Harvest festival brings Rosthern residents together

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
Harvest festival brings Rosthern residents together

Thanks to the Rosthern Agriculture Society and Chamber of Commerce, Town of Rosthern residents were able to celebrate with a Harvest Festival once again after the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on the community’s rodeo and country fair for the last several years.

Secretary for the AG Society and Chamber of Commerce, Guylaine Green, said that through some “good old-fashioned strategic planning,” the organizations partnered together to plan an event that would bring a sense of agriculture and community back to Rosthern.

“We took a look at what the Town and Country Fair is, all of the activities that typically happen at the same time as the rodeo weekend,” said Green. “It’s a lot of work and hundreds of volunteers to make it happen.”

According to Green, the two organizations met in September of 2021 to plan an event with similar activities that are held during the fair in July, but after kids already returned to school and summer holidays were over. 

“With the moving of the rodeo grounds to the Seager Wheeler Historic Farm, and unable to do any event last year with the pandemic, we wanted to try something similar.”

The Rosthern AG Society is in the process of moving their rodeo grounds to Seager Wheeler Historical Farm, located 7 kilometers east of Rosthern, which will be the location of future rodeos and events.

While the AG Society originally created the concept of the Harvest Festival, Green said they couldn’t have done it without the Town of Rosthern’s partnership. 

“Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to make this happen,” Green said.

Green said the town was desperate for a celebration to bring people together following the arrest of Myles Sanderson, suspect in the James Smith Cree Nation and nearby Weldon stabbing attacks, just outside Rosthern on September 8.

“People were scared,” said Green. “Any opportunity you have to bring your family out is so crucial to the survival of your community. We need people to feel at home.”

Visitors were able to enjoy a town-wide parade, pancake breakfast, threshing demonstrations, bouncy castles, face painting, a farmer’s market, magic shows, a food truck, beer gardens, and a live music performance on Saturday, September 10.

“It was unbelievable how much people were here,” said Green. “To see the families come out and see the businesses out on the street, it was fantastic. We hope to continue it every year to make it better and better.”

Green said the success of the festival was all thanks to their sponsors, which include Affinity Credit Union, B&D Septic, Brandt, Dana Derenoski, Epp Financial, Exact Fencing Ltd., Friesen Bigway, Huntinghamm Excavating Ltd., Norsask Vet Clinic, RM of Rosthern No. 403, SAASE, SIGA, Stream Stick Farms Ltd., Viterra and the Town of Rosthern.

RCMP searching for ‘armed and dangerous’ suspect facing 34 charges for violent incidents

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
RCMP searching for ‘armed and dangerous’ suspect facing 34 charges for violent incidents

Beauval RCMP are requesting the public’s assistance in locating a 31-year-old man who is facing more than 30 charges for violent crimes, including sexual assault and forcible confinement. 

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Trevor Alexander for several incidents that occurred on Canoe Lake Cree Nation between August 31 and September 6. 

Alexander is facing 22 charges related to firearms, six counts of uttering threats, and one count each of sexual assault, criminal harassment, driving while prohibited, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, forcible confinement and assault.  

He is described as being approximately 5’7” and weighing 230 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has the words “mom” and “dad” tattooed on his right arm and also goes by the name “Chato”. 

Trevor Alexander has ties to Prince Albert, Loon Lake and southern Alberta. He has been sighted traveling in a grey minivan with an unknown marker. He has access to multiple vehicles including a white minivan with an unknown Alberta license plate and a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with Saskatchewan license plate 157MGF.  

Police consider Alexander to be armed and dangerous and warn that he should not be approached.  

Information on his whereabouts can be reported to your local police detachment, calling 9-1-1, or reported anonymously to Crime Stoppers. 

SHA provides update on victims of mass stabbing

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
SHA provides update on victims of mass stabbing

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has provided an update on the hospitalized victims of the James Smith Cree Nation and nearby Village of Weldon mass stabbing that occurred on Sept. 4.

As of 1 p.m. on Friday, the SHA has confirmed there are eight patients who remain in-hospital, all of whom are in stable condition. Nine patients have been discharged since the incident occurred. 

The SHA has said that for privacy reasons, “the SHA will not be disclosing further information, including the location of the hospitals where these patients are receiving care.” 

11 people, including suspect Damien Sanderson, were killed in the attacks and eighteen people were injured. 

The update comes two days after suspected murderer Myles Sanderson was arrested by the RCMP near Rosthern, Sask. and later died in hospital from self-inflicted injuries. 

