Estevan

It's one of the biggest fundraising days for the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation.

Drake Meats has announced a significant expansion with the construction of a new federally inspected plant in Saskatoon. This marks the first major expansion for the company, which has been operating out of its original plant in Drake, Saskatchewan.

An emergency C-section and a colon cancer diagnosis - all in the middle of COVID. Becky Cassidy has had her fair share of medical events. It's been three years since her world was turned upside down. Now, she's advocating for bringing MRI services to Estevan. 

"At any time, you, your spouse, your child, your sister, brother, any family member may require this equipment. To have it in our own city would be helping 75,000 people living in southeast Saskatchewan. [It] would improve wait times, not just here, but across the whole province. Our healthcare needs this MRI. Ask any person who is waiting for one. They'll tell you how much they want it done for their diagnosis." 

Saskatchewan is seeing a spike in measles cases, with the Ministry of Health confirming local transmission of the infection in southern rural areas. 

According to provincial Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab, between March 14 and May 14, there were 37 measles cases reported in the province. The cases range in age from five months to 57 years. 

More rain is in Estevan's future, even though we just got through a system which dumped a whole lot of rain over the southeast. With more rain coming down than we usually average over a month, the new systems coming in this week may be overkill for moisture.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Danielle Desjardins says we've got some more rain coming through with a pair of systems over the week.

The head of one of Canada's largest federal unions says the federal government needs to focus on repairing the relationship between public servants and management.

Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, said this is a "delicate moment" and that new Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali has his work cut out for him.

Prier said the Trudeau government made several questionable decisions that eroded trust among workers. They included a messy return-to-office rollout that was conducted without consulting employees, he said.

Signs that underlying inflation was picking up in April put the Bank of Canada in a tricky position ahead of its June interest rate decision, with some economists arguing a second straight pause is now more likely.

"It is going to make it a much more challenging backdrop for the Bank of Canada to continue cutting rates, at least in the near term," said Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist at BMO Capital Markets.

Estevan’s annual Operation Clean Sweep has been postponed to the week of May 27 to June 1 because of ongoing wet weather.

City officials said excessive rainfall has made cleanup activities difficult to carry out safely and effectively, prompting the delay.

The City is also advising residents that the landfill site is currently very muddy and slippery. For safety reasons, and to avoid vehicles getting stuck, access is strongly recommended only for four-wheel-drive vehicles. Those without four-wheel drive are asked to postpone their visit until conditions improve.

Estevan Fire Rescue had a busy week, with calls coming in for a number of accidents, even if recent rains kept the southeast relatively fire-free.

On May 12, at 4:00 p.m., crews headed south of the city to deal with a grass fire. After responding, crews extinguished the fire with no injuries or damage. They found the cause of the fire to be a tree connecting with power lines.