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The haunt for dead October

Spooky Halloween decorations fill a yard for The Haunt at Edwardson Manor at 539 Ross Avenue on a sunny Tuesday. The Haunt at Edwardson Manor is taking donations for the Brandon Humane Society.
(Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Tamarack Golf Tournament

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Oct. 22, 6 AM: 6°c Clear Oct. 22, 12 PM: 16°c Windy

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Local

Tame takes on challenger in Ward 10 race

By Alex Lambert 6 minute read Preview

Tame takes on challenger in Ward 10 race

By Alex Lambert 6 minute read 12:08 AM CDT

Incumbent Ward 10 Coun. Tyson Tame is facing a political newcomer in Mitesh Patel in the upcoming municipal election.

Tame, a 53-year-old realtor, said drainage and aging infrastructure in the Green Acres neighbourhood are his biggest concerns ahead of the Oct. 28 election.

Pedestrian safety is also a major concern, he said.

Tame said the outgoing edition of council was successful in improving pedestrian safety with flashing beacons at crosswalks and improving sidewalk connection, but that more work is still needed.

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12:08 AM CDT

Local

Candidates share their visions for downtown

By Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read Preview

Candidates share their visions for downtown

By Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read 12:03 AM CDT

Candidates from three mainly residential wards discussed what downtown could be like if growth and development continued.

Sparked by Ward 4 incumbent Shaun Cameron’s recent call to add an additional 2,000 people to the city’s downtown, candidates from wards 1, 4 and 9 shared their visions for downtown to an audience of roughly 50 people during Wednesday night’s debate in Lorne Watson Recital Hall at Brandon University.

Cameron, who was first elected to the ward in 2018, said it’s “absolutely realistic” to grow the downtown area by 2,000 people.

“One of the things that I think that turns the corner comes from creating critical mass downtown,” Cameron said.

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12:03 AM CDT

Local

Man accused of attacking strangers deemed safety risk

By Tessa Adamski 6 minute read 12:03 AM CDT

A judge denied bail to a 51-year-old Brandon man on Wednesday, saying it was clear he posed a safety risk to the community following his alleged involvement in a string of serious assaults, including an incident that sent one man to hospital with glass embedded in his face.

Allegations of Abram Cook’s recent offending is “concerning” and involved acts of mischief and unprovoked attacks against strangers, which warrants he spend time in custody ahead of a possible trial to protect the public, said provincial court Judge Donovan Dvorak, who gave his decision via phone in Brandon.

“The question I would ask is, who’s next?” he said. “A senior walking down the street with groceries or, I don’t know, a kid on the way to school?”

Cook faces eight charges for incidents alleged to have happened between June and September. The charges include assault with a weapon, four counts of assault, two counts of mischief under $5,000 and breaching a court order to report to police.

Local

City councillor debates

By Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read Preview

City councillor debates

By Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read Updated: 12:01 AM CDT

Incumbent Ward 7 councillor Shawn Berry publicly apologized for his role in city council’s closed-door meetings and pledged to be a “loud voice” against holding such meetings if he is re-elected on Oct. 28.

During the final of four councillor candidate debates at Brandon University’s Lorne Watson Recital Hall on Wednesday, Berry said there have been too many closed-door committee of the whole meetings over the last four years.

“I’ve been a longtime councillor, and I’m going to apologize to the public right now for all these meetings that we’ve had in camera (and) meetings behind closed doors,” said Berry, who is the longest-serving councillor and did not have a challenger in the previous three elections.

“Some of these things we’re discussing do not need to be in camera or committee of the whole,” Berry said. “So, I apologize.”

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Updated: 12:01 AM CDT

Local

Mayoral rivals talk growth, taxes, DCCs

By Abiola Odutola 5 minute read Preview

Mayoral rivals talk growth, taxes, DCCs

By Abiola Odutola 5 minute read 12:00 AM CDT

The city’s two mayoral candidates outlined their approaches to growing municipal revenue without relying solely on higher taxes during the Brandon Chamber of Commerce debate Wednesday morning.

The candidates also staked out their positions on property tax increases and development cost charges.

The debate between incumbent Jeff Fawcett and challenger Len Isleifson was held at Victoria Inn’s Imperial Ballroom with about 90 members of the business community in attendance.

