BRANDON, Man. (March 28, 2018) – A low-cost community café, a locally-sourced brewery and a smartphone app to keep track of your kids are some of the ideas students at Assiniboine Community College will be judged on next Friday, April 6. The Showcase of Applied Research and Innovation runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in various locations on the Victoria Avenue East campus in Brandon. All sessions are open to the public. For details, please visit assiniboine.net/events. “The Showcase of Applied Research and Innovation allows our students to proudly demonstrate the skills they have gained during their education at ACC.  The opportunity to present projects to industry, alumni, and community members at the Showcase provides the students with invaluable feedback and networking opportunities, which only adds to their learning experience,” said Bobbie Robertson, Director of Business Programs. There are five opportunities for the public to see and hear the major projects created by students in the Business Administration, Communications Engineering Technology, Interactive Media Arts and Land & Water Management programs. 9:30 a.m. to noon:       Trade Show –Visit the trade show displays in the gym, cafeteria and hallways of the Victoria Avenue East campus. Each guest will receive $25,000 in “CACCEY cash” to invest in their favourite businesses. The team with the biggest bank balance at the end of the event wins. (CACCEY is the Assiniboine mascot.) 10 a.m. to noon:          Cando Rail Services Idea Pitch Competition – Lecture Theatre (Room 180). With both a college and high school division, individual students will have 60 seconds to pitch their idea to a panel of judges, followed by 90 seconds of rapid-fire questions. A total of $1,500 will be awarded to the top five pitches. 1 to 3 p.m.:                  Formal Presentations – Classrooms. Business and Agribusiness student groups will make 15-minute formal presentations of their work to a panel of industry judges. 1 to 3 p.m.:                  Prairie Hearts documentary launch – Room 409. Interactive Media Arts students will premiere their Prairie Hearts documentaries. This five-part lifestyle series will soon be available on the Bell MTS TV Stories from Home video-on-demand service. 3 to 4 p.m.                   Alumni mixer and awards presentation – Cafeteria. Student winners of the day’s competitions will be announced during the mixer at the end of the day. Student exhibitors from Vincent Massey High School and Birtle Collegiate will also be in on the action.

Brandon Police Service Media Release At approximately 6:09 AM Monday morning, Police were called to the intersection of 26th Street and Princess Avenue for a collision involving a Mazda SUV and a City of Brandon Transit Bus. The investigation has shown that the bus was westbound on Princess Avenue and making a left turn onto 26th Street, when it was struck by the northbound SUV. The SUV failed to stop at the posted Stop sign and was traveling in excess of 120 kph at the time of the collision. The 33 year old male driver of the SUV, who is a Brandon resident, suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital by ambulance. He has since been transferred to a Winnipeg hospital. No other injuries were reported at the scene.  It was subsequently determined that the SUV had been stolen from a west end motel just minutes prior to the collision. As a result of the investigation thus far, charges pending against the SUV driver include impaired driving/drive over .08; dangerous driving (criminal code); drive while disqualified (criminal code); and theft of motor vehicle.

Monday, March 26.18 Brandon, MB – Day one of the 111th Royal Manitoba Winter Fair kicked off bright and early with the Sunrise Breakfast and an increase of visitors over last year. ‘We had a fantastic turn out this morning for breakfast.” Said Brent Miller, President of the Provincial Exhibition. “We counted well over 1100 visitors this morning which kept the Keystone Centre kitchen, representatives from Bell MTS, Star FM, QCountry, Heritage Coop and the team from Sunrise busy serving food, pouring juice and coffee while the crowd was entertained by a sample of the family entertainment being offered at the fair this week.” The evening show offered a salute to local heroes with a Guard of Honour, comprised of soldiers, sailors and aviators from CFB Shilo, 26th Field Pipes & Drums, Royal Canadian Legion members and Brandon Cadet Corps. The week of top level equestrian events started off with the Wawanesa Gamblers Choice with Jackson Graves riding Wantu taking home first place and Pickering Farms taking home the Brandon Sun Four Horse Tandem Team event. Get all the horse show results on the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair website. Tuesday is 4-H Day at the fair sponsored by Manitoba Canola Growers with plenty more family entertainment and exciting sporting events. The Honourable Ralph Eichler, Minister of Agriculture will be speaking to the 4-H clubs at 11:30 AM in the Royal Farmyard and at the VIP dinner reception Tuesday evening. The 2018 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is on now until Saturday at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba; learn more about the fair and get daily schedules at royalmanitobawinterfair.com. Gate admission only $13 after 5 PM Tuesday & Wednesday. Follow the Provincial Exhibition on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for instant updates.

Brandon Police Service Media Release At about 11:20 AM Sunday, a police unit reported that they had a flat tire and was stopped on the gravelled portion of the westbound lane across from a service station on the TransCanada highway. Another police unit attended to assist and parked behind the first car. While the police cars were parked on the side of the westbound lane, a passing truck, that was driving on the south side service road, lost a rear tire and the tire flew/bounced across the ditch, across the eastbound and westbound lanes of # 1 Highway, and struck the second police car while it was stopped. Damage to the police car occurred to the driver’s side front fender.

The March flood outlook continues to suggest the risk of widespread major flooding remains low to moderate across most of the province, with a moderate risk of some overland flooding in low-lying areas along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced today. “After the storm earlier this month, the risk of major flooding remains low on the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, but there is a moderate risk of some overland or overbank flooding,” said Schuler. “Levels along the Red River and the Assiniboine River are forecasted to remain below flood protection levels.” Highlights of the outlook include: the risk of major flooding continues to be low for the Souris, Qu’Appelle and Pembina Rivers and their tributaries and within flood protection levels even with unfavourable weather conditions; the risk of major flooding in the Interlake region and for most major lakes, including Lakes Winnipeg, Manitoba and Dauphin and the Whiteshell lakes is low; and the risk of major flooding is moderate on northern basins, including the Churchill and Carrot Rivers in The Pas region. “We continue to monitor for ice-jam related flooding due to the thickness of the ice on some of Manitoba’s rivers and streams,” said Schuler.  “The cold winter temperatures and less snow cover created above-normal ice conditions.” The use of flood management infrastructure will now include the Red River Floodway under normal and unfavourable weather conditions.  PTH 75 is expected to remain open throughout the spring. The Portage Diversion will likely be used for ice control along the Lower Assiniboine River and also to limit downstream Assiniboine River flows in case of unfavorable weather conditions.  The Shellmouth Dam will continue operations to reach summer levels after the spring run-off. Flows along the Assiniboine River at Portage la Prairie could reach just over 17,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) in unfavorable weather conditions, which would require the use of the Portage Diversion to limit the downstream flow to 10,000 cfs. The March outlook and other information is available online at www.gov.mb.ca/flooding.