Deloraine Times & Star - July 24, 2015

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T mes & Star DELORAINE

SERVING SOUTHWEST MANITOBA SINCE 1887 Volume 131 - No. 33

Friday, July 24, 2015

$

1/Copy (Inc. Taxes)

School Division adds new buses to fleet by Glen Kirby The road to a good education will be less bumpy this fall for select students in the Southwest Horizon School Division, courtesy of plush new buses. The Division has taken delivery of three new International school buses worth more than $300,000, as part of its planned, annual replacement of aging vehicles. “These buses are pretty comfortable,” says Glynn Warnica, Operations Supervisor for the Division, pointing out the tinted windows and AM/ FM/MP3 players. “It’s not just a big yellow tank rolling down the road anymore.” Warnica says the diesel-powered buses also have full air-ride suspension and are quieter than earlier versions, thanks to newer engine technology and superior sound insulation. “They also have plenty of heat for the passengers,” he says. Two of the new buses can accommodate 63 students and one is built for 52. Warnica says the Division operates more than 50 buses on 35 routes during the school year across the sprawling Southwest Horizon footprint, which includes schools in Souris,

Deloraine, Wawanesa, Hartney, Lauder, Melita, Newdale, Pierson, and Waskada. “We like to keep our buses on route for 13 years,” says Warnica. “After that, they become replacements.” A trio of buses from the late 1990s will be retired from regular service after logging hundreds of thousands of miles, their age evident through everything from ripped upholstery to manual transmissions. Beyond comfort, the new buses are designed to be greener. Warnica notes the Cummins engine is more fuel efficient and engineered for zero emissions, adding, “You don’t smell the diesel fumes like you used to.” A handful of school buses operating in Manitoba are fueled by propane but Warnica says he is not ready to recommend the new technology to the local Board and school administrators. Propane-fueled buses currently cost 15% more than diesel-powered. Warnica admits the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar boosted the price of this year’s buses. “These vehicles would be $85,000 each if we had parity with the US dollar,” he says. (Continued on Page 8)

Bull riding was a brand new event at the Deloraine Fair for 2015, and it was a huge hit! Pictured riding is Travis Ratcliffe of Goodlands. See more pictures in this issue. PHOTO/FRANCIS PARKER

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