The City of Prince Albert has declared the 2016 Ding in the New Year program a success.
The program provides free bus transportation on New Year’s Eve to provide residents with another way home so they don’t drink and drive.
It is funded in part by SGI.
The 2016 Ding in the New Year took 417 people home, a significant increase from the 199 riders served in 2015.
The peak, though, was in 2014, when 426 people used the service.
The program was started in Prince Albert in 1989 and has since provided more than 10,000 safe and free rides home.
“I’m very pleased with the ridership,” Mayor Greg Dionne said. “I was talking to other groups like Operation Red Nose, and they all had a great year. That’s great because that’s more people of the road, less people drinking and driving. It mean’s there’s less of a chance of an accident.”
For more on this story, please see the Jan. 5 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
The City of Prince Albert has extended the deadline for nominations for the annual Terry Fox award.
The award is given to a P.A. resident under the age of 21 who is a role model, exhibits perseverance and dedication, and who is emblematic of the ideals and traits of Terry Fox. It recognizes good citizenship, including exceptional service to school, social, athletic, civic or church institutions.
Consideration is given to those who have shown perseverance and determination, public or personal in nature.
The recipient of the 2016 award will be the 35th winner.
Nomination forms can be found at www.citypa.ca under Things to Do – Youth-Terry Fox Award.
The deadline for nominations is Jan. 31. The recipient will be acknowledged at a future council meeting.
A cooperative effort between the RCMP and the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) has resulted in the largest cocaine bust in the city’s history.
An investigation by the Integrated Street Enforcement Team (ISET) has led to the seizure of 11.25 kg (close to 25 pounds) of cocaine.
The bust is one of the largest in the province.
While the street value of the cocaine wasn’t available, in 2014 Canadians paid about $100 per gram of cocaine. Based on that data, the value of this seizure could be as high as $1,125,000 dollars.
A total of six people were charged with cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
PAPS Insp. Jonathan Bergen, in charge of the criminal investigation, and Insp. Donovan fisher, Officer in charge of integrated organized crime unit north, will head a media conference Monday to detail the seizure and explain the investigation.
Police looking for stabbing suspect
Prince Albert Police have identified a suspect in a pair of Dec. 29 stabbings.
Phillip Peter Charles is wanted for aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose in two separate incidents from the early morning hours of Dec. 29.
Charles is also wanted Canada-wide for breach of statutory release conditions, break and enter, mischief, and breach of court order.
Phillip Peter Charles is wanted in connection to a pair of stabbings.
In the first incident, just before 3 a.m., police were called to a residence in the 800 block of 5 Street East for a stabbing incident. Police found a man suffering two stab wounds. The man was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The second incident occurred at about 7 a.m. Again, police were called to a stabbing, this time in the 900 Block of Central Avenue. A man was found with a stab wound. He was also transported to the Victoria Hospital.
Anyone with information on the location of Charles is asked to contact the Prince Albert Police Service at 306-953-4222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
For more crime briefs, please see the Jan. 6 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
This is a corrected story. Due to a math error, the original story misstated the unofficial estimated street value of the cocaine at $112,500.
Wine lovers rejoice! A new local business hopes to provide a different kind of taste for your palate.
Forest Fringe orchards introduced their new fruit wines this past October, and the reception has been positive.
The orchards, located about 30 km northeast of Prince Albert, are the latest to join the growing trend of Saskatchewan fruit wine producers. There are about a half a dozen in the province.
Fruit wines are just like regular wines, except they use fruits such as apples, raspberries or strawberries instead of grapes.
“They’re made the same way,” said Will Stafford, beekeeper and co-owner of Forest Fringe Orchards. His wife, Genevieve Grief, is the wine crafter.
“You take the fruit, you squish it down, you extract the juice or you keep the fruit parts and you add yeast, you add some nutrients, you stir it up and you add some water, you let it bubble away and then you run it through filters, put it in a bottle and cork it and sell it.”
For more on this story, please see the Jan. 6 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
Kelly Taylor trying to reinvigorate the P.A. comedy scene
Drew Behm is excited to be coming back to P.A.
The stand-up comic has performed here before, but never as the headlining act.
He’ll get the opportunity to be the main attraction Jan. 10 at the inaugural comedy night, part of a new monthly event at the Rock and Iron Sports Bar.
“P.A. is an awesome party town,” Behm said. “I can’t wait to come back. I’ve always had good times in Saskatchewan and I spent so much time in Saskatchewan a couple of years ago I turned into a Roughriders fan.”
Behm is the first of a series of comics hand-picked by Kelly Taylor, who’s hosting the series.
While Taylor isn’t personally able to attend the first night due to a conflicting gig in Winnipeg, he will be able to make several of the subsequent evenings.
“I’m going to do as many as I can” Taylor said.
Part of the reasoning behind the comedy night is to bring a regular, high-quality comedy night back to Prince Albert.
Behm will perform at the Rock and Iron on Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15.
For more on this story, please see the Jan. 6 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
The Government of Saskatchewan announced today it would accept all the recommendations made by the Saskatchewan Advisory Panel on Health System Structure, consolidating the 12 existing Regional Health Authorities into a single provincial authority.
The new system will have four service integration areas. The north will contain Keewatin Yatthe and Mamawetan Churchill. The Athabasca Health Authority will remain as structured.
The other three service integration areas are to be determined, but will “reflect existing and appropriate care seeking patterns, particularly with respect to acute and specialized care,” the report said.
The new provincial health authority will also explore opportunities to consolidate and integrate diagnostic services, tertiary acute care services, and the planning, dispatch and delivery of EMS.
The health ministry is already working towards implementing the new structure and hopes to have it in place as early as fall 2017.
