-Buddle up for the next three plus days as a cold front slides in. Environment Canada has issued a orange warning for cold, with windchills reaching minus 45 overnight. Dress warmly and in layers, as Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin. Keep emergency supplies in your vehicle such as extra blankets and jumper cables. Outdoor workers should take regularly scheduled breaks to warm up.
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-Brandon’s School division is trying to head off a large budget deficit by meeting with the provinces education minister. At issue, is a potential $6.8 million dollar shortfall, with program cuts and tax increases. School Trustees met with the education minister on zoom January 15th. The focus is funding pressure from teacher salary harmonization, which trustees say is hitting Brandon harder than other divisions.
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-RCMP arrested a 41-year-old Brandon man on Monday, after locating an off-road vehicle during a property search in the RM of Harrison Park, 1 hour north of Brandon. Dead Purdy faces charges of possessing property obtained by crime over $5 thousand dollars and 3 counts of breaching court orders. Police say the vehicle was reported stolen from a business in the RM of Oakville January 11th.
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-Two small-town hotel bars in Westman were robbed, and they may be connected. The Brandon Sun is reporting that break ins at the Baldur and Glenboro hotels occurred December 30th and January 10th respectively. The RCMP say Surveillance video shows two men dressed in black partially covered, broke into the business. They stole several cases of alcoholic coolers, bottles of alcohol and roughly $2,000 worth of cigarettes. Baldur and Glenboro are about 80 kilometers southeast of Brandon.
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-Brandon-Westman Christmas Cheer Registry is sharing its donations with the Samaritan House Ministries, funded by US liquor sales in December. Announced Monday, the funds will help food banks in the Brandon-Westman area fill over 22 thousand hampers of non-perishable food this year. The organization says the donation is crucial, as food insecurity continues to grow.
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The Westman Multicultural Festival returns to Brandon for its 17th year, celebrating diversity and cultural connections from around the world. The free event is held at multiple venues from February 5th to the 7th. It features 11 pavilions offering cultural performances, traditional food, and entertainment.
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-Today is the last day of Canada’s largest indoor farm show, at the Keystone Centre in Brandon. Manitoba Ag Days runs from 9am to 5pm, and features the latest in agricultural technology at its Innovation Showcase, over 580 exhibitors, and several engaging guest speakers. Ag Days Gives Back is also running a 50/50 raffle, ending today, with a jackpot over $90 thousand dollars. The event brings Manitoba’s agricultural sector together, emphasizing community, innovation, and locally made products.
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-Prime Minister Mark Carney is off to Quebec City today for 2 days of private meetings with his cabinet. The meetings will focus on the economy, affordability and security, as ministers will look at progress on the priorities laid out in their mandate letters. This, after Carney spent 9 days overseas drumming up new investments for Canada, and before Parliament returns on Monday.
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-The U-S President is now nixing plans to cancel tariffs on European allies. This, after reaching a “framework of a future deal” with NATO on Greenland, Tuesday in Davos, Switzerland. Donald Trump says the U-S wants control of Greenland, but won’t use military force. Prime Minister Mark Carney left the World Economic Summit, without meeting with Trump yesterday; Meantime, Denmark and NATO allies insist Greenland is not for sale.
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