“Tenth and Rosser” is a recurring column that contains a few tidbits of thought and assorted dollops of information. Tenth Street and Rosser Avenue is one of the city’s historic intersections: a place of banking and commerce; a place for folks to meet and chat; a place to stage protests or watch parades. And it remains so to this day. *** My congratulations go out to Glen Parker, who won the Riverview Ward by-election and will now join Brandon City Council. Parker, who I worked with when I was at the Brandon Sun, must have been pleased to see the top story in the paper where he is the sales and marketing director. In all reality, putting my friendship with Parker aside, as soon as he announced, I knew he was going to win. Up until then, It was runner-up Tyson Tame’s seat to be had. Tame had run and lost in the 2014 municipal election, so he had a leg up on challenger Delvina Kejick in terms of supporters and knowledge of the pockets of the East End ward that he needed to work on to sway voters. In the end, Parker’s back to basics message and his deep roots in the community and volunteer work with the East End Community Centre caught the fancy of the majority of voters. On Wednesday night, the unofficial tally was: Parker, 385 votes; Tame, 235 votes; and Kejick, 73 votes. Unofficial voter turnout saw 694 ballots cast, including one spoiled ballot. And voter turnout was very low, usual for a by-election. Parker has also promised to keep city spending in line. Something that aligns with the majority of council members, and Mayor Rick Chrest. Parker, who claims no party affiliation (but is clearly centre-right), now helps tilt the left-right balance around the council table towards to right. Former Riverview rep Vanessa Hamilton was an NDPer turned Liberal. That will align nicely with the new Tory mega-majority provincial government on Broadway. *** You know, I just couldn’t bring myself to attend another annual State of the City address. I’ve been to the past 11, spanning three mayors, and the amount of newsworthy items to emerge from the speech were mere morsels in some very thin gruel. That being said, Shari Decter Hirst offered some unintentional humour at times.And the year before I returned to Brandon in 2004, Dave Burgess made an impossible promise about air service that haunted him for years. The speeches are presented at a Brandon Chamber of Commerce luncheon. I’m a member of the chamber (James O’Connor UNLIMITED, creative writing and photography services), and support the organization’s work wholeheartedly. But take a look at one of my few tweets from last year’s SoC address: Yawn city. Mayor Chrest simply doesn’t take any chances. The city issued a media release about the event, which it states took place before 425 people. Some excerpts from the release: In his second State of the City Address hosted by the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest issued an open invite for leaders and residents from every corner of the community to band together and help build “Team Brandon.” Part of that initiative will be a trip to the provincial capital. “It will be a busload of dedicated Brandon leaders and we will invade the Legislature en masse,” Mayor Chrest told the gathered audience. “We expect to pre-arrange appointments with respective Ministers and the Premier, have a promotional booth in the lobby of the Legislature, and facilitate as many opportunities as we can to engage with MLAs of every stripe as well as senior bureaucrats. We will generally put Brandon on the map and make sure they know we are committed to working positively with government and that ‘Team Brandon’ is open for business in all facets of our community.” Interesting that this comes shortly after Brandon — the province’s second largest city — had both its MLAs excluded from Premier Brian Pallister’s pared-down cabinet. I’ve been watching Question Period this week and believe that his quest for approaching gender parity resulted in a rookie female Westman MLA, Eileen Clarke (Agassiz) beating out MLA Reg Helwer (Brandon West), entering his second term. Brandon gets a de facto rep