Source:  Brandon Police Service Media Release At 3:50 pm, a call was received of a disturbance at a residence in the 500 block of 11th St and around the same time a complainant attended to BPS indicating his residence had been broken into and the suspect had assaulted him. Police attended to the residence and arrested the suspect. Investigation showed that the 29 year old Brandon man had gone into the residence and assaulted the male resident and taken the computer out of the home and left. The accused returned a short time later and kicked the door in, and again assault the victim by punching him and chocking him. The accused was charged with Break and Enter, Assault, Mischief to Property and Choking to Overcome Resistance. He was lodged at BCC for court in the morning.

Mid-afternoon on Friday, Brandon Fire and Emergency Services and Brandon Police Service responded to the intersection of 14th St and Princess Ave for a two-vehicle collision, with one vehicle smoking, and both vehicles leaking fluid. Upon arrival, firefighters determined that smoke was coming from the engine compartment of the small silver car.  There was no actual fire to extinguish, but fluid had leaked from both vehicles, which called for firefighters to deploy sand to soak up the spills. The intersection of 14th St and Princess Ave was closed, as well as 14th St going north from Lorne Ave was closed off as well. Nobody was injured in the crash.  Photos: Liam Pattison Photography.

Source:  Brandon Police Service Media Release On August 7th, the owner of a Restaurant located in the 1500 Block of 18th Street called to advise that two females had just walked out without paying for their $70 bill. One subject, a 37-year-old Brandon woman, was located yesterday afternoon and arrested for Fraud Food. She was later released with a Court date in October.

Source:  Brandon Police Service Media Release The Brandon Police Service would like to warn the public of a telephone scam involving persons pretending to be from the Canada Revenue Agency. In the last couple of days Police have received numerous calls in relation to people being contacted by someone representing the Canada Revenue Agency claiming that there is a Warrant for the persons Arrest for having unpaid taxes. In some cases the CRA imposter is able to provide some personal detail to the caller making them believe the call is legitimate. They then request some sort of payment, either through a credit card or in some cases state they will even take an ITunes card by having the caller read the bar code number over the phone. The Canada Revenue Agency will never ask for payment over the phone. Please keep in mind that your personal information is usually found on your social media platforms and will be used during the scam to create the belief that the call is legitimate. As a reminder your personal information can be limited by what details you post or control through your privacy settings. If you receive a phone call like the one described DO NOT provide the caller with any personal information. If you are uncertain if the call is legitimate hang up and contact the CRA by the telephone number provided from their website. A link to their website has been provided.

Education and Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen provided a progress report today on the construction of seven new schools in Manitoba, which are at various phases of the design, tender and build process. “Our government is building the most schools ever in Manitoba in such a short time period,” said Goertzen.  “Over the past two decades, we averaged one new public school per year, but we’ve had to change our approach to keep up with unprecedented growth in some divisions.  We’re happy to have found an innovative way to deliver the greatest value for money to Manitobans and ensure quality schools will be on time and on budget.” In June 2017, the province issued a request for proposals (RFP) for two new schools – a kindergarten to Grade 8 in Winkler (Garden Valley School Division) and a grade 9 to 12 in Niverville (Hanover School Division).  Construction is on schedule and expected to be complete Aug. 15, 2019, the minister said. As part of Budget 2018 in March, the province confirmed construction of five additional new schools.  It plans to issue a RFP Oct. 15 for the construction of a kindergarten to Grade 8 and a grade 9 to 12 school, which will be constructed together on the same site in Waverley West (Pembina Trails School Division).  The province is tendering both schools as one bundled package and will use a consolidated design-build procurement strategy to achieve design efficiencies and cost savings.  The province expects to complete the RFP process and award a contract in early 2019, Goertzen said. The province will also issue separate tenders for the construction of three schools under an enhanced version of the traditional design-bid-build procurement process to achieve a compressed design schedule and cost savings.  The minister said design work is already 66 per cent complete and the timing of the competitive tender process is as follows: Nov. 16 for a kindergarten to Grade 8 school in southeast Brandon (Brandon School Division); Nov. 30 for a kindergarten to Grade 8 school in Waterford Green (Winnipeg School Division); and Dec. 14 for a kindergarten to Grade 5 school on Templeton Avenue (Seven Oaks School Division). The province anticipates awarding those tenders in late 2018 or early 2019. The province had initially explored the feasibility and benefits of building four new schools using a public private partnership (P3) model and retained KPMG to prepare a P3 Business Case evaluation and report.  After a careful review, the province decided instead to enhance its conventional Public Schools Finance Board approach to apply many of the lessons learned through analysis of P3 principles, innovations and methodologies. “We will be achieving many of the advantages available through P3 school construction, which will allow us to bundle elements and build multiple schools at once through an accelerated process that saves money,” said Goertzen.  “Government as a whole still sees merit to exploring the P3 model on other projects, but we did our research in this particular area and developed our own innovative approach.” Goertzen noted the new approach is saving the province an estimated $18 million, which is allowing it to build one more school than initially planned. In order to preserve the integrity of the competitive bid process and maximize savings, the minister committed to release the full KPMG report immediately after all tenders have been awarded.