MOOSE JAW, Sask. – It’s become a sign of how tough a farmer you are to brag about how little rain you got this summer, says one business planner. John Spencer, who works for the federal government’s Farm Consultation Service, is joking. But underneath the smile is a serious point – only the strong survive. […] Read more
Stories by Diane Rogers
First responders fill gaps in service
You are driving on a grid road 30 kilometres from home and come across an accident. Is it better to do what you can for the injured before driving home and calling 911, or put the person in your truck and rush him to the nearest hospital? Two people trained in emergency response say it […] Read more
No rural hospitals to close
Rural Saskatchewan residents are relieved their hospitals are not being closed and that emergency care will improve under a Dec. 5 announcement by the provincial government. Most residents covered by the Southwest Health District were concerned that facilities would be eradicated, said board chair Delores Tumbach of Leader. “Most important to them are emergency service […] Read more
Schools plan amalgamation
A go-slow approach is the best way for school divisions to amalgamate, says the chair of a Saskatchewan school board. Donnett Elder, of the Weyburn Central division, said she favours this province’s voluntary mergers, rather than the forced ones happening in neighbouring Manitoba. In an interview at the Sask. School Trustees Association meeting Nov. 20, […] Read more
Couple comes home to farm
HARRIS, Sask. – Craig Hanson returned to the family farm four years ago because he was frustrated working for other people “hitting their home runs.” He was in Argentina working for the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute when his wife Karen Timoshuk, six months pregnant and with a toddler daughter, moved the household 200 kilometres west […] Read more
Dying towns told to look at home for solutions
Saskatchewan’s population would almost double if everybody who was born in the province returned home. Al Scholz, executive director of Saskatchewan Agri-Vision Corp., says 800,000 Saskatchewan-born people live somewhere else. But he told a Nov. 23 meeting of the Community Development Society of Saskatchewan that successful economic development is the only way to increase the […] Read more
Farmer suicide rate low
EDMONTON – Canadian farmers have been less likely to commit suicide than the general population, says a medical researcher. That good news was contained in one of the largest studies of the national farm population and reported at the annual Canadian Farm Safety and Rural Health conference Nov. 4-6. Queen’s University professor Dr. William Pickett […] Read more
Life altered by electrocution
Dory Isaac was alone with her husband when he was electrocuted while moving an auger that touched a power line on their Shellbrook, Sask., farm. “Helmut was lying on the auger,” she said, remembering the April 2, 1998 accident that changed life for her family. “There was fire coming from his rubber boots. I knew […] Read more
Flying fears keep school trips within Canada
Scratch London, Paris and Rome off the list. Vancouver, Quebec City and Halifax may be the popular destinations this year for school trips. More schools are restricting their travel to within Canada because of concerns following the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11. Palliser Regional Schools superintendent John Bolton said the board is not allowing its […] Read more
Families urged to have fire safety plan
EDMONTON – Hollywood has made heroes of firefighters, but fire captain Tim Vandenbrink figures the myth makers owe them. Movie fires look overly dramatic with explosive fireballs and second-storey leaps to escape. The truth is simpler, said Vandenbrink, of the public safety and education branch of Edmonton’s Emergency Response Department. He told a national health […] Read more
