On Christmas Eve, at approximately 3:00 am, Dauphin RCMP were on patrol when they noticed smoke coming from a house in the 300 block of 2nd Avenue NE. The Dauphin Fire Department were quickly dispatched and the home was immersed in flames upon arrival. Upon searching and clearing the first floor looking for potential occupants, the heat, smoke, and visibility played havoc with the firefighters attempts to search and clear the second floor. Once the fire had been deemed under control the second floor was searched and cleared, and no one was located in the home. Eventually the fire was brought under control at 9:30 am and crews remained on-site until early afternoon to help with the investigation and to ensure all spot fires inside the structure were completely extinguished. According to the Dauphin Firefighters report the house is a complete loss and the fire was determined to be suspicious in nature following the investigation by the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner. Anyone with any information regarding this incident are asked to contact the Dauphin RCMP at 204-622-5050.   Photo: Dauphin Fire Department

Every little bit counts. It really does! And in this case, two dollar donations, pre-made hampers, community and corporate generosity added up to just under $27,000 for Samaritan House. Safeway and Sobeys stores in Brandon held a Thanksgiving and Christmas campaign this fall, where customers and staff were asked to donate ($2 or more) as they purchased their groceries. People were also able to contribute by purchasing pre-made hampers at the Safeway location. The funds were then matched by Sobeys Corporate for a grand total of $26,979. A cheque presentation was held today. Gregory Gingras, Sobeys West franchisee was delighted to be able to offer Samaritan House the much needed funds at this time of year. "It gives them the purchasing power they need at the time when they need it most." He notes "it's our (Safeway/Sobeys) mission to help Canadians eat better, feel better, do better and so our work with Brandon's Samaritan House is so very important to us. And in turn, the work of Samaritan House is far reaching and serves to keep this money in our local community and make it stronger."    

Effective March 1st, 2017 The Royal Oak Inn and Suites will no longer be part of the Brandon hotel landscape.   Genesis Hospitality, who own and operate the Royal Inn, will make the move on March 1st to embrace the Clarion Hotel and Suites concept.  The Clarion brand is franchised by Choice Hotels Canada, the nation’s largest hotel franchisor. For more information, visit www.ChoiceHotels.ca. Aaron Tycoles, the GM of the Royal Oak Inn told BDNMB.CA today that negotiations started last spring with Clarion and they felt it was the best fit for their property.  The Royal Oak has under gone recent improvements and renovations to their standard rooms over the past 2 years, and will continue these renovations to meet the standards of the Clarion brand as outlined in the agreement.  The Royal Oak Inn & Suites currently has 156 rooms, 51 of them suites. Genesis Hospitality Inc. owns and operates 10 hotels in Brandon, Winnipeg, Flin Flon, Hamilton, Mississauga, Owen Sound, Thunder Bay and Vaughan. According to the media release the 150 employees, and staff, will not be affected and it will be business as usual. Kevin Swark, Executive Vice President for Genesis Hospitality Inc. says, “Genesis is ecstatic to join the Choice and Clarion hotel family, we have been working diligently over the past two years in order to re-position the hotel  as well we are looking forward to growing our online presence, and welcoming their 1.5 million Choice Privileges members to stay with us.”   We’re proud to welcome Genesis Hospitality Inc. into the Choice Hotels family,” said Brian Leon, managing director, Choice Hotels Canada. “We’re excited to expand our excellent reputation of value and guest experience that Choice Hotels offers in Manitoba. The continued growth of the Clarion brand is a strong indication of our consumer’s desire for affordable and convenient meeting space for business and social gatherings.” The change to Clarion will not affect the current operation of Echo Restaurant or Houston’s Night Club, which are both part of the current operation at the hotel.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});  

