he said.

As well as the Kings are playing, there are still some areas that could be improved upon, such as the power play, which sits last in the division and 11th overall at 11.1 per cent success rate.

The penalty kill is sixth overall at 84 per cent.

“Our power play has got to get better. It’s got to start making teams pay for taking penalties and taking liberties on us. So we’ve got to be better on special teams,” he said. “Defensively, we played really well tonight, using the weak side and getting pucks up the dots. And our rush defence probably has to improve a little bit, just identifying guys that we’re picking up and communicating who’s got who.”

After a slack schedule through the early part of October, things will pick up now as the Kings hit the road, Saturday, to play the Wolverines in Waywayseecappo at 7:30 p.m., before heading to Winnipeg for the league’s Showcase at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex, where they will face the Niverville Nighthawks, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m.

The next day, Dauphin plays the Winkler Flyers, which leads the MGEU East Division with a 7-0-0-0 record, having allowed just nine goals in those seven games.

The Kings sit alone in first place in the MGEU West Division with a 6-1-0-0 record, one point ahead of the Virden Oil Capitals, but Dauphin has games in hand on every other team in the division and will play their next seven games in 15 days.

Twenty high school soccer teams invaded the City of Sunshine, Friday and Saturday, looking for gold on the soccer pitches at the Vermillion Park Sportsplex.

By the end of the tournament, it was the Garden Valley Zodiaks of Winkler celebrating not one, but two provincial titles as their girls and boys teams swept the gold medal games.

In the girls’ draw, the Zodiaks defeated the W.C. Miller Aces of Altona, 2-1, while the Neepawa Tigers claimed the bronze medal with a 3-0 win over the Niverville Panthers.

The Minnedosa Chancellors won the consolation with a 4-2 win over the Morden Thunder.

In the boys’ tournament, Garden Valley beat their Winkler counterparts, the Northlands Parkway Nighthawks, 4-0 to claim gold.

The Aces boys team won the bronze medal with a 3-1 win over Niverville and Minnedosa swept the consolation crowns with a 2-0 win over the Morweena Raptors of Arborg.

As for the host Clippers, the girls played their hearts out, but fell short in both games, first losing 1-0 in overtime to the Hapnot Kopper Queens of Flin Flon, before being eliminated by Morden, 4-1 on penalty kicks.

Check this week's Dauphin Herald for a full recap of the provincials!

Manitobans still have one big bill to reconcile in relation to the previous provincial government.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released its calculations of estimated severance payouts for politicians who lost their seats or retired in the election.

In the last election, 25 MLAs lost their seats or did not seek re-election. They are eligible for severance payments ranging from $25,749 to $102,998. In total, former MLAs are eligible to receive $1.84 million in severance with an average payout of $32,800.

The CTF is calling on the Manitoba government to end the costly transition allowances for former Members of the Legislative Assembly.

“Taxpayers shouldn’t be padding the wallets of MLAs who are headed for the exits,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF prairie director. “Ordinary Manitobans don’t get a golden parachute when they leave their jobs and they shouldn’t be forced to fund one for politicians.”

The payout is based on the number of years the MLA has been in office. An MLA can receive one month’s pay for each year they were in office, from a minimum of three months pay to a maximum of 12.

Former Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski who was in office for 7.42 years and retired prior to the Oct. 3 election is in line for a transition allowance of $63,658.

MLA’s are paid about $102,998 per year. The average Manitoban earns about $57,000.

“Former politicians shouldn’t keep fleecing taxpayers when they aren’t even in office anymore,” Haubrich said. “Premier-designate Wab Kinew needs to cancel this taxpayer-funded handout before the next election.”

The transition allowance calculations can be found at taxpayer.com.

Work is about to begin on the redevelopment of Main Street South following the awarding of the more than $21 million contract to Russell Redi-Mix Concrete.

“We are expecting the equipment to start to mobilize in the first week of November,” director of Public Works ad Operation Mike VanAlstyne said, adding given the delays the contractor is hoping to make up some ground. “They hope to do as much work as they can throughout the winter months. It’s all going to be so weather dependent on how quickly we get going, when winter really hits us with full force, and what that’s going to do to the contractor’s capabilities and scheduling. But I think just any progress for the winter will be progress.”

VanAlstyne expects the contractor will begin with the excavation of the retaining ponds, one on each side of the highway, which make up a large part of the City’s drainage plans for the area and will collect spring runoff, as well as runoff from major weather events.

A portion of the excavation material, estimated at more than 30,000 cubic meters, will be used for the construction of the toboggan hill at Maamawi Park on the Dauphin Recreation Services grounds.

The construction cost of the entire drainage system, including the underground piping, has been set at more than $8 million.

The scope of the roadwork project covers a section of PTH 5A from Whitmore Ave., south to Triangle Road, and includes surface reconstruction with the creation of a divided highway.

The plans call to improve safety in the commercial area by having all local accesses connect to service roads, and service roads connecting to PTH 5A at upgraded intersections. Those service roads will be constructed along both the east and west sides of highway from their existing points south to Triangle Road.

As well, a new intersection allowing access to Dauphin Market Place Mall will be developed, complete with traffic signals.

The project has been delayed by more than a year, and while it has been a long road to get this point, VanAlstyne said the real work is just beginning.

“It’s a long time coming, but we’re excited to have it moving,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of adapting on the fly and a lot of moving parts, but I think we’ll get through and it’ll be a really great project for the city.”

Manitoba premier-designate Wab Kinew got together on Thursday with his recently announced transition advisory team for what he called a productive and cooperative meeting.

Kinew said the team, established Oct. 6, has already made good progress in a very short time.

More in this issue.

Oct. 11 was the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl celebrated to commemorate efforts and achievements by girls and women throughout the world.

Many women have pioneered the way for other women to succeed, especially in what have been deemed as male dominant fields of work or education.

Check out the story in this week’s Review.

Prairie Mountain Health’s (PMH) updated COVID-19 and seasonal flu vaccine clinics will begin Monday, Oct. 23.

The free public clinics will run throughout the region until the end of November.

Read the rest of the story in this week’s issue.

If you are on the walking path, you will get the chance to see a new work of art. A new community mural has been painted as part of a project to bring have more murals in the community and provide more exposure to art for students and community members.
“The Pas Guest List has created the Artist in Community Murals Project to further strengthen the relationship the Town of The Pas has to the arts by creating an opportunity to showcase local, national and international artists,” said The Pas Guest List Co-founder Gabrielle Swan. “There are three components to the scope of the project. There will be two large scale murals located along the walking path that runs through the Town of The Pas. There will also be in-school speaking engagements and a free community art workshop open to all locals.

This year there were a few well-deserving recipients from The Pas who received the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers. One of them was Kerry Midford, who has been a volunteer with Girl Guides for over 30 years. Midford’s passion for volunteering with Girl Guides stemmed from her own youth, when she herself was in the program.
“I joined Girl Guides at the age of five, when I started out in the youth program as a spark,” said Midford. “Once I turned 18, I became a Guider, I volunteered with the Brownies, which is now Embers. Over the years, I have been a unit Guider, Cookie Chair, District Commissioner and now Area Commissioner.”