The HERO Club held an open house on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 25), inviting guests and potential members into their space to learn what they’re all about and what is available in the clubhouse. The HERO Club – which stands for Helping Everyone Reach Out – was established to provide a place where people who have lived with mental health issues could meet and socialize in a non-judgemental atmosphere of friendship and support...

There has been a growing number of producers in the area who have concerns about wildlife impacting their farming operations. One concern locals have is the number of elk in the area, which leads to the risk of TB and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), and the impact on livestock and crops.

“There are some public health risks with TB and CWD for it spreads quickly in herd animals such as elk and cattle,” said Andy Addis, who has launched a petition calling on the government to do something about the number of elk in the area.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

An inadequate workforce is a problem in most jurisdictions, including here in the Parkland, but a group of area municipalities have banded together to help address the problem in the area.

The Municipality of Roblin, Grandview Municipality, the Municipality of Gilbert Plains, Mossey River Municipality, the Municipality of Ste Rose and the City and the RM of Dauphin each provided $3,500 in seed money to run a one-year pilot project aimed at recruiting skilled workers and matching them directly with employment in the area.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

Police would like to remind people, to NOT leave your keys in your vehicles, do NOT leave them running with the keys in them. In the last two months, there have been several vehicles stolen from the Roblin area.
We need to do our part in keeping our vehicles safe, by not giving thieves the opportunity to steal them by leaving the keys in them.

Find out what’s been keeping police busy in this week’s RCMP report.

Municipalities all across Manitoba are looking for more cost-effective ways of doing things, while maintaining a certain standard level of service. Recycling costs have been a topic of discussion for all Manitoba municipalities... how to recoup the costs of operating recycling services in each community, which has been a growing challenge.

Mult-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM) has a draft plan proposal to spearhead and manage recycling in the province and take it off municipalities’ plates.

Check out the rest of the story in this week’s Review.

On January 19, 2024, at approximately 3:50 pm, The Pas RCMP responded to a serious stabbing incident in the 300 block of Edwards Avenue. Two people were severely injured.
No further reports of violence have been received. However, one or more suspects remain at large. The RCMP is asking residents of The Pas and area to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity.
The investigation is in its very early stages and police remain on scene at this time. People are asked to avoid the area if possible and motorists are asked to be aware of emergency personnel working on scene.
When this incident occurred, there were many people in the vicinity, and police would like to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident and saw something.

This winter has been one for the books, when it came to warmer than average temperatures in December and very little snow. Winter may be catching up, but the lack of snow on the ground in tri-community has put a major Trappers’ Festival event on the backburner for this year. This year the Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival (NMTF) board of directors had the difficult decision to cancel this year’s World Championship Dog Sled Races due to a lack of snow.
“Since 1948, the World Championship Dog Sled Races have only been cancelled for a day or two, due to warming weather resulting in the trail melting,” said Kinsmen Dog Race Chair Mike Roberts. “The races have not been cancelled in their entirety, other than in 2021, as a result of the pandemic. The race's start times have, in some years, been pushed back due to extreme cold temperatures. This is done in consultation with the mushers, for the safety of the dogs and mushers.

When a child gets sick or has a traumatic birth, people in the community step up to show support in a variety of ways. Last year, baby Theo Derry was born premature and faced some uncertain odds in the days ahead.
“My great-grandson Theo was such a premature baby that when he was born, he was only 23 weeks and four days,” said Theo’s Great-Grandmother Julie Bell. “If he had been at 22 weeks, they wouldn’t have even likely tried to save him. He just was passed that time and the wonderful staff at St. Boniface Hospital saved his life.”
Theo’s mother Breanna Mault, was fortunate to have her family there to support her and her children during this turn of events.
“My daughter, Jennifer, and I took care of the three other children that Breanna has, while she and Theo’s father stayed in Winnipeg at the Ronald McDonald House,” said Bell. “The Ronald McDonald House was a complete saviour to them at that time. We travelled back and forth to Winnipeg for quite some time.”
Theo’s family began to see progress in his development, which was very promising and gave them all hope for a positive outcome. Theo has progressed immensely but still is working on muscle development.
“One of the things that gave us hope in the beginning, is that Theo took to eating the special formula from the start,” said Bell. “Within the first month, he was able to eliminate properly, which meant that some of his organs had already started developing properly. He is doing really well with most things but isn’t sitting up on his own yet, because now he is starting to develop muscles. Theo is just a little slower at crawling because of muscle development.
“Theo is showing promising signs and he is a responsive baby. He has had one laser surgery to correct his peripheral vision, which they say can improve as he grows.”
As a result of Theo needing to be in close contact with medical professionals and therapy services, Breanna and her children have had to move to Winnipeg to ensure they have consistent access to care. The move has come with some challenges, as it keeps Breanna from having her mother and grandmother close by for support.
“Breanna has another son, before Theo, that was born premature, so she knows a lot about the exercises that need to be done to help him develop those muscles,” said Bell.
“She needs to be here in the city where she has those supports close by and access to the doctors. Breanna and her children have since moved to Winnipeg because Theo still needs some care and services that are much more accessible in the city. Theo is now just over a year old as of Jan. 2, and weighs about 15 lbs.. He’s eating well and has specialists that he has to see regularly to check on his development. His brother and sister just love Theo and being with him.”
Bell is in awe of how the medical field has progressed, especially when it comes to the care and treatment of premature babies. In a short span of time, there has been so much progress in this field and thanks to that innovation, it has helped babies like Theo reach their targeted goals for development.
“It’s just amazing the amount of innovation and improvement they have done in the health and science field over the last few years,” said Bell. “Theo should not have survived with the kinds of odds he was facing, but it’s amazing how far he has come along.
“He’s a very content baby and has the biggest grin you’ve ever seen. Theo likes to be in his swing, and once his neck muscles are a little stronger, they will put him in a special chair to give him support and continue that muscle growth. He spends a lot of time on the floor doing special exercises to build those muscles.”
Bell, her daughter, granddaughter and family are truly moved by the generosity and caring of the people in Valley during their time of need. People showed incredible support through donations which helped the family out during all of Theo’s medical needs.
“There are times where it’s difficult for Breanna to be out there with the three kids, but we are all so grateful to the people of the Swan Valley,” said Bell. “Some money was raised through the GoFundMe page and we had jars up in the community, which also brought in more donations to help out. Two local service clubs, the Lions and the Kinsmen, also donated.
“I can’t say enough about the people in the Valley; they’re just amazing. It not only helped in that first month but helped carry through afterwards. Breanna is still unable to work as she is providing the care that Theo needs. She still has some time left on her maternity leave, but that will be running out soon and she will have to look at other options.”

