Source:Brandon Police Service Media Release A 22 year old man from Sioux Valley was arrested for Possession of Cocaine for the purpose of Trafficking on Saturday morning. After a vehicle was stopped in the 1800 block of Louise Ave, the driver had open liquor in the vehicle. He was searched and had 10 grams of individually packaged cocaine hidden on his person. He will appear in court in October.

BRANDON—The Manitoba government will support the development of a long-term sustainability action plan for the Keystone Agricultural and Recreational Centre to help the Westman entertainment hub grow into the future, Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires announced here today. “The Keystone Centre is vital to Westman and Manitoba’s tourism industry, and our government is committed to working with the Keystone Centre to help build a vibrant and sustainable future,” Squires said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the entire Manitoba economy and our tourism industry has been hit particularly hard.  We want to work with all of our partners, including the City of Brandon and the Keystone Centre, to maximize the potential of this major Westman venue.” The province will work with the Keystone Centre and its partners to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to hire a consultant to help work with the Keystone Centre on a long-term sustainability action plan to assist in determining its future capital funding requirements. The province has earmarked $150,000 to invest in this project. “The City of Brandon has long been a proud partner with the Province of Manitoba and the Provincial Exhibition in the creation and ongoing operation of Brandon’s Keystone Centre. I’m pleased to see this investment by the province, which will help guide our collective efforts in ensuring the Keystone Centre remains vibrant and successful long into the future,” said Mayor Rick Chrest, City of Brandon. “As one of only a precious-few signature event centres in Manitoba, this initiative highlights the Keystone Centre’s importance to Brandon, to Westman and to Manitoba as a whole.” “I believe this is a necessary step forward in order to demonstrate the significant capital funding needs of the Keystone Centre,” said Matt Bolley, board chair, Keystone Centre. “I hope and expect that this study will be the first step toward getting long-term sustainable capital funding from our partners to ensure the Keystone Centre remains a world-class event venue and recreation complex for Westman and the entire province.” The Manitoba government will continue to support the Keystone Centre with $375,000 in operational funding this year and will work with the centre and its partners in reviewing this year’s capital requirements, the minister noted. The Manitoba government recently launched an $8-million #RestartMB Event Attraction Strategy that aims to maximize Manitoba’s potential to host large-scale meetings, conventions and events while carefully balancing public health considerations surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic with the ongoing efforts to restart the Manitoba economy. The province successfully won its first bid under the #RestartMB Event Attraction Strategy and will host the Canadian Football League (CFL) should the league proceed with a shortened 2020 season. “We are excited to work with Travel Manitoba and key economic stakeholders to develop our #RestartMB Event Attraction Strategy that will benefit the entire Manitoba economy, especiallyhard-hit sectors like tourism,” said Economic Development and Training Minister Ralph Eichler. “This strategy will consider opportunities across our beautiful province. Our goal is to attract events to Manitoba, including Brandon, which could benefit the Keystone Centre – a facility with a storied history of hosting world-class events including the Tim Hortons Brier in 2019.” Squires noted the #RestartMB Event Attraction Strategy builds on Manitoba’s long and proud history of hosting major world-class events such as the Pan American Games, the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, FIFA Women's World Cup, the Canada Summer Games, the Juno Awards and several CFL Grey Cup championships. (Source: Province of Manitoba News Release)

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At 3:15 PM on Tuesday afternoon police attempted to stop a vehicle at 18th Street and Louise Avenue. The driver of the vehicle failed to stop for police signal and proceeded East along Louise Avenue and shortly after the incident started, abandoned the vehicle in a back lane in the 400 blk of 5th Street. Police units were able to apprehend the driver, a 40 year old man from Dauphin as well as a 33 year old female who was also from Dauphin and who was an occupant in the vehicle. The vehicle turned out to be stolen from another community outside of Brandon. As a result of this incident the male driver was charged with Flight from Police, Fail to stop for police signal, Drive Suspended as well as Possess Property Obtained by Crime. The male was remanded into custody and was to appear in remand in Court. The female occupant of the vehicle was charged with Possess Property Obtained by Crime and was released on an Appearance Notice to appear in Court on a later date.

For 46 year old Nicki Podworny the dream of becoming a fitness model has come with many ups and downs. “I battled through depression and felt I had to do something about my weight...I wanted to be a better mother and wife “ Podworny told BDNMB.CA about how she would eat clean and healthy with friends and family but at home would binge eat and seclude herself in a bedroom for 4 days. Originally from the Dauphin area, she moved to Brandon in 2012 where she married local entrepreneur Bryan Podworny.  “Bryan and I were about to get married and doing house renovations, my daughter was going to a new school, having to rebuild my business and with so much going on so I turned to food” said Nicki.  At this point in her life, she tried the beach body program and lost 11 pounds. “Right around 2017 it was a lifelong dream to be in a female body building contest that was drug free but never thought I would have the confidence to do it...without a doubt it was the hardest thing I have done in my life not only physically but mentally”  added Nicki. "I never looked at any other woman really as my competition, I was competing against myself". Also as a personal trainer, an interesting comment she made was that "the word PERSONAL is sometimes lost with personal trainers.  It isn’t only about losing weight it is about designing meal plans and what people require to succeed...you can work out until you are blue in the face but if you don’t have your meals and diet in place you won’t have much success”. Podworny knows what it is like to struggle and can relate to many of her clients. She feels restaurants are doing a better job informing people on what they are eating now and that 20 or 30 years ago we didn’t have the information we have today. If you are interested in her personal training services you can click on her website or Facebook page below. (costs range from $50 - $57 per session depending on the package you buy) www.essenzatraining.com https://www.facebook.com/nicki.tardiff You can vote to support Nicki as she competes against 30 other women from North America where the winner receives $20,000.00 and is featured on the cover of Muscle & Fitness Hers. https://mshealthandfitness.com/2020/nicki-podworny?fbclid=IwAR0ZbahcJG0-cQMsF4CKrc4JX4VSU-XwfIn38o-4J2QRbfECQJGUA49U8E4

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release On July 20th, 2020 a search warrant was executed on a residence located in the east end of Brandon. As a result of this search warrant police located approximately 30 ounces of cocaine and a large amount of cash. A 21 year woman and a 51 year old woman both from Brandon, were charges with Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking Cocaine. Both individuals were released on Undertakings to appear in Brandon court on October 21st, 2020.