By Susan McNeil, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The death of Ashley Richards in 2012 as she was working the first day of her job as a flagger in a construction zone inspired a couple from Watrous to help make the job safer. Kim and Donna Kreutzer decided to create the Guardian Angel Autoflagger, a device that allows the flag person to operate…
By Spencer Kemp, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Moosomin Labyrinth is now open for the public to use. Carol Adair, who came up with the idea for the Labyrinth and presented it to Moosomin town council, says that the labyrinth provides an opportunity to take time and reflect while walking through it. “It felt good. I was happy, really happy to see…
By Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Plans are under way for improvements to all of the schools in the Prince Albert Roman Catholic School Division. Education director Lorel Trumier said the upgrades include new playgrounds at four elementary schools, which the division recently created a Request for Proposals (RFP) on SaskTenders. “We are going to do a project that our children…
By Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A Resort Village of Candle Lake resident is wondering why he saw a large increase in his property taxes this year. Borden Wasyluk, who previously served as mayor of Candle Lake, claims that he saw a a 38 per cent tax increase on his two properties which led his actual bill go up by around…
By Nick Pearce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter When farmer Cortney Solonenko looks over his drought-stricken land near Yorkton, he sees a tank running on empty. This year may be the worst one since he and his brother took over what’s now a roughly 15,000-acre farm from their father in 2013. They’ve grown roughly 41 bushels of winter wheat per acre so far,…
By Spencer Kemp, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter After decades of struggling with expenses and how best to tackle major repairs that are needed at Rocanville’s indoor pool in order to keep it operational, the town received some welcome news on Wednesday that it will receive a $1.27 million grant for the pool through the federal-provincial Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The…
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Win Correction: Second last paragraph: Change the word in first sentence to elegantly from inelegantly. As the province of Saskatchewan verges on making land less accessible to Indigenous hunters and gatherers through pending trespassing legislation, a group of farmers and ranchers are acting as a “counterpoint.” “It’s really, really amazing,” said Bradley Desjarlais, who is…
By Jessica R. Durling, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Town of Tisdale is resuming a grant in partnership with the Canalta Hotel to fund Tisdale-hosted multi-day events including tournaments, competitions, conventions and festivals. The tourism and marketing grant was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic restrictions on events. Past funded events have included provincial curling championships, Saskatchewan Cutting Horse Association (SCHA)…
By Nick Pearce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Rural municipalities in northwest Saskatchewan are chasing after millions of dollars in unpaid taxes from struggling oil companies as prices rebound. They hope to recover the money as the West Texas Intermediate oil price fetches near $70 per barrel after cratering during the pandemic. If they can’t, rural ratepayers may be left holding the bag.…
By Nick Pearce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A University of Saskatchewan scientist sees a future where grocery bags come from pulse seeds. Dr. Yongfeng Ai has received $2.5 million through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to spur research aiming to draw more value from plants like peas, fava beans, lentils and chickpeas. Ai spoke to the StarPhoenix about how his research works on…