Last weekend the Swan Valley U9 Minor Hockey teams hosted their annual Swan River Legion Branch No. 39 tournament, playing out of both the Swan River Centennial Arena and the Minitonas and District Arena. The Swan Valley Broncos come out the A-side champs against the Roblin Stars while the Swan Valley Colts and the Swan Valley Mustangs face off for the C-side title with the Colts emerging victorious...

The Dauphin Kings have started the new year red hot, having won six games in a row to move to within three points of second place.

Newcomer Ashton Paul paid immediate dividends in his first game, scoring the game winner on a power play with less than two minutes remaining in a 4-2 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, Jan. 16 in Dauphin.

Then, after scoring in regulation, Paul netted the winner in the shootout, lifting the Kings to a 4-3 win over the MGEU West Division-leading Virden Oil Capitals, Friday in Virden.

On Saturday in Dauphin, Madden Murray scored twice including the game winner just 2:44 into the game as the Kings beat the Niverville Nighthawks, 6-0, with Cole Sheffield making 28 saves for his third shutout in the new year.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the team is positive and working hard during the current win streak.

“I don’t think we’ve had any better back-to-back efforts. The game in Virden was outstanding. The puck pressure, our forecheck, our back pressure coming back in the D zone, guys are on their toes and they’re working hard. The dressing room is really good right now,” he said.

The game against Swan Valley saw Dauphin outshoot the Stampeders, 69-33.

“We had the puck a lot. A lot of shots at the net. And that’s what we’re starting to do is we’re driving the net. We’re getting second shots, we’re going low to high, we’re getting some pucks through from the point. Yeah, we put a lot of pucks through on the net,” Hedley said, adding the Kings used their speed to create a lot of opportunities against Virden on Friday.

Hedley thinks the struggles the team experienced in December may be attributed to the Christmas break.

“Maybe with the Christmas break, guys were thinking about Christmas. The focus, the attention to detail wasn’t there. You just see the difference now,” he said. “In December, some of our players, they didn’t know if we had the team. We were trying to get better. But when that doubt enters the room it’s tough and you really have to battle hard. And it takes a special group to battle through it. The group we have in the room now, they believe in each other, they work for each other and go to war. That’s the difference.”

As well as they are playing now, Hedley would like to see things tighten up in the defensive zone.

“Sometimes we break down and give up real good chances. Sheff made some good saves when he had to tonight. In tight, there were a couple guys all alone a couple times. We’ve just got to clean up the D zone a little bit,” he said. “I really like our neutral zone right now. We’re controlling team’s speed, we’re getting pressure on the forecheck and we’re making some smart reads. But the D zone is going to have to get a little bit cleaner and getting tougher on pucks.”

Dauphin trails the second-place OCN Blizzard by three points with four games in hand.

The Kings are in Swan Valley tonight at 7 p.m.

On Friday, they host the Blizzard at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday is Ukrainian Night with the Steinbach Pistons in town for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Kings court: For the second straight week, Kings goalie Cole Sheffield was named one of the Original 16 Stars of the Week, after posting a 3-0 record with a .1.62 GAA and .950 save percentage . . . The British Columbia Hockey League announced over the weekend that five teams from Alberta - the Blackfaulds Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Sherwood Park Crusaders and Spruce Grove Saints - will join that league next season. As a result, the Alberta Junior Hockey League cancelled this weekend’s games involving those teams.