Why you received an alert for a Maple Creek drinking water advisory

The town of Maple Creek's province-wide alert sent out today regarding a drinking water advisory was unintended.

Phones located across Saskatchewan lit up at 1:10 p.m. with the notification that was only intended to be sent to town residents and a portion of southwestern Saskatchewan. 

The cause for the alert was due to a large water main break on the 200 block of Maple Street at around 12:15 p.m. causing the community to be placed under a precautionary drinking water advisory until further notice.

What's the proper way to dispose of jack-o'-lanterns?

Many individuals will have unwanted pumpkins leftover with Halloween now over and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is offering ways to dispose of the giant orange gourds.

The non-profit organization is urging jack-o'-lantern owners to use environmentally friendly routes instead of just dumping them in uninhabited areas.

"Well, it may sound like a green idea to just throw it into the woods, but you may unintentionally make wildlife sick, in addition to resulting in other people choosing to just dump debris there," NCC's Spokesperson Andrew Holland said. 

Have you scanned your poppy?

A new website launched by the Royal Canadian Legion has turned poppies into a portal to learn more about Canadian soldiers.

Poppy campaigns started last Friday across southwestern Saskatchewan and now the red flower can be scanned on poppystories.ca to link individuals to fallen Canadian soldiers. 

John Griffin, the public relations officer with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 56, said the technological initiative could help bridge the gap between generations.

Comp. Ardens win home tournament

The Swift Current Comp. Ardens volleyball team defended their home court this past weekend.

Swift Current knocked off Yorkton, Lumsden Jr., Winston Knoll, and Arden's Blue to go a perfect 4-0 in pool play. 

They beat Lumsden Jr. again, this time in the quarter-finals. 

The Aredens best Estevan 25-20 and 24-15 in the semifinals and before ousting Weyburn 25-20 and 25-14 to win the tournament. 

 

 

What's the proper way to dispose of jack-o'-lanterns?

Many individuals will have unwanted pumpkins leftover with Halloween now over and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is offering ways to dispose of the giant orange gourds.

The non-profit organization is urging jack-o'-lantern owners to use environmentally friendly routes instead of just dumping them in uninhabited areas.

"Well, it may sound like a green idea to just throw it into the woods, but you may unintentionally make wildlife sick, in addition to resulting in other people choosing to just dump debris there," NCC's Spokesperson Andrew Holland said. 

Shadows beat Melfort to move onto Provincial Finals

The Shaunavon Shadows are off to the SHSAA 4A 9-man Football Provincial Championships.

Shaunavon jumped out to a 14-7 lead by halftime over the Melfort Comets and didn’t look back in their semifinal matchup with a 37-28 victory.

The Comet did close the gap a bit in the fourth quarter after being down 30-14 but the Shadows held off a late surge to return to their first provincial final since 2017.

Shaunavon will play the winner of Lumsden and Tisdale in for the provincial crown.

 

What's the proper way to dispose of jack-o'-lanterns?

Many individuals will have unwanted pumpkins leftover with Halloween now over and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is offering ways to dispose of the giant orange gourds.

The non-profit organization is urging jack-o'-lantern owners to use environmentally friendly routes instead of just dumping them in uninhabited areas.

"Well, it may sound like a green idea to just throw it into the woods, but you may unintentionally make wildlife sick, in addition to resulting in other people choosing to just dump debris there," NCC's Spokesperson Andrew Holland said. 

After brief cool down, warm weather expected to return

The well above normal temperatures that have been inundating west-central Saskatchewan are expected to stick around until at least the weekend.

However, the area will be stuck with a storm today consisting of rain mixed with winds potentially topping out around 80 kilometres per hour.

"Very little in the way of rain, very little accumulation expected, maybe a couple millimetres at best," said Environment and Climate Change Canada Meteorologist Terri Lang. "I think more significant will be the wind coming up in the morning."

New fossils continue to be found in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan continues to be a hotbed of remarkable fossil finds and this summer didn't disappoint.

Grasslands National Park East Block played host to the most recent haul, with around 60 participants partaking in Fossil Fever that unearthed a large soft-shelled turtle and bones from a Triceratops.

Both creatures were found in the Frenchman Formation which is exposed throughout parts of Southwestern Saskatchewan. The formation represents the last 200,000 years of the Cretaceous period, just before dinosaurs went extinct.

Record setting bleak tornado season in Saskatchewan

Severe thunderstorms turning into tornadoes in Saskatchewan are sparse but this past year the phenomenon became extremely rare.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) data, the province was only battered with one tornado in 2023, which is well below the average of 13-14 per year.

Terri Lang, a meteorologist with ECCC, said the circumstances for a tornado to transpire requires a combination of factors to all happen at the right time.