in the form of a nice fella from Glenboro, Cliff Cullen, whose sprawling Spruce Woods constituency encircles Brandon. But it’s not the same as having a Brandon rep at the cabinet table. Interestingly, the term ‘Team Brandon’ has historically been used to reference the city’s two MLAs — from whichever party — trying to steer the canoe in the same direction for key city projects. Usually, one of those MLAs would be a cabinet minister. So I applaud Mayor Chrest’s initiative to make a little noise in the echoey halls of the Legislature. *** Speaking of the Legislature, the tone of the daily circus known as Question Period is decidedly different: •    Speaker Myrna Driedger repeatedly gets called “Mister Speaker” instead of “Madame Speaker.” The last Speaker was male. •    Interim NDP Leader Flor Marcelino is a complete joke. It’s embarrassing to watch her slowly reading her prepared questions and really perplexing watching her when she does go off script. •    With many members from both Opposition parties being from Winnipeg’s inner-city, a lot of questions are about the realities of living in River City’s War Zone. That is refreshing to see. And a flip from when the Tories were in Opposition and most of their MLAs were from suburban Winnipeg or rural Manitoba. •    Cindy Lamoureux, the rookie Liberal MLA from the northwest Winnipeg constituency of Burrows is presenting herself well. She clearly has learned a lot from her father, longtime Inkster MLA and current Winnipeg North MP Kevin Lamoureux. •    But most importantly, Premier Pallister is looking very cool, capable and confident. He’s very comfortable in his new role and has managed to be polite to Marcelino, but taking her to school when appropriate. His handlers have framed his fixed position camera angle so he is surrounded by female MLAs and one of the party’s few visible minority MLAs. Good move for a caucus that really is filled with middle-aged white guys. *** Lastly, I came across a Brandon visitors guide booklet that features a full page ad on the back for the Sand Hills Casino south of Carberry. What a bloody humiliation for the Wheat City. We had one rigged referendum three mayors ago that turned down a casino and held another when we didn’t have to for political reasons two mayors ago. That was also full of fear-mongering and misinformation and we lost a chance again to get the money-making enterprise. A simple vote of council was all that was needed the second time — a council with some guts, knowing that once a casino was up and running, the benefits would be clear. The Sand Hills Casino isn’t faring that well. Geez, who would’ve thought that a casino in the middle of nowhere on a poorly maintained highway without a hotel attached would work? Even staff don’t want to commute there. So now there are rumours floating around. Such as that Sand Hills will close and a new casino will be erected on land northwest of Highway 10 and the Trans-Canada. Plenty of hotels nearby, plenty of tourist traffic, and the city quietly built a service road to nowhere in the area a couple of years ago. Other rumblings leave the Sand Hills Casino struggling along, with Brandon appealing directly to the new provincial government for a gaming centre, much like the Shark Club beside the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. That could go into a new development at the corner of Ninth Street and Princess Avenue downtown in a vacant block the city has been anxious to sell. It would spark plenty of action downtown. Or a gaming centre could go on the strip of land at the southwest corner of the Keystone Centre, now that the NDP’s stupid refusal to support development there was made moot on April 19. But seeing an ad in an official Brandon visitor’s guide to coax people to leave the city to gamble 30 minutes to the east just really underscored to me how some of our city’s leaders had their heads up their asses (sure, I could have said heads in the sand, but I didn’t) on this key economic development issue. Let’s hope next year’s State of the City address has something positive to say about a casino or gaming centre.

