On December 19, Southern Health-Santé Sud released its Community Health Assessment (CHA) which showed that our region enjoys overall health that is above the provincial average in many ways, despite low vaccination rates, long personal care home admission wait times, and some financial and social supports falling short.

Niverville Middle School (NMS) was a beneficiary late last year of a unique gift—a bench made almost entirely of recycled single-use plastics. Students have participated since September in a program called Bag Up Manitoba, an initiative promoting the collection of plastic bags to be repurposed into something altogether different.

Few things get people’s tongues wagging more than the announcement of new businesses, or perhaps changes to long-standing local institutions. The year, franchises came to our communities, popular businesses made big upgrades, and the local Chambers of Commerce gave out awards honouring the very best companies our region has to offer. 

As we mark the new year this week, The Citizen is taking the opportunity to look back at 2019. To put it mildly, it was a big year for local news. Here were the top ten news stories affecting our communities, sorted in chronological order from the beginning of the year to the end.

As we mark the new year this week, The Citizen is taking the opportunity to look back at 2019. Earlier today, we posted a top ten list of our biggest news articles of the year. However, some of the best writing we publish has very little to do with news or current events. Here are our very best feature stories of 2019, sorted in chronological order from the beginning of the year to the end. 

Four years ago, St. Adolphe families were thrilled at the construction of a year-round outdoor sport facility on the north end of town. It provided an idyllic spot for kids to hang out, playing basketball in the summertime and hockey and pleasure-skating through the winter months.