RCMP members in Russell and Roblin were called to Roblin April 5 to deal with a man walking around breaking into residential garages and screaming.

In total, police received six reports.

Find out more in this week’s Review.

Members from town council along with the CAO, travelled to Winnipeg to attend the AMM Spring Conference on April 4 to 5. Mayor Andre Murphy and CAO Jennifer Early attended a roundtable meeting of Manitoba mayors and CAOs the day before.
“We talked about what were the four pillars that were impacted every municipality right now,” said Murphy. “There was some discussion around the funding increase and what the impact of that was. There were questions asked if there were any significant demands for increased dollars for wastewater projects and if AMM would continue to oppose Bill 37 around the planning changes to allow municipalities to pass a resolution to change something in their community and not have the planning district override it. Municipalities felt this was counterproductive, especially since councils are voted in and asked by ratepayers to fix something. When a municipality does, they shouldn’t have to work against an opposing body.
“There was talk about healthcare, safety priorities, municipal service and RCMP costs and talk about what municipalities would like to see in terms of support from the next provincial government. The interesting thing from this meeting with all the municipalities across Manitoba was that all of our issues are very similar to each other’s.

There’s a Canadian charity that helps those who need assistance for medical care travel called Hope Air. Hope Air recognized that many Canadians are requiring medial treatment that is often far from their home, which can be costly and leave many people going with out medical care or treatment. Hope Air believes that all Canadians should have access to the healthcare they need, regardless of where they live or if they can’t afford to travel.
“Hope Air provides travel support through flights, accommodations, meal vouchers and ground transportation through Uber vouchers to Canadians in financial need who must travel to access vital medical care,” said Hope Air Senior Digital Marketing Coordinator Christine Stolte. “Hope Air is able to fulfill travel requests because of the support of donors, from airline partners, corporations, foundations, government supporters and individuals.”

Thanks to a partnership with the Manitoba Arts Council, The Pas Arts Council and the Rotary Club of The Pas, residents in the tri-community will get the opportunity see ballet performed by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) next week. On the Edge Tour featuring the RWB Anna McCowan-Johnson Aspirant Program’s Aspirants will be sole performers on this tour.
“The RWB Anna McCowan-Johnson Aspirant Program is a two year post-graduate program for students who have graduated from a professional dance program,” said RWB Anna McCowan-Johnson Aspirant Program Director Vanessa Léonard. “They enter this program as a transition from being a ballet student into a professional dance life. We have a strong focus on preparing the dancers for the stage and repertoire. We also focus on creating audition materials that they can send out to companies around the world. There are 16 aspirants in the program this year and range from 18 to 21 years old.

Big Fish.... It’s always about who can catch the biggest fish. But changes in fishing regulations in this province will mean you’ll see some operational changes to the Russell Lions Prairie Walleye Classic.

The main change is that anglers are no longer allowed to possess a fish over 45 cm. This, says Kevan McCarthy who co chairs the Russell Lions Prairie Walleye Classic alongside Ritchie Davidson, means that the traditional weigh in on shore will not happen for any fish over 45cms.

So what about the much sought after Big Fish prize? The money that was traditionally allocated to the Big Fish Prize, McCarthy said, will be redistributed over the top ten tournament prizes which, based upon a full slate of 120 boats are: $25,000 and trophies for first place, $8,000 and two Hummingbird Helix 7 MSI G4 locators and trophies for second prize, $4,500 and $1,000 in Russell Video Pro Fishing Gear and trophies for third place.

From there on down, 4th place is $4000, $3,250 for 5th place on down to $1,250 for the 10th place finisher. As the release stated, the committee members are not a big fan of the catch and photo release method, saying that the traditional “in person” adjudication of the fish is much preferred.

“Catch photo release, in our opinion, has too many variables that we simply don’t understand at this time” McCarthy and Davidson said in the release on their Prairie Walleye website.

Check the full story in this week's Russell Banner!