100 Men Who Give A Damn Interesting concept that Brandon’s Chris Creighton thought hey this might just work here. Tonight 73 local small business people came to the Glen Lea Golf Course to hear from three charities that were seeking financial assistance.  The average age of men attending was between 28 – 50 years old. The overall idea is simple.  Each man donates 100 dollars and the total amount collected goes to the charity who receives the most votes.  Funds for Furry Friends Kidsport Andrew Dunn All very different charities that receive no Federal or gov’t support. - First up was Funds for Furry Friends – they assist in fostering dogs and cats throughout Brandon area.  They encounter large vet costs in attempting to get these animals to healthy homes. - Kidsport – last year they were able to raise locally about $68,000 and distributed the funds to children under the age of 18 to play baseball, hockey, and football etc. - Andrew Dunn – Souris couple that have been involved with this decade old charity in attempting to raise more awareness for mental health issues. Kidsport received the most votes and collected a cheque for $7,300.00 tonight. Creighton was more than excited about the future.  “Imagine down the road we have 200 people and we present someone with a $20,000 cheque, now that's an impact" Click here for the interview with Chris Creighton and Riley Day. https://soundcloud.com/darryl-wolski/2016-05-18-20-27-57-155a

Brandon (May 18, 2016) Lois Henderson has been named the Brandon and District United Way's 2016 Campaign Chair. Lois believes strongly in the premise of the United Way and over the last two years has contributed her time and effort to help raise the funds required to provide resources, hope and education, in addition to the necessities of life, to a wide range of citizens in our community. Lois was born in Saskatoon, Sk and as a child of the prairies she spent her formative years if Rivers, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg. Newly announced Campaign Chair for the Brandon & District United Way's 2016 campaign, Lois Henderson. (Photo submitted) Most of her career has been in the resource industry, including working with oil and gas, mineral exploration, mining and underground construction companies. She attended the University of Western Ontario and is a CGA CPA, a Distinguished Toastmaster and an avid curler. In 2010, representing Northern Ontario, her team won the bronze medal at the Canadian Senior Women's Curling Championship. Lois is also an author, and was recently awarded the Sheldon Oberman Mentorship through the Manitoba Writer's Guild. In her four years in Brandon she has contributed to the social welfare fabric of our community through her work with various organizations. These include the Women's Resource Centre, the YWCA and the United Way. Pictured Left to right: Lois Henderson (Chair of the Brandon& District United Way's 2016 campaign), Terry Carlisle (Chair of the United Way Board of Directors) and Cynamon Mychasiw (Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of Brandon & District). (Photo Submitted) While serving on the local board of the United Way for the past two years Lois mentioned through her observations what was paramount to her, "the first thing I observed was the impact of the United Way funding in Brandon and surrounding area. The money that is raised by the United Way Brandon & District stays in our communities, and is leveraged by the work of volunteers and the staff of those organizations providing greatly needed services and assistance." During her Campaign Chair announcement Henderson emphasized the fact that the United Way in this area, "is not a faceless organization. It is people like Cynamon (Mychasiw, Chief Executive Officer of the United Way Brandon & District) and Janis (Evens, United Way Brandon & District Director of Operations) and Tyler (Horan, Campaign Director), working to raise money from our community, to be used in our community, to impact our own people, those who are going through a rough patch or in need of special resources." Henderson also stressed the importance of spreading awareness that the dollars raised here are used here, "the funds raised from the campaign stay here in Brandon and District, they go to people you know or someone you walk by on the street. These dollars provide a safety net in our towns, to people in their times of crisis or need."  Chief Executive Officer of the Brandon & District United Way Cynamon Mychasiw was thrilled about the announcement and commented, "Lois's dedication, vision and leadership will drive this year's campaign to new heights!" Henderson wrapped up her speech by saying, "the final third of 2016 will be the focus of the United Way Campaign and it is during this time that those who volunteer their time to raising these much needed dollars will be calling on you. When they do, and they will, please consider the impact you can have in making your community a stronger and better place for us to live and work."        United Way of Brandon & District is a leader in mobilizing people to give, advocate and volunteer to advance education, income and health in our community. For more info, to donate or offer your volunteerism call 204-571-8929 or visit their office at 201 - 1011 Rosser Avenue in Brandon. What does the United Way do? The United Way offers you dozens of opportunities to improve your community. Your donation, however big or small, becomes something that will make a difference in someone’s life. Imagine having a chance to offer help to someone in 25 different ways. The United Way of Brandon & District partners with 25 Agencies throughout our community which run 31 different programs to help those people in need. Their Tools for School & Coats for Kids programs are just two of the many opportunities to make a difference. You can also make your donation to the program of your choice be it: The CNIB, The Women's Resource Centre, MS Society, Food For Thought, Family Visions, Helping Hands, YMCA, YWCA or the myriad of other worthwhile programs and services the United Way allocates funds to. Your donation to United Way of Brandon & District is making a difference and creating an opportunity. You are creating change for someone’s life without even realizing it. More so, the Brandon and District United Way guarantee that your donation is being put right back to work in our community to ensure these opportunities can continue to provide food and shelter, offer a safe place for kids to play after school and even to help the visually impaired, to name a just a few. Who knew, one donation could do so much!

