Work could be done within a week The fields around the Southeast are filled with farmers putting down the seed for this year's cereal, corn and canola crops.
The worry with putting canola in has been the weather-if frost hits the plant after it emerges it could wipe out the entire crop. In the next few weeks we can expect to see farmers seeding soybeans as well. While individual farmers are increasing acreage in this crop, it won't greatly affect the overall numbers. Many farmers have been looking at increasing soybean numbers because of the high prices and good yields that the crop enjoyed last year. The crop also does not require nitrogen, which means farmers can avoid using costly fertilizer on those fields. While winter wheat and canola acres are up this year, corn has stayed fairly steady with up to a 10-percent increase. The surprises this year, said McGregor, are that barley and oat numbers are down. Though he did say these were the most surprising change from last year, he is still not completely surprised. Barley doesn't like excessive moisture and many farmers in the Southeast experienced disease last year because of moisture and for oats the price is just "not attractive" right now. The recent cold weather has had "virtually no affect" on winter wheat, which has started coming up during recent weeks. McGregor reports that if the weather does not warm up soon, however, it could slow the growth or result in disease. Across Manitoba spring wheat acreage is expected to increase by 8.9 percent and soybean acreage by about 21.7 percent. Flax acreage is also expected to rise more than 50 percent from 200,000 to 310,000 acres and canola should remain mostly unchanged. Goertzen pushes health minister Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen last week discussed the need for more doctors in the Steinbach region with Health Minister Theresa Oswald, also bringing up several other priorities such as the expansion of Bethesda Hospital emergency services. "I thought it was very important that the needs of the southeast region, as it relates to health care, be prioritized and given the attention they deserve," Goertzen, the Conservative health critic, said. "Some commitments were made by the minister and I will continue to work to ensure that those commitments are fulfilled," Goertzen said. In the provincial health committee last Thursday, Goertzen asked Oswald to work with local medical clinics and the local health authority to help recruit new doctors to the community, noting that with two doctors expected to leave soon, thousands of residents may be without a family physician. Oswald responded by saying that she is "optimistic" recruitment efforts will be successful and that the department of health, together with South Eastman Health, would "work very hard to try to bring doctors to replace the two doctors that are leaving." "It is very important that the department of health work to support the recruitment and retention of doctors in the region," said Goertzen. "It's one of the most important issues facing the community and region." In response to an update on the promised $4.5 million expansion of the Bethesda Hospital emergency room, Oswald indicated the functional programming stage had been competed and that advertisements for an architect for the project closed last week. Tenders are expected to be let next spring with a completion date of spring of 2010. In response to questions on the need for new operating rooms for Bethesda Hospital, the minister said conversations are ongoing about the project and that it will be considered within the health capital budget. South Eastman Health recently noted the Bethesda operating rooms were tentatively the top priority on their list of capital projects in the region, a list which is to be finalized at the board's regular meeting later this month. Goertzen also raised the importance of support for the Grunthal Menno Home expansion and the need for a mental health crisis stabilization unit (CSU) in the region. He says Healthy Living Minister Kerri-Irvin Ross indicated she understood a CSU is a priority for the region and that it will be considered in new project announcements later this year and early next year. While there has been some good news on funding for projects and support for the region in recent months, Goertzen says much more needs to be done to ensure services keep pace with the rapid growth in the region. "Health care remains a top-of-mind issue for residents in the region and it remains a key priority for me as well," said Goertzen. City hiking pool rates to stem loss Steinbach city council was at odds on Tuesday over what direction to take on several user fees. City administration presented council with its recommendations which included raising rates for handi-transit services, ice rentals and aquatic centre rates. It was the aquatic centre rates that received the most attention. For example, it has been recommended that the single drop-in swim rate rise from $6 to $6.50. Councillor Michael Zwaagstra noted the city does not come close to recouping its yearly costs at the pool, which loses over $400,000 a year. That expense is funded by taxes, Zwaagstra's justification for supporting the higher rates which would force users to shoulder more of the financial load. Zwaagstra pointed out that 55 percent of pool users are not Steinbach residents in making the argument that the increase could have a huge impact on the city's budget. Zwaagstra faced opposition, with the most vocal opposition from Councillor Jac Siemens. Siemens noted that even $6 is a lot of money to some people and stressed the need to maintain the affordability of the city facility. He reminded council it was never the intent of the facility to be a money-maker. Zwaagstra noted that all local residents pay for the facility through property taxes so it makes sense to reduce the amount allocated to the pool through general mill rate revenue. Though Siemens purposed an amendment to hold the rates at the current level, he did offer to change the amendment and offer a three-percent increase as a compromise. However, that was just more