On April 7, Growing Minds Child Care (GMCC) held an informational meeting at the Heritage Centre to relay a sombre message. Come September, GMCC may not be able to offer school-age care for up to 14 of 17 children enrolled in its program who are entering Grade One. The reason? Not enough space.

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in convincing fashion in the April 19 provincial election, securing a historic 40 seats in the 57-seat Legislature, a feat never before accomplished in the modern era. This includes majority wins in the local ridings of Morris, Dawson Trail, Steinbach, and Emerson.

It’s just under a week until election day on October 3 and Manitoba’s three major political party leaders have made a lot of promises in order to solicit our votes.

As its name suggests, Landmark’s claim to fame is its unique location at the longitudinal centre of Canada. The cozy rural town caught the eye of Winnipeg chef Enzo Costantini for his newest entrepreneurial venture: Big E’s 206 Grill.

In our article last month entitled “The Demand for French Immersion,” we got a few details wrong and we would like to take this opportunity to make some corrections.

Though composting takes place on a small scale in Niverville, it has yet to gain traction. A limited-use compost pile exists beside the curling rink, but only grass clippings and leaves are accepted. The town offers compost bins at low cost, but how many of us take advantage?

Compost is a gardener’s gold. It acts as a fertilizer for garden beds and won’t burn plants like chemical fertilizers. Adding it to your garden will improve the overall texture of the soil, allowing it to retain and drain water better.

The four elements of good compost are: heat, nutrient mix, oxygen, and moisture. The nutrient mix refers to the balance of carbon and nitrogen.

You can feed your compost bin two main types of organic materials: greens and browns. Greens are high in nitrogen and described as “wet.” Browns are “dry” materials and high in carbon. Try to maintain a balance weight of 50/50 greens to browns. Since greens are typically heavier, you should add two to three buckets of browns for every bucket of greens.

Green materials include vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and leaves, fresh grass clippings, and plant trimmings from your garden and houseplants. Brown materials include dry leaves, straw and dry hay, woodchips and sawdust from untreated wood, dried grass clippings, shredded paper, egg and nut shells, hair, feathers and animal fur, and shredded paper.

Do not compost meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, oily foods or grease, bones, pet waste, diseased plants and plant seeds, or anything treated with pesticides.

To compost, chop your materials into small pieces, helping them to break down faster. Use a mulching lawnmower for finer grass clippings. Keep a pail or box of brown material near the compost bin and cover your layer of green material with a layer of brown material to cut down on flies and odours. When composting whole plants, remove seed heads and seed pods. If possible, avoid adding roots of plants that could generate a whole new plant.

Most parents would agree that the help and encouragement of family, friends, and community is essential in raising a child. No one knows this better than the Becenko family of Niverville.

Lyndsay and David Eidse of Niverville are planning a fundraiser to cover the costs of an upcoming surgery for their eight-year-old son Tyrrel, who has cerebral palsy. Tyrrel requires a wheelchair to get around, and he experiences a lot of pain in his legs.

On April 5, Niverville’s town council presented the first reading of its 2016 financial plan.