Zhoda to welcome second little house on the prairie

Zhoda will get its second tiny home following a pair of votes by RM of La Broquerie council last Wednesday.

Tim Klassen appeared before council seeking two variances that would allow him to place a tiny home on a 3.5-acre rural residential property on Wall Street.

The first was to vary the minimum square footage for a single-family dwelling to 250 square feet from 800 square feet. The second was to vary the minimum width of a dwelling to 8.6 feet from 24 feet.

“I don’t need a big place to live in,” Klassen said.

COLUMN: Think Again – There’s no need to rename everything

As part of the ever-accelerating agenda to cancel all things deemed offensive, Sir John A. Macdonald’s name and likeness is rapidly disappearing from the public square. Even though he was Canada’s first prime minister and key architect of Confederation, his statues are being taken down and his name removed from buildings.

Macdonald’s critics argue that his role in establishing Indigenous residential schools and his racist views disqualify him from any place of honour in Canada today.

But here’s the problem. If you cancel Macdonald, why stop with him? If we judge 19th century people by 21st century standards, many historical Canadians held unacceptable views. Which is why a whole lot of other buildings will soon need new names.

For example, trustees for the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ontario, recently voted to rename 12 schools named after historical figures with ties to racism or colonialism including Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Queen Victoria, Lord Elgin, Lord Nelson, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and others.

Experiencing Tanzania

Wow! Wow! Wow! That’s what our guide Malaki Samuel kept saying as we encountered a huge migration of wildebeests and zebras on our recent safari in Tanzania. This is considered early in the year for the annual migration which begins in the southern Serengeti as the animals set off looking for greener grass to feed on. We must have seen nearly a million and a half zebras and wildebeests migrating together. It was just unbelievable!

Gas thief drains fuel tank

Police are looking for a gas thief who drilled a hole into a fuel tank to drain it.

The vehicle owner reported the vandalism and theft on Friday, and police said they believe it happened between the evening of Jan. 19 and the afternoon of Jan. 20.

The incident occurred on the 100 block of Woodhaven Avenue in Steinbach and no surveillance footage or suspect description is available.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Steinbach RCMP at 204-326-4452 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Flight from police ends in jail sentence

A man who tried to outrun the long arm of the law was handed a jail sentence last week in Steinbach provincial court, but it could have been a longer one had he been breathalyzed by Steinbach RCMP.

Larry Adams Friesen, 40, pleaded guilty last Thursday to dangerous driving, mischief over $5,000, flight from police, and failing to comply with a release order to refrain from being behind the wheel.

“You’re on your second page of your criminal record already. That’s worrisome,” Judge Larry Allen said as he sentenced Friesen to 314 days of time served and a one-year driving ban.

Defence lawyer Karl Gowenlock said Manitoba Public Insurance will likely ban Friesen from driving for life.

Steinbach to host budget engagement meeting

Steinbach and area residents will have a chance to weigh in on the upcoming provincial budget in the second in-person session available.

The PC government announced the consultations Friday which are a mix of in-person, regional telephone town halls, and online surveys.

Finance Minister Cameron Friesen said they’re focused on the creation of jobs, providing accessible healthcare and making life more affordable for Manitobans.

“We’re listening to Manitoban families and want to hear from them,” he said in a press release. “To permit as many individuals to contribute as possible, we’re inviting all Manitobans to participate in telephone town halls or in-person engagement sessions.”

COLUMN: Village News – Resurfacing: Mennonite floor patterns

On Jan. 18, guests gathered in the Gerhard Ens Gallery at Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) to open “Resurfacing: Mennonite Floor Patterns,” an exhibit by Margruite Krahn. Krahn is an artist based in Neubergthal and “Resurfacing” highlights 20 years of her research and artistic expression re-creating historical Mennonite floor patterns.

Inside the gallery, visitors can see 15 of Krahn’s original works of art that re-imagine and re-create historical Mennonite floor patterns found in old housebarns, mostly located in the former Mennonite West Reserve (around the Winkler, Morden area). Alongside the floor cloths, the exhibit includes a unique collage of photos taken of 36 historical patterns found by Krahn and Roland Sawatzky, Curator of History at the Manitoba Museum, during his PhD research on Mennonite housebarns. Despite the age and layers of paint shown on the floors in the photos, visitors with a keen eye will be able to find many of their historical patterns in Krahn’s artwork throughout the exhibit.

