Mayor Rick Chrest and City Council are pleased to welcome Mr. Ron Bowles to the City of Brandon as the 10th City Manager.   Previously, Mr. Bowles served as a General Manager for the City of Campbell River, B.C. He arrived in Manitoba a few weeks ago and has completed 14 days of self-isolation as required by the Provincial Public Health Order.  “The pandemic had slowed us down for a while, but we are extremely pleased to have completed our national selection process and now welcome Mr. Ron Bowles to the role of Brandon’s City Manager,” notes Mayor Rick Chrest. “Ron’s wide experience, fresh perspectives and proven coaching attributes will be a great fit for the corporation, our staff, community partners, and stakeholders.”  “Brandon has a long and storied history of being a community of welcoming, sharing and resilient people,” notes City Manager Ron Bowles. “I will work tirelessly with City Council, community groups, neighbourhoods and businesses to do my part in ensuring this legacy continues.”   The City Manager is the chief administrative officer (CAO) for the City of Brandon Corporation and reports directly to City Council. The City Manager maintains strong ties with local business, community organizations, and the community at large and seeks feedback to ensure the City of Brandon is providing relevant, efficient, and effective services.  “On behalf of Council, we would also sincerely thank and commend Mr. Dean Hammond for serving in the Acting City Manager capacity for the past 18 months,” notes Mayor Chrest. “We wish him well in his continuing role as City Treasurer and GM of Corporate Services.”  “My initial focus will be on delivering Council’s strategic goals,” notes Bowles. “I will also work on blending my leadership style into the existing senior management team and am looking to understand how the City’s protocols ensure COVID-19 safe services are provided. Ensuring the City has the right systems and people in place to deliver economic stimulus projects on-time and on-budget is also one of my priorities.”  Born in Winnipeg, Mr. Bowles has family connections in Brandon and is familiar with the Westman area. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, snowshoeing, camping, mountain biking, kayaking, fishing, and really, anything outside. He looks forward to meeting new friends, colleagues, and community leaders!  (City of Brandon PSA)

The Manitoba government is making a historic investment in support of hunter education and safety, which will enhance sustainable wildlife management and support the safe enjoyment of Manitoba’s great hunting opportunities, Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen announced today. “Manitobans are bringing new-found passion and appreciation for the world-class wildlife and fish resources this province has to offer,” said Pedersen. “This endowment will provide perpetual funding for hunter education and safety programming, and ensure that resources are available to sustain and improve this programming for generations of Manitobans to come.” The province will be committing a gift of $2 million to endow the Hunter Education and Safety Fund, to be administered by The Winnipeg Foundation. The new Hunter Education and Safety Fund will support the Manitoba Wildlife Federation in activities that educate, train and recruit hunters, and enhance safe and sustainable hunting and trapping of wildlife populations within Manitoba. The Manitoba Wildlife Federation delivers hunter education programming and provides instruction on hunter ethics and responsibilities, hunting laws and regulations, firearm safety, as well as other topics that promote safe and lawful hunting in Manitoba by all resource users. “We are thrilled to see the province making this investment into hunter education and safety,” said Carly Deacon, managing director of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation. “It is critical that we work together with hunters to help understand the importance of the role they play in wildlife management and conservation, and safe and ethical hunting.” For more information on hunter education programming in Manitoba, visit:https://mwf.mb.ca/hunter-ed. (Province of MB News Release)

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At 855 am, security at a store in the 900 block of Victoria Ave reported a man entered the store and stole grocery items.  The man appeared agitated as he left.  A short time later, the same man returned and spray painted the side of the store and a fence. He ran away but was located by officers in the area.   He was arrested and appeared for remand on Saturday afternoon on charges of Mischief to Property, Theft Under $5000 x 2 and Breach of a Release Order.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release On April 29, 2021 at approximately 9:00 pm, police responded to a report of a hit and run motor vehicle collision in the 200 block of 5th street.  The suspect vehicle had been reported stolen out of Portage la Prairie and contained several individuals at the time. Police located the vehicle in the area of the 600 block of Pacific and observed one of the suspects fleeing on foot from it.  The 15-year-old male suspect was stopped and arrested by police.  He was lodged at Brandon Police Service and will be released to an adult today.  He will appear in court on June 8, 2021 on a charge of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime. Investigation led police to discover the identity of other individuals who were involved. A 13-year-old male suspect and a 16-year-old male suspect were arrested and lodged at Brandon Police Service.  They will each appear in court this morning on charges of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Fail to Comply with Release Order X2.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release On April 28, 2021, police attended to a report of the theft of merchandise from a business in the 1600 block of 18th street shortly after 2:00 pm.  There were several individuals involved in the incident.  One of the suspects, a 30-year-old male struck an employee in the hand, knocking a cell phone to the ground as he tried to flee.  He was arrested at the business and lodged at Brandon Police Service due to his level of intoxication.  He will be released when sober to appear in court on June 24, 2021 on a charge of Assault. A second suspect, a 28-year-old female was found to be in breach of her 24-hour curfew from a Conditional Sentence Order.  She too was arrested at the business and lodged at Brandon Police Service. A third suspect, a 40-year-old male, managed to flee and was located several hours later going through yards in the area of Queens Cres and Violet Cres.  He was arrested for the theft of merchandise from the business.  He was also the suspect in a separate theft from a Corral Centre business on March 1, 2021.  Due to his level of intoxication, he was lodged at Brandon Police Service to be released when sober on charges of Theft Under $5000 X2.