Noel Harding was about to enter a boxing ring in Mexico to be in one of the biggest fights in his life. Meanwhile back at home everything he has fought for over the two decades was burning to the ground. "As I was walking into the ring I found out the fire was happening and I knew best case scenario the building would be condemned but didn't expect to lose everything" said Harding. After several months, fundraising efforts from Jayson McCallum and Smoked and Sauced, a GOFUNDME page, Brandon Bobcats, and Career Connections/Food Truck Warz helped give Noel and his members money they could use to help re-open.   Noel did approach the City of Brandon with not a handout but rather an exchange.   "What I wanted was to give free training to people under the age of 29 in exchange to assist with operating costs but the City declined my proposal." ( Noel Harding looking at the damage from the fires in Downtown Brandon in May 2018 ) The former Compusmart and Best Sleep Centre are scheduled to open November 1st as the Brandon Boxing Club. Harding is very confident that the doors will be open and will be selling monthly memberships for $80.00 per month. Currently they will be using 4,000 square feet but have plans for bigger events. "We will be hosting our own events in the club and bringing people from out of the city and people from North Dakota...this will drive tourism to Brandon and as well to downtown".   Harding says boxing is tough enough to operate and I have to be a smart businessman and be innovative. The toughest day of his life is now turning a corner with this new facility and a new outlook. We at BDNMB.CA wish Noel and his staff all the best of luck.

Santa will be making his annual visit to the Wheat City during the Brandon Santa Parade which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November the 17th starting at 6:00 pm.  A variety of floats will be on-hand along the parade route which covers several blocks around Rosser and Princess Avenues.  All float entries will be considered for 6 different judging categories including  Best Parade Theme,  Best Decorated Vehicle and People's Choice.  Some of last year's winners include Full Tilt Towing & Transport for Best Parade Theme and 91.6 BOB FM for Best Decorated Vehicle. Parade spectators are encouraged to being a non perishable food item in support of Canada Post and their food drive. Parade Route

The province has made appointments to the boards of five regional health authorities, Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen announced today. “The health system relies on boards to guide the safety and quality of care that is available in communities across the province,” said Friesen. “I want to thank outgoing board members for their service and wish these appointees all the best as they take on these important roles.” The boards of regional health authorities are responsible for directing the management and affairs of the region to ensure the delivery and administration of health services. Appointments include: Northern Regional Health Authority Cal Huntley (Flin Flon): reappointment as chair; Carrie Atkinson (The Pas): reappointment as vice-chair; Anne Kenny Thompson (Lynn Lake): reappointment as a member; and Elaine Kobelka (The Pas): reappointment as a member. Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority Margaret Mills (Pinawa): reappointment as chair; Oral Johnston (O’Hanly): reappointment as vice-chair; Judy Dunn (Dugald): reappointment as a member; Brian Magnusson (Winnipeg Beach): reappointment as a member; Amanda Stevenson (Lundar): reappointment as a member; Ruth Ann Furgala (Riverton): reappointment as a member; Laurie Andrews (East St. Paul): appointment as a member; and Judith Cameron (Gimli): appointment as a member. Southern Health-Santé Sud Abram Bergen (Kleefeld): reappointment as chair; Patricia Brennan (Oak Bluff): reappointment as a member; Ramona Coey (Lorette): reappointment as a member; Debbi Bergner-Fortier (Letellier): appointment as a member; and William Osachuk (Gardenton): appointment as a member. Prairie Mountain Regional Health Authority Mark Frison (Brandon): appointment as vice-chair; Gwendolyn Drul (Oakburn): reappointment as a member; Sandra Berry (Russell): appointment as a member; and Wade Schott (Roblin): appointment as a member. Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Wayne McWhirter (Winnipeg): appointment as vice-chair; Vera Houle (Winnipeg): appointment as the Seven Oaks Hospital representative; Jennifer Moncrieff (Winnipeg): appointment as a member; Kiran Kumedan (Winnipeg): reappointment as a member; Donald Lepp (Gonor): reappointment as a member; Dr. Judith Scanlan (Winnipeg): reappointment as a member; and Shannon Stefanson (Winnipeg): reappointment as a member.

Source:  Brandon Police Service Media Release On Thursday morning at approximately 10:11am, Police conducted a vehicle stop in the 1800 block of Middleton Avenue. While speaking with Police, a meth pipe fell out of the female driver’s pocket. The female was arrested and searched resulting in the recovery of approximately 3grams of Methamphetamines. A 30yr old Wellwood, Mb woman was arrested for Possession of a Control Substance and released to appear in Court on December 13th

Date: Tuesday, Oct. 30 Time: 12:30 p.m. Location: R.D. Bell Hall (Room 1-57) QEII Music Building How do musicians and radio stations help build ‘sonic sovereignty’ for Indigenous hip hop artists? Brandon University’s Out of Bounds lecture series brings hip hop scholar Dr. Liz Przybylski from the University of California to tackle this question. Dr. Przybylski is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of California, Riverside. Recent and forthcoming publications on Indigenous hip hop and popular music pedagogy have appeared in Ethnomusicology, Journal of Borderlands Studies, IASPM@Journal, and others. Liz has hosted radio programming on WNUR in Chicago and CJUM in Winnipeg. She is the media reviews editor for the journal American Music. Her talk, “Radio Silence: Changing Mediascapes, Hip Hop, and the future of Indigenous Sonic Sovereignty,” will be presented in Room 1-57 of the QEII Music Building on Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 12:40–1:30 p.m. A pizza reception will follow in the music faculty lounge. Abstract of the talk: It was a classic success story. An innovative group secured funding, staff, and a coveted broadcasting license to start something fresh: a hip hop station playing music by and for the Indigenous community. Listeners got inspired, recorded new tracks, and got them played on air. Until financial pressures and audience expectations tempered that success: grant funding was cut, commercial money was hard to attract, and media professionals tried new strategies to face these difficult challenges. Based in ethnographic work with media experts and hip hop artists at Canada’s first Indigenous hip hop station, this presentation interrogates how professionals navigate conflicts and changes in broadcasting rules, funding priorities, and community needs. As contemporary Indigenous expressive culture is increasingly heard in mainstream venues, media that once served a diverse but relatively small urban Indigenous community now faces new pressures. Centering on a Native-licensed radio station, I find that broadcast and streaming radio simultaneously contribute and respond to shifting ideas of urban Indigeneity in the minds of a Native and non-Native listenership. Changes in practices and policies for “mainstream” broadcast and streaming radio have had pro-found impacts on racial representation in urban pop soundscapes. I extend research that explores the whitening of mainstream radio and detail the implications of this trend on how Indigenous artists are heard — and silenced — through pop music distribution. Building on Michelle Raheja’s work in visual sovereignty, I demonstrate how musicians and media professionals are actively building what I call sonic sovereignty, navigating the expectations of mainstream airplay while pushing aesthetic and political boundaries.