Weyburn

Canada's two biggest railways say they’re preparing to get trains back on track after Ottawa intervened to end an unprecedented labour impasse that disrupted business across the country and cancelled commutes for thousands.

Canadian National Railway Co., in a statement Thursday, said it has ended the lockout of workers that began earlier in the day.

The move came shortly after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration to end the dispute and get the trains running.

The City of Weyburn's Fall and Winter Leisure Services Guide has everything needed to get registered for classes and lessons, all the way to the end of spring.

"It's all-encompassing, with different programs that are offered," said Leisure Services Manager Amanda Wallace.

The federal government has decided to impose binding arbitration between the Teamster's Canada Rail Conference, CN Rail, and CPKC.

The worker's union and the two companies had entered into a lockout at 12:01 a.m. this morning.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the decision at a news conference in the afternoon.

That came after the Canada Industrial Relations Board set August 22 as the date for strike action, following a decision that labeled the rail industry as non-essential.

Producers in the southeast are busy harvesting, desiccating and swathing, with 21 percent of the crop now in the bin so far. 

According to the weekly Crop Report from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture for the week of August 13th to 19th, this progress is in spite of some rain delays, and is ahead of the five-year average of 11 percent and 10-year average of 14 percent for the southeast region. 

The Weyburn Police Service is reminding residents to lock their vehicles after an arrest last week.  

Sergeant Shane St. John said it all started when someone tried to enter into a vehicle that wasn’t their’s last Thursday.  

Volleyball players in Weyburn recently had the opportunity to hone their skills and learn new techniques before the school year hits. 

The camp catered to students from grades 8 through 12, offering girls and boys a chance to learn from high-performance athletes.

Cassidy Klapak, one of the organizers and a fourth-year setter for the University of Regina women's volleyball team, shared her excitement about the camp's impact. 

A man wanted by the Carlyle RCMP is a person of interest in a separate case involving the RCMP from Manitoba, as well as the Broadview and Moosomin detachments.

Yesterday, the Broadview RCMP were advised by the RCMP in Manitoba that a stolen truck was heading to their area. Moosomin RCMP spotted the trick on Highway 8 north of Moosomin and attempted to pull the vehicle over. The driver did not pull over, though, and fled.  

At 12:01 a.m. Thursday, freight traffic on the two largest railways in Canada came to a halt, as Canadian National Railway Co. And Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. Locked out 9,300 employees, including engineers, conductors and yard workers, after the two sides were unable to agree on a new contract before the deadline.  

The City of Weyburn's new interim Chief of Police, Brent VanDeSype, was in attendance at City Hall for the August meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday.

While VanDeSype said he was not as prepared as he will be going forward, Board Chair Ron McCormick thanked him for stepping into the role on short notice.