Eligible Manitoba farmers impacted by heavy rain and flooding earlier this year will see AgriStability enhancements.

The government is waiving 2025 late-filing penalties for affected farmers in communities that declared states of emergencies. Producers outside those areas may appeal for a waiver of late-filing penalties, if they were affected by flooding and missed the June 30 deadline.

The maximum interim payment available to farmers enrolled in the 2026 AgriStability program has increased to 75 per cent from 50 per cent of the final payment.

Farmers who’ve already received an interim payment will automatically be topped up to the 75 per cent level.

Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs Rebecca Chartrand on Monday announced more than $96.8 million in federal funding for a project by Winkler-based Valley Fiber Ltd. to bring high-speed internet access to communities across Manitoba.

The project will connect up to 7,875 households in more than 50 rural and remote sites.

The funding is provided through the Universal Broadband Fund, designed to ensure rural, remote and Indigenous communities have access to reliable high-speed internet.

Ottawa has committed to ensuring every household has access by 2030, and said Monday it is on track to meet its goal.

Winnipeg-headquartered Buhler Versatile Inc. has announced an agreement to acquire German construction machinery manufacturer Atlas Group.

The deal covers all Atlas Group assets, including Atlas GmbH, Atlas Spare Parts GmbH, Atlas Group Services GmbH, Atlas Kompakt GmbH, and the shares held in the British company Atlas Cranes UK Ltd.

Terms were not made public. Atlas had entered restructuring proceedings under self-administration in February.

The acquisition will combine Buhler Versatile’s manufacturing expertise and international dealer network with Atlas’s longstanding reputation in construction machinery, material handling equipment and crane technology, the company said in a news release Friday.

COBOURG - An Ontario Provincial Police officer who died in a highway crash while on duty is being remembered as a brave and compassionate man committed to his community.

A funeral is being held in Cobourg, Ont., on Wednesday for Sgt. Brandon Malcolm, who was killed in a single-vehicle involving a motorcycle on Highway 401 east of Toronto on April 27.

Officials including Ontario Lt.-Gov. Edith Dumont, Premier Doug Ford and OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique joined Malcolm's loved ones and thousands of officers and first responders in honouring the six-year member of the provincial force.

Ford said the province grieves the loss, highlighting Malcolm's accomplishments as a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, a former auxiliary officer with Toronto police, and a member of the OPP's Golden Helmets motorcycle team.

Fox Lake Cree Nation’s chief and the head of a Nunavut corporation have joined Arctic Gateway Group’s board.

The Port of Churchill owner has appointed Chief Morris Beardy and David Kakuktinniq, president of Sakku Investments Corp.

In September, Arctic Gateway Group, which owns and operates the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway, signed a memorandum of understanding with Sakku Investments to partner on economic growth-focused efforts. Sakku is the development arm of the Kivalliq Inuit Association.

Arctic Gateway Group’s ownership group, OneNorth, green-lit the new board members. The pair join seven other people, including Churchill Mayor Mike Spence, the chiefs of Opaskwayak and War Lake First Nations, and Ovide Mercredi, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My older sisters were the lucky ones — the twins in the family. I was the singlet, another girl, born later. For the longest time, I felt like the afterthought. My sisters got more attention in their identical clothes, two-seater strollers with matching dolls, with their bikes and other toys.

At an early age I felt deprived of a play partner like my sisters had. I was always on the lookout for a twin for me. I sometimes found another girl who looked a bit like me, and I would convince her to wear her hair like mine and dress in the same colours, but she would soon get tired of it.

When I got a few years older, it took many visits to a psychologist to become convinced I could be happy as one of a kind. I’m still not entirely convinced.

My remaining problem is I still feel dull compared to my twin sisters, who get a lot of comments and attention in every group situation, even as adults.