On the topic of revenue growth, Fawcett said the city needs to bring more provincial and federal dollars into Brandon while expanding its industrial and commercial tax base.

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12:00 AM CDT

Local

Shilo resource centre on alert to help base families affected by deadly training incident in Alberta

Kelly-Anne Riess 2 minute read Preview

Shilo resource centre on alert to help base families affected by deadly training incident in Alberta

Kelly-Anne Riess 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:22 AM CDT

Military officials were unable to say Monday whether any soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Shilo were among the four dead and 39 injured Saturday when a fast-moving grass fire engulfed a training area at a base in Alberta.

A spokesperson for the Department of National Defence in Ottawa told the Free Press Monday they did not know yet if anyone from Shilo was participating in the exercises at CFB Wainwright, about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, when the fire tore through the area.

The Shilo Military Family Resource Centre, located about 30 kilometres Southeast of Brandon, was offering counselling and other assistance to families of soldiers stationed there.

“We understand that this tragedy may also be deeply felt by members and families here at CFB Shilo,” the MFRC said in a statement posted to Facebook. “Across the Canadian Armed Forces, our communities are connected through shared experiences, friendships, service and sacrifice.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:22 AM CDT

Business

Carney heads to Turkey for 1st bilateral visit to deepen ties with NATO ally

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Carney heads to Turkey for 1st bilateral visit to deepen ties with NATO ally

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:22 AM CDT

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is travelling to Turkey on Wednesday for a three-day trip that experts say should show how his approach to international diplomacy differs from that of the previous Liberal government.

Carney's office says this is the first official bilateral visit by a Canadian prime minister to Turkey. Carney met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey earlier this year as part of the NATO summit.

The prime minister will land in Ankara early Thursday for a meeting with Erdogan before heading to Istanbul to meet with Turkish business leaders on Friday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson will join Carney on the trip.

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:22 AM CDT

Business

Canadian food bank use hits 2.3 million monthly visits due to grocery costs: report

Sadeen Mohsen, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Canadian food bank use hits 2.3 million monthly visits due to grocery costs: report

Sadeen Mohsen, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:38 PM CDT

TORONTO - Kerry Holt never expected she’d become a food bank client.

After losing her job nearly a year ago following major surgery, Holt said it became increasingly difficult to balance her rent, extra bills and provide for her three children.

She would have only one meal a day, suffering from fainting spells a few times, before being diagnosed with an iron deficiency because of her lack of eating.

“I was doing everything I could to find work,” she said. “My groceries and bills were so high."

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:38 PM CDT

Local

Work on North Hill roundabout eyed for next spring

By Alex Lambert 5 minute read Preview

Work on North Hill roundabout eyed for next spring

By Alex Lambert 5 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026

Construction of a roundabout on Brandon’s North Hill is expected to start as early as next spring — but some politicians say that’s not soon enough.

In the works for almost a decade, the roundabout at the intersection of 18th Street North and Braecrest Drive will go to tender later this fall, according to the city’s engineering director, Kyle Winters.

“If we get … our tender out and closed before the end of the year, we can get that awarded first thing and contractors can start planning to start whenever kind of the weather allows for it,” Winters said.

He said the city hopes most of the work can be completed by the next winter, though that might leave minor landscaping work for the spring of 2028.

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Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026

Local

Inappropriate texts to students cost teachers their jobs

By Maggie MacintoshLocal Journalism Initiative 5 minute read Preview

Inappropriate texts to students cost teachers their jobs

By Maggie MacintoshLocal Journalism Initiative 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:22 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s independent teacher commissioner has cancelled two certificates this month because of inappropriate late-night messaging with minors.

Robert Gregoire is no longer permitted to teach in the River East Transcona School Division or elsewhere in the province after he was found to have called a student “my beautiful” and “princess,” among other pet names he used in online communications over multiple years.

Brady Nurse, who became the subject of a workplace probe after RCMP contacted the Portage la Prairie School Division about his actions, was also recently stripped of his licence.

New consent resolution agreements — public documents outlining agreed-upon facts and consequences in disciplinary cases — reveal the men in both cases repeatedly engaged in boundary-crossing behaviour.

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:22 AM CDT

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