FSIN calls for tribal police in First Nation communities to prevent future tragedies

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
FSIN calls for tribal police in First Nation communities to prevent future tragedies

Indigenous leaders are calling for the implementation of tribal police on First Nation communities in Saskatchewan after a mass stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation and nearby Weldon left 11 people dead and 18 injured. 

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Chief Bobby Cameron announced that the organization would be putting a resolution forward to create a First Nation policing association during a press conference at the James Smith Cree Nation on Thursday afternoon. 

“(It’s) to work in conjunction with the RCMP,” explained Cameron. “The eyes and ears at the ground level, when the response time is not quick enough, we will have our own on-reserve tribal police.

“Our young ones deserve a better life than we had,” Cameron added.

Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) said the tragic attack is proof that the justice system has failed Indigenous people once again. 

“This incident sheds light on the fractured system,” said Hardlotte. “The parole board has to be more transparent and make some fundamental changes. The justice system needs to work with our members, our leaders of our First Nations and establish, in this case, a transition period for those dangerous offenders that are within our system.”

Hardlotte confirmed that the PAGC and FSIN have been working with the federal government for the last several years to develop a legislative framework for tribal policing in Saskatchewan.

“We have much more work ahead of us,” said Hardlotte after giving a commitment to support the affected tri-nations. “We must provide for their immediate needs at hand, but we also need to address the core issues of poverty, housing, drugs and addictions underlying this violence that many of our other First Nations are also experiencing.”

Chief Robert Head of Peter Chapman Band, who’s first cousin passed away in last weekend’s stabbings, said the days following the attack made the community feel like a warzone. 

“This is something that can be avoided. We need first nations justice systems, we need support for mental health, we need addictions centres,” said Head. “These are things we can do together.”

A tearful Darryl Burns talked about his sister Gloria Burns, a member of the James Smith Cree Nation Community Response Team who died while trying to save other victims of Sunday’s attack.

“One of our rules is you don’t go alone, but she went alone that morning,” said Burns. “A friend needed her help and that’s the kind of person she was.”

Burns said his family was there to forgive while he stood at podium hugging Skye Sanderson, wife of Damien Sanderson, a suspect in the attacks who was later found deceased.

“This woman shouldn’t have to bear this kind of guilt and shame and responsibility,” he said. ”That’s who we are as people, we are forgiving, loving people. That’s in our DNA.”

Sanderson spoke out on Thursday for the first time since the attacks happened, saying she also lost her father in Sunday’s tragedy. 

“That’s not my husband,” she said through tears.

Chief of James Smith Cree Nation, Wally Burns, said today is the start of a long and difficult healing journey. 

“Words will never describe the pain and trauma our communities have endured over these past few days,” he said. “For many people, the magnitude of what has happened hasn’t sunk in yet. Many of us are still in shock over the deaths of so many of our loved ones.”

Premier of Saskatchewan Scott Moe and RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki each gave their condolences to those affected by the attacks and promised to work with the communities to find long-term solutions.

Klughart takes 4th win at Prince Albert City Open

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
Klughart takes 4th win at Prince Albert City Open

Prince Albert men’s golf champion says he’s happy to have ended the season with a victory. 

Danny Klughart placed first at the City Open and Men’s Club Championship at Cooke Municipal Golf Course on September 3 and 4, ending the weekend with a score of 6 under par.

Klughart said he was in good shape on day one of the tournament, but struggled a bit on the green on the second day. 

“I didn’t putt very well, but no one in our group really putted that well. So, I hit it well enough and shot an even par,” he said. “I ended up winning by three.”

Klughart said 2022 has been a decent year for him, but without any solid wins. 

“It was kind of unusual considering the past couple of years,” said Klughart. 

This is the fourth time Klughart has won the Prince Albert City Open and the second he won the Club Championship. The past three seasons have been strong for Klughart, placing first at the Saskatchewan Amateur in 2019 and winning the Saskatchewan Mid-Amateur in 2019, 2020 and 2021. 

“I’ve had quite a bit of success, I’ve been pretty lucky to have a couple strong years as of late,” said Klughart. 

Cory Selander placed second for the men, with a score of three under par. Jeff Whitfield came in third with a two over par, fourth place was Cole Jenkins with a score of seven over par, followed by Mike Garson and Zac Griffin tying for fifth place, both with a score of 10 over par.

Pauline McDougall was the City Open women’s winner, her final score for the tournament clocking in at 23 over par. Arlene Segine came in second place with a score of 30 over par, Andrea Ring placed third with a 33 over par, fourth place was Lynn Braaten with a score of 46 over par, and Marley Ring in fifth with a score of 51 over par.

