No-bake cookies

Dynacare labs quickly reach capacity ahead of strike

Patients were being turned away from several Dynacare locations Saturday morning as people packed the labs in hopes of getting their blood collection done before workers strike.

By 10:30 a.m. the lobby at the Dynacare at 1581 Regent Ave. was standing-room only and walk-up patients were being turned away as the wait time for those lucky enough to get in creeped past two hours.

One woman got in right before workers cut off walk-ins at 10 a.m. after travelling to two other locations.

“I was driving by at 7:15 this morning and there was already a line-up to the road, so I was like ‘nope, not going there’ so I went to the one on Sterling Lyon (Parkway) and it was closed, and then I went to the one at St. Vital Mall and there had a line zig-zagging all the way through the corridors so I gave up and came back,” said Joanna, who declined to give her last name.

Four teens dead, four others sent to hospital after crash near Manitoba resort town

WINNIPEG - Mounties in Manitoba say four teens died and four other victims, including two children, were taken to hospital after two vehicles crashed and landed in a ditch near a resort town over the weekend.

RCMP say they responded just after 9 p.m. on Sunday to an intersection near the town of Winnipeg Beach, located about 80 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Police say a car with four occupants was westbound on Highway 229, and was crossing Highway 8 when it was hit by a southbound van.

Both vehicles went into a ditch, with one of them rolling over on to its roof.

No-bake cookies

It's always a good idea to have some no-bake cookie recipes on hand for those days when the oven is busy. This rich-tasting treat, from Winnipeg's Donalda Johnson, is also good for anyone living with egg, dairy or wheat allergies.

Enrolment up at alternative schools

Independent schools are preparing to welcome a record number of students as more families pay for faith-based instruction and secular alternatives.

The overwhelming majority of Manitoba children — 200,000 — are starting in the public school system this fall. Since 2000, the percentage of students enrolled elsewhere — in homeschools, funded and non-funded independent schools — has nearly doubled, to 12 per cent from seven per cent.

“If money was no object, we could fill dozens and dozens more classrooms with the demand for independent education,” said Andrew Micklefield, executive director of the Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools, who is a former Tory government house leader.

The King’s School, Dasmesh School, Springs Christian Academy, Beautiful Saviour Lutheran School, Steinbach Christian School and IQRA Islamic School have all either upscaled at some point over the last five years or are actively in the process of expanding their footprint.

‘We belong… and we are giving back”: Sikh celebration enlivens downtown Winnipeg

Downtown Winnipeg came alive with vibrant sights, sounds, and scents on Sunday, as Manitoba’s Sikh community flocked to Memorial Park to celebrate its annual Nagar Kirtan procession and festival.

This year marked the 422nd anniversary of the completion of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture central to the Sikh faith. Shortly after 1 p.m., a palanquin bearing a copy of the scripture was led in parade through downtown Winnipeg, with musical accompaniment.

“This is a chance to tell the public and the whole community where we come from and who we are,” said volunteer Prabh Grewal shortly before the procession got underway. “In a community there are people from every race and every country, and our main objective is to have everybody live in peace and harmony together.”

Before, during, and after the procession, the park hummed with life. As many as 55,000 people converged on the site, with the majority dressed in festive traditional attire. Near the height of the day’s 30 C heat, families relaxed in patches of shade, enjoying plates of Punjabi cuisine dished out for free at dozens of tents sponsored by local businesses.

Dauphin ER reopening ‘monumental team effort’

DAUPHIN — The emergency department at Dauphin Regional Health Centre reopened Monday morning after a closure of just over two months, restoring 24-7 emergency services to Dauphin and surrounding communities.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara hailed the reopening as a major milestone.

“It’s been a monumental team effort to get to this point,” Asagwara told the Brandon Sun on Monday afternoon before embarking on a tour of the facility.

“We asked everyone to approach this as one team and that’s exactly what we’re seeing the results of now.”