The world is full of amazing and fantastic animals, with about 18,000 new species discovered every year – most of which are insects and many more being on the small side of the animal spectrum.
There are other strange and wonderful creatures that science hasn’t been able to officially categorize and account for in a modern context that many believe still exist from the distant past – like the giant beaver – or ones that seem to defy scientific verification despite repeated sightings over decades and centuries – like Sasquatch/Bigfoot or Loch Ness Monster-type animals.
One such fellow is Manitoba author John Warms from the Interlake community of Fairford, who has been exploring the topic for more than 30 years.
Last month, Warms was making his rounds touring across Manitoba in public libraries and community spaces to spread the word about his book Strange Creatures Seldom Seen: Giant Beavers, Sasquatch, Manipogos, and Other Mystery Animals in Manitoba and Beyond.
Warms’s book was published first in the United States in 2015 before he printed some versions for promotion in Canada about two years ago. Warms found that public libraries welcomed the promotion of his book, and the stop in Swan River on March 27 was a last minute addition to his month-long tour, where not only did he bring copies of his book and open himself up to conversation, but he also set up an extensive display that showcased the contents of his book, such as various drawings, artifacts and replicas for the weird and wild creatures and legends that he loves to research.
“Everything (in my displays) is also in the book,” said Warms, while he was set up in the Northwest Regional Library in Swan River. “It’s all about the creatures that I have never heard of 40-50 years ago.”
Warms explained that the first unusual and unexplained creature he had heard of was a giant snake in Manitoba.
He noted some Indigenous people had encountered and told stories about it and one fellow even told him what kind of bullet to use if he ever encounters one.
“‘If there’s one, there’s more’,” said Warms, quoting his friend. “It was kind of an interesting perspective for me to take all these years, and it made a lot of sense.
“When I realized that science wasn’t familiar or didn’t acknowledge all these other creatures that the Indigenous people were telling me about, I knew that there was something that didn’t quite match. So, I assumed with a lot of corroborating stories that the people of the land where they lived that they had the truth that their elders passed down and were experiencing themselves.”
Warms noted that every creature that is represented in his displays he believes to be extant, or rather not extinct. Creatures like the giant beaver or plesiosaurs – a water-based animal that draws parallels to the legends of lake monsters – are acknowledged by the scientific community to have existed once upon a time, whether it was thousands or millions of years ago. However, Warms and those he has talked to over many decades believes that these animals and many others are still out there living today.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if there was anything questionable,” he said, noting that everything in his book had enough corroborating stories about them that it was worth including.
“I may have very easily missed some creatures where I haven’t found the right people yet to clue me in on their existence.”
One such story he shared was that of Archie Motkaluk, who believes he spotted a Sasquatch near Renwer on Dec. 29, 1960, while visiting his parents’ farm.
Motkaluk recounted the story in 2011 with the Winnipeg Sun, and explained that he was out collecting wood about three miles into the bush when he saw this ‘man’ and realized that it was a Sasquatch when he got within a couple hundred yards.
Motkaluk only told his mother and made a sketch of what he saw, but only came out more publicly about his encounter 50 years later when he was watching a television program that featured someone that said there’s no such thing as a Sasquatch.
“I realized that the academic community is not aware of (these creatures) or does not want to acknowledge them,” said Warms. “There are so many land-based people that are very aware of them.
“I just feel like we are losing out if we are not given the opportunity to learn more about these creatures like the underwater moose (for instance).”
Warms’ book is available to purchase at 83 North Amazing Emporium in Swan River or on Amazon.ca.
Warms also has a Facebook page to keep up with what he’s up to and a YouTube channel that features some other videos on his endeavors.
Warms also encourages people to keep their eyes and minds open out in the wilderness of Manitoba to see if even more corroborating stories can emerge and get even closer to confirming the presence of these seldom seen animals.

Spring seemed to introduce itself to us in a flash, with temperatures rising quickly in the last couple of weeks, leading to a swift melt of snow and ice, leading to rising water levels and flooded roadways across the Swan Valley

The U17 Parkland Vipers hosted a four-team volleyball tournament at Barker School, Saturday, going undefeated in winning the event.

The Vipers scored a 25-13, 20-25 and 15-7 win over the Neepawa Voltage to open the tournament. Then they defeated Club West Smash, 25-11 and 25-16.

The final match of the day saw the Vipers clinch first place in the round-robin tournament with a 25-22, 25-20, 17-25 and 25-23 win over the Rocanville Brash.

Vipers coach Chris Wolfenden said the team learned a lot throughout the tournament, a trend that continues every time they hit the court.

