Shaw Spotlight Thompson is making a final push to have their snowmen be named the best in the country.

Thompson is among the 23 Shaw Spotlight locations across the country vying for a spot in the top three, as the top vote getters will have ten thousand dollars donated to the charity they’ve partnered with.

This year, the local Shaw Spotlight team has partnered with the YWCA Thompson.

To vote in the contest, visit shawspotlight.ca/build frosty.

March 8^th marks International Women’s Day.

This year’s theme is “Break the Bias” and it encourages everyone to work toward a gender-equal world that is diverse and inclusive.

In honor of the day, the  YWCA Thompson has brought back their “She Inspires Me” campaign, as well.  

Here Nina Cordell with the YWCA explains how it works.

“We will take messages from people, anybody in the community, from February 23^rd to March 4^th. All they have to do is tell us how a woman or girl has inspired them. On March 8^th, which is actually International Women’s Day, that’s when we’ll be doing the deliveries.”

Messages can be submitted to Cordell at 204-778-1209 or email womens programs at YWCA DOT com by this Friday.

Listen to Thompson Today this afternoon at 12:40 and 5:10 for details about International Women’s Day. 

On Thursday evening, the School District of Mystery Lake presented some of the budget highlights for the upcoming school year.

Thompson taxpayers will be relieved to hear that there will be no increase to their taxes.

Kelly Knott, the Secretary Treasurer for the district, explains why.

“The province has given us a 2% increase in a grant in place of an increase to the taxpayer so the district is receiving property tax offset grant in the amount of $185,000 which would have been equivalent to a 2% tax ask.”

This year and next, in response to the impact of COVID-19 on enrollment, the province will provide funding for what is called an “adjusted enrollment”. 

In this case, it means funding will be provided for 2950.8 students when we have an eligible enrollment of 2718 students.       

According to Knott, this extra funding increases the district’s ability to continue delivering services.

To see the Budget Presentation go to mystery net dot mb dot ca.

It’s Red Tape Awareness Week, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s annual campaign that challenges governments across Canada to reduce red tape and modernize regulation.

According to a recent CFIB survey, 90 per cent of businesses say it’s important for government to reduce red tape, but three quarters are not confident governments are committed to doing so.

That being said, the CFIB has given the Manitoba government an “A” on its red tape report card.

Spokesperson Annie Dormuth shares the details.

“Governments across Canada, including Manitoba, maintained an A on accountability, which again comes to annual reporting of the total regulations in the province. It maintained it’s higher grade with regards to the total burden of regulations looking at the total cost of regulatory burden in the province as well as other things such as direct consumer wine, a shipment of wine.”

Learn more about Red Tape Awareness Week on Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.

Age-related macular degeneration, also known as AMD, is one of the leading causes of blindness among Canadians today.

According to the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, the AMD affects around two million people in the country, and accounts for 90 per cent of new cases of legal blindness in Canada.

Retina specialist Doctor Nupura Bakshi says it’s important for people to get regular eye exams to get screened for AMD, especially if you’re 50 or older, as symptoms may not begin appearing until the condition has advanced significantly.

“In the beginning stages, people may have no symptoms at all and as the little clumps of protein or drusen collect, you might start to notice a little bit of blurring of vision or you might just notice that things feel a little bit distorted. It really affects central vision, not peripheral vision so people may lose the sharp, straight ahead vision that is responsible and needed for driving, reading and looking at fine details.”

While there is no cure for age-related macular degeneration, there are a number of treatment options available to patients to help them manage the condition.

Listen to Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon for the full interview with Bakshi.

This January, Manitoba North District reported a 10 per cent decrease in calls for service over January 2021.

Harassment and threats were down 48 per cent and sexual offences were down 55 per cent.

Fraud decreased 52 per cent and theft over 5-thousand dollars went down by 37 per cent.

Possession of drugs decreased by 69 per cent and trafficking by 48 per cent.

There was an increase of 39 per cent in Wellbeing Checks over the year.  

The complete stats can be found at the rcmp website under Manitoba RCMP Districts.

The highlights of the 2022-2023 School District of Mystery Lake budget will be presented at 7:00 tonight at the Board Office.

The meeting is being held via ZOOM and it will also be broadcast on Facebook Live.

To attend in person, you must register by noon today.

Call 204-677-6167 or send an email to kknott@mysterynet.mb.ca.  

That’s k-k-n-o-t-t AT mystery net dot mb dot ca.

Proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results within the last 48 hours is required to attend in person.

MPI’s recently released road safety observation study finds non-seatbelt use is higher is northern and rural communities, while people using their phones while behind the wheel is more common in Winnipeg.

Media Relations Coordinator Brian Smiley says they observed three northern communities in the study commissioned in September: Thompson, Flin Flon, and The Pas.

Smiley explains roughly 29 hundred vehicles were observed, and in that time period around ten per cent of drivers weren’t wearing their seatbelt.

He says the data collected through the study will help MPI and local law enforcement when it comes to tailoring their messaging and roadside checks in regards to dangerous driving behaviors that were observed in the study.