Council approves development permit for downtown post-secondary school

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
Council approves development permit for downtown post-secondary school

The downtown area will be home to a new post-secondary school thanks to City Council’s approval of the Development Permit Application at Monday’s meeting. 

The location of the new school will be the former Red Cross Building at 54 11th Street East.

Craig Guidinger, Director of Planning, said the education provider asked not to be named yet, but confirmed it is a publicly funded school and will offer GED programming and other basic education programs. 

The building has only eight on-site parking stalls, but Guidinger said due to small classroom sizes and the site’s proximity to the transit station, it shouldn’t be an issue. 

“There are three classrooms with up to 10 students each, the parking stalls will not all be necessarily used all at the same time,” he said. “They will be used partly in the day and partly in the evening, which will free up some parking space.”

Guidinger said after City Administration performed a review of the location and surrounding area, the education provider felt more parking was a non-issue. 

Councilor Ted Zurakowski theorized that the institution may come back to the City in the future to ask for more parking, but that the answer “will most likely be no, we should have had that discussion on the on-set.”

Credit goes to employees say owners of PA business nominated for ABEX customer service award

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
Credit goes to employees say owners of PA business nominated for ABEX customer service award

A local pet store has been nominated for a provincial business award, and the owners say it is thanks to their employees phenomenal customer service skills and product knowledge. 

Pet Planet in Prince Albert has been nominated for an Achieving Business Excellence (ABEX) Award and owners Lee and Corinne Penner say they owe it to their past and present employees. 

“For the past 7 years, the dedication they’ve shown to Pet Planet and to us has played an intricate role in the success of the business,” said Lee. 

He said a big part of their accomplishments stems from the hard work of their staff and his wife, Corinne.

“It’s the education and training that the staff goes through to deal with customers and interact with them. Knowledge is key.”

Lee said it’s humbling to be nominated in the customer service category and a “big deal” as former customers of Pet Planet themselves. 

“We went there as customers originally. Their product knowledge and customer service was amazing back then, they helped our dog that was going through his issues and we became lifelong customers,” said Lee. “When it went up for sale, it was kind of a natural thing for us because not only were they involved with the community but also we had an interest as pet lovers.”

The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce ABEX Awards is a celebration of the success of Saskatchewan businesses and recognizes the achievements of the private sector. It is the longest-running business awards program in the province. November 5 marks the first in-person ceremony since 2019.

“Saskatchewan businesses continue to face challenges in the wake of the pandemic as the province works toward economic recovery,” said Prabha Ramaswamy, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. “It is all the more important now that we recognize the leaders and businesses that make up the backbone of our business community by celebrating their remarkable resilience and successes.”

Pet Planet was recently named business of the year at the 2021 Samuel Mcleod Awards in April and also received the Business Transformation Award in recognition of their upgrades and renovations completed in 2021. 

City receives permit application for new post-secondary school in downtown area

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
City receives permit application for new post-secondary school in downtown area

The former Canadian Red Cross building may be home to a new post-secondary school pending City Council’s approval.

The unnamed applicant intends to establish an office space and post-secondary school that would provide Graduate Equivalency Degree and Adult Basic Education programs to adults with learning disabilities. The school would include approximately 10 students within three classrooms. 

The Department of Planning and Development Services received the Development Permit Application for the proposed location of 54 11th Street East and have recommended that it be approved. 

“The proposed Post-Secondary School conforms to the regulations within the C1 – Downtown Commercial zoning district,” said a report written by City Planner Jorden Olmstead. “While post-secondary schools do not have a minimum parking requirement within the Downtown Commercial zoning district, there are eight parking stalls located at the rear of the site that can be used by staff.”

Under Section 6.6 of the City of Prince Albert’s Official Community Plan, one of the policies for Public and Institutional land uses is to, “Encourage new government offices and post-secondary educational activities to seek locations close to the Downtown Commercial and Educational Campus Districts”.

The development permit application is one of 11 reports from administration and committees up for debate at Tuesday’s regular council meeting. 

Prince Albert ambulance service provider welcomes provincial fuel subsidy

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
Prince Albert ambulance service provider welcomes provincial fuel subsidy

In recognition of rising fuel costs and increasing financial pressures for emergency medical services, the Government of Saskatchewan will be providing a one-time fuel subsidy of $2.85 million to ambulance operators in the province.

Northern Medical Taxi providers will also be receiving $218,000 in 2022-23 to assist with expenses from traveling long distances to transport patients.

