Maybe it’s because it’s been so long since we’ve seen them dance.

Possibly it’s because it’s really been a long while since we’ve had events that brought so many people out to fill up the hall.

Or possibly it’s the fact that we have so many wonderful families choosing to come here as they escape the war in Ukraine and now call this area home....

Whatever the reason there were certainly a lot of smiles at the Yachminka Ukrainian Dance Ensembles Spring Concert held last weekend.

After the disruption caused by Covid, Masters of Ceremony Tyla Betke and Feron Lovas - both alumni of Yachminka - took a look back at the ensembles beginnings while explaining the significance of each of the regional dances.

Get the full story in this week's Russell Banner!

As spring approaches, Swan Valley Sport Fishing Enhancement (SVSFE) is more excited than usual. Back in February, SVSFE technicians and volunteers partnered with Manitoba Fisheries staff to complete a “one of a kind” fish habitat improvement project at Glad Lake.

“Glad Lake is an oligotrophic lake (lakes which generally host very little or no aquatic vegetation and are relatively clear) in the Duck Mountains lacking high-quality fish cover in multiple areas,” noted SVSFE Technician Brock Koutecky. “The creation of underwater fish structures will benefit the
various species within this fishery.

Two local musicians will have a chance to play at one of Canada’s largest country musical festivals this year.

Kris Paul and Becky Lou Martin are set to play at Countryfest this summer. Both artists have been finding the balance between everyday life and music.

Read all about it in this issue.

A descendant of the Red River Métis and a spokesperson for the Métis Rights Coalition (MRC) says he has some serious concerns about the so-called Manitoba Métis Federation “government” and where the organization is headed.

“Maybe to some people this is not serious but to me, it’s very serious,” said a concerned Charlie Vermeylen.

Vermeylen says he has a lot of questions about this government but unfortunately, he’s not

Find out what he’s concerned about in this week’s Review.

It’s a tough time for most school divisions in Manitoba as they finalize their upcoming school year budgets. Each school division is struggling to do more with less funding and Kelsey School Division is no different. Some tough decisions had to be made to minimize the amount of cutbacks that could have occurred.
Kelsey School Division put a great emphasis in this year’s budget on ensuring that staffing levels were maintained.
“Our main focus was to prevent losing any staff through budget cuts,” said Kelsey School Division Chair Cheryl Sinclair. “We wanted to hold staffing levels to where they are and that was one of our main questions asked by the public.

The annual Storyteller’s Film Festival is coming up in April and this year there are some excellent documentaries being showcased that represent life in northern Manitoba.
“First we have a film called Sam Waller's Museum, which is a short documentary about Sam Waller, his life in the area, and his museum,” said Cheryl Antonio. “The next one is Gift to Give and it’s a short documentary about a family whose father is ill and in need of a transplant. We The Artists of the North is a documentary about artists in Thompson, Manitoba. Then our feature length film is called Beans and is a film set in the Oka Crisis of 1990, coming from the perspective of a young girl.”

Last week the Province announced an investment of $420 million in critical infrastructure funding to strengthen the northern economy. Within that announcement were improvements of over $100 million for Highway 6. The Safer Highway 6 Citizens Action Group is pleased to hear of the investment and are seeking more information on it.
“We think it’s a good announcement, especially with the provincial government spending money on Highway 6 improvements,” said Safer Highway 6 Citizens Action Group member Volker Beckmann. “I told the Minister of Transportation that our group would be sending him a series of resolutions signed by northern communities and Chambers of Commerce asking for some specific things.
“We’re looking forward to getting information as to exactly what the money they’re spending will cover in terms of where will the work take place, the amount of the construction and who the contractors are. They provided us with that last year, so we just want to make sure we have an idea of exactly the type of work that they are doing.

Budget season is upon many municipalities, school divisions and other organizations. The Town of The Pas has been working on establishing the upcoming fiscal year’s budget through a series of special meetings. Last week council held both a regular and special meeting to discuss matters.
The 2021 utility operating deficit was discussed as well as the impact of water main breaks.
“The utility operating deficit of $479,179.00 is for 2021 and going to be applied against capital assets to cover the cost; it won’t be added to people’s utility bill,” said The Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy. “This is how it’s done every year and doesn’t impact taxation directly. Where people are going to see rate increases on utility bills is around the new lagoon. The new lagoon is going to be added to people’s bills, not based on an actual tax levy to pay for that fee.

Children around the Swan Valley had much more time during the day to engage in recreational activities with their spring break from school, taking advantage of the local recreational facilities...

The Dauphin Kings will look to force a game seven in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series with the Swan Valley Stampeders with a win in game six Tuesday night at Credit Union Place.

After dropping the first two games last weekend, Dauphin got back into the series with a 6-3 triumph in game three, Mar. 28, in Swan River.

The Stampeders took a strangle hold on the series with a 3-2 double overtime victory in game four, Friday in Dauphin, but the Kings stayed alive with a double overtime victory of their own, Saturday in Swan River to bring the series back to Dauphin.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said there is a fine line between wins and losses right now.

“You’ve got to make a break count,” he said. “There was a real good crowd in Swan (in game five) and a good atmosphere and I think the guys responded very well. We worked hard, did some simple things, played well defensively, and, obviously, got a big goal from Deepkaran Hans at a good time to force a game six. We’re fighting and a lot of guys really stepped up and responded very well.”

Friday’s game four loss came after Jakob Brook was called for a questionable boarding penalty early in the second extra period. Swan Valley capitalized on the man advantage when Adam Rajsigl scored his second of the game at 2:18.

Even though they were down three-games-to-one at the time, the Kings were not down for the count yet.

“There’s a lot of clichés you can come up with and reiterate. But at the same time, you haven’t lost a thing until you lose four. So that was the message. We’ve won in that building three times already this year and every game has been so close,” Hedley said. “You just have to keep on fighting. Right now we’re out of second opportunities. It’s just a matter of being focused, being game ready and bringing the best possible effort and compete level that we can.”

With the exception of game three, every contest has been close with four of the first five games decided by one goal. That was the trend established in the regular season where the Kings won four of the six games, with five being decided by just one goal.

“We knew it was going to be real tight, regardless of the standings. When we play Swan, they’re tight games and they go back and forth. It’s nothing different that we expected with the regular season that we played against them. Right now, there are guys on both sides that are stepping up and playing real well,” Hedley said.

The focus for game six, Hedley said, is simple - win.

“Like I said, we don’t have any second chances. The compete level has got to be there,” he said, adding Dmytro Kubritskyi played well in goal in game five after coming into the game to start the second period in relief of Cole Sheffield, who allowed two goals on 15 shots. “Kubritskyi coming in was just to quiet things down, settle things down. He played with the experience that he has and going forward, I think we need to do the same thing. Just go out and do the simple things,” Hedley said.

Defenceman Owen Wareham left game five with a knee injury after a knee-on-knee collision with Swan Valley defenceman Owen Harris.

There was no penalty called on the play, but the Kings have submitted video seeking disciplinary action.

Wareham was to be re-evaluated Monday. If he should be unable to play, Hedley said it is next man up and, hopefully, Wareham can return as soon as possible.

Kings court: The Portage Terriers advanced to the semifinals with a five-game series win over the first-year Niverville Nighthawks. The Virden Oil Capitals, also advanced after beating the OCN Blizzard in six games. The Winkler Flyers, after falling behind three-games-to-one to the Steinbach Pistons, have come back to force a game seven, which takes place tonight in Steinbach.