Brandon, MB – In response to the Province of Manitoba’s most recent Public Heath Order taking effect today, December 11, access to the City of Brandon outdoor recreation facilities will begin to reopen today. This includes: Dog parksToboggan hillsSkating areas on retention ponds*Playground structures and equipmentOutdoor fitness equipment stations located in the communityBrandon Community Sportsplex trackKristopher Campbell skateboard plaza *The above season temperatures have made ice surfaces increasingly unstable and fragile. Please use with discretion and at your own risk. Flooding and preparation will begin on the skating oval, but it is not yet open to the public.  Once the skating oval is ready for use, a public service announcement will be released. Warming shacks will remain closed.  Please refer to signage at the facilities. The City of Brandon stresses that access to the above facilities is being restored with the expectation that anyone using those spaces must follow the Manitoba Public Health Orders, which can be found at manitoba.ca/covid19/restartmb/prs.  Persons must maintain a separation of at least two metres from each other, unless they reside in the same residence. Persons must not engage in recreational activities as part of a group of more than five persons, unless all persons in the group reside in the same residence.  The re-opened status of these facilities will be monitored and re-evaluated if maintaining public safety becomes problematic.

The new Maryland Park School in Brandon is now ready for occupancy and will open to more than 400 kindergarten to Grade 8 students in January, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen and Central Services Minister Reg Helwer announced today.   “I am excited Maryland Park School is ready to start welcoming children in January, a new facility where they can continue to learn and develop,” said Goertzen. “This new school will help accommodate the growth the city of Brandon has seen over the last 20 years and alleviate pressures on other kindergarten to Grade 8 schools across the city.” Teachers and staff are now able to enter the site to set up classrooms and prepare to welcome students in January. The new 65,700-sq.-ft. facility located at 700 Maryland Ave. has a capacity for 450 students from kindergarten to Grade 8, and is designed to accommodate an additional 200 students if needed. The new school features a multi-purpose space, band room, library, gymnasium, classrooms, home economics and industrial arts labs, a grooming room and life-skills suite. It also includes resource teaching and support spaces, and a science, technology, electronics and mathematics (STEM) lab. “Our government worked closely with the Brandon School Division and the City of Brandon to turn this project into a reality,” said Helwer. “This new facility is also energy efficient, and was designed and built to LEED Silver specifications.”    A new early learning and child-care centre operated by the YMCA of Brandon will also be housed within the school. The centre will offer child-care services for infant, preschool and school-age children. (Province of MB News Release)

Wednesday morning, Brandon Fire and Emergency Services along with Brandon Police Service responded to the intersection of Rosser Ave and 4th Street for a single-vehicle crash. A white sedan had left the roadway traveling northbound on 4th Street and struck the stop right at Rosser Ave. The impact damaged the stop sign, knocked the street signs off the pole, and caused damage to the car. One person was seen being loaded into an ambulance.

With closing in on close to 5 years in business we at BDNMB.CA have to say thanks to all of you that follow us and help us with daily tips on stories. Our writers Brandi, Cathie, and Wanda have made BDNMB.CA more credible and interesting.  Also Liam Pattison was a huge addition to BDNMB.CA with his amazing photography and loyalty to us. When we first started off BDNMB.CA the idea was to have a dozen local writers that would specialize in certain professions and topics.  We realized very quickly that the original plan was not going to work.  In addition labor and time intensive stories we will leave up to the people at the Brandon Sun as this is not what we do.  The "bread and butter" of BDNMB.CA will be our business and human interest stories. After running various stories we figured out by the views and shares and likes what people were finding compelling and of interest.   Also we know that neither of us are writers as Jody Sass works in sales for Westman Communications and Darryl Wolski operates Wendy’s Winter and Summer Hockey Leagues, AAA Hockey Challenge, College Hockey Family Advisor and 2112 Hockey Agency.   Therefore we both have full time jobs and only have so many hours in a day to dedicate to this site. On our Facebook page we closely watch the comments to make sure people stay on side but on the other hand we have to let readers have some say and be able to voice an opinion.   So if your comment is deleted or hidden we felt it wasn’t in good taste and had to remove it. As of late we have had some amazing stories that have received huge numbers such as the outdoor rink story which had 350,000 people reached on Facebook with over 1,000 likes.   These types of stories take hours to find and sadly those cannot be found on a daily basis.  Plus in November our Facebook page had record views and numbers. Facebook stats on outdoor rink story BDNMB.CA evolved from a basic website to an amazing website then we added an APP for both IOS and Android users.  Plus Food Truck Warz was a huge success and with some luck we hope to run this event twice in 2021 (late May and late September).  Over the past 6 months our Twitter account has seen some increases and we hope to share our news and stories using this platform moving forward. Facebook Stats for November 2020 Jody and myself would like to thank also our advertisers that see good value in being part of BDNMB.CA and as well get results from being online with our website ….. thank you to all of you as many of you have been with us since Day 1. Story ideas are always welcome so feel free to send us an Email at any time – jody@bdnmb.ca or darryl@bdnmb.ca Thank you and be well during these difficult times. Jody Sass & Darryl Wolski www.bdnmb.ca www.twitter.com/bdnmbca  

The Manitoba government has extended public health orders from Dec. 12 until Jan. 8, 2021, as part of protecting Manitobans from COVID-19 during the holiday season, Premier Brian Pallister and Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, announced today. “It is crucial that Manitobans continue to limit their close contacts and only gather with members of their immediate household in order to bend our COVID curve down and protect our most vulnerable friends, families and communities,” said Pallister. “We recognize this holiday season will be difficult and lonely for most, but the best thing we can do for our loved ones right now is to stay safe at home so that we can gather together, in-person next year.” The existing Critical (red) level restrictions have been extended by public health order, with several modifications based on feedback from public, stakeholders and enforcement officials. Changes to the public health orders include: • allowing thrift stores to open with some capacity limits, to allow access to second-hand clothing and other items; • ensuring acupuncture and manual osteopathy practices are allowed to open to align with other health services; • clarifying the operation of food banks and food hamper services; • allowing private residences to allow legal services, landlord access and access for home businesses; • encouraging safe outdoor physical activity for individuals and immediate households only by providing guidance to clarify that people not from the same household need to keep two metres of distance between them and that gathering sizes must not exceed five people; • adding school supplies as an essential item under the restrictions to retail services; • allowing drive-in events as a temporary measure subject to compliance with the restrictions, and cars must contain members from one household only and no one may leave the car while at the event; and • permitting the Winnipeg Jets to train in Manitoba in preparation for an eventual NHL decision on a 2021 playing season. A seasonal change to the order will also be included to allow for the sale of holiday decorations such as garlands and ornaments, and religious items like menorahs and candles. “Our modelling has shown the Critical level, or red, restrictions have helped us avoid even higher case numbers right now,” said Roussin. “But our numbers are still too high and now is not the time to let up. That is why we’re extending the public health orders with some adjustments to ensure Manitobans can access the goods and services they need, and have clear direction stay safe at home before and during the holiday season.” The updated orders and the list of items deemed essential are posted on the province’s Pandemic Response System website at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/restartmb/prs/orders/index.html#current. Manitoba has announced the Safe at Home Manitoba program to provide support to Manitobans staying home during this critical time. Organizations, businesses and artists can visit https://https://www.safeathomemb.ca// for more information. Manitobans can report compliance and enforcement issues by visiting www.manitoba.ca/COVID19 and completing the reporting form, or by calling 204-945-3744 or 1-866-626-4862 (toll-free) and pressing option three on the call menu. For up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19. (Province of MB News Release)