A person not wearing a seatbelt while in a moving vehicle is 50 times more likely to get killed when involved in a crash.

Hear the full interview about the study on Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.

The second round of the Sledtown Showdown started yesterday.

Thompson has made it into this round and is up against Lac du Bonnet .

The Pas is up against Duck Mountain Provincial Park,  Flin Flon is going against Lee River and Snow Lake is facing Swan Valley. 

This round of voting continues until March 6^th.  

Support your community’s reputation as the best place to go snowmobiling.  

Go to snoriderswest.com to place your vote daily.  

Winterfest is this weekend, and organizers have come up with a number of COVID-friendly events that residents can participate in.

That includes virtual events such has a children’s story time, an online trivia party, and a take-out pancake breakfast.

There will still be some in-person events this year, including the skate clinics, cribbage tournament, and a tea boiling and bannock making workshop.

Winterfest kicks off on Friday.

Tune in to Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon for more information, or visit the Thompson Winterfest website.

Vale regretfully informs that on February 21,2022, a non-occupational death involving a contractor working at the T3 Mine in Thompson occurred.  Emergency responders attended the scene but could not resuscitate the individual.  Paramedics transported the man to hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

Our first priority is ensuring the safety of those attending the scene and supporting the family of the individual.

The Thompson RCMP and Mines Safety Unit were on site and the scene has been released.

The name of the employee is being withheld out of respect for the family. Vale has offered the services of its Critical Incident Stress Management Team to all individuals that were working in the area, as well as the Vale employees that responded to the scene.

"Our thoughts are with the family, co-workers and friends of this individual," said Gary Annett, Head of Manitoba Operations. "We are doing everything we can to support them and to better understand what happened."

Local authorities are looking for a suspect in an armed robbery that took place earlier this week.

On Feb. 15 at approximately 2:15 am, Thompson RCMP was notified of a robbery at a business on Cree Road.

An unknown man entered the business, stated he had a weapon, threatened the life of an employee, and demanded cash. He also took cell phones at that were sale along with cigarettes and fled.

The employee wasn’t physically injured.

The man is described as Caucasian and being 5’9” with a medium build. He was dressed in a camouflage jacket and pants with hunter orange on the inside.

Anyone with information about the robbery is urged to call the Thompson RCMP at 204-677-6909, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

The Canadian Red Cross and Partners for Action at the University of Waterloo are looking for Thompsonites to participate in a study they’ll be conducting later this month.

The study will centre around how people in five different parts of the country learn about and prepare for floods, wildfires, and earthquakes in their communities, and how to improve communication materials about these emergencies.

Here, the Director of Partners for Action Julie Wright shares who they’re hoping will participate in the study.

“We are trying to learn more about women, seniors and about the experiences and perceptions of newcomers, Indigenous people and Canadians who come from low income households.”

Visit u waterloo DOT ca SLASH inclusive DASH resilience for more information.

Or catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.

Sunday is Wear Red Day, an awareness campaign to support and shine a spotlight on women’s heart health.

The Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre says heart disease is on the rise and is the leading cause of death for women worldwide.

It adds heart attack symptoms are not recognized in over 50 per cent of women.

Symptoms of heart attack most often reported by women include chest pain or discomfort, pain in the jaw, neck, arm, or back, abnormal excessive sweating, and shortness of breath.

Wear Red Day is held every February 13^th.

The chief of Sayisi Dene First Nation, also known as Tadoule Lake, is thanking Calm Air and Indigenous Services Canada for helping to deliver fuel into the community this week.

Calm Air transported 20 barrels of fuel into the community: ten barrels of gasoline and ten barrels of diesel fuel.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee also thanked MKO staff for working to provide support in Tadoule Lake as the community grapples with a loss of a community member that’s being attributed to addictions.

The fuel delivery comes following a meeting between Settee, Sayisi Dene Chief Evan Yassie, and Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, where the leaders were able to tell the minister the challenges the community has been facing.

Yassie and Settee thanked Calm Air and Indigenous Services Canada for delivering the fuel, as the winter road is still closed and the community was low on supply.

Thompson’s first Committee of the Whole meeting was held earlier this week.

City council opted to make the switch from multiple standing committees to a Committee of the Whole format to make it easier for councillors with full-time jobs to attend committee meetings in person, as they were previously scheduled during the work day.

The city says committee meetings will still be streamed through Zoom and the recordings will be published on Youtube and Facebook.

Mayor Colleen Smook says combining the committee structures into one, all-inclusive meeting is an opportunity to ensure that every councillor is at the table and that they’re getting the same information at the same time.

Smook adds it also makes it easier for the public to follow the city’s progress.

Items covered in the meeting included the memos on ICIP grant projects and Norman Northstars game fees, as well as a letter from the hash-tag Safer Highway Six Action Group about lobbying the Manitoba government to invest in improving the highway.

A Thompsonite diagnosed with heart failure spoke to Arctic Radio to share her experience of living with the condition.

