By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK—The RCMP were kept busy in the middle of January dealing with a rash of break-ins in the town of Craik.
On, or about, the evening of Jan. 15, the Town Office, Palliser Library, and Oral History room were all broken into. The Craik Legion Hall was also illegally entered at a later date.
Town administrator Sarah Wells says that the break-in at the town office resulted in two office doors needing to be replaced but nothing was reported missing. She suspects that the office was likely the first target, and when that didn’t prove fruitful, other targets were sought.
Jo McAlpine, Palliser librarian, reported that the thief, or thieves, attempted to enter the library via the front glass door. Despite damaging the door frame, the thieves ended up gaining entry by forcing a window near the rear of the building open.
McAlpine said, “The Craik Library lost less than $20 in photocopy money but it will cost the town a lot more to fix the door and window that were damaged in the break-in. With a bank just down the block there is never more a few quarters in the library cash.”
According to McAlpine, the thieves also entered the Oral History room where approximately $5 in loose change was taken. No other items were reported missing.
Then, between Jan. 16 and 19, the Craik Legion Hall was broken into. Lions President Kati Exelby said, “We know this time-line because when the walking club was there Friday everything was in its place. The cleaner of the hall discovered that someone had broke in when she went to clean on Sunday.”
“There may have been a couple dollars in one of the drawers of the cabinet that they wrecked beyond repair. Luckily for us nothing else was damaged” Kati adds. “We cannot figure out how they got in, but unfortunately they did.”
The Craik RCMP initiated an investigation into the break-ins. It is unknown if the same individual or individuals are responsible for the break-ins.
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Warm weather exposes leaky roof
By Kevin Gilby
DAVIDSON—Town council met Jan. 20 to discuss ongoing and future town business. Items discussed include:
• The town discussed installing two new large bay garage doors on the south side of the town shop in the coming year. The town wishes to install at least one door with windows but may complete both doors budget permitting.
• Richardson International requested permission from the town to upgrade/work on the access road to their grain terminal south of Davidson. The access road, near the Shell service station resides on town property. The town, satisfied that the work would be done to specifications, moved to allow the work to take place.
• Discussion for water and sewage rates was tabled so that administrators Gary Edom and Donna Bessey may prepare their assessment for council’s consideration.
• The town moved to retain 2014 council remuneration rates for the next fiscal year.
• During an Air Cadet’s meeting at the town auditorium, it was reported that the roof was leaking on account of unseasonably warm weather. During the summer, work was done to all of the roofing on the town hall with the exception of the auditorium on account of funding considerations. Councillors noted that the new flooring in the auditorium was not damaged and that they must rush to obtain quotes to fix the auditorium roof as soon as possible. Town Administrator Gary Edom anticipates the cost of the repair work to be approximately $160,000 and that the town will have to secure a loan to complete the work. During the interim, the town moved to ensure that snow on the roof be kept to a minimum.
What is PLEA?
PLEA stands for Public Legal Education Association. PLEA is a Saskatchewan-based non-profit, non-government organization which exists to educate and inform the people of Saskatchewan about the law and the legal system. The program brings volunteers into organizations, classroom, and community to speak on a variety of law-related topics. PLEA produces publications on many areas of the law and makes these available to the public at no charge.
PLEA has just launched a family law website www.familylaw.plea.org. This is primarily a website pertaining to family law but has many links to valuable forms and information.
Dellene Church, B.A., LL.B., will be facilitating “Life After 60” talks in Davidson on Wednesday, Jan. 28 and Thursday, Jan. 29 made possible by PLEA, The Law Foundation of Saskatchewan, the Department of Justice Canada, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice. The details of both meetings are described on Page 8 of today’s paper.
Hockey kids come home to Hanley
HANLEY—It was a busy weekend in Hanley at the local arena with “Hockey Day In Hanley.” It kicked off Friday night with the Hooters Ladies team playing the Dundurn Wheat Queens. At 8:30 p.m., the Dundurn Wheat Kings faced off against the Kinistino Tigers treating the full-house crowd to a fast action game. The Dundurn Wheat Kings came out with a win in the last minute, winning 7-6.
