Northwest Missouri State University junior Clara Peake became the eighth different Bearcat in the history of the program to capture first-place honors as she gained medalist honors at the 2026 Spring Regional Preview held at Shangri La Country Club.
Peake fired a final round three-under par 69 to win the event by three shots. Peake was dialed in for her final round as she netted seven birdies. She began her round on the fourth hole and secure dbirdies at No. 5, No. 8, No. 9, No. 10, No. 14, No. 1 and No. 3. Peake shot a final round 69, which gave her a 54-hole total of 211 (-5).
Peake led the field with 17 birdies.
It is the 20th time a Bearcat golfer has finished first in an NCAA Div. II women's golf tournament. It is Peake's third career top-three finish and fifth top-10 finish.

Asessippi Ski Area & Resort wrapped up its 2025–2026 winter season with a weekend full of energy, creativity, and community, highlighted by the return of its Annual Slush Cup and the debut of a brand-new Easter event.
On Saturday, April 4, Asessippi hosted its Annual Slush Cup, drawing a large crowd of spectators and 36 participants ready to take on the challenge. This year’s event featured a pond skim format, where riders attempted to glide across a chilly water feature.
While many competitors made a splash, one participant successfully skimmed across the pond, earning bragging rights (and a prize) for the triumph. The event also saw a wide range of costumes and strong spectator turnout, creating a active and entertaining atmosphere on the hill.
The following day, Sunday, April 5, Asessippi introduced its first-ever Asessippi Eggstravaganza, a family-focused Easter event that brought guests together across the resort. Activities included a resort-wide outdoor egg hunt, an indoor kids hunt, and a bunny counting challenge.
“It was great to see kids so excited and lined up for first chair to start the outdoor hunt,” said Baily, Marketing Manager at Asessippi. “The response was incredibly positive, and we’re already planning to bring it back for Easter weekend next season.”
Leading into the final weekend, Asessippi also saw strong attendance during Manitoba Spring Break, supported by targeted promotions and family-focused offers that brought visitors to the hill during one of the busiest times of the season.
Overall, Asessippi reports a successful season, marked by strong guest engagement, well-attended events, and continued growth in its programming.
Looking ahead, the resort plans to bring back its signature events while continuing to expand its event lineup and guest experiences for the 2026–2027 season.

Fusion Credit Union is thanking members in a big way. At the Annual General Meeting held April 15, 2026 via webcast conference, Fusion announced a $1.86 million return to members in the form of patronage allocations and cash pay-outs to select members. The $1.86 million in total returns for 2026, based on 2025 results, includes a patronage allocation of $775,000, plus an estimated $1 million in cash payouts.
“Our members are more than customers - they’re owners - and the driving force behind everything we do,” states Darwin Johns, Chief Executive Officer at Fusion Credit Union. “The $1.86 million is one of the ways we thank our members for their continued loyalty to us.”
A patronage allocation is a value returned to a member of Fusion Credit Union based on their relationship with the credit union. The patronage amount is a portion of interest paid and earned during the past year and varies from
member to member. All patronage allocations are retained in a Surplus Share Account and select member groups receive cash payouts.
As a member-owned financial institution, Fusion’s success is directly tied to the strength of its members and communities. Patronage allocations and cash payouts ensure that investment is shared locally, supporting individuals, families, farms and businesses. “When our members choose Fusion, they’re choosing to invest in their communities,” says Johns. “And when Fusion succeeds, the success stays right here – supporting local growth, opportunity and connection.”

Intrigued? Pick up a copy of this week's Roblin Review and turn to page 9 for the whole story.

Harvest Hill Homeschool Co-op wrapped up their Junior Achievement financial literacy class called “A Business of Our Own” this past week. In this class 9 to 14 year old's were learning the basics of how to write a business plan. They were able to apply these skills to their own businesses and create products and market them on Sunday, April 12 at Evangelical Mission Church in Roblin.
There were 27 vendors featuring bird feeders, perogies, herb gardens, key chains, sandwiches, lemonade, baking, sewing projects, and woodworking projects. Literally something for everyone!
Over 100 people came to support the young entrepreneurs and it was a huge success! The students were then able to determine their net profits and through studying God's word as a class it has created an opportunity
for the students to learn how to manage their money through a biblical lens. There were students from Roblin, Russell, Binscarth and Rhein, SK who participated in the “A Business of Our Own” class.

Hillman Dance Studio finished off the Dance season by presenting their 13th Annual Showcase on April 19th. Hillman has 104 students ranging in age from 3 to 18. 56 dancers in Roblin and 48 in Churchbridge, SK.
Teaching this year, were Giny Hillman, Jessie Laroche, Danica Bowley, Tori McGinnis, Michaela Alyward and Dani Rands. As well as student teacher Emery Laviolette (pictured on the left).
The Studio’s dancers competed in Russell, Virden, Brandon and Yorkton this year, coming home with many awards, among them a Platinum award from the Parkland Dance Festival held in Yorkton every year - a first for the studio. Dancers showcased their award-winning dances to a crowd at a filled to capacity Roblin Community Centre. See next week’s edition for more pictures.

