A former Dauphin student is making her mark at Oklahoma State University’s Ferguson College of Agriculture.

Earlier this month Emma Fox was honoured by the school and received academic scholarships for the 2023-24 academic year.

Fox’s scholarships are part of the more than $1.8 million that students receive from the Ferguson College and its academic departments.

Students from all areas of study are considered for university scholarships, which can be combined with college and departmental opportunities.

“We are proud to support new students as they begin their academic careers in the Ferguson College of Agriculture,” Cynda Clary, Ferguson College of Agriculture associate dean of academic programs said. “We look forward to seeing the contributions they will make within our college and at OSU. We are grateful for our donors and friends who support these scholarships and our students.”

Fox is enrolled in the College of Agriculture’s Animal Science program.

Officials are hoping new safety decals installed at Dauphin’s busiest rail crossing will help spread the message of Operation Lifesaver (OL) Canada’s Look. Listen. Live. Community Safety Partnership Program.

The decals were installed at the Main Street crossing last week in partnership with HUB Surface Systems and the City of Dauphin.

Through the program, OL works with municipalities to identify locations where rail safety decals can be installed to remind people to be situationally aware around crossings.

Each bright yellow decal features a black silhouette of a train, as well as the words “Look. Listen. Live.”

The goal of the decals is simple - to prevent tragic crossing incidents by making pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers more aware of the need to be vigilant around railway crossings.

“A moment of distraction can have disastrous consequences, and we are pleased to participate in raising awareness about the critical importance of paying attention at rail crossings,” said Dauphin mayor, David Bosiak. “The installation of rail safety decals at Dauphin’s busiest rail crossing is a small, but meaningful change that could potentially prevent needless tragedies.”

Every year, dozens of Canadians are killed or seriously injured in collisions at railway crossings. There were 159 such incidents in Canada in 2022, which killed 14 people and seriously injured another 27. Virtually all the tragedies were preventable.

Read more about this story and loads more in the Dauphin Herald's Fall TMC Paper!

The annual Terry Fox Run will have a special theme, this year.

When Fox was forced to stop his Marathon of Hope in 1980, more than 65,000 letters, cards, telegrams and artwork started flooding into his parents home, often simply addressed to Terry Fox, British Columbia.

Most of that correspondence started with the words, “Dear Terry” and contained messages of love and encouragement, often sharing deeply personal experiences, which inspired Fox and his family during the difficult days.

Organizers of this year’s run in Dauphin are inviting people from the Parkland to join the postcard campaign online at terryfox.org. A Dear Terry t-shirt is also now available online, with all proceeds going to cancer research.

Words of inspiration is what organizers want to capture from people who participate in this year’s run.

This year’s run takes place, Sept. 17, at Vermillion Park, beginning at 11 a.m.

Ninety-four per cent of children diagnosed with childhood cancers are expected to be alive five years after diagnosis. Target therapies have helped almost double the five-year survival rates for melanoma.

Five-year survival rates for certain cancers, such as breast, prostate, melanoma, thyroid, testes and Hodgkin’s lymphoma is now over 80 per cent on the average. Survival rates for all cancers combined have increased from 25 per cent in 1942 to 60 per cent today and up to 90 per cent in some cases. Cancer mortalities has decreased over time since 1988. Mortality rates are down 37 per cent in men and 22 per cent in women.

The Province is preparing to do a little road work in the City of Dauphin.

According to a call for bids, milling and pavement overlay is planned for this fall on First Avenue Northeast from Main Street to Fourth Street Northeast, as well as on River Avenue from the courthouse east to the junction with Hwy. 20 and Second Avenue Northwest from Main Steeet west to the CN tracks.

Although the nation-wide tendering system Merx indicates the contract is yet to be awarded, bids for the work were received from Maple Leaf Construction Ltd. for $1,692,777, Russell Redi-Mix Concrete; Langenberg Redi-Mix Ltd. for $1,964,443.85 and Stirling Enterprises Ltd. in the amount of $2,851,505.

It is expected the work will begin in October.

Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival weekend is almost upon, but before all of the cultural celebrations take place at Selo Ukraina, the annual Parkland Chamber of Commerce Street Fair is set to bring a section of First Avenue North West to life on Aug. 3.

The kickoff to the August long weekend gets underway at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast and wraps up at midnight following a street dance.

And in between those two bookends there is no shortage of things to do.