Courtesy: Keystone Centre Press Release  BRANDON, MB (December 13, 2016) – Outlaws of Motorsports and the Keystone Centre are bringing the Monsters back to Westman this summer!! And they’re bringing a few new friends! Accel Towing & Transport proudly presents: Monsters & Mayhem, July 15 & 16, 2017 at the Keystone Centre. The show features the Staight Up Racing Monster Trucks and Team (http://www.straightupracing.com/home.html), including the Monster Ride Truck, brought to you by Canad Inns. The south end of the Keystone Centre grounds will once-again be transformed into an outdoor arena for the shows. There will be bleacher seating for 2000 people at each show (general admission). Special guests this year, brought to you by Heritage Co-op, are FMX Freestyle Motocross and Snowmobile, with X Games Gold Medalist Heath Frisby and Evel Knieval’s Godson, Keith Sayers. “You’re gonna love these FMX Freestyle guys – they’re nuts!” said Rob Waloschuk, for Outlaws of Motorsports. “We all love watching the Monsters rip around the track at the Keystone, but you really need to see these guys tackle the ramps on a bike and sled.” This year, local truck “nuts” can take crack at the track with their own wheels in the Tuff Truck Challenge. Rules and entry details are here: http://www.outlawsofmotorsports.com/documents/tuff-truck-rules.pdf Monsters & Mayhem returns to the Wheat City for its third, consecutive year.  “We love how the whole crew of trucks and drivers immerse themselves in our community in the days leading up to the shows,” said Neil Thomson, general manager, Keystone Centre. “We are really excited to bring them back – thanks to our local title sponsor, Accel Towing & Transport.” Heritage Co-op will once again host their large ‘Let’s Get Grilling” Charity BBQ at the Richmond Ave location. It begins after work Friday, July 14 and will feature a host of Monster Trucks, drivers, FMX Freestyle crew, Accel Tow-trucks, free autographs and photo ops! Admission is free. Canad Inns Brandon is offering exclusive Stay and Play Packages for the Monsters & Mayhem shows through their website www.canadinns.com. Tickets for the Brandon shows are available online at tickets.keystonecentre.com, by phone at 204.726.3555 or in person at the Keystone Centre Box Office. (Tickets go on sale at 10AM on Friday, December 16, 2016) In time for a sensational stocking stuffer! Dates/Times July 15, 1PM July 15, 7PM July 16, 2PM Ticket prices are as follows: Advance Tickets: Adult: $23.00 + service fee Youth: $20.00 + service fee (service fee is $5) At the the Gate: Adult: $28.00 + service fee Youth: $25.00 + service fee (service fee is $5) Adult are aged 13+, Youth are aged 3-12, aged 2 and under are free.   About the Keystone Centre The Keystone Centre is a registered charity. The Keystone Centre strives to be the premier service oriented, multi-functional, community minded facility in Manitoba, hosting sporting and entertainment events, fairs and agricultural exhibitions, and conferences. To learn more about the Keystone Centre visit www.keystonecentre.com Outlaws of Motorsports www.facebook.com/outlawsofmotorsports/ and www.outlawsofmotorsports.com

I have zero issues in “taking one for the team” so to be speak with new website concepts. A year ago I stumbled on www.airbnb.com and wondered “how on earth could I make a few bucks with this site.” Well it is very simple actually. The website provides two concepts: # 1 – rent a house, room, or condo when you are traveling # 2 – you can rent your house, room, or condo out Personally, I have done both options and have had zero problems. Actually, when I rented a condo in Seoul Korea it went amazing well. I was totally shocked to find the place I rented, for $90 a night, was in the heart of Seoul. In Prague earlier this year we rented a floor, yes a floor of a castle. The cost was only $122 USD a night and included both a cleaning services and a car driver. Click on www.airbnb.com and you can see Brandon has about 15 – 20 properties for rent most of the time. I have rented a room our in my house about 6 times this year already and some people have booked for 2 nights, and one guy stayed for a month. If you have some spare room, or you are going away on holidays, you might be surprised how much money you can make renting out a spare room. Once again I have been fortunate that all the people that have booked have not been weird or losers etc. Most travels seeking a room are professional people looking for something different than what a hotel can offer. Darryl Wolski