On April 2, at approximately 3:05 p.m., Russell RCMP responded after a van collided with three parked cars in Rossburn.
The collision occurred on Victoria Avenue, in the vicinity of a local daycare at a time of day when young children and their parents are entering and exiting the building.
Investigators have determined the van was travelling at a high rate of speed, causing severe damage to all four vehicles.
Shortly after the collision, RCMP learned a male suspect matching the description of the driver had just assaulted a male at a nearby hotel. The victim of the assault went to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., multiple bystanders waved officers down and pointed out the suspect, who was walking in the community. He was arrested without incident.
Lawrence Jade Shingoose, 31, of Keeseekowenin, has been charged with:
• Assault causing bodily harm;
• Uttering threats;
• Failing to stop after an accident;
• Impaired driving; and
• Operating a vehicle while over .08.
Shingoose was remanded into custody.

The municipalities of Riding Mountain West and Russell/Binscarth are again working together to tackle long-held issues in health care for our area communities, hoping to expand to include the communities further afield, many of whom are dealing with the same issues of health care coverage.
“We’ve established a new initiative between the Municipality of Russell Binscarth and the RM of Riding Mountain West called the Assiniboine Valley Health Board,” Adrienne Falloon, CAO of the Municipality of Russell Binscarth explained at a joint meeting with members of the two municipalities with the Russell Banner.
“It’s like a reincarnation of what used to exist, which was called the Banner County Health Foundation,” she explained, adding that for now, recruitment and retention of health care professionals is one of their main priorities. “We’re going to start with doctors and move onto the rest of the health professionals like nurses, radiologists, lab techs etc.”
Together, councillors and CAO’s of both municipalities will continue to lobby for infrastructure and capital projects like improvements to the hospital - especially the ER, diagnostics and counselling area, and improvements to the hospital as well.
That’s part of the message they took to the Minister of Health on the first Wednesday of the month.
“We had been sending letters to the Minister of Health about the state of rural health care and their staff had reached out and said that they will be in Brandon for MLA Day at the Brandon Winter Fair and asked if we could meet with them there,” Falloon said
“We reiterated our concerns about the lack of health care professionals, the availability of ambulances in rural Manitoba as a whole as well as the need for support in infrastructure and capital projects,” Adrienne added.
“And they seemed to be really receptive.”
“Initiatives to support EMS training and recruitment were discussed,” said councillor Wes Anderson
“We did offer Russell/Binscarth to become a training hub and a host community for the new EMR program that they had successfully launched in Arborg,” Anderson added.
“And they did ask how many students we might be able to accommodate here, so that seemed to be very positive.”
“Overall, they seemed very receptive and willing to work together at the provincial level for both recruitment and retention of health care professionals,” Falloon said, explaining that the province now has their new recruitment office which is a step above Prairie Mountain Health.
“It's like a provincial agency where the Minister, and their Chief of Staff, is putting us in contact with them to work together on attracting doctors and keeping them here through their provincial recruitment agency.”
With that cooperative effort between the province and the two municipalities established, the conversation here turned back to the idea behind the Assiniboine Valley Health Board as a very necessary cooperative effort not only between our two municipalities but others in the surrounding area who have availed themselves of medical services in place here.

Be informed! Get the whole story in this weeks Russell Banner on page 2.

By Terrie Welwood
Russell Banner

Even if I don’t finish, we need to continue. It’s got to keep going without me,” Terry Fox.
Fred Fox is one of Terry Fox’s four siblings. As the oldest, he’s 18 months older than the man whose heroic efforts to run across Canada in aid of cancer research after having his leg amputated after a cancer diagnosis.
Now, Fred and his siblings Darryl and Judy are keeping their late brothers vision alive by spreading his story around 34 countries.
Fox has been touring across Manitoba and Saskatchewan visiting schools and community gatherings along the way.
He met with community members at the Park Manor last Monday, just six days before the 46th anniversary of the date that Terry Fox dipped his prosthetic leg in the Atlantic ocean in St. John’s Nfld before taking off on his cross country journey.
He was forced to end his run just outside of Thunder Bay on September 1, 1980, when cancer returned in his lungs. He was treated in Port Arthur Hospital before returning to British Columbia.
Fred Fox was with his younger brother on his run.
“We knew that Terry must have been in constant pain,” Fred told the room.
“Over the 143 days and 5,373 kms of his journey he was running on a prosthetic leg meant for walking and certainly not for running at all, let alone that distance.”
While Fred said it was impossible to know what his younger brother was thinking, he’d made one wish abundantly clear.
“We were all so thrilled to see Canadians lining the streets, cheering and making donations along the way and the one thing we did know was that this run would not end.”
While the majority of the events take place in Canada, over 60 countries worldwide have hosted a Terry Fox Run. In places like the United Kingdom, Cuba, India, and Australia. In February the Terry Fox Foundation announced that it had surpassed $1 billion raised for cancer research since the inception of the Marathon of Hope, funding over 1,300 innovative cancer research projects, medical breakthroughs and significantly improving treatments and survival rates worldwide.