WestCentral

The Canadian Medical Association says it is taking the Alberta government to court, launching a constitutional challenge against Bill 26 to protect the rights of young patients and their families to make medical decisions in consultation with physicians.

The association, joined by three Alberta doctors, filed an application Wednesday with the Court of King's Bench, arguing the legislation violates doctors’ freedom of conscience under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and represents a dangerous intrusion into the physician-patient relationship.

The Saskatchewan government is changing its beer markup structure in a move aimed at helping small and medium-sized breweries scale up production.

The province announced Friday that markup rates will be reduced across most production levels to create a more gradual increase in cost as breweries grow. The qualifying threshold to access these reduced rates will also rise — from 400,000 to 500,000 hectolitres of annual production.

The Swift Current Arts Council's upcoming lineup has landed a Canadian country star.

Rocanville, Saskatchewan's Jess Moskaluke will make her only, currently scheduled, stop on a country-wide tour in her hometown province on September 25 at the Living Sky Casino's Events Centre. 

Helen Arnold, the administrator for the Swift Current Arts Council, announced on Magic 97's morning show Monday morning that Moskaluke will fill out their 2025/26 Stars for Saskatchewan series lineup. 

KERROBERT, Sask. — The Town of Kerrobert has issued a fire ban, effective immediately, due to elevated fire risk conditions.

In a notice posted Monday afternoon, town officials stated that all fires are prohibited within the town limits as of 3:45 p.m. on June 2. The ban will remain in place until further notice.

The advisory includes open fires, fire pits, and any controlled burns. Residents are being asked to take all necessary precautions and adhere to the restrictions to prevent the risk of wildfire.

Alberta is working on strengthening its market presence in Southeast Asia.

Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson is in Southeast Asia to promote Alberta as a reliable supplier of agricultural products.

The overall goal is to strengthen relationships with Vietnam and the Philippines to increase trade and investment opportunities that 
will directly benefit producers and processors by opening new markets for Alberta agriculture and food products.

It's setting up to be another strong PBR Canada season for Eatonia's Dakota Buttar. The local bull riding athlete didn't place this past weekend at the Ripley Ruble Touring Pro Division event in Melfort, but is coming off a few strong finishes in May that helped him to the second spot on the leaderboard entering June.

Football season is in the air around Saskatchewan. Not only are the Saskatchewan Roughriders set to kick off the CFL regular season on Thursday against Ottawa, but spring high school football is getting underway with local teams using their allotted practice time.

The Kindersley Kobras football team is confirmed to be holding their spring camp starting Monday. Any Kindersley students in Grade 6-11 are welcome to come out and try football this week June 2-6 with daily practices from 4-6 PM.

The western side of the province continued to lead the pack looking at last week's crop report. 

Here in west-central Saskatchewan producers are 94 per cent done seeding as notable progress continued during the week with a 13 per cent rise from last week, pushing the region well ahead of the five-year average of 86 per cent, and current provincial average of 88 per cent.

What began as a small birthday gesture has grown into a full-blown community tradition.

Ten-year-old Kinley celebrated a milestone this weekend with the 10th annual Kinley’s Toy Drive in support of the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, filling an ambulance with donated toys and spreading smiles in every direction.