Brandon, MB. – the Brandon Area Community Foundation (BACF) wishes to inform the public that community grant applications are now being accepted for the 2020 granting year. BACF have been providing community grants to organizations in Brandon and southwestern Manitoba since 1966. BACF awards grants to support a wide range of projects and programs, which include, but not limited to, the areas of arts, culture, community development, education, environment, recreation, seniors services, social services and youth programs. Grants are made to Canada Revenue Agency registered charities only, never directly to individuals or non-registered not for profit organizations. In 2019, nearly $618,000 in grants were distributed in our Westman area. “The Foundation’s objective is to serve the community of southwestern Manitoba and due to COVID-19, supporting our community through our granting process is more relevant than ever.” stated Laura Kempthorne, Executive Director of BACF. “I highly recommend that if anyone has any questions regarding their eligibility for funding, questions regarding their project or our grant application, please feel free to call me before you make a submission.” BACF is fortunate to have generous donors over the decades who have established funds with the Foundation. Some of these funds are secured to support annual grants to address significant community needs identified by non-profit groups. The grants are intended to improve the overall quality of life for everyone in our community. For more information to learn how you can become a donor, please call the BACF office for a private consultation. To apply, visit Brandon Area Community Foundation’s website: www.bacf.ca Deadline is Wednesday, September 30th 2020, 4:00 p.m.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release On July 18, police received a complaint that a debit card had been stolen and used on the same date when the accused withdrew a quantity of cash from the victim’s account.  The suspect was known to the victim and identified to police.  On Saturday afternoon, the accused, a 27-year-old male from Brandon, was located, arrested for fraud under $5000.00 and released for court in November.

Source: Brandon Police service Media Release At approx. 11:07 PM Thursday, police conducted a taffic stop in the 200 block of 18th St. During the stop a 37 year old female, who was a passenger of the vehicle was found in possession of 8.5 grams of meth packaged for sale as well as a small amount of cash.  The meth and cash were seized and the female was charged with possession of meth for trafficking as well as possession of proceeds of crime (cash).  She was released with a court date of October 29.

On Thursday night, Brandon Fire and Emergency Services along with Brandon Police Service responded to the intersection of 18th Street and Princess Ave for a two-vehicle crash. A van t-boned a crossover style SUV, which caused significant damage to both vehicles. Airbags appeared to have deployed in at least one of the vehicles, and fire crews were seen spreading sand on the road to soak up fluids that were leaking. Traffic on 18th Street heading south was reduced to one lane while fire crews were on scene. Nobody appeared to be injured.

Accessing and submitting bid opportunities has never been easier for those doing business with the City of Brandon, thanks to the recent launch of an updated Purchasing & Tenders web portal on Brandon.ca. Built in-house by the City of Brandon Information Technology Department and in consultation with City of Brandon Procurement Services, the augmented web portal provides functionality for bidders to easily download bid opportunity documents and directly submit bid packages via a secure online process, rather than the previously-required method of in-person or courier delivery. Posted bids are now listed by category and can also be searched by specific attributes such as an item’s name, file number, posting date or its current status. The updated site also offers a free subscription service that will email auto-notifications to interested bidders when new bid opportunities are posted in categories to which they subscribe. “Procurement Services is very excited to launch this new and improved purchasing and tenders web service, which is anticipated will make the bidding process much more user-friendly and time-efficient for all involved,” notes City of Brandon Procurement Manager Lindsay Loree. “With this augmented service, the City of Brandon has maintained its commitment to provide free, public access to bid opportunities, and now our publicly-advertised bids have the potential to reach a larger, more varied pool of bidders, which benefits bidders, municipal administration, and the Brandon community at-large.” Loree adds that implementing an online bid submission process, along with the addition of the email subscription service, aligns with the City of Brandon’s philosophy of integrating green procurement practices into day-to-day operations, as it reduces the need for physical paper printing, faxing and/or delivery. “One of the City of Brandon Information Technology Department’s guiding goals is to streamline processes that create efficiencies,” adds City of Brandon Manager of Information Technology Colin Craig. “This project was particularly exciting for the department, in that our programmers were able to deliver on the features that Procurement Services desired, without incurring the costs of purchasing additional software.” General information about conducting business with City of Brandon Procurement Services can be found at https://purchasing.brandon.ca/docs/Conducting_Business_with_Procurement_Services.pdf. (City of Brandon Media Release)