The wildfire danger in Manitoba remains at a moderate to high level, and officials say human activity, including arson, is significantly contributing to the current conditions. While recent rain has helped firefighting crews, there are still 122 active fires across the province. No new evacuations have been ordered in the past 24 hours, but the government has 5,000 more beds ready to go if needed, with sites on standby in Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie.
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The Manitoba government has announced funding to repair more highways and bridges in Westman, but this round does not include an overpass for Highway 1 and 5 near Carberry. The $189-million will pay for 18 different projects including fixing a section of Highway 5 southeast of Brandon, and structure replacements north of Holland.
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Manitoba is bringing in new regulations this fall to protect workers from exposure to asbestos. The Manitoba Federation of Labour says the new rules can’t come soon enough. They say it’s the number one occupational killer in the country, and in Manitoba, six people die from exposure to asbestos every year.
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A 32-year-old Brandon man drowned Saturday evening while swimming with others at Sandy Lake Beach. RCMP say he was found in the water and taken to a nearby dock where he was given CPR, but was later pronounced dead. The beach is about 97-kilometres north of Brandon.
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Inquests have been called into the deaths of seven men in two Manitoba correctional facilities in 2020 and 2021. One of the cases involves 25-year-old Patrick Eaglestick of Brandon who died in March 2020 at Stony Mountain prison. The Medical Examiner ruled that all the men’s deaths were suicides.
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Alberta has passed the U-S for confirmed measles cases. It’s now seen 1,314 cases since the beginning of March – the United States has reported 1,288. So far, the outbreak in Alberta has not led to any deaths. There have been 130 cases of measles in Manitoba.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney is to meet with his cabinet today for the first time since U-S President Donald Trump threatened to impose steep new tariffs on Canada. The 35-percent levy would start August 1st.
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Canada’s finance minister is looking for feedback from Canadians on national security, defense spending and fortifying the economy as be prepares a fall budget. The focus of the budget will be to bring costs down.
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The Canadian government’s top scientist has released a new report on unidentified flying objects and it suggests the country would benefit from an improved process for reporting, collecting, and studying sightings. The Sky Canada Project estimates there could be as many as 1,000 sightings a year in Canada.
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When you order chocolate spongecake – you expect a delicious sugary treat – not a box full of spiders, unless you’re a smuggler. German customs officials recently seized roughly 15-hundred young tarantulas found inside
plastic containers hidden in spongecake boxes. What tipped them off? A ‘noticeable smell’ that didn’t resemble the expected aroma of the seven kilos of confectionery treats.