Saturday was a full day of hockey beginning at 10 a.m with the Dundurn Pee Wee Wolfpack versus Saskatoon Wild, 11:15 brought all the little ones out with the Hanley Initiation playing the Dundurn Wolfpack, 1 p.m. the Novice Dundurn Wolfpack played the Saskatoon Redwing Cyclone and at 2:30 p.m. the ice was turned over to the Midgets with the Clavet Midgets II versus Clavet Midgets III. The day ended with the Dundurn Atom Wolfpack playing the Saskatoon Bobcat Pirates.
It was good to see the arena full both days with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbours, and friends out to watch a “Good Old Hockey Game.” Many of our Kids and Adults all travel to surrounding communities to play hockey and it was great to watch the boys and girls come home and play the game in front of hometown crowd.
Fix in the works for Craik water plant
By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK—After five years of having to boil water, Craik will soon have drinkable water again.
Randy Schatz, president of Regina based company Element Water Systems, presented the community with a solution to their long-standing water problems.
Under the proposal, the community will install four oxygen-based ozone generators in the water treatment plant and source a different water supply. The town will begin testing for well sites near the Craik Regional Park as soon as possible.
Part of the work will include the addition of flow meters and valves to the existing water treatment plant. By monitoring the draw on the tanks, the town will be able to efficiently identify which tanks need backwashing and have early warning of other possible maintenance issues.
Schatz received approval from Water Security Agency inspector Roger Miller before presenting his findings to the town.
The town has begun investigating grants to help fund the installation of the ozone generators and drilling of an additional well.
Ozone generators, used to disinfect water and provide taste/odour control, also provide colour removal, and manganese oxidation. The compound has been used for these purposes for over 100 years.
“It is exciting to have news that the town will have drinkable water again,” said Mayor Rick Rogers.
He said that winter does not present a barrier to the start of work. Completion of the project will take between one and two years.
Cyclones look to move up in league standings
DAVIDSON— The Cyclones beat LeRoy twice last week to improve their record to 8-8 as they make a bid to move up in league standings heading into playoffs.
The Cyclones were in LeRoy last Wednesday where they beat the Braves 6-4.
LeRoy got off to an early lead with a goal five minutes into the first frame. Davidson’s Pat Cey (Ben Wasmuth, Zach Sim) tied it up at 10:31. While on the powerplay, Garrett Dieno, from Kyle Bortis, scored to put the Cyclones ahead 2-1. Carter Smith (Bortis and Rhyse Dieno) scored to end the period with Davidson up 3-1.
The Cyclones came out scoring in the second period after Garrett Dieno (Bortis, Rhyse Dieno) found the back of the Braves’ net. Cey (Cody Danberg, Smith) scored his second goal of the game to give the Cyclones a 5-1 lead. The Braves came back scoring two goals before Derek Allan (Rhyse Dieno, Sim) scored Davidson’s sixth and final goal of the game on the powerplay to put Davidson up 6-3.
In the third period the Braves scored their fourth goal, shorthanded, to narrow the gap but it wasn’t enough and the Cyclones and their goalie Brady Willner got out of LeRoy with a 6-4 win.
This victory came after a Jan. 9 game against LeRoy in Watson with Davidson’s Kyle Bortis scoring the game winner in a shootout.
After scoring 4 goals in the first period for a 4-2 lead, the Cyclones were silent in the second period, allowing the Braves to take the lead. Davidson was down 8-4 heading to the midway point of the third period and the game seemed all but lost. Derek Allan scored his second goal of the game to revive the Cyclones and give them some hope. As the minutes wound down, Carter Smith (from Allan) scored to put Davidson within two. With seconds on the clock, goalie Mark Zoerb pulled and the extra attacker on the ice, Allan got his third goal of the game to put the Cyclones down by one. With 17 seconds remaining Smith, from Brett Ward, scored the tying goal to send it into overtime. A scoreless OT forced the shootout with Davidson’s Cey, Derek Allan, Smith and Bortis scoring for the win.
The Cyclones played league-leading Drake at home Friday and then travelled to Lanigan Saturday to take on the second-place Pirates. Davidson’s final league game is this Saturday in Watrous.