Rounding out the exhibit are artefacts, like a trap door from about 1910, found in the Klippenstein housebarn in Neubergthal, and a section of original floor boards from about 1912, found in the Herdsman’s House, also in the Neubergthal. The artefacts highlight the original floor patterns found in both buildings and feature both floral and geometric patterns. The trap door is particularly unique in that it demonstrates how floors were repeatedly re-painted with new patterns. It features numerous levels of paint and three different patterns, each painted over the last one.

At the opening, Krahn remarked that Mennonite floor patterns help to dispel the idea that Mennonites from the past were drab, austere people with no eye for beauty or need for creativity. Indeed, visitors walking into the gallery were struck by the vibrant colours and bold designs of the patterns on display. Krahn used her floor cloths to challenge the crowd at the opening to think about history differently and to question whether our commonly held ideas about history are actually true. Her comment brought to mind a sign I saw in Steinbach last year with this word of caution: “don’t believe everything you think.” I invite you to visit MHV to take in “Resurfacing,” on display now until April 1, and re-consider what you thought you knew about history.

Immigrant student population continues to climb in HSD

The immigrant student population continues to rise in Hanover School Division.

Superintendent Shelley Amos said, as of Wednesday, over 150 pupils from other countries have transferred into the division since the beginning of the school year, nearly double the number from September.

Most students have settled at Clearspring Middle School and Stonybrook Middle School and the bulk of them have emigrated from Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country, while others are coming from countries like Syria and the U.S.

“We have been responsive and added additional teachers in those two schools this year,” Amos said, adding many students have functional English and don’t require support staff.

Conservation checkstops net Southeast suspects

A pair of men from Southeast Manitoba were charged by Manitoba Conservation officers as part of an update released Friday.

The first incident took place on Oct. 10 near Paint Lake when conservation officers saw two vehicles travelling on a decommissioned rail bed. Two males were sitting on the sides of the truck bed. The driver of the truck told officers they were going fishing and hunting grouse. A firearm was located under a spare tire on the truck bed with one live round in the chamber. The magazine for the rifle was found on the truck bed. A Mitchell resident was issued a ticket for carrying or having a loaded firearm in a vehicle and the firearm was seized. He was issued a $486 ticket and received a one-year suspension of his big game and game bird hunting licences.

On Nov. 10, officers from Beausejour received a call from the Anola area reporting suspected poaching. The homeowner heard a gunshot close to her home and immediately after, she saw a white truck pull up and attempt to load a large-bodied animal before driving out of sight. Officers responded and observed a vehicle matching the description leaving the area. A vehicle stop was conducted and the officer observed fresh blood on the tailgate and on the truck driver, a resident of Linden. While the vehicle stop occurred, additional officers searched where the truck was first seen and found a freshly killed white-tailed deer. The truck was then seized. Officers were granted a search warrant for the truck and obtained blood and white-tailed deer hair samples for DNA comparison with the deer found in front of the residence. The matter remains under investigation.

Other incidents included hunting a game bird without a licence near Thompson, having a loaded firearm in a boat on Lynn Lake, failing to wear hunter orange near Gillam, hunting a game bird without a license, and hunting deer within 800 metres of a cervid bait.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: NHL’s spineless response to Flyers pride night debacle is embarrassing

To anyone who follows sports with any degree of interest, it should come as no surprise that the NHL does not exactly take the lead or considered to be visionary when it comes to cultural issues.

The NHL is beyond woeful in its treatment of concussions and head injuries in hockey. The science is settled. It’s not conjecture. It’s not speculation. It’s not wishful thinking. Repeated blows to the head can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly referred to CTE. Yet the NHL consistently downplays this issue that is very much a matter of life and death, and says the science on head injuries isn’t clear.

It’s complete bunk, and everyone knows it.

Now comes the NHL’s completely tone-deaf response to a controversy that occurred last week when a player from the Philadelphia Flyers — Ivan Provorov – refused to participate in the Flyers Pride night.

COLUMN: On Parliament Hill – Opening the floodgates

The Liberal government is considering a radical new approach to immigration, one that poses grave risks to Canada and immigrants alike.