“We’re learning lots every single weekend about just how to overcome the simple parts of the game. They’re hard to master at the top levels, let alone at the bottom levels,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting our hands on balls and understanding just how to compete all the time, 100 per cent of the time. We’re getting closer.”

Coming off a weekend where they won the consolation at a tournament in Brandon, the team’s confidence, Wolfenden said, is good.

“It’s better than last weekend, for sure. This was really good for us to come and play three solid matches at home in front of fans and parents. I think the girls needed this, because we have three tough tournaments coming up,” he said.

The Vipers will be in Winnipeg this weekend for a tournament hosted by the Bisons, which will be a tough event for the local team.

“We have the potential to beat any of these teams. It just depends on which one of our teams shows up. And that’s what I mean by, if we come out and we compete and compete hard, we can play with anybody. That’s the team I want to see,” he said. “And aggression. It’s just one of those things learning as a young volleyball player that it’s okay to be aggressive and take chances. That’s what the girls are getting better at.”

Following the Bisons tournament, the Vipers will compete for a provincial crown, Apr. 29 and 30, in Brandon.

After launching the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund with a $25,000 donation last year, Don Tarrant continued his strong support for the organization and the Ukrainian immigrants it sponsors with a further $25,000 gift last week.

When things began last March, Tarrant said the idea was that two or three families might come to the Parkland, fleeing the war in Ukraine.

That goal was realized quicky, he said, and the target was moved to 10 families. The fund is now sponsoring more than 30 families with more to come.

The group has scaled back its offer to new families but with the war now in its second year, more help is needed, Tarrant said.

“The fund still needs money to fulfill a commitment to the existing families, as well as to give some level of support to the new families arriving,” Tarrant said, explaining his motivation to make another substantial donation to the fund. “Probably the biggest component is the single mothers with children that are here. They’re going to need a bit more support beyond the 12 months. So it really was maybe geared towards shoring up the fund, as well as making sure that there is money coming in towards the unforeseen costs and helping these single mothers make it work going forward.”

The project has been a success, Tarrant said, with all of the newcomers expressing appreciation for the support and an affection for their new home. Most of the newcomers have found work and their children have settled nicely into school, Tarrant added.

“The people that are here are very, very happy to be here. They are setting down roots,” he said. “The very first ones that came in are actually making some purchases like vehicles and are looking to buy rather than rent housing. So I believe they are going to stay and I think that it’s a great use of the funds.”

And while the community has been good for the immigrants, the immigrants have been equally good for the community, Tarrant said.

“We’re looking at over 100 people that have come in. There’s places they just couldn’t fill jobs and the thing with that, business, when they can’t fill a job, then they look at starting to scale back hours. They look as possibly having to eventually shut down,” he said. “But if they start scaling back hours and people want to buy something, but they’re closed, they start to buy elsewhere out of Dauphin. So just the effect of having no people becomes very, very negative and snowballs.”

Tarrant encourages anyone who is able to continue to support the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund with a donation.

Two federal legislators were in Dauphin last week for a conversation about crime.

Specifically, Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier and Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo were in town to highlight two private member’s bills focused on bail reform.

“We’re going to have a conversation around bail reform, what that actually means and what we as legislators, as MPs can do and how Parliament works,” Mazier told the crowd before introducing Caputo, who is a member of the Standing Committee for Justice and Human Rights, as well as a former Crown prosecutor, parole officer and a former instructor at Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law.

“So he has a wealth of knowledge.”

Crime is a problem across the country, Caputo said, and there are no easy answers.

“I’ll tell you right now we can’t fix this overnight,” he said. “Sometimes when difficult things happen in the community, when we have matters that are unsustainable . . . when the toothpaste comes out of the tube it doesn’t go back in as quickly as it came out. This is a complex problem that we’re talking about today, so I’m not going to stand before you and put my integrity on the line by saying I have all the answers because I don’t.”

Violent crime has increased by 32 per cent since 2015, Caputo said, while gang-related murders have doubled in the same time frame. And while those kinds of crime have historically been associated with large urban centres, they are becoming more common in smaller communities such as Dauphin, Caputo said.

“And that makes it difficult because number one, we’re not used to it, but number two, we don’t always have the resources or the knowledge to tackle these things,” he said.

Check this week's Dauphin Herald for more!