Entertainment from local performers run all day on the outdoor stage. Further down the street family-friendly fun activities, such as face painting, bouncy toys and a dunk tank will keep you entertained, as will a display of antique farm implements courtesy of the Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club and a plethora of shopping opportunities for those with a little money burning a hole in their pockets.

Great food is available when you need to refuel from all of the fun happening and an outdoor beer garden is stocked with cooling beverages.

Call the Parkland Chamber of Commerce office at 204-622-3140 for more details on the day and how to get involved.

The Minegoziibe Anishinabe (Pine Creek First Nation) commenced an archaeological excavation, yesterday, of 14 possible locations of unmarked burials under the Catholic Church located on private lands within the boundaries of the First Nation reserve.

The excavation began with a community sunrise ceremony, the lighting of a sacred fire to burn through the entire process, and a feast. A sacred fire and public seating area was onsite in a sacred safe space near the excavation site with security on site.

Members of the public and media were welcome to attend the sacred fire to make tobacco offerings at the safe space adjacent to the excavation site. Access to points closer to the excavation site under the Church may be granted permission on a case-by-case basis.

It is anticipated that excavation of the 14 locations under the church may take up to four weeks from start to completion.

“Community members have been in planning since last fall to excavate the basement locations since the discovery of 14 possible unmarked burials under the church and 57 other suspected locations on the grounds around the church and old school site. We understand that over time burial sites may be lost to the natural elements, but to bury remains under a building suggests a dark and sinister intent that cannot be unaddressed as we expose the truth of what happened in our homeland,” stated Derek Nepinak, Chief of the Minegoziibe Anishinabe.

In 2021, following the discovery of 215 unmarked burials at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., the community of Minegoziibe Anishinabe committed to its own truth-exposing initiative.

Community spiritual leaders and Elders joined together in trauma-informed and culturally grounded engagement sessions to arrive at a plan of action to help reveal the truth of history for the benefit of future generations of Minegoziibe Anishinabe citizens.

The respectful engagement has also included reaching out to potential partners in exposing the truth, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Winnipeg, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Brandon University, the federal Special Interlocutor’s office for Missing Children and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

There is still time to sign up for the Battle for the Belts, taking place, July 23, at the Gilbert Plains Country Club (GPCC).

More than 40 teams have registered so far, but organizers are hoping to increase that number to more than 50, with a limit of 72 teams.

Dale Murray and Boston Karlson will be back to defend the titles they won last year.

The tournament is a two-person scramble, with a 10 a.m. shotgun start and it is open to anyone, men, women and children alike.

The registration fee is $130 per team and it includes a meal and prizes.

Registrations must be prepaid by calling Chris Todoruk at 204-648-7989 or Danny Scott at 204-572-7552. The registration deadline is July 17.

There will be a $10,000 hole-in-one, sponsored by Love and Persson Group, as well as a $1,000 hole-in-one.

All proceeds will go towards upgrades at the GPCC.

The Dauphin Regional Health Centre saw the largest spending on private agency nurses of any single health care facility in the Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) region, Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew says, indicating 10 months after Health Minister Audrey Gordon promised the PCs would reduce spending on private agency nurses, new documents show spending has continued to increase in the region.

“The best care at the bedside, comes from nurses who know our communities and our families,” Kinew said. “The PCs said they would decrease reliance on agency nurses, but they’ve done the opposite. It’s clearly Premier Stefanson’s plan to create a crisis in public health care so she can spend millions on private options like agency nurses.”

The NDP released documents that show the PC government spent an additional $24 million on for-profit, private agency nurses in the PMH region from August 2022 to February 2023, for a monthly average of $3.5 million. This is up from a monthly average of $2 million in 2022 and over four times the $800,000 monthly average spent from 2019 to mid-2021.

Previous NDP Freedom of Information Requests show the PCs spent $24 million on agency nurses in PMH from January 2019 to May 2021, and $10 million from February 2022 to June 2022. This means the PCs have spent the same amount in seven months that they previously spent over the course of nearly two-and-a-half years.

“Families in Westman want a government that fixes public health care and makes smart investments,” Kinew said. “Our Manitoba NDP team will reset the relationship with nurses to stop them from leaving the system in the first place, and we’ll bring back the nurses that left under Brian Pallister and Premier Stefanson. We’ll make nursing a great job again for the people of Westman and deliver the best quality of care at the bedside.”

Three men from Ethelbert are paying the price for ignoring the walleye size limit in place for Dauphin Lake and its tributaries.

On May 13, a Dauphin conservation officer responded to a Turn in Poachers (TIP) call about a group of people fishing at the Mossey River outlet dam at the north end of the lake.