A leaked document shows Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada (IRCC) is considering waiving eligibility rules for hundreds of thousands of applications, and other new bulk processing measures.

Doing so means the department would no longer discern if an individual had the necessary funds for their stay in Canada or monitor if those whose visas had expired had, indeed, left the country.

To make matters worse, the memo outlined the government’s desire to keep these new measures a secret, saying they should not be communicated to the public.

COLUMN: Ask the Money Lady – Add structured notes to your portfolio

Dear Money Lady Readers,

Many of you have sent me emails with genuine worry about your retirement portfolios as we ride the waves of high inflation, lending rates, and low stock market returns. I want to introduce you to an alternative to securities, mutual funds or exchange traded funds (ETFs). Why not consider diversifying your portfolio in part with structured notes?

There is something for everyone in the Structured Notes (SN) arena because they vary by complexity and risk. They are certainly not for everyone; however, are still a good investment product to consider adding to your portfolio for further diversification. The reason I like these products is because they are easily available at your retail bank and can give you a much better return than simple GICs. For the most part, the basic SNs have a guaranteed payout amount on a guaranteed redemption date, making the return something you can count on in the future. They are also a much better option than preferred shares. So, what exactly are they?

SN’s are unsecured debt obligations originating from financial institutions. Most are issued by Canadian Schedule 1 chartered banks, (example: RBC, TD, BMO, BNS, NB, CIBC) but they are nothing like a GIC and they are not covered by the CDIC insurance. SN’s can be thought of as an alternative to other investment products like exchange traded funds (ETF) or mutual funds (MF), however the benefit is that they will have a stated maturity date when they are to be cashed out. Most come with a fixed payout date upon maturity (like a bond), but you can also acquire SNs that pay a fixed or variable payment over the life of the product (like a 30 year preferred share). SN’s have distinct tax advantages since you can make future withdrawals from the product as a return of capital (ROC) payment which defers the tax until maturity or disposition of the note.

COLUMN: Don’t Mind the Mess – Just as I am

There were only three things that could get my dad off the tractor on a summer day: the sabbath, rain, or a Billy Graham crusade.

These crusades, or giant revival meetings, were hosted by this distinguished-looking Southern Baptist preacher with a North Carolina accent for 58 years.

They were held in auditoriums, stadiums, parks, or streets in over 185 countries, and watched on television sets around the globe.

Billy Graham was an old school minister who preached the gospel like it was the plain truth and invited people to come forward to pray and ask Jesus to be their saviour. Each crusade would conclude with the altar call song, “Just As I Am” and literally tens of thousands of people would slowly file to the front, as he patiently waited on stage, head bowed in silent prayer.

Jail time for repeat impaired driver

A 32-year-old man recorded his second conviction for impaired driving in under five years, triggering a mandatory jail sentence.

Patrick Jason Smith was sentenced in Steinbach provincial court last Thursday to 30 days of time served plus a two-year driving ban.

Smith was previously convicted of impaired driving-related offences in Saskatchewan in 2019 and in Manitoba in 2010.

His latest charge, to which he pleaded guilty, was laid following a Feb. 10, 2022 incident.

Anvil stolen from La Broquerie

RCMP are on the lookout for a stolen horseshoe anvil taken from a residence on the 200 block of Gauthier Street in La Broquerie.

Police say the anvil was stolen sometime during the evening of Jan. 12 and before 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 13.

It’s described as roughly 12 inches tall, made of solid steel and weighing in at 100 pounds. The anvil’s value is pegged at $1,600.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Steinbach RCMP at 204-326-4452 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Former Steinbach Piston Cole Smith bags first NHL goal

A former Steinbach Pistons player has found the back of the net in the world’s best hockey league.

Cole Smith, the 1995-born forward from Brainerd, Minn., notched his first NHL goal Jan. 21 against the Los Angeles Kings. Smith plays for the Nashville Predators, and has been a mainstay in the lineup this season, appearing in 40 games. Dailyfaceoff.com lists Smith as playing on the Predators third line alongside Colton Sissons and Jusso Parssinen.

“It’s super exciting,” Smith told reporters in front of his locker after the game.

“It’s a little past overdue I think… hopefully the floodgates can open up a little bit.”