When Niverville resident Rob Byers awoke on September 20 with chest pain, he knew he needed to get to a hospital. Byers is 67, has heart disease, angina, a blockage in his heart, and high blood pressure. His wife Marie called 911 at about 7:15 a.m. Niverville Fire and an EMS crew arrived shortly thereafter.

Community. We all have our own idea about what that is. For some of us, it’s the GPS location our car steers towards at the end of the workday. For others, it’s the people who make up that place.

With the population rising in Niverville, talk continues to swirl around the need for a new school. Randy Dueck, Superintendent of the Hanover School Division, says that the division’s top priority right now is a new Grades 9–12 school for the community. Last April, the division requested a new 400-seat high school.

Manitoba’s Health Minister, the Honourable Kelvin Goertzen, made a visit to Niverville Collegiate on January 19 to meet with the school’s SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) team. The students had arranged booths in the gym for the annual health fair, each booth dedicated to exploring the dangers of smoking in creative ways.

The Friends of the Plex are hosting a number of fundraising opportunities for the coming month, and beyond.

Niverville’s town council has a lot on its plate for 2017, including important decisions about policing, Main Street traffic, and multiplex funding. These are reported elsewhere in this edition of The Citizen. Council is also moving forward on plans to extend the business park.