Brandon Riverbank Inc. is pleased to announce that construction of the All Nations Sharing Circle is now underway. The area, which is located on the east end of the Riverbank grounds where the trail forks north, south, and west near the Assiniboine River, will be a safe place for all people to share knowledge, experiences, stories and more. It’s expected the Sharing Circle will be completed by mid-June in an effort to have the area ready for National Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The project is made possible thanks to the generous support from Westoba Credit Union and the Westoba Inspire community investment program.(submitted)

Hundreds of orange crosses line Brandon's Victoria Avenue and 18th Street in a show of remembrance and support for the 215 children that were found buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Photo by Liam Pattison Photography Photo by Liam Pattison Photography Photo by Liam Pattison Photography Photo by Liam Pattison Photography Photo by Liam Pattison Photography

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At approx. 9:50 Saturday morning, officers were called to a home invasion in the 200 block of Princess Ave East. The residents reported that three males broke into the residence while armed with a sawed off shotgun and stole a quantity of money and two purses. During the robbery, one of the suspects used the butt end of the shotgun to strike one of the victims in the face.  Further investigation allowed police to obtain a search warrant for a residence in the 400 block of 2nd St. While awaiting the warrant to be signed officers observed a 27-year-old male exit the target location.  He was checked and found to be in possession of one of the stolen purses.  He was arrested and charged with possession of property obtained by crime.  He has been released from custody with a court date of August 26. Once the warrant was authorized, Police entered the target residence and located the sawed off pump action shotgun used in the robbery.  The 26-year-old male of that address was arrested for armed robbery, and break enter and commit robbery.  He will appear in court later today.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release Three recent residential break and enters to garages occurred in the city, all in the southwest area.  Two of those incidents occurred overnight Thursday, and one overnight on Friday. A bike and attached children’s tow carrier was stolen during one incident, and sets of keys left inside vehicles were stolen in other incidents. These all occurred overnight and in one incident, a grainy surveillance video identified a suspect outside a residence at approximately 5: 10 a.m.  Homeowners are encouraged to remove hand held garage door openers from the interior of vehicles parked outside, lock their car doors in vehicles equipped with programmable garage door openers, and to ensure walk in doors are also secure. In none of these occurrences did the suspect(s) have to force entry into any of the garages that they entered.  

To mitigate the transmission of COVID-19, all kindergarten to Grade 12 schools in Winnipeg and Brandon, as well as the Garden Valley and Red River Valley school divisions, will remain in remote learning until the end of the school year, with the ability to reopen to small groups as of June 14, Education Minister Cliff Cullen announced today. “Extending remote learning as recommended by public health will protect students, families, teachers and staff as our COVID-19 case counts remain high and our health-care system is still under tremendous strain,” said Cullen. “We know the value of face-to-face instruction, and limited use for small groups of students will allow students and teachers to end the year on a stronger footing.” The minister noted that unless otherwise directed by public health, kindergarten to Grade 12 schools in remote learning in these communities and divisions will be able to schedule opportunities for teachers to meet in person with small groups of five to six students. Beginning June 14, kindergarten to Grade 12 students learning remotely from home can be invited to schools during scheduled times for in-person support, clinical support, assessments and transition planning. Schools will be required to follow public health guidance including:• determining capacity limits to ensure two metres of physical distancing;• maintaining cohorts;• where possible, limiting the amount of time students spend in the facility;• maintaining physical distancing of at least two metres;• wearing masks, except while seated; and• limiting gatherings between students. “While our case counts are starting to move in the right direction, test positivity rates and the number of cases in hospital and ICU are still too high to broadly reopen schools in certain parts of the province,” said Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer. “These changes will allow schools in remote learning to work with students and assess their progress while ensuring large numbers of people aren’t gathering.” All other schools that have moved to remote learning based on individual assessment by public health officials will be assessed by public health before they reopen. For schools remaining open in other parts of Manitoba, the following public health measures remain in place:• schools with multiple cases (outside of same household cases) will be moved proactively to remote learning as per existing guidance;• school officials can require students and/or staff who are showing symptoms to stay home for 10 days and encourage them to seek testing and household members without symptoms should also self-isolate (quarantine) until the sick individual’s test result is received;• all extra-curricular activities, organized sports and off-site activities are suspended, except for physically distanced walks/runs in the local community;• no indoor singing and no indoor use of wind instruments are allowed; and• all other public health measures remain in effect. The minister noted that schools wishing to host modified graduation ceremonies must adhere to the public health orders and guidelines in effect at the time the ceremonies take place. For more information on the current public health orders and COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.