Estevan

The union representing about 55,000 Canada Post employees has called for a countrywide halt to overtime work, saying its negotiators will continue to review the latest contract offers from the mail carrier.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said late Thursday that members were being told to refuse any work beyond eight hours in a day and 40 hours in a week. 

The University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) has secured over $194 million in funding, to be delivered over the next five years. This renewed interprovincial funding commitment from Manitoba, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan has been in place for over 60 years.

Through the agreement, WCVM provides essential veterinary medicine programming, research, and clinical services to meet the needs of each province. Saskatchewan and Manitoba each have 25 student seats, while British Columbia funds 40 seats.

The Estevan Chamber of Commerce hosted "A Toast to Robert Kitchen” to recognize his 10 years as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Souris–Moose Mountain riding.

The celebration was held in Estevan and featured tributes from family, friends and colleagues reflecting on Kitchen’s service and character.

The evening began with a toast from Tania Andrist, president of the chamber board, who praised Kitchen’s advocacy for local issues and industry in Ottawa.

Although recent rain brought seeding to a temporary halt, local farmer Murray King was all smiles when he received a lunch delivery through Seed N Feed presented by Mack Auction Company.

King, who farms near Frobisher, said this year’s seeding got off to a strong start, with only a few minor mechanical issues before the rain hit.

“We had a good start to the season, besides a few little minor breakdowns,” he said. “I guess we could have probably been done before the rain, but I need four days, it'll dry up, and we’ll get ’er done.”

The Estevan Police Service responded to a variety of calls on May 20 and 21, including domestic disturbances, thefts, collisions and public complaints.

Officers kept the peace during a property exchange between former spouses and mediated several times before it was completed.

A PayPal scam and the theft of two fuel canisters from a vehicle were reported and remain under investigation.

A two-vehicle collision downtown resulted in one vehicle being towed. No injuries were reported.

A new group of amendments has been passed as the province of Saskatchewan is looking to bolster provisions in The Workers' Compensation Act, 2013.

One part of these amendments is making sure that wildland fire fighters have better access to presumptive cancer coverage.

Plant 2025 is well underway across the prairies and generally ahead of the seasonal averages.

Canada's Outlook for Principal Field Crops came out yesterday.

Some of the highlights for the 2025-26 growing season:

The town of Midale will host the Town-Wide Garage Sale and Street Market this Saturday, May 24th, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In addition to garage sales being set up at residences around town, for which maps are available, there will also be a Market on Main Street featuring local vendors and handmade goods beginning at 10 a.m.

The kids can on the bouncy castles, enjoy some face painting, and cool off with snow cones at Youngren Park. There will also be a fundraising barbecue lunch for the Midale Pool in both Midale and Macoun.

As farmers continue their seeding operations, the latest crop report brings a mix of optimism and caution. 

Crop Extension Specialist Tyce Masich says at this point 72 per cent of the provincial crop is now planted; that's an increase of 23 per cent from last week. 

He notes it's a smaller increase than the week before, largely due to rain delays in parts of the south and east regions of the province. 

Estevan is finally getting away from all the rain that's been bogging down the area beginning today, with a new system on the horizon. The recent weather has included some intense showers near the end of last week and some less intense rainfall at the start of this week.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Stephen Berg takes a look at what we saw during the most intense storms seen last week.