Cory Knutt

The Moose Jaw Fire Department responded to a single-story house fire on the 800 block of Athabasca St. East Saturday morning shortly after 10 a.m.

Fire Chief Rod Montgomery says firefighters were able to quickly contain the fire.

"The crews were quick to get inside, knock that fire down, really within an hour had everything done and cleaned up," he commented.

He says nobody was home at the time of the blaze and the cause is still under investigation.

The extent of the damage and a dollar figure is unknown at this point.

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will have a new Team Lead heading into the 2024 season.

Major Brett Parker recently handed the reigns of Snowbird 1 over to Major Brent Handy.

For Parker, this was his second posting with the Snowbirds, the first being from 2010 to 2015. This most recent stint started near the end of 2020. He took over the Team Lead position in October of 2021.

Parker had dreams of becoming a member of the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron since he was a kid.

Last week, the Government of Saskatchewan released a new Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions that plans to create 500 new addictions treatment spaces and a central intake system.

New funding will total $49.4 million when fully implemented in the fifth year of the plan. 

The new Action Plan has three pillars of focus: building capacity for treatment, improving the system itself, and transitioning to a recovery-oriented system of care for addictions treatment. 

Last week, the Government of Saskatchewan released a new Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions that will create 500 new addictions treatment spaces and a central intake system.

New funding will total $49.4 million when fully implemented in the fifth year of the plan. 

The new Action Plan has three pillars of focus: building capacity for treatment, improving the system itself, and transitioning to a recovery-oriented system of care for addictions treatment. 

The Water Security Agency (WSA) says lake levels for Lake Diefenbaker are low due to the hot and dry weather conditions over southern Alberta during spring and early summer.

The historical average reservoir inflow during spring and early summer is 440 cubic metres per second (m3/s). 

In 2023, inflows averaged 125 m3/s (28% of the average).

The Water Security Agency has minimized outflows from Lake Diefenbaker while continuing to supply nearly 60% of the province’s population who rely on drinking water from the reservoir.

With the extreme heat, Saskatchewan was close to setting a new summer power consumption record Monday afternoon.

The province was at 3,478 megawatts on Monday, with the record being 3,551 set August 31, 2022.

SaskPower spokesperson Joel Cherry says there are a number of things they can do to make sure there's a reliable supply of electricity available for customers.

According to the latest provincial crop report, crops around Estevan are benefitting from the warmer temperatures.

Mackenzie Hladun, crops extension specialist with Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture, says crops in the southeast are continuing to develop at mostly normal rates for this time of year.

"Pulse crops are the most ahead in development for this time of year with 22 per cent of the crop ahead of normal. Oilseeds are the furthest behind in development with 19 per cent of crops behind normal stages of development for this time of year."

Roots School is looking to raise $2,500 to help establish a permanent outdoor classroom.

The nature-based school is hosting a Vivid Fun Run this Saturday, June 3 at Battle Creek Adventure Park.

"It's an event the whole family can enjoy," said Fundraising Administrator Jacqueline Geoffrion. "We love when groups of friends and singles and whole families come on out and you feel free to walk, run, stroll, or dance your way through this paint-filled course. Take in the many wellness workshops. We have face painting going on, tie-dye, splatter paint, and a lot more."

Wakamow Valley Authority will be celebrating International Trails Day with a special day of trail care games, clean-up activities and a BBQ today (June 3) from 10 am to 2 pm at the Kiwanis River Park Pavilion.

Trans Canada Trail awarded Trail Care Grants to 192 trail groups this year. Wakamow Valley is one of eleven Trail groups chosen from across Canada, and the only Saskatchewan city, to host a Trans Canada Trail special Trail Care event for 2023. 

Wakamow Valley Authority maintains 6 km of the Trans Canada Trail system.

Eight individuals, including four from Moose Jaw and another from Weyburn, have been arrested and charged following a major inter-provincial drug trafficking operation takedown by RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime (FSOC) Saskatchewan and Regina Police Service.

On March 30, 2022, RCMP FSOC Saskatchewan in partnership with the Regina Police Service, launched an inter-provincial drug trafficking investigation targeting a prolific drug network supplying large amounts of illicit drugs across Western Canada.