The caller was concerned at the size of walleye being kept by the group.

The outlet dam and Mossey River are within the lake’s walleye restriction area. The three men were charged with possessing fish over the size limit and received tickets totalling $481 along with $2,730 in restitution.

The incident is part of Manitoba conservation officers’ efforts to protect the province’s natural resources through a variety of enforcement activities across the province.

On Apr. 22, Neepawa district conservation officers obtained information through taxidermy records that an arctic fox may have been harvested illegally.

Following an investigation, officers determined an arctic fox had been taken from a trap near Brochet. A man from Kelwood was charged with taking a wild animal without a licence and the mounted fox was seized.

He received a $237 ticket and a one-year hunting suspension.

On the weekend of Apr. 29 and 30, Beausejour conservation officers conducted an off-road vehicle (ORV) compliance patrol in the Seddons Corner area of the Rural Municipality of Reynolds. Officers educated multiple riders on registration requirements for ORVs and issued two tickets for failing to provide registration.

On the evenings of May 4 and 5, conservation officers conducted surveillance along the Whitemud River at Perry Park in Westbourne and observed several individuals and groups illegally dip-netting walleye.

Officers issued several tickets with fines totalling over $2,100 and restitution totalling more than $2,300.

On May 7, Interlake-area conservation officers received a tip about anglers catching walleye on the Fairford River, while walleye season was still closed.

A Winnipeg resident received a $352 ticket for catching and retaining fish, while walleye season was closed and was issued a restitution notice of $252.

A week later, conservation officers encountered the same Winnipeg resident fishing on the Fairford River and found him in possession of 10 walleye, which is six over the legal limit.

The individual was given a $252 ticket for possessing more fish than the possession quota and another $252 restitution notice.

Between May 13 and May 22, conservation officers conducted numerous angling compliance checks on various lakes in Whiteshell Provincial Park and encountered a number of anglers possessing fish over the size limit.

In Special Area “A”, which includes the Whiteshell Provincial Park, it is illegal to possess walleye that measure over 45 cm in length. In all, six anglers from various communities including Winnipeg and Niverville, each received $77 tickets and $42 restitution orders.

In one case, a pair of anglers from Winnipeg were each fined $127 and issued a $126 restitution order. An angler from Selkirk, who did not have a fishing licence, was found in possession of eight northern pike fillets. The angler was fined $298 and received a $168 restitution order.

During angling enforcement activities, Manitoba conservation officers strive to release live fish back into the wild and donate any fish that cannot be released.

The Maamawi Multi-Use Trail in Dauphin was highlighted as part of a new provincial trails strategy and provincial investments supporting 34 projects that will strengthen the trail network across the province to nurture lasting bonds with nature for generations to come.

The local recreational development received a $75,000 grant to develop a new trail system as part of their overall plan at the Dauphin Recreation Services gorunds.

The Manitoba Trails Strategy and Action Plan has several key objectives to improve trail connectivity, prioritize environmental protection, promote collaboration between user groups, and encourage eco-tourism development across the province.

As part of the strategy, a new provincial trails office within the department of Natural Resources and Northern Development is being created. The new office will act as a co-ordinating body for trails management across the province and help reduce red tape for trail organizations and clubs.

Including the Maamawi Multi-Use Trail, a total of $964,689 in funding from the 2023 Trails Manitoba Grant Program was announced to support development of new and improved trails across the province. Other projects, which will help to fulfill the objectives of the trails strategy, include:
• Falcon Lake East End Trail - $75,000 for new trail/enhancement;
• Winkler Reinfeld Pathway - $75,000 for new trail/enhancement;
• Oak River/Rapid City Trail Upgrades - $25,000 for maintenance;
• St. James Community Multi-Use Path - $21,180 for new trail/enhancement; and
• Churchill Winter Trail Loop - $10,600 for feasibility study/development plan.

“Today, we celebrate 34 Trails Manitoba grant funding recipients reaching from Morden to Churchill,” said Jeana Manning, president of Trails Manitoba.

“This funding will help enable the development, upgrade, and maintenance of 715 kilometres of recreational trails. These trails will not only connect communities, but also ignite the spirit of adventure, promoting physical and social wellness and a profound connection with nature.”

In conjunction with these initiatives, the Manitoba government proclaimed the inaugural Manitoba Trails Day, June 3.

Manitoba Trails Day will be celebrated annually the first Saturday in June to highlight the importance of trails and their positive impact on residents and communities.