This summer has been – so far – largely mosquito-free, but the city’s bug boss says that blissful skeeter-free season might be about to take a turn for the worse.Ken Nawolksy, superintendent of Winnipeg’s insect control branch, said the recent rain and heat means the city has gone from one extreme to the other, and we should be expecting an increase in the flying pests soon.READ MORE: A real buzzkill: Mosquito larviciding to begin Monday“We got anywhere between 80 and 100 mm of rain, which created a lot of standing…
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City of Brandon stops recycling a certain type of plastic
The City of Brandon is asking residents to avoid recycling a commonly used plastic.Officials say they’ll no longer accept “#1” plastic food containers.Story continues below“The Saskatchewan-based company that markets Brandon’s recyclables will no longer accept #1 plastic food containers from its customers and there is no capacity at the City of Brandon’s Materials Recovery Facility to stockpile this plastic product,” the city said in a Facebook post.View original article here Source
Read MoreManitoba butterfly fan thrilled at appearance of caterpillars after years without
A Manitoba woman who has been raising and releasing monarch butterflies for almost two decades said she’d almost given up until a ‘miracle’ this year led to dozens of caterpillars suddenly appearing.“I think we all love butterflies and we’re all fascinated, no matter what age, when we see them in a park or in our yard,” Yvonne Sharples told 680 CJOB.Sharples said she and her husband first attempted to encourage butterflies to take up residence in her back yard 20 years ago, but after a few failed attempts, she came…
Read MorePremiers want to ensure local jurisdiction respected when it comes to climate change decisions
Canada’s premiers are calling on the federal government to give provinces “full credit” for emission reductions in their respective jurisdictions and put forward “sufficient” funding for local adaptation and mitigation projects.This comes on the second day of the annual Council of the Federation (COF) meeting, where the premiers are gathering in Saskatoon.The joint statement acknowledges climate change as a global threat that has immediate and long-lasting impacts on the environment, public health and safety.Story continues below“We live in a part of the world where we see, daily, the effects of…
Read MoreCrews from Saskatchewan, Quebec help in Manitoba wildfire fight
Firefighters continue to battle a wildfire that forced the evacuation of residents from two northern Manitoba communities over the weekend.Residents from Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi First Nation began arriving in Winnipeg Sunday after a nearby wildfire brought heavy smoke into the communities.Dave Schafer, director of the Manitoba Wildfire Program, says the fire, burning roughly 17 kilometres west of Little Grand Rapids, is the most troublesome one currently burning in the province.Story continues below“We’ve got a number of resources working on it,” he told 680CJOB Monday morning.READ MORE: Manitoba Red…
Read MoreManitoba Beef Producers welcome new provincial grazing program on Crown lands
Manitoba cattle farmers are over the ‘mooooon’ about an announcement by the province allowing cattle to temporarily graze on some provincial Crown land.The Agricultural Crown Lands Leasing Program will allow cattle producers to use certain Crown land that isn’t normally accessible.The announcement was welcomed by the Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) organization.READ MORE: Supersized steer in Steinbach a big attraction at Kismet Creek FarmStory continues below“The dry conditions of the past couple of years have created challenging conditions for beef producers in terms of the amount of grazing days available on…
Read MoreInsect migration studied with the help of tiny ‘fanny packs’: researcher
Fanny packs are back in style, but it’s not only humans who are sporting them.A new study by University of Guelph researchers, in connection with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, has equipped a pair of insect species – monarch butterflies and common green darner dragonflies – with tiny radio-transmitting ‘fanny packs’ that will help researchers track their migration.Story continues belowThe study’s lead researcher, Nature Conservancy program manager Sam Knight, told 680 CJOB the new technology opens up new worlds for scientists to learn about the insects around us.“It’s pretty incredible,…
Read MoreProtesters gather at Assiniboine Park Zoo aiming to shut down Stingray Beach exhibit
Animal rights advocates are continuing their fight against the Assiniboine Park Zoo.They hope to force a shutdown of the zoo’s Stingray Beach exhibit.Over a dozen rays are being housed in a shallow 1,300-square-foot pool located in the zoo’s rotating exhibit gallery.READ MORE: Assiniboine Park Zoo welcomes visitors to new interactive stingray exhibit“They’re being touched and handled all the time and they have nowhere to go,” says Danae Tonge, the organizer of Saturday’s protest. “That seems really unethical to us, that these stingrays are being subjected to this and have nowhere…
Read MoreBerry-picking delayed as Manitoba farmers struggle with dry weather, late spring
Watching and waiting has become the norm for Manitoba berry farmers this year, with the strawberry season delayed by a cold, dry spring.Connery Berry Farms’s owner Sam Connery-Nichol said their fields were still full of green berries and didn’t expect picking to begin until the middle or end of next week.“I’m just waiting for them to turn red,” Connery-Nichol said, whose farm is just southeast of Portage la Prairie.Story continues belowREAD MORE: WFPS urges Winnipeggers to use caution after two large grass firesThe season has been delayed by a least…
Read MoreLake Winnipeg Basin initiatives receive $2.2 million in federal funding
The federal government has awarded $2.2 million in funding to 19 projects aimed at improving the health of Lake Winnipeg.The feds earmarked $25.7 million for the Lake Winnipeg Basin Program — out of a $70.5 million pot for freshwater protection across the country.Friday’s announcement saw various initiatives tackling nutrient removal, water quality monitoring and preventing nutrients from entering the lake receive funding, which will be spread over a three-year period.Story continues below“Over the last several decades, water quality in Lake Winnipeg has deteriorated due to excess nutrients transported to the…
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