Lyle Karasiuk, Director of Public Affairs for Parkland Ambulance Care Ltd. in Prince Albert, welcomed the additional funding.

“Our service in Prince Albert is like every other business in this community or province. Whether you are selling shoes, cars, TVs or baking bread, higher costs are affecting us all,” he said. “Whether those costs are fuel, wages, supplies, maintenance, or equipment, we are all facing higher costs driven by many factors.”

Karasiuk said Parkland Ambulance has seen a 40 per cent increase in fuel costs due to higher prices at the pumps. Unlike residents, they can’t cut back on lengthy road trips to save money.

“While you or I as a private person might have stayed closer to home this summer versus going on a road trip, ground ambulances services are an essential part of this province and will continue to serve the public no matter when or where we are needed,” he said.

Karasiuk said the Parkland Ambulance team handles around 45 incidents in a 24-hour period, averaging to 2,000 km of driving every day.

“When I started as a paramedic 35 years ago, we might have done 5 calls per day. Now some days our very busy team might do that before breakfast,” he said.

In 2021-22, Saskatchewan ambulance operators responded to more than 171,000 calls for service across the province and traveled well over 13 million kilometers. Northern Medical Taxi provided 2,709 trips for northern residents and travelled almost 1.5 million kilometers, according to the provincial government.

“Our government values the work of our emergency medical services and northern medical taxis across the province,” Rural and Remote Health Minister Everett Hindley said. “Reliable, sustainable EMS and NMT services are a critical component of our Saskatchewan health-care system, particularly in our rural and remote communities. We recognize the impact rising costs have had on our EMS and NMT partners and we are pleased to be able to provide them further assistance.”

“EMS services are essential frontline care providers who are often the first health care provider that patients see in their time of need,” said Steven Skoworodko, President of Paramedic Services Chiefs of Saskatchewan. “This increase of funding will help ambulance services across the province with the ever increasing costs of providing emergency medical care to the residents of Saskatchewan.”

There are 105 ground ambulance services operating in 108 communities across Saskatchewan, made up of a mix of Saskatchewan Health Authority owned and operated, privately owned, non-profit and First Nations owned and operated services.

A new way to learn

Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
-
0
A new way to learn

A Saskatchewan organization is helping Indigenous youth with cognitive differences gain employment through cultural-based programming. 

Preventative Measures Ltd., in partnership with Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation and One Arrow First Nation, launched the Building Blocks to Inclusion project in June of this year. The first of its kind in the province, the culturally-based supported employment program is for Indigenous youth ages 16 to 35 who experience neurodiversity, such as autism, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

In collaboration with the First Nation communities’ chiefs, elders, knowledge keepers and educators, the program is aiming to help neurodivergent youth gain the knowledge, skills and confidence for employment in the comfort of their home communities with mentors they know and trust. 

Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation and One Arrow First Nation each had 12 students participate in the pilot phase, which saw a 90 per cent graduation rate, according to owner and operator of Preventative Measures Ltd., Delaney King. 

“We had them come to class for two days a week and then start participating in work on their own terms,” she said. “Everybody that was in our program had time to work on their high-level functioning skills and gain part time to full time employment before returning to school in the fall.”

King said every aspect of the program takes cultural context into consideration, as well as the historical and contemporary factors that shape the realities of the youth and their families. They work closely in each community to guide the project and give participants access to cultural activities such as smudging, drumming, feasts, sharing circles and powwows.

“We had elders come in and talk about the First Nations’ origin stories, speaking Cree to our students and helping them understand that neurodiverse conditions have been around since the beginning of time and that it is seen as a gift,” she said.

The program also gives additional supports to the participants who need them, like access to food, clean clothes, tools for work and mental health services.

“In Canada, there are approximately 500,000 working age adults with an intellectual disability or autism but only one in four are employed – this number does not include those living on reserve,” said a media release about the program. “There is an untapped pool of individuals who want to work given the right supports however, traditional supported employment models tend to overlook the unique needs of Indigenous people with neurodiversity and appropriate programming is not available on or off reserve.”

The Building Blocks to Inclusion program will run until October of 2022 with funds provided through the Ready, Willing and Able initiative. The communities and Preventative Measures Ltd. are working to secure additional funding in order to both continue and expand the program. 

King said they are hoping to spread some awareness about the project and see if any other communities might be interested in running it for their own youth.
Delaney King can be contacted about Building Blocks to Inclusion through email at delaneyjking@gmail.com or by phone at (306) 212-0454.

1...434445...70Page 44 of 70