Loeppky back in Italian SuperLega finals

It looked this like Italian powerhouse Lube’s hopes for a “double” championship year were all but dashed. The team went into their semi-final of the highest tier of volleyball in Italy without home court advantage and promptly dropped the first two matches in the best-of-five series against defending champions Perugia.

Lube, which features Steinbach’s Eric Loeppky as an outside hitter, stormed back to win three consecutive matches, including a 3-1 (29-27, 19-25, 17-25, 22-25) victory in game five inside Perugia’s home gym. Perugia defeated Loeppky’s Vero Volley Monza in the 2024 finals.

The game five victory came at the service, line, with Lube knocking home 17 aces.

“This was the victory of those who don’t feel sorry for themselves, of those who always look for solutions and do their best with what they have, believing strongly in their own means,” Lube coach Giampaolo Medei said in a translated statement published on the Lube website.

Falk sets new record in Provencher

As polling stations across Canada tallied their results on Monday night, the mood in Provencher Conservative incumbent Ted Falk’s victory party was restrained.

Even as Falk made his way to his best ever result in five elections, the Conservatives were falling just short of forming government, a tough pill to swallow for party faithful in attendance.

Mark Carney’s Liberals won 169 seats, just three short of a majority government.

Meanwhile the Conservatives bettered their seat counts considerably, improving from 119 in the 2021 election to 144 this time around.

Quick crop establishment lowers flea beetle risk

Flea beetles remain the top ranked canola pest, according to the latest grower survey. The Canola Council of Canada 2024 grower survey asked respondents to name the diseases, weeds and insects of greatest economic risk to canola. Flea beetles were the most common answer in 2024, as they were in the 2022 and 2020 surveys.

While flea beetles seem to be unavoidable, growers can reduce the risk. John Gavloski, entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture, says canola crops that reach the four-leaf stage within three to four weeks of seeding are less likely to need protection from a foliar pesticide spray. Canola crops that require in-season foliar sprays are often slow-establishing and non-competitive.

Weather can be a major factor in rapid stand establishment. Canola sown in warm, moist soil will emerge quickly and uniformly. Warm conditions without moisture will often favour flea beetles over the crop. Whatever the weather, the following agronomy steps put the crop in the best possible scenario against flea beetles.

Target 5-8 plants per square foot

Carillon Sports Second Shots: April 24th edition

Featuring photos from the Zone 13 badminton championships and Winnipeg Jets watch party at the Southeast Event Centre.

“Grow with us” say garden centre owners

The owners of the Green Valley Garden Centre, just north of Grunthal, invite gardeners in the Southeast to keep growing with them.

And Sheldon and Carrie Enns know more than a little bit about growing. In the 16 years they have owned the garden centre, they have doubled the size of their greenhouse, and tripled the size of their family.

Carrie Enns, an elementary school teacher, says they are blessed to be able to enjoy a lifestyle that allows both husband and wife to have the entire summer off with their three children.

Carrie has been an early years teacher for two decades. She says this is her first year at Kleefeld and she previously taught at Grunthal, Mitchell and Steinbach. Before they bought the greenhouse, Sheldon worked for a company that created financial planning software.

Five new workers join Eastman Immigrant Services

Five new workers have joined Eastman Immigrant Services (EIS) providing care to immigrants and their families.

Olesja Schwabauer is the program director at EIS and it’s her job to oversee all programming and grant applications. She has held this role since July 2024 and so far she is enjoying it.

“So far so amazing. We have a great team,” she said. “Everyone is having the same goal helping newcomers and seeing them succeed in our area. I really really love working here and I hope that people stick around and be with us and we can build that strong office that helps people in each area. And I really hope that we can grow also and add more people and add more programs.”

Olesja is from northern Bavaria in Germany. She came to Canada 17 years ago settling in Winkler. She began working with immigrants in Germany and continued that work here in Canada. She moved to Steinbach two years ago as her daughter was going to university and she wanted to be closer to Winnipeg.

MJHL’s Winnipeg Freeze re-brand to Monarchs

Manitoba Junior Hockey League fans in Steinbach will see a new team to play on next year’s schedule, as the Winnipeg Freeze have re-branded to the Winnipeg Monarchs.

The MJHL franchise began play in 2020, owned by 50 Below Sports, who also owned the Winnipeg Ice Western Hockey League team.

The Monarchs name is rich in history. A junior team bearing that name was founded in 1930, competing up until 1978, when they were re-named to the Winnipeg South Blues.

The Blues still play as the other Winnipeg-based team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Niverville raises taxes by four percent

The Town of Niverville will raise taxes by four percent this year as it released its budget last week during its regular council meeting.

“We try to be as stable and consistent as possible in the rates that have gone out year over year. This is the norm. So, you’re always in that two to four percent range of what your taxes will go up by year over year and that has not changed ever since I’ve been here,” said CAO Eric King.

The town will see a drop in the mill rate by 14.6 percent. Last year’s mill rate was 13.659 mills while this year it’s 11.659 mills. As this is a reassessment year, the average household in Niverville has seen its assessment increase by 20 to 22 percent.

What this means is that a home assessed at $399,800 will see an increase of $86.29 on their municipal property taxes. Waste collection will see the fee increased to $150 per household.

Hank Klassen retires from South East Helping Hands

After 44 years at the helm, Hank Klassen is retiring from his post as board chair of South East Helping Hands.

“He’s done an amazing job and it’s going to be hard to fill the same shoes or even try,” said operations manager Ken Dyck.

“He’s been my mentor for many, many years. If it (wasn’t) for Hank I wouldn’t be into volunteering. He got me into Lion’s Club and he put me to work right away. He said that’s the only way people stay in the clubs and from there I took a little break and he jumped me into Helping Hands and I’ve been here ever since.”

Klassen said he was always looking to retire and that a disagreement recently on the board made the decision happen sooner rather than later.

Virden repeats as MJHL attendance champions despite poor record

While the Virden Oil Capitals may have ended up missing the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs, the franchise is certainly thriving at the box office.

For the second consecutive year, Virden led the league in per game attendance, letting an average of 781 people through the doors at the Tundra Oil and Gas Place arena for games.

For the first time since the 2021/2022 season, no team averaged more than 800 fans per game, with both Steinbach and Winkler playing their seasons inside smaller temporary homes this season. The Flyers dropped from 842 fans per game to just 428, playing in the ICON arena.

The Flyers could only pack a maximum 644 people into the building for a playoff game, as fans filled the rink to its limits. PembinaValleyOnline reported earlier this year the team is expected to begin play inside the newly renovated Winkler Centennial Arena in January of 2026.

Southwood School EAL program is helping students integrate

Forty percent of Southwood School’s student body has English as an additional language (EAL). Out of more than 600 students, roughly a third are immigrants or children of immigrants that are learning English as a second or third language.

“We have 28 students that are at Stage 1 beginning to learn English, 49 students at Stage 2 that middle level of proficiency, and 163 students in stage 3 where they’re fairly proficient in English. So, 240 all together out of 604 students,” said resource teacher Holly Gushulak.

“Just having 40 percent of our students being English learners on some level it’s this built in safety net for them where they’re not made to feel different. There’s lots of kids learning English,” she added, emphasizing that translators are also used when necessary so that the children always feel like they’re being heard.

Eastman Immigrant Services settlement worker in schools (SWIS) lead Maria Zhosan came to Canda two years ago from Ukraine with no English experience. She has three sons aged two to 12 who go to school in Steinbach. As a SWIS lead, Zhosan works with immigrant children in the schools to help them assimilate and learn English.