Selkirk mayor Larry Johannson and his wife got the vaccine to fight COVID-19 and he is encouraging all residents of Selkirk to get vaccinated, sooner rather than later.
Smokers treating mother nature like an ash tray
Many smokers are mistreating mother nature in an alarming rate in Selkirk and Winnipeg as they littler butts on streets, sidewalks and on the grass in various parks.
These smokers show a complete lack of respect for mother nature as they are treating mother earth like an ash tray.
There is absolutely no excuses for the behaviour of these smokers and it’s shameful.
Shame on all these smokers.
Update with mayor Johannson
Selkirk mayor Larry Johannson provides an update related to spring clean up and happenings at city hall.
Full video feature coming soon.
Statement from Lieutenant-Governor Filmon on the occasion of her majesty the Queen’s 95th birthday
Submitted by the Office of the Lieutenant-Governor
As lieutenant-governor, I invite all Manitobans to join me in extending our very best wishes to Her Majesty The Queen on the occasion of Her 95th birthday on April 21.
Since Her accession to the throne almost 70 years ago, Her Majesty has extolled the value of service to community, to country and to the Commonwealth. Her devoted leadership has earned great respect, affection and admiration from citizens around the world.
As we recognize this milestone, it is my honour and privilege to – on behalf of the people of Manitoba – offer Her Majesty our wish that she will be blessed with continued health and happiness.
Good News – Bad News
Two avid golfers are discussing whether there’ll be golf in Heaven. They decide that the first one to die should come back and inform the second one if there is or not. One of the golfers dies and later comes back to the second one and says, “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news about golf in Heaven. Which do you want first?”
“Tell me the good news first,” the second one says.
“There is amazing, absolutely incredible golf in Heaven! The courses here are beyond belief. We can play all the time – the weather is always perfect!”
“What’s the bad news?” the first one asks. The second one responds, “You tee off tomorrow morning at 9!”
In the Bible we read that when Jesus began His earthly ministry He went everywhere “preaching the good news”. What was the “good news” Jesus came to give?
Well, to best understand it, we have to look at it against the background of the “bad news”. In the Bible, the bad news is that we all are separated from God by our sin. We read: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Each of us has at one time or another exercised our free will and made choices contrary to that which God would have us to do. For example, instead of being always totally and completely truthful like God is, we all from time to time will fudge the truth or even lie, if that best serves our purposes.
By saying “all have sinned” the Bible does not imply that we all are as bad as we could be. It doesn’t mean we are always and in every way bad. Or that we are all equally bad as people.
But in relation to a holy and sovereign God we all come short of the perfection that is His. He is our measuring rod and He is infinitely good and right and pure. Unfortunately none of us measure up. Paul Little, in his book “Know What You Believe”, says, “Suppose we were to compare one person’s morals to being in Death Valley, 280 feet below sea level; another person’s morals to being in Denver, the mile high city; and another person’s morals to the peak of Mount Everest, altitude 29,000 feet.
“The person in Death Valley represents the most ruthless low life in society. The person in Denver is the average man and the person Mount Everest in the best person you can imagine. The enormous differences in their elevation are apparent.”
But Little goes on to say, “By comparison, God’s standard of holiness (100 percent perfect) is represented by the earth’s distance to the moon. If we saw how Mount Everest, Denver and Death Valley all look from the moon, we would see they look the same.”
The good news, however, is that Jesus came and died on the cross. In dying, He paid the penalty that our sins justly deserved – death. His death satisfied the anger of God against our sin and made it possible for us to receive God’s forgiveness and stand accepted by Him in His presence.
So while the bad news is that we have sinned and deserve condemnation, the good news is that we can be completely and absolutely forgiven of our sins.
I am so glad that there was a day in my life that though I realized the bad news, I came to understand the good news and I responded in faith to God. That day, I prayed and received Jesus as my personal saviour from all my sins.
Now I look forward to golfing in Heaven – even if I should have to tee off tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.
Oilers blank Jets at home
The Edmonton Oilers out shot and outscored the Winnipeg Jets at BellMTS Place on April 17.
Neither team found the back of the net after the first period of play and the Oilers out shot the Jets 10-9.
The visiting Oilers scored the lone goal of the second period when Tyson Barrie beat Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. Edmonton added two more goals in the third when Jesse Puljujarvi and Alex Chiasson scored en route to their 3-0 victory.
