Canadian National Railway can continue to use its new rail car distribution system, after the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled shippers did not suffer irreparable harm from the program. But the six complainants hope the program will still be stopped. Earlier this year, CN implemented a system that requires shippers to order cars one week to […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Sask. to fix leaky irrigation pipes
Saskatchewan will spend at least $20 million over the next 10 years to fix 100 kilometres of deteriorating pipe in two irrigation districts. Pipes in the Riverhurst and Lucky Lake districts have deteriorated far sooner than expected because of a high, salty water table, said John Babcock, director of Saskatchewan Agriculture’s irrigation development branch. The […] Read more
Sask. ‘pumped’ about drought relief
Drought-devastated southwestern Saskatchewan will soon see relief through a government program aimed at developing emergency and long-term water supplies. Provincial agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud recently announced details of the $6 million Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program that had previously been announced in the budget. An advisory committee comprising Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities president […] Read more
Southwestern Sask. producers welcome water help
Like most cattle producers in southwestern Saskatchewan, Larry Grant is short of water. He’s hauling water to some cows, pumping water for others and hoping for rain to recharge dugouts. He has also been working on how $6 million in government money can best be used to get more water to the region’s farmers and […] Read more
Ukrainians remember genocide
Stefan Horlatsch was 12 when the genocide began in 1932. Last week, the 87-year-old who grew up in the Zaporizhia region of eastern Ukraine implored others to acknowledge what he remembers as if it were yesterday. He is a survivor of Holodomor, the great famine imposed by Stalin’s communist government on the farming peasants of […] Read more
Sask. fund invests in organics
The Saskatchewan Entrepreneurial Fund has invested another $1 million in a Mossbank organic processing plant. RW Organics received $1 million in August 2006 – the first ever investment by the fund – to help finance expansion plans. The company now plans to expand again. Owner Ron Wells said he is negotiating to acquire more elevators […] Read more
Latest policy on Sask. school closure panned
People fighting school closures in Saskatchewan say recently introduced legislative changes won’t help. Todd Lewis, a spokesperson for Save Our Schools, (SOS) said he could not determine how amendments to the Education Act would change the situation. “The question that has been asked by a lot of different people is, ‘Who is this helping?’ ” […] Read more
Dry farmers hope for relief with gov’t water program
Details of Saskatchewan’s new program to establish better water supplies in rural areas were to be rolled out May 1. Southwestern residents entering their fourth year of severe drought conditions were especially interested in how it would work. Eileen Davidson of Ponteix said there was no measurable precipitation at the ranch she and her husband, […] Read more
Short line proponents eye CN branch
Rod Haugerud was happy to learn recently that the Canadian National Railway line between Regina and Davidson, Sask., had finally been advertised for sale. Now he and the others who incorporated a numbered company to buy the line can start negotiating. “We’ve been working for about a year getting ready for this date,” said Haugerud, […] Read more
Sask. RMs receive more funding
An injection of cash from the provincial government may help Saskatchewan rural municipalities limit property tax increases this year. Municipal affairs minister Bill Hutchinson recently announced that the government will put an additional $10.41 million into the revenue sharing pool for rural, urban and northern municipalities. The new funding is on top of the $7.9 […] Read more
