Diane Rogers

Schools must stop acting as child depositories and become the hearts of their communities, says a University of Regina education professor. Michael Tymchak, chair of a Saskat-chewan task force looking at the role of schools, said finding their place in the community is a bigger challenge for schools than a lack of money. He and […] Read more

Manitoba is speeding down the internet highway with a $300 million investment by the provincial telephone company. The province joined Alberta and Saskatchewan in recent announcements of high speed internet service expansion, which allows for live videoconferencing and faster sound and picture service. The expansion will also bring the new service to rural areas. So […] Read more

Cuba offers Canadian farmers more than just an escape from winter, says a British Columbia agrologist. Wendy Holm believes the Caribbean island can also show them how to avoid the scorching rise of input costs. That is why the private consultant is organizing agricultural tours to Cuba this fall and winter. Cuban farmers were forced […] Read more

The Alberta government will announce in November which telecommunications company it is hiring to bring high speed internet access to rural areas of the province. Jeremy Fritsche, of Alberta’s innovation and science department, said the province wants rural residents to have the same level of internet service as what’s available in the cities. Urban internet […] Read more

With the cheers and shouts of 300 high school students ringing in the background, education minister Jim Melenchuk was optimistic Sept. 8 that negotiations will settle a teachers’ labor dispute in Saskatchewan. The province’s 12,000 teachers want a 17.5 percent increase over three years in wages and benefits. Last week they stopped extra-curricular duties, shutting […] Read more

An illegal marijuana-growing operation is helping feed people in Vancouver. When police raided and seized the operation’s hydroponics equipment, they turned it over to British Columbia’s FarmFolk/CityFolk instead of destroying it as usual, said Kathleen Gibson, spokesperson for the food advocacy group. The group now uses the equipment to grow herbs and greens, she told […] Read more

BLAINE LAKE, Sask. – It is clear that Don and Brenda Chevaldayoff have good taste. With its family-designed four-year-old pink stuccoed house set in professionally landscaped grounds, theirs is not a typical farmyard. Nor did Brenda take a typical route to the farm. Although she was born in the district, her family lived in Saskatoon […] Read more

On nine separate occasions, Beverly Lundgren has closed down her optical store in Crossfield, Alta., to take a two-week trip overseas. But she doesn’t go abroad to lounge on foreign beaches. Instead, she visits rural areas and fits impoverished people with discarded glasses. “It’s like a million-dollar holiday,” said Lundgren, who recently returned from the […] Read more

Two farm kids from Sheho, Sask., have received an honorable mention with their first entry in the Canadian science fair in June. Jennifer Hawreluik and Amber Gorgichuk, who are both entering Grade 12 this fall, said their project was required for a school science credit. Since they are from farms they decided to do an […] Read more