Prairie Mountain RCMP conducted a significant drug bust in Rossburn, Feb. 4.

Located in a residence was 188 grams of cocaine, and 732 grams of methamphetamine, with a street value of over $37,000.

Read more in this week’s Banner!

For close to a decade - nine years in fact - the annual Stick It To Cancer fundraising hockey game has been part of life as a student of Major Pratt.

For the Major Pratt Trojans and their opponents - who more often than not have been the Roblin Raiders - they’re wearing shocking pink hockey jerseys.

Their hockey socks are pink and so are most of their skate laces too. In fact, many of the Roblin Raiders had their sticks taped with pink hockey tape and pink laces in their skates too. The concourse of the Russell Regional Multiplex was awash in pink too as the generosity of the communities surrounding Russell (and the 13 communities who are under the umbrella of the Expanding Community Cancer Care project) shone bright with the donations to the rainbow and silent auction.

As he has for every Stick It To Cancer game, Bruce Hutton of Art Farm produced the jersey’s, the tuques and the hoodies, all on sale for the cause.

Check out all the details in this week's Russell Banner!

Bob Cross, a long-time local businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist, was one of only a thousand Manitobans who have been singled out for their significant achievements and contributions to their communities.

Cross was named a winner of the province’s Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Check out a photo of the presentation ceremony in this week’s issue.

Prairie Mountain RCMP conducted a significant drug bust in Rossburn, Feb. 4.

Located in a residence was 188 grams of cocaine, and 732 grams of methamphetamine, with a street value of over $37,000.

Read more in this week’s RCMP Report

In an effort to brighten things up on Main Street, the Roblin and District Chamber of Commerce is hosting a contest in search for designs to showcase as banners.

The Street Banner Contest was visualized out of the popularity of the graduation banners that lined Main Street last June.

Find out more and who’s performing in this week’s Review.

There’s a lot of talk about truth and reconciliation, but when it comes to following the calls to action, many still aren’t there yet. The Pas Huskies hockey team can proudly say they’ve taken a step in that direction by participating in the Orange Shirt Day Project.
“I saw a post on social media back in October 2022, regarding the project and wanted to help bring the message of Truth and Reconciliation through sport to our team and help educate anyone who asked about it,” said Huskies Head Coach Ernest Muswagon. “I applied to partake in this project for the team and I've sent the link orangejerseyproject.ca to others who have kids in hockey down south and hope their teams also applied to get the jerseys.
“The jerseys came from Keener Jerseys. The idea of this began with the Orange Shirt Society and the premier sponsor is Canadian Tire. Not only were we sent jerseys; we were also sent a book on Orange Shirt Day.

The Pas has been fortunate to have donors give back to the community on various different levels to keep projects going in the community. One donor in particular has given back tremendously over the years to a variety of different charities and notable projects that have greatly benefitted the lives of citizens in the tri-community area.
“I was born and raised in The Pas,” said Evans Premachuk. “In 1963, my wife, Mardene and I left Lynn Lake to move back to my home community to set up my law practice. Eventually we went into owning an apartment complex in The Pas after the pulp mill was built. This led to us slowly getting into some more real estate development.

The Manitoba government is recognizing Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) citizenship cards as a primary form of identification to purchase liquor, cannabis and gaming products in Manitoba, Premier Heather Stefanson announced.
“The Manitoba government is continuing to advance reconciliation and honour the vital contributions of the Red River Métis in shaping Manitoba’s history and culture,” said Stefanson. “These changes will remove barriers for Indigenous Peoples to access products and services such as those regulated by the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba (LGCA).”

Swan River McDonald’s celebrated their grand opening with family, friends and invited guests last Thursday (Feb. 2) before opening to the public the following day. Franchise owner Mihir Patel along with honourary guests Corporal Juanita Bettesworth and Town of Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson cut the ribbon to signify the official opening of the restaurant. 

The Dauphin Kings are alone in first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division after a split in a home-and-home with the expansion Niverville Nighthawks over the weekend.

Niverville surprised the Kings, Friday night in Dauphin, scoring a 5-2 victory in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.

Ethan Whillans and Luke Schaefer staked the Nighthawks to a 2-0 lead after the opening frame and they increased their lead to 4-1 after 40 minutes, with Desmond Johnson and Brett Tataryn giving the visitors a 4-0 lead before Jayden Harris put the homeside on the board with his 12th of the season.

The teams traded goals in the third period.

Owen Wareham’s power-play goal midway through the frame, his third of the campaign, brought the Kings to within two, but Johnson sealed the win with his second of the game into an empty net.

Chris Fines was called upon to make 28 saves in the win, while Dmytro Kubritskyi stopped 23 shots in the loss.

Dauphin rebounded in a big way in Sunday’s rematch in Niverville, building a 5-0 lead and hanging on for a 5-2 victory of their own.

Myles Yearwood staked Dauphin to a 1-0 lead in the first period with his eighth of the season.

The Kings increased the lead to 4-0 after two, on goals from Nicholas Hatton, his second, Nolan Wickham’s sixth and Mason Smith with his 11th.

Deepkaran Hans tallied his 12th of the year early in the third before the Nighthawks got on the board with a pair of power-play markers from Hayden Wheddon and Josh Paulhus.

Cole Sheffield was stellar in goal for Dauphin, making 40 saves, while Dane Couture was credited with 27 stops.

At 25-15-2-1, the Kings sit alone in first with 53 points. Waywayseecappo, Swan Valley and OCN are tied with 51 points, while Virden is two points back with 49. Neepawa brings up the rear with 45 points.

This week, the Kings travel to Virden, Tuesday, for a 7:30 p.m. face off, before hosting the Winnipeg Freeze, Friday, and the OCN Blizzard on Saturday. Both games at Credit Union Place get underway at 7:30 p.m.

Kings court:

Kings head coach Doug Hedley enters the week only two wins behind former bench boss Marlin Murray for most coaching wins in team history. If the Kings beat Virden on Tuesday and Winnipeg on Friday, Hedley will have a chance to become the alltime winningest coach in Kings history against OCN on Saturday. Murray finished his tenure as Kings head coach with 348 wins, while Hedley has 346.