We all wake up and assume that our home and family will be ok.  This is how the morning started for Jordan Poitras on May 3rd in Fort McMurray. BDNMB.CA was given exclusive to this story. Jordan was working on a job site doing Tile work in a shower when he noticed all of the sudden things got darker and darker outside.   “I really didn’t think much about anything because we had lots of small forest fires in the area”  The homeowner told him that an area only a few minutes away was given an evacuation notice. At this point he decided to pack his tools and rush to the downtown area through gridlock. “I was able to pick up my girlfriend then we went to get some clothes we didn’t have much time to react” The two of them drove to Gregoire Lake to what they thought would be camping for one or two nights.  “ Fuel was limited to 50 litres per person so we had to drive about 3.5 hours to Clyde before we were able to totally fill up” From the media one common message was how the local Fire – Police and Emergency people were.  “Police and Volunteers were amazing and worked so efficient and kept everyone very calm” One thing is certain that you see the true colors of people in a disaster.  “ lots of volunteers would have gas tanks on their trucks and help fill up vehicles that ran out of gas….. We didn’t eat for 24 hours and people not the side of the road were giving people wraps and sandwiches that is where I broke down”  “ People were so amazing and generous” Edmonton hotels were also very generous is waving pet fees and allowing pets to stay in hotels. BDNMB ask Jordan if he would return to Fort Mac?  “ Some of my good friends lost everything and I never want to go through that again" Currently he has no idea of the status of his rental property but stated that an area three blocks away from where he lived that 12 trailers had burned down. Jordan is originally from Brandon does Tile work now for Contractors Corner.

News Release For Immediate Release - Results from the 2016 Point-in-Time (PiT) Homelessness Count in Brandon, which took place on April 13, revealed that the number of homeless in our city has increased from the original count held in January 2015. Surveys showed that 146 people in Brandon were found to be homeless; 28 of whom were unsheltered and 118 sheltered. In 2015, the number of people determined to be homeless was 117. The Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (BNRC) organized the count, along with a number of local organizations. Project Coordinator, Mark Anderson said that while the number has increased, part of the reason for this could be because of an improved process and other factors. “With having the first count under our belt, we had the experience to improve our methodology. As well, there was increased community awareness prior to the event and there were additional partners involved, so in short we had more organizations involved and more volunteers out on the streets conducting surveys,” said Anderson. “However, it is important to note that all homeless counts are inherently undercounts. I’ve used the analogy before, but it is much like an iceberg. We only observe what’s visible. Like in many other communities across Canada, what we know to be true here in Brandon is that many homeless people are hidden so the number could even be higher.” In addition to the 146 surveyed adults, 35 children and dependants were present and another 25 adults declined to be surveyed, but were identified as being homeless (80 per cent of whom were known to service providers). Thirty-eight per cent of the surveyed respondents were under the age of 30, which means that Brandon is nearly twice the national average for youth. Nearly half of all respondents have been homeless for more than a year, however the vast majority indicated that they would prefer permanent housing. The PiT Count, funded by the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy, provides various agencies with data to help understand the magnitude and complexity of homelessness in our community, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of homelessness.  "In Brandon's Five Year Community Plan, researching and utilizing accurate data to drive program delivery was identified as a priority. The Point-in-Time Count collects vital local data that will allow the BNRC and our community partners to deliver meaningful and targeted programs and services. Continued data collection is not only important for understanding what homelessness looks like in our community, but also for evaluating the programs and services being made available,” said BNRC General Manager, Carly Gasparini.  For more on the PiT Count, visit: www.imatter-bdn.ca Contact: Mark Anderson, Project Coordinator Email: info@iMatter-bdn.ca Call: 204.720.2846 Twitter: @iMatterbdn Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrandonPiTCount Brandon PIT Count Summary 2016