Brandon Bus Lines, via their Facebook page, have announced that starting November 19, 2018 they will be offering passenger service from Brandon to Winnipeg.  The plan is run 3-days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) with a Brandon departure time of 7:30am.  Buses will depart Brandon from 1838-17th Street East which is the Brandon Bus Lines Shop.   Drop in Winnipeg will be 936 Sherbrook Street with a demand stop at Polo Park, if requested.  Trips to Brandon would have a Winnipeg departure time of 6:00pm.  Details on package delivery is expected to be made in the next several days. For additional updates and pricing please follow their official Facebook page.

Premier Brian Pallister today announced that Jay Grewal will succeed Kelvin Shepherd as president and chief executive officer of Manitoba Hydro, effective Feb. 4, 2019. “I am honoured to announce the appointment of Jay Grewal as the first female president and CEO of one of our province’s most important Crown corporations,” Pallister said.  “We could not be more excited to have her as part of our team.” “Ms. Grewal is a proven leader, with extensive senior leadership experience in the utility, resource and consulting sectors,” said Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer.  “She will join Manitoba Hydro from Northwest Territories Power Corporation, where she currently serves as president and chief executive officer.” Grewal holds a BA (honours) from the University of British Columbia and an MBA in finance from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business.  Before joining Northwest Territories Power Corporation, she held senior executive roles with Capstone Mining Corp, Accenture Inc., B.C. Hydro and CIBC World Markets. “Ms. Grewal’s appointment follows an extensive national search conducted by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric board,” said Marina R. James, board chair.  “We look forward to her bringing new perspectives to Manitoba Hydro, as it moves forward with continuing to provide Manitobans with reliable, cost-effective electricity and natural gas services.” James also confirmed that Shepherd has agreed to remain as president and CEO until Feb. 1, 2019, in order to facilitate an orderly transition.

Source:  Brandon Police Service Media Release An ongoing investigation from September 18th 2018, an employee of a banking institute in the 1000 block of Rosser Avenue reported a female had been fraudulently depositing checks into her bank account over the past month. The female had deposited 9 checks into the account through a mobile check depositing app and also deposited checks through the ATM. On Wednesday evening, Police located, arrested and released a 22yr old Brandon woman to appear in Court on December 27th. The female was also arrested for an outstanding Warrant of Arrest for Breach of Probation.

Brandon, MB – Strengthening its commitment to openness and transparency within the community it serves, the City of Brandon has launched an upgraded Open Government web portal that aims to take citizen access to government information to the next level. A revamp of the City of Brandon’s Open Government website (first launched in 2012) now provides a centralized online home for its open data catalogue and its existing web and mobile applications, with a particular emphasis on presenting information in a user-friendly, easy to navigate way. With a single visit to http://opengov.brandon.ca/, users can now directly access various ESRI-based maps, Brandon’s property assessment search, information on river levels, road closures, transit routes, and sanitation collection, and dozens of datasets relating to City governance, finance, infrastructure, and greenspace management. The site will also become the central hub for new interactive citizen engagement tools developed by the City’s Information Technology Department, such as the newly-launched Municipal Budget Allocator function. The budget allocator tool provides users with detailed information on the municipal budget and allows them to theoretically “modify” the budget by increasing, decreasing or maintaining funding for the City’s various core service areas. Public feedback garnered from this tool will be considered in future budget years. This tool augments the City of Brandon Property Tax Estimator function previously developed in 2017 to assist taxpayers in better understanding how annual property taxes impact them. “The City of Brandon places very high value on connecting with our residents in a meaningful way to ensure they are informed about the work our municipal staff do for them each and every day,” notes Brandon City Manager/CAO Rod Sage. “By making it even easier for residents to have access to information relevant to City programs, services and governance functions, it is our hope to see increased citizen engagement and the continued fostering of a healthy level of municipal democracy.” Another highlight the new website offers is a refresh of the City of Brandon Corporate Scorecard, which has been augmented with detailed explanations of the metrics being measured annually by departments, as well as graphs showing year-over-year comparative data. The portal also provides access to the City of Brandon’s established user applications such as the interactive snow-clearing and street-sweeping maps, the “My City” Apple app, and the City of Brandon Sanitation Section’s Waste Wizard resource. City of Brandon Director of Information Technology Todd Burton notes that the City of Brandon’s first Open Data initiative was launched as a small pilot project in the spring of 2012 and featured only a small handful of datasets, and has now grown to feature dozens of datasets and a wide range of interactive applications. “For several years now, the City of Brandon’s Information Technology Department has placed particular focus on the development of applications that provide our citizens with relevant, useful information on how their municipal government serves the needs of their community,” says Burton. “By compiling all of these technology tools together within a single web portal, it makes it that much easier for residents and interested application developers to engage with their municipal government.” A video overview of the City of Brandon’s Open Government initiative can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUnroqPHZLc.

Source: RCMP in Manitoba Approximately 1000 people are charged each year by Manitoba RCMP for using a handheld electronic device while driving. Stronger penalties come into effect Nov. 1. Using a handheld electronic device while driving will lead to a 3-day suspension. Subsequent offences within a 10-year period will lead to a 7-day suspension. A temporary driving permit will be issued at the same time of the suspension and is valid until 11:59 pm of the following day. This allows you to get home and make alternate arrangements. Manitoba driver`s licences will be confiscated and can be picked up when the suspension is over (pick up location will be on the temporary driving permit). Out of province driver`s licences are not confiscated.