The Jets see action next when they take on the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on April 22 with puck drop at 7 p.m.
Ten things to do in Manitoba
Check out the Top 10 Things to do in Manitoba for the week of April 19 to 25.
https://www.travelmanitoba.com/blog/10-things-to-do-in-manitoba-this-week-april-19-to-25/
Information courtesy of Travel Manitoba
Technology is great, sometimes
Confessions of a Fitness Trainer
“Where can I look up the exercise technique on-line if I can’t remember what to do?”
“How come I read on a website that you’re supposed to do this exercise in this position?”
“Why don’t you have an app or video links with all of the exercises?”
While these are all valid questions, technology fails to address the hundreds of nuances that come with each and every exercise.
Think of a squat. A seemingly basic movement of sitting your hips back and down as if there is an imaginary chair behind you. Because of its importance in everyday life (getting on and off a chair, couch, bed, or toilet) and its direct application in sport performance, squats get prescribed to virtually each and every client that is looking for a workout plan.
However, there are many different variations of squats: back squats, front squats, goblet squats, offset squats, suitcase squats, Anderson squats, overhead squats, sumo squats, the list goes on and on.
Furthermore, the variations that exist in the technique within each one of these types of squats are infinite. Several factors can be manipulated to alter its degree of intensity or complexity: distance separating the feet, direction of toes, squat depth, lift tempo, weight placement, type of resistance required (kettlebell, dumbbell, plate, bodyweight, medicine ball or barbell), necessary assistance (TRX, tubing, or bench), and amount of resistance to use.
Based on these factors, it would be impossible to have a video, link, or app that accounts for all variations for every specific person at any specific time. So yes, exercise videos, apps, and websites exist and can be great resources but can’t always be substituted for real, in-person coaching and cueing.
Exercise prescription should be dependent upon the goals, experience, current level, injury history, access to equipment, biomechanics, and personal preferences of the individual at hand. It is also important to remember that exercise variations are fluid and will change as the person gets stronger and more mobile.
In order to get the most out of a workout, exercises should be customized to meet the individual at their current level and adapted as they progress. This is tough to accomplish in our increasingly digital world.
Tips of the day
* Every body is different. Hire a certified fitness professional to help you select the exercises and the version of each exercise that is appropriate for your body at that time.
* Resist the urge to compare yourself to others if your exercises look different to theirs. Their health and fitness journey is likely completely different to yours.
* Technology can be a great tool but has its limitations. Nothing beats the expertise of an excellent coach.
Kathryn McKenzie – B.H.Kin, B.Ed
Certified Kinesiologist, Sport Conditioning Specialist & Personal Trainer
Author, Pizza Lover & Owner of Surefire Fitness
God loves you and is for you
Over the years, I have collected some very interesting sayings that churches have put on their outdoor changeable signboards.
Things like: “Staying in bed shouting, Oh God! does not constitute going to church” “Best sausage supper in St. Louis Come and eat Pastor Thomas Ressler” “Now is a good time to visit. Our pastor is on vacation” “Prophecy class cancelled due to unforseen circumstances” “God holds each accountable for sins and will punish Pastor Larry Wilhite” (I remember thinking “poor Larry” when I read that…) “God answers knee-mail” “Try Jesus. If you don’t like Him, the devil will always take you back” “Don’t wait for six strong men to take you to church” “Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark” “Don’t let worries kill you. Let the church help” “As long as there are tests, there’ll be prayer in public schools” “Be an organ donor – give your heart to Jesus” “Too hot to keep changing sign. Sin bad Jesus good. Details inside”.
At any rate, I was in the city the other week and one church sign in particular caught my eye. It said, “God is for you. He’s not against you.” I remember thinking, “How true…” The verse in the Bible that statement is based on popped into my mind: Romans chapter 8 verse 32: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
A lot of people see God as sort of a cosmic policeman out there to get them. They see Him patrolling the streets of earth, billy club in hand, ready to clobber anyone having a good time and then hauling them off to a celestial prison. Whenever they think of God, feelings of guilt and inadequacy sweep over them. They see Him as mean, demanding and against them.
How wrong is that view! It is distorted and totally misrepresents God. In reality, He is not against you – He’s for you! He loves you!
