MooseJaw

The Moose Jaw Shriners are putting out the call for volunteers as they prepare to host the Wawa Shriners Midwest Shrine Association Summer Conference from Aug. 20 to 23. 

The conference is expected to bring together more than 500 Shriners and their families from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa. 

Carnie's Comments

It was last month when we got the good news. The unemployment rate in the Moose Jaw / Swift Current region is the lowest in Canada. In fact, the local region was tied with the Yorkton / Melville area for the lowest in the country.

More people are working, and the labour force is growing.

However, there are challenges for employers who need people with specific skill sets. That's why we have around 15,000 job vacancies in our province.

The Moose Jaw Miller Express went out on a winning note as they wrapped up the regular season over the weekend and now await the playoff schedule. 

Moose Jaw's bats came alive at Ross Wells Park on Friday night as the Miller Express downed the Swift Current 57s 16–1. 

Westin Walls pitched a complete game for Moose Jaw, allowing only two hits and one run while striking out 10. 

Moose Jaw's Little League All-Stars wrapped up their Canadian championship over the weekend in Victoria. They lost 10-7 to Team Atlantic and dropped an 8-2 decision to Quebec before losing 17-1 to British Columbia to finish 0-6 for the tournament.

In the WCBL, the Moose Jaw Miller Express finished off their regular season over the weekend. They picked up a 9-4 win over the Regina Red Sox last night to finish the season with a 27-29 record, good enough for fourth place in the East Division.

Another record fell last month, but this time it wasn’t a temperature record. 

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, we had 109 hours of smoke last month, making it the smokiest July on record. 

“It's official now, July 2025 at Regina Airport, it's the smokiest month that we have on our records database,” said meteorologist Crawford Luke. 

Saskatchewan RCMP say the number of homicides in their jurisdiction has dropped in the first half of 2025, following a record-breaking year for violent deaths.

Between January 1 and July 15 of this year, RCMP reported 13 homicide files involving 13 victims. That’s down sharply from the 23 cases reported over the same period in 2024.

“We never stop trying to solve these cases because the victims deserve justice and their loved ones deserve answers,” said Insp. Ashley St. Germaine, Senior Investigative Officer with the RCMP Major Crimes Branch.

Another planned production outage is in the works at the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant (BPWTP) for tomorrow to allow for ongoing construction at the facility.

The outage is tentatively scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. and will last for 12 hours. While capacity in the City of Moose Jaw reservoirs will allow uninterrupted water service for residents, staff will continuously monitor levels and update if any changes to the project occurs.

Steady progress continues to be made on the HWY-2 over Trans-Canada HWY-1 overpass project here in Moose Jaw.

The Ministry of Highways reports that, over the past month, construction of new concrete abutments and piers to support girders for the new northbound bridge has been completed. 

Bridge girder installation has also been completed since the last update, allowing for the ongoing construction of the northbound bridge's deck to proceed.

Labour experts say another postal service strike is unlikely after unionized Canada Post workers rejected their employer's latest round of offers in a forced vote and the parties mull their next steps.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said Friday that the roughly 55,000 members represented by the union shot down the Canada Post's latest proposal, which would've seen wage hikes of about 13 per cent over four years and restructuring to add part-time workers to the deal.

Recent data from Statistics Canada is drawing attention to some dynamics of the job markets in Saskatchewan, including here in the southeast. It is characterized by high vacancies and competitive wages that are making the province a magnet for workers from across the country, while at the same time, an abundance of people who are part of the labour force but are not actively employed.