ammunition for opposing councillors who argued that increasing pool fees from $6 to $6.18 would make little difference from administration's $6.50 suggestion. City manager Jack Kehler also reminded council that many of the various rates have not changed since 2001. Since then, expenses, fuel in particular, have make city operations increasingly cost-deficient. The amendment was defeated with support only from Siemens, as well as Councillor Art Enns and Mayor Chris Goertzen who also questioned the size of the proposed increases. Councillors Zwaagstra, Abe Hiebert, Art Rempel and Elbert Toews supported the administration's recommendation to raise the rate by 50 cents. Well inventory begins in area The Seine-Rat River Conservation District has hired two summer students as resource technicians to take an inventory of all wells in the Southeast and test them to determine if there are any areas with specific problems. The students will start in La Broquerie and will test well water for nitrate concentration, conductivity, turbidity and bacteria. The tests will assist in determining the health of the region's aquifer and water table and is free of charge. The hope is to keep track of all the wells in the area to help aid in pinpointing possible problems in the future. It will also help with keeping track of wells that become abandoned, allowing them to be capped to avoid contamination. Abandoned well capping is another service that the district offers for free. More information on any of the services provided is available from the office at 424-5845. Horror movie to shoot in the Grunthal area Starting Friday, May 9, Tiger Aspect Productions will start shooting part of an upcoming horror movie, Bad Meat, just north of Grunthal. Rob Schmidt, who directed Wrong Turn and is well known to those who enjoy a grotesque horror film, will direct the movie. The movie follows a shipment of beef, which goes bad after steroid injections were used on the living cows, to a youth detention camp where the authoritarian staff eats it and turns into cannibalistic monsters. The filming in Hanover is scheduled for seven days and will involve a number of trucks and trailers lined up alongside rural roads. Crews will be working in and around the area and management is asking for all local residents to be aware and cautious when passing. Artist set to paint icebreaker voyage When George Gartrell was offered an opportunity to board an Arctic icebreaker and create watercolour paintings documenting the crew's climate change studies, it didn't take him very long to make a decision. After all, given there is a huge waiting list for berths aboard the (Canadian Coast Guard Ship) CCGS Amundsen, the Otterburne-area resident said he was humbled to be selected as its artist on board. "I feel it is a great honor and privilege to have been selected/ for this project./ The support for my journey north that the University of Manitoba is providing through their Centre for Earth Observation Science is incredible." An International Polar Year comes around only every 50 years and the Circumpolar Flaw Lead (CFL) System Study is a history-making, $40 million initiative. (The first IPY was in 1882—it is collaborative, international research 'at the ends of the Earth, meaning scientific teams are at work in both the Arctic and Antarctica.) The Canada Foundation For Innovation, (www.innovationcanada.ca) describes the CFL system phenomenon as a feature of the high-Arctic ice regime:
Gartrell emphasized that as excited as he is about seeing the wonders of Canada's Arctic up close and personal, he believes the CFL project goals to be of profound significance—therefore, knows his work coming out of this journey will be imbued with a tremendous responsibility. 'Adventure of a lifetime' "This is an adventure of a lifetime and I look forward with unbridled enthusiasm to both the Arctic/ experience which awaits and the process of creating art which will/ help to create a legacy to support future studies." In an interview at his home which he shares with his wife Carol, Gartrell he was discovered when someone with the U of M team saw his Sentinel of the Prairie Sea on display in Winnipeg. A highly precise work, yet utilizing beautiful colour, Sentinel of the Prairie Sea tells the story of the vessel researching the algae and pollution of Lake Winnipeg. When the precision is pointed out, he explained it is there because he used a watercolour and pen and ink combination to achieve the effect. "His best friend is the ruler, he measures meticulously to get it right," Carol Gartrell noted. Led by U of M climatologist Dr. David Barber, more than 200 scientists from 15 different countries will be aboard the ship for 18 months. The goal of the 'sea ice scientists' aboard the Quebec-based CCGS Amundsen is to study how changing climate interactively affects Arctic sea ice. Just one example of the myriad of different assignments available—there is a Contaminate Team of scientists collecting samples used to help evaluate the amount of contaminates that exist in the Arctic. Gartrell is leaving May 14 for Inuvik and returning home about 10 days later; (he will be spending one week aboard the CCGS Amundsen). From Inuvik he will either be taken by helicopter or small plane to meet the icebreaker in the Northwest Passage. He pointed out he isn't the only artist on board; embedded photojournalists are publishing a coffee table book called Two Ways of Knowing, (highlighting the dualism of the ship's scientists and the wisdom and experience of the Inuit.) When Gartrell has completed his work, proceeds from the sale of the original paintings and subsequent prints and Two Ways of Knowing will go towards an endowment fund ensuring that research can continue. He hopes that sales will be brisk, given the urgency of the subject matter in the art. "I think there's a huge complacency about global warming...it's stunning that scientists are predicting by next century, there will be an overall rise in the level of oceans by 1.5 metres. "What impacts the Arctic also impacts us, because we're not disconnected."
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