More than ever, people today are turning to less traditional media to find information on issues including public health, COVID-19, and mask-wearing. These sources are often unregulated, saturated with non-experts or discredited experts, and fraught with misinformation.

All over Facebook, you’ll see these posts by well-meaning, health-conscious people: an inspirational photo, perhaps a river, or a forest, or a sunset—something peaceful. It catches your eye as you scroll through your feed, not just because of the image but because of the words, superimposed overtop, something like “Nature is the best antidepressant.”

A group of local golfers gathered on Sunday, August 16 for their annual Masters tournament. In past years, this has been a weekend-long competition held at an out-of-town course. This year, for the first time in the event’s 18-year history, the tournament had to be scaled down, with COVID restrictions in place.

Niverville’s town council met on the evening of Tuesday, August 18 for a brief council meeting. Following the meeting, media was given a guided tour of the Community Resources and Recreation Centre construction site.

Since August 17, school divisions across Manitoba have announced their back-to-school plans. Aspects of these plans are subject to change, however, and in fact one very large, province-wide change has already been announced in the days since: mask-wearing will now be mandatory for all students from Grade 4 to Grade 12 while in school.

On Tuesday, August 18, the Town of Niverville offered a tour for the media to check in on the progress of the new Community Resource and Recreation Centre (CRRC), which will reach completion in the spring of 2021.

Wearing masks to control the spread of COVID-19 has been hotly debated in Manitoba this summer, and the debate only seems to get more intense as time goes on. Whether it’s seen as an urgent need to protect ourselves and others, a simple personal preference, or an outright assault on our freedoms, our opinions on this issue are creating a lot of tension.

Today, Manitoba Public Health officials advised of 38 new COVID-19 cases, 12 of which were identified as coming from the Southern Health region. More specifically, cases in Niverville/Ritchot now sit at 25, with the most recent cases being linked to known clusters.

Growing Minds in Niverville opened its new facility at the high school on July 20. The soft opening was for a limited number of children due to the current situation with COVID-19.

For its fortieth anniversary, the annual Terry Fox Run is coming to southeast Manitoba, including Niverville and the communities of Ritchot. The event will take place on Sunday, September 20—and, like so many events scheduled this year, will take place virtually, with runners uniting in spirit if not in person.