Parab Poet and the Hip Hop Hippies hoping to leave the audience feeling good
One of the first shows of the New Year is set and the musicians coming to P.A. are hoping to leave residents with a positive vibe.
Parab Poet and the Hip Hop Hippies (PPHHH) are coming to the Mann Art Gallery on Jan. 5 as a part of their album release tour.
The show will also feature local band The Wolfe. The two groups met at an all-ages show in Saskatoon.
“We’re looking forward to be able to play our first time together as a collective in P.A.,” said Chady Nasr, who goes by the stage name Parab Poet.
“We hope to connect with a lot of people and we’re excited to play with The Wolfe.”
The debut PPHHH self-titled album, which was released on Dec. 16, has been in the works for about a year.
It features 11 diverse songs from the unique group, which combines genres such as world drumming, hip hop, jazz, marching bad, classical and folk.
“From song to song you’re going to get a different kind of theme,” Nasr said.
“You experience the instrumentation and the unique characteristics of every group members. Every time we collaborate on a song it has its own feet to stand on.
“The album is very experimental. There’s a really diverse instrumentation and very experimental groovy vibes with quite conscious lyricism.”
Stricter impaired driving regulations coming into effect
As of 12:01 on Jan. 1, Saskatchewan’s new impaired driving laws will come into effect.
The law lowers the provincial blood alcohol limit to 0.04. If you’ve had a few drinks and are driving, if you blow 0.04 or higher, your vehicle can be impounded for three days.
In addition, there will be zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol for all drivers aged 21 or younger and all new drivers, and ignition interlock devices will be mandatory for any drivers who register a blood alcohol content of .1 or greater, or who refuse to provide a breath sample. For a first offence, the device will be installed for two years, for a second offence, five years, and for a third or subsequent offence, 10 years.
The new, stricter regulations were passed by the Saskatchewan Party this year. It was Prince Albert Carlton MLA and Minister Responsible for SGI Joe Hargrave who introduced the regulations at the legislature.
Hargrave believes the new rules are a positive change for the province.
“This is a good thing,” Hargrave said when reached by phone Friday.
“Our goal is to reduce the number of injuries and deaths in the province. We have a very high number of impaired drivers. We lead the country. We have to bring that down, but the most important thing we have to bring down is the number of injuries and the number of deaths.”
According to Statistics Canada, in 2015, Saskatchewan 575 impaired driving incidents per 100,000 population, a rate considerably higher than any other province Alberta ranked next at just over half of Saskatchewan’s at 314 per 100,000 population.
For more on this story, please see the Dec. 31 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
If it’s happening in P.A., chances are Sheryl Kimbley has had a hand in organizing it.
Sheryl Kimbley thought she was just going for a lunch meeting.
Voices of the North is coming up and Kimbley is one of the organizers instrumental in the event’s success.
That’s why it was weird her husband wanted to tag along.
She arrived at Shananigan’s, her favourite coffee shop, to find her family there as well. Her brother said he was on a romantic date with his wife and just happened to be there at the same place, at the same time.
She knew something was up.
Across the coffee shop, a group of Kinsmen huddled together. CTV was in the corner, and the Daily Herald was ready to go.
Cameras up, the group approached Kimbley and told her the news – she was chosen as the 2016 citizen of the year.
Peter Lozinski/Daily Herald 2016 Citizen of the Year Sheryl Kimbley is embraced by her father, Lawrence Joseph, after learning she was chosen for the honour.
“I’m still in shock,” Kimbley said shortly after hearing the news. “I’m not really sure how they came to choose me, but I’m really happy.”
A panel of six – three Kinsmen and Daily Herald staff members, – sifted through the applications to choose this year’s winner.
They settled on Kimbley due to her heavy involvement in the community.
Kimbley was nominated by Shauna Sayese, who was sitting across from her at Shananigan’s when the media and Kinsmen ambush arrived.
“I nominated (Kimbley) three or four times before I finally got the phone call last week,” Sayese said.
“It’s just all of the hard work she does for our youth with Voices of the North and how she promotes Prince Albert. She’s a true Prince Albert citizen in that she’s really proud, she’s always welcoming people into our community and working really hard to make sure the citizens – and especially the youth of P.A – all have what they need.”
Sheryl Kimbley reacts to the news that she is the 2016 Prince Albert Citizen of the Year.
Kimbley is driven by the community she loves.
“I love Prince Albert. Ask anybody, I don’t allow anyone to say any negative things about Prince Albert in my presence because I believe how we raise a healthy community and healthy children is to be proud of where we’re from,” she said.
“What drives me is my own children, my love of the community and I really work for our youth because when I’m done on this earth I really want to leave behind a community I can say I had something to do with.”
For more on this story, please see the Dec. 30 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
In a first for Prince Albert, the Ding in the New Year program will include special transportation.
Ding in the New Year is a program put on by SGI, local police forces and local governments to provide free transportation on New Year’s Eve.
The initiative is aimed to prevent people from getting behind the wheel and driving after a night of drinking by providing another way home from the New Year’s festivities.
Information dabout the Ding in the New Year bus routes can be found on the city’s website, Citypa.ca
Special transportation, though, has a slightly different focus.
“This really looks at it from a different perspective, from an inclusion perspective,” said Bill Powalinsky, chief executive officer for the Community Service Centre Special needs Transportation unit.
“People who use special transportation are typically unable to drive themselves, so this is the only means of transportation they have. Folks with disabilities should have the same rights to access to transportation on New Year’s Eve.”
The special needs transportation service will run from 8:15 p.m. until 3 a.m. Customers are advised to book by Friday at noon by calling 306-953-4466.
For more on this story please see the Dec. 29 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