Dwight L. Moody was a well known pastor in Chicago living in the 1800s. He had arranged for a guest speaker, a young fellow by the name of Henry Moorehouse, to speak at a series of meetings at his church. Moody had to be away for the first service but when he got back, he asked his wife how things had gone. She replied that she had really enjoyed Henry Moorehead’s sermon. “Although,” she said to Moody, “he preaches a little different than you.”
“How’s that?” “Well, he tells the worst sinners that God loves them.”
“Then,” said Moody, “he is wrong.” She replied, “I think you will agree when you hear him because he backs up everything he says with the Bible. He preached from that verse in John, ‘For God so loved the world that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’”
When Moody went to the next service to hear Moorehouse, he was powerfully influenced. His comment later was, “I used to preach that God was behind the sinner with a double edged sword to chop him down. I’ve got done with that. I preach now that God is behind him with love and he is running away from the God of love.”
So if like Dwight L. Moody, you’ve been thinking God hates you and is out to get you, realize that you’ve been wrong. God loves you and is for you!
Use less energy, save more money – Selkirk’s efficiency advocate will help
The City of Selkirk has become the first municipality in the province to receive funding for an Energy Efficiency Advocate who will work with residents, businesses and the city itself to help them become more energy efficient, a win for the environment and your bank account.
The funding from Efficiency Manitoba under its Community Energy Efficiency Program provides up to $80,000 over two years towards the position.
“The City of Selkirk is proud to be part of a program that helps people conserve energy and save money. We thank Efficiency Manitoba for partnering with us as we continue to be a Manitoba leader in environmental stewardship.,” said Mayor Larry Johannson.
“The Community Energy Efficiency Program aligns with the city’s Strategic Plan that makes environmental stewardship a priority, encouraging more environmentally responsible development and helping citizens make good environmental choices.”
The Community Energy Efficiency Program, set out in the new Crown corporation’s approved 2020-23 Efficiency Plan, offers financial and technical support for municipalities to hire and train an Energy Efficiency Advocate.
The role of the Advocate is to identify energy-saving opportunities in their community and encourage participation in Efficiency Manitoba’s energy efficiency programs, ultimately leading to reduced energy consumption and lower energy bills. The program supports local economic development as it relates to energy efficiency.
”We’re excited to partner with the City of Selkirk on this initiative,” said Colleen Kuruluk, CEO of Efficiency Manitoba.
“By giving communities the tools and resources to take on energy efficiency projects, they’re empowered to take ownership of their projects and create a culture of sustainability.”
Selkirk CAO Duane Nicol says along with the environmental benefits, there’s an economic upside the program can trigger.
“When you use less energy you save on your Hydro and gas bills, so there’s a net economic return to the community by keeping more dollars in the community,” Nicol said.
“Programs like this generate jobs and receipts for local business when people do things like retro fits and re-insulation of homes.. There’s work generated here and improving local buildings adds value to them. These are real investments in local properties often supported by grant dollars.”
Nicol said the city is committed to Greenhouse Gas mitigation and this program fits in with that effort.
“This program aligns very well with our commitment to reduce our climate change impact. Making homes and businesses more energy efficient means less fossil fuels are used, particularly when homes and businesses reduce heat loss. Through this program we hope to reduce the amount of GHGs generated in Selkirk,” Nicol said.
The city adopted a GHG reduction plan in 2016 and pledged to reduce corporate emissions by 20 per cent in 10 years.
In 2019, Selkirk teamed with the Prairie Climate Centre to help staff understand the specific impacts climate change has on the city and develop its Climate Change Adaptation Strategy to deal with those impacts. The strategy integrates climate change into the city’s day to day business planning and its asset management.
The city has purchased hybrid buses, two Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and the new wastewater treatment plant won’t use any fossil fuels to heat the building. It’s also been constructed in a way that will allow for easy integration of solar power in the future. The building will also make use of heat from the wastewater it’s treating. In 2019, the water treatment plant was retrofitted and replaced an old natural gas heating system with an innovative geothermal heating system that uses raw water coming into the plant to heat and cool the facility. 2019/2020 also saw the installation of solar powered crosswalks at four separate intersections and one of, if not the, largest rooftop solar panel installation in the province at the Rec. Complex.
“Selkirk has shown they’re committed to making our province more energy efficient,” Kuruluk said.
“Partnering with them through the Community Energy Efficiency Program will allow us to help them build upon their solid foundation.”
