WestCentral

Air Canada says it will begin a gradual suspension of flights to allow an orderly shutdown as it faces a potential work stoppage by its flight attendants on Saturday.

The airline says the first flights will be cancelled Thursday, with more on Friday and a complete cessation of flying by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge by the weekend.

Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz and PAL Airlines will continue to operate as normal. 

Air Canada says customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and they will be eligible for a full refund.

A record setting regular season ended in playoff disappointment on Tuesday night for the Saskatoon Berries.  A 6-2 loss to the Regina Red Sox in the Western Canadian Baseball League's East Division final officially put Saskatoon's season to an end, as the Berries were unable to replicate their Round 1 performance against Moose Jaw where they rebounded from a series opening loss to advance to the next round.

Attention please: pause your summer activities because the West Central Online auction is back!

It's a great chance to get a head start on your Christmas shopping, a future vacation for the family, or just find a straight up good deal. 

Once again this year the auction features tons of great chances to bid, buy and save on tens of thousands of dollars in gift cards and items from local shops, services and restaurants.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League announced it's pre-season schedule earlier this week, and the Kindersley Jr. Klippers will be on the ice before the calendar flips to September.

The Klippers will start their pre-season August 29 on the road against the Drumheller Dragons. After that game, Kindersley will leave the hoodoos and head north to Lloydminster on September 1 for a matinee against the Bobcats, coming home to Kindersley for a quick turnaround on September 2 against Humboldt. 

Written with files from Shawn Mullin

Employment numbers in the province are strong, and the two zones that represent West Central are helping lead the way. 

China has hit Canada with a new round of canola tariffs, threatening one of Western Canada's biggest cash crops and causing potential issues for farmers looking to sell their crops. The tariffs were announced overnight Monday in China, meaning that people watching the agriculture markets were in for quite the shock Tuesday morning.

Chuck Penner, founder of Left Field Commodity Research, was watching the markets and says much of the agriculture sector saw this coming.

RCMP in Unity say they are investigating a fraud complaint reported during the week of Aug. 5 to Aug. 11.

Mounties also spoke with two individuals in connection to a property dispute and responded to a call about a cat leaving a home through a window. Police say they attended and ensured the animal was returned to the care of its owner.

Other calls included a wellbeing check requested by a health-care worker, a Mental Health Act complaint where the subject was taken to Battlefords Union Hospital, and a complaint of disturbing the peace, though no suspects were located.

Folks can tune in to an upcoming webinar, hosted by a Saskatchewan conservation group to prompt to reintroduction of prescribed fire to manage grasslands across the province.

The Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan (SK PCAP) will host the free webinar on Wednesday during the noon hour as a part of their monthly Native Prairie Speaker Series.

Caitlin Mroz-Sailer, stewardship coordinator with SK PCAP, shared that this month's educational session will delve into the risks, productivity, and benefits of prescribed fire as a land management practice. 

National galleries and museums across the country have seen a 15 per cent increase in attendance so far this summer, after the federal government introduced free or discounted admission through the new Canada Strong Pass.

The Canada Strong Pass, which took effect on June 20 and is available until Sept. 2, offers free national museum admission to children 17 and under, and a 50 per cent discount for those aged 18 to 24.

The pass also offers free admission to national parks and sites maintained by Parks Canada.

The head of the Canada's police chiefs association says they are guided by "outdated and inadequate" laws that were never designed to take on the current criminal landscape that no longer respects international borders. 

Thomas Carrique, president of the Association of Chiefs of Police, said police would have been in a better place to "disrupt" transnational crime, if the federal government had listened to his group in 2001, when it last proposed legislative changes.