Winkler Residents Outraged by Road Closures
Several days of road construction has caused an uproar in Winkler, with entire streets being blocked for the full day.
Resident Michael Friesen doesn’t have anything good to say about the city’s planning department;
Clearly the Winkler city planners have no idea what they’re doing. I live on Crystal Crescent, and my street is going to be blocked from 8:00am to 7:00pm today! That is just ridiculous; I think it’s time for this generation of city staffers to move on- perhaps a forced retirement would be good. The city doesn’t even post a proper bulletin on their website!
The city’s official bulletin can be seen here. The closures are also confusing for people new to the city, as well as visitors. Jason McCormick of Winnipeg shares his experience:
I travel to Winkler fairly often for business, and occasionally to golf, but today the city left a bad taste in my mouth. I normally turn down 15th street to head to the golf course, but had no luck there, so tried to take Main and get to the golf course via Mountain. Of course, Mountain was also closed, requiring me to go all the way to Pembina before I could actually get onto 15th. This is a fairly vital street, and should not have other arterial streets leading to it closed as well.
15th Street is a highly trafficked road, mostly used by commuters trying to get to a southern part of the city from Highway 14. Mountain Avenue is a busy thoroughfare for east west traffic
Returning from Vacation
We would like to apologize for the lack of news in the past weeks. All of our staff took some holidays at the same time, as we didn’t feel that there was any particularly pressing news in the area.
Again, we’re sorry.
Plum Fest Almost Worth It This Year
This years Plum Fest turnout was a larger success than the festival organizers expected. The total number of visitors was down from last year, bringing in just over 200 visitors this year, but it was still rather impressive.
Festival Chair Greg Banman notes some of the highlights of this years festival;
There was a little bit of something for everyone here this year; fire dancers, a petting zoo with reptiles, hard rock and a great waffle breakfast. Although, I think the highlight for everyone was when the inflatables popped and created an uproar. Definite success, can’t wait for next year.
Banman says that he has a few surprises planned for the next festival.
Ditch Fire Near Horndean
A ditch fire about 2 miles east of Horndean at about 2pm today caused chaos and mass evacuation of the village. Horndean residents could not be reached for comment.
Visitors Puzzled by Stanley Cup
Winkler residents are puzzled and outraged by the massive line-ups and wait at the Southland Mall in Winkler, where the Stanley Cup is currently on display.
Mall-walker Mark Woods doesn’t see what all the fuss is about;
I don’t understand what the big deal is. It’s just a cup with somebody’s name on it. There’s huge lines, crazy traffic and so much noise. All I want to do is get my regular walking in, in the comfort of the air-conditioned mall. All of these people are wreaking havoc with my routine.
Meanwhile, if you don’t mind the lines, there is an opportunity to get a photo taken with the cup.
Rat Poison Halves Altona Cat Population
After one Altona resident heard that there was a rat problem in the neighbourhood, he laid out a generous amount of poison on his yard. Cats; having the approximate intelligence of a rat, consumed much of this poison, and the number of cats in Altona was consequently halved.
No charges have yet been laid in this incident, but PETA has been closely following the drama with intention to prosecute.
The town of Altona reminds residents to only use arsenic based poisons to keep rodent and feline populations under control.
News Website Threatens PembinaValleyOnline.com
A new website for the community has Golden West worried about their flagship site in the Pembina Valley; PembinaValleyOnline.com.
eWinkler is a brand new site, where residents can “have their say” on various matters in the communities. The discussion forum is already chock full of intellectual debate on a variety of subjects.
PVO management could not be reached for comment.
Vandals Strike Gretna
RCMP are looking for whoever was is responsible for spray painting a number of obscenities throughout the town of Gretna.
The incident appears to have occured overnight. Vandals painted a number of offensive words and images on several buildings including Mennonite Collegiate Institute, the Gretna Bergthaler Church and the local arena. A number of road signs were also hit. Some clean-up work has already begun. More details will follow once they become available.
w
CKMW’s Change to FM Sparks Controversy
CKMW (1570 AM) was recently granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to move CKMW from the AM band to FM. No date has been set as of yet, but CKMW is planning on operating at 103.7 MHz in the near future.
This has caused a bit of uproar with the older residents in communities serviced by this station. Winkler resident John Klassen says;
I’ve always loved AM radio. I can turn the volume much higher without distorting the crisp sound, and it’s just so clear. FM is just evil. Guaranteed, CKMW will lose my loyalty. Besides, I’d have to buy a new radio; I can’t do that.
Nevertheless, the station and its parent company; Golden West Broadcasting, as planning on going ahead with the switch.
See also:
goldenwestradio.com
Golden West on Wikipedia.
Pembina Valley News 