Michelle Logeot [Loh-zoh] was diagnosed with heart failure nearly five years ago after having a heart attack and cardiac arrest which caused damage to her heart.

She adds she was misdiagnosed multiple times prior to this, stating the symptoms were initially attributed to anxiety and menopause.

Here, Logeot explains how the diagnosis impacted her lifestyle.

“I wasn’t able to return to my career in Education that I absolutely loved. It was really stressful both emotionally and financially. I needed to adjust to the new me and the limitations that it brought. I couldn’t walk as far without chest pains, I’d get tired and out of breathe very easily and I struggle with anxiety and depression at times. I also had to make some lifestyle changes because I was a really busy and outgoing person and it changed my entire life.”

Logeot encourages northerners to be their own advocate and to get a second opinion.

For the full interview, catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.

A man faces numerous charges after being suspected of stabbing multiple people in Thompson.

RCMP responded to the incident immediately Wednesday night, which took place at an apartment complex on Princeton Drive.

It’s reported that three women were forcibly confined by the suspect, who allegedly used several weapons to assault them over a period of time.

A young child was inside the residence when the assaults occurred, but wasn’t physically injured.

One of the victims was taken to hospital, while the other two were given treatment at the scene.

24-year-old Antonio Miles Spence of Nelson House was charged with 27 offenses, including ten counts of assault with a weapon, three counts of forcible confinement, and abandoning a child.

Despite heart failure diagnoses being on the rise in the country, the latest report from the Heart and Stroke Foundation indicates Canadians aren’t as informed on the condition as they should be.

Spokesperson Doctor Shelly Zieroth [zee-roth] explains what heart failure is.

“Heart failure is a condition in which your heart is either too weak to pump blood forward to the rest of your body or it’s too stiff and what often happens is patients develop symptoms including shortness of breath, legs swelling and even fatigue.”

There are roughly 750 thousand people living with heart failure in Canada, with more than 100 thousand people diagnosed with the condition each year.

However, four in ten Canadians don’t understand heart failure, and two in three people don’t know there is no cure for the condition.

Zieroth says reasons that heart failure is growing in Canada is due to an aging population, younger people being diagnosed, and heart damage from COVID-19.

For more information on heart failure, listen to the full interview on Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.

A former northern First Nations Chief is conducting an independent review into allegations of racism at the Hudson Bay Railway.

Arctic Gateway Group appointed Christian Sinclair, the former Chief of Opaskwayak Cree Nation who also served in the group’s Board of Directors.

CEO Sheldon Affleck stated in a news release that he has every confidence that Sinclair will investigate the allegations, which were reported by the Winnipeg Free Press earlier this week.

Former and current employees in The Pas allege management turned a blind eye to racial slurs and verbal abuse that were directed at them and were also being prevented from moving up to higher-paid positions within the company.

Sinclair says he’s pleased to accept this role and ensures to get to the bottom of these allegations so that they can move forward to rebuild the Hudson Bay Railway, which is being revamped to safely carry heavier trains and allow for future shipments of grain, commodities, and essential goods to the communities that rely on the rail line.

While northerners may be familiar with feeling the winter blues around this time of year, it’s important to make the distinction from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD [sad].

Marian Goldstone with the Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba explains the winter blues is when a person feels sadness and fatigue during the colder months, while SAD is a mental health disorder that can interfere with daily functioning.

Goldstone says while there no accurate number on how many people are affected by SAD in the province, it’s typically more prevalent in the northern part of the country due to it being tied to the body’s circadian rhythm.

“American statistics will show that it’s seven times more prevalent in, say, South Dakota than it is in Florida so you can only imagine how that magnifies as we move further and further north, particularly up to Thompson and beyond. Sometimes the mental health services or even medical services are more sparsely interspaced so it’s very hard to get an accurate amount of data on how many people are actually affected. There are some numbers out there but there are far more people experiencing this than are actually counted.”

For the full interview with Goldstone, catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.

Following the death of a young man attributed to addictions in Sayisi Dene First Nation, MKO is looking to renew efforts to addressing drugs and alcohol smuggling in the isolated community.

Grand Chief Garrison Settee says this has been an ongoing concern for a number of years, adding a multi-jurisdictional approach would be the ideal way to lower the impact of bootleggers and drug dealers in MKO communities.

Settee adds his office has reached out to senior officials with Manitoba Justice regarding the role Canada Post plays in delivering alcohol and drugs into Tadoule Lake without a First Nations safety officer being able to inspect packages prior to being shipped out.

Sayisi Dene First Nation Chief Evan Yassie expressed worries about drugs being smuggled into the community getting worse as the winter road into the community reopens.

Yassie and Settee go on to call for a “whole of government” response to help deliver harm reduction measures and mental health and addictions supports to Indigenous communities.

Thompson RCMP responded to a weapons-related incident in Tadoule Lake, where the 21-year-old man was suspected of assaulting community members before committing suicide when confronted by officers.

Manitoba’s police watchdog is investigating the incident.