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In brief

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 07/5/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

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JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Retired dairy farmer Walter Van Gorp

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Handout The remains of a Bell 206 helicopter that crashed while spraying fields Wednesday. The pilot was able to walk away.

Landing on his feet

THE pilot of a helicopter that crashed while spraying crops in western Manitoba Wednesday was able to walk away from the wreckage and get to a farmyard for help.

The crash happened at about 11 a.m. at a farm just south of Silverton, which is about 170 kilometres northwest of Brandon. The pilot was using the helicopter to spray crops when it lost control and plummeted to the ground.

The pilot, whose name has not been released, managed to walk to a farmyard for help and was taken to hospital. The extent of his injuries is not yet known.

The Bell 206 Jet Ranger, owned by a company from North Bay, Ont., was destroyed in the crash. RCMP and Transport Canada continue to investigate.

Lightning hits home

A couple near éle des Chenes was sitting outside on their deck when lightning struck their home Wednesday morning, setting it on fire.

Walter Van Gorp was outdoors at about 9 a.m. when there was an ear-jarring bang and lightning hit his family's farmhouse, about 20 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg.

"The wife was deaf for awhile," said Van Gorp. "We were lucky it didn't happen at night."

Firefighters from three different rural municipalities rushed to the scene and extinguished the fire that was burning the roof of the house.

A damage estimate is not yet available.

Walking for cigarettes

Dakota chiefs were leading a walk Wednesday along the 100-kilometre stretch of Trans-Canada Highway from the Saskatchewan border to Brandon in support of an unlicensed store that sells Mohawk cigarettes in defiance of provincial tax laws.

"Dakota have never signed a treaty with the province of Manitoba and therefore the province does not have jurisdiction over the people to impose its laws on. The Chundee Smoke Shop remains open, despite the province's attempt to have the store closed," a Dakota statement in support of the march announced Wednesday.

The Dakota walk will continue today and wind up with a rally at the Brandon courthouse, where owners of the shop who face charges under the province's tobacco laws are to appear for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. followed by a court appearance at 10 a.m.

Last month, the Manitoba government tabled a bill to shut down aboriginal smoke shops, including the Chundee shop, that have openly defied the province.

The NDP tabled the proposed law as part of an omnibus budget bill, after it went to court and received an injunction, which the Dakota ignored.

Chundee started to sell discounted tobacco at the store near Pipestone in November. It has stayed open despite five separate police raids, over 60 charges under tobacco laws and the seizure of thousands of cigarettes.

Fostering foster parents

MORE foster parents will be recruited and retained through a provincewide mentoring program unveiled Wednesday by the Selinger government.

The idea was first proposed 12 years ago and was tested in a recent pilot project.

Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard also announced an increase to basic child maintenance rates, worth more than $1 million, effective Oct. 1. Manitoba foster families will have seen the basic child maintenance rate increase by almost 25 per cent over the last five years, Howard added.

There are about 4,800 foster families across the province and about 10,000 children in foster care.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 5, 2012 A9

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