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.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At approx. 1:30 AM on Monday, an officer noticed a completely destroyed bus shelter in the 800 block of 18th Street. A license plate was located at the scene which led to the police locating the vehicle at the owners residence. A 24-year-old female was located at the residence, observed to be highly intoxicated and admitted to being the operator who caused the accident. She was arrested for Driving While Impaired and brought to BPS to be processed. She was later released to appear in court on Oct 19th, with charges of Impaired driving and Drive with over 80mg% of blood alcohol.

The intersection of 1st Street and McTavish Ave was the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Saturday afternoon that sent one person to hospital. A silver van traveling eastbound on McTavish Ave ran a red light, and was struck by a southbound white truck, according to a police officer on scene. The impact caused the van to spin around, smash into a crosswalk sign and nearly strike the Kim's Asian Restaurant building. The driver of the silver van was taken to hospital by ambulance. Accel Towing & Transport responded to clean up the wrecked vehicles. Traffic in the area was impacted for around 30-45 minutes.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release A 38 year old Brandon man was arrested for Mischief Under $5000 on Friday evening. Officers responded to a disturbance in the parking lot of a coffee shop on 18th St where witnesses reported the suspect had smashed the windshield and passenger window out a vehicle. There was an argument between several people when the suspect was observed chatting with another male’s girlfriend. During the argument, the accused took a hammer out of his truck and smashed the windows. He was arrested at the scene and released to appear in court in October.