Steven Wilson

One year ago, the southeast saw the winds pick up, the temperature drop, and some flurries start to fall. That sort of weather isn’t always unusual in April, but what happened the next day was. The southeast ended up covered in a Colorado low, depositing snow in huge amounts.

Starting yesterday, and continuing into this morning, the temperatures started to drop, the winds picked up, and scattered flurries were falling. Sound familiar? 

A difference in language on the offer that will be going to the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation membership early next month. The STF issued a release late Wednesday stating the offer was a final offer from the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee, while a release from the provincial government shortly afterwards called it a tentative agreement.  

The provincial Ministry of Social Services has been under fire in recent weeks over expenses paid out for emergency hotel stays in Regina. The concerns were raised by the opposition NDP after they learned the rate charged by the Sunrise Motel, owned by Saskatchewan Party MLA Gary Grewal, was higher than the standard rate they charge. It was then learned the amount spent for emergency stays at the Sunrise, and the Thirftlodge, another hotel Grewal is an investor in, increased by nearly $730,000 since he was elected in 2020.  

The Saskatchewan NDP has been asking a lot of questions, and not getting a lot of answers, about expenses on hotel and motel rooms by the Ministry of Social Services since October of 2020. The questions all center around the expenses at two motels that are connected with Saskatchewan Party MLA Gary Grewal in Regina.  

There has been a lot of media attention in recent weeks to the coming emergence of cicadas in the United States. The insects in the United States emerge in cycles of 13 or 17 years and this year, what is known as the Great Southern Brood, the largest brood known that emerges every 13 years, and the Northern Illinois Brood, which emerges every 17 years, will emerge at the same time.  

The work-to-rule campaign by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation will be suspended as of 11:59 p.m. tonight, as the STF and Government Trustee Bargaining Committee resume negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The negotiations are expected to start on Tuesday.  

Members of CUPE 5430 held an informational picket outside of the Weyburn General Hospital Tuesday over the lunch hour. The union members were joined by other healthcare workers in the southeast to talk about challenges in terms of recruitment, retention, and wages as a number of health unions engage in contract talks with the provincial government. 

A quick look at the forecast from Environment Canada would have many people leaping for joy. Temperatures are expected to be downright beautiful, right through the weekend.  

There has been a lot of media attention in recent weeks to the coming emergence of cicadas in the United States. The insects in the United States emerge in cycles of 13 or 17 years and this year, what is known as the Great Southern Brood, the largest brood known that emerges every 13 years, and the Northern Illinois Brood, which emerges every 17 years, will emerge at the same time.  

“Honestly, it feels so amazing and surreal that people are voting for me to be on the nomination ballot and to be in the finals with the most amazing other Saskatchewan artists. It’s just an incredible feeling to know that people appreciate it.”