Craik, featured

Craik RCMP Const. injured in car crash

A Craik RCMP constable is receiving care in a Regina hospital after rolling his police car last week while responding to a domestic disturbance call.

“All we’re saying officially is that he was in a very serious car crash,” said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Rob King. “He was taken via STARS air ambulance to hospital where he still remains.”

The name of the 35-year-old constable, who has three years experience with the force, has not been released. He was travelling west on the 732 grid road in the RM of Sarnia in a marked 2011 Ford Crown Victoria with his emergency equipment activated when he lost control of his car at around 11 p.m. on Sept. 2. The vehicle entered the north ditch and rolled several times coming to rest on its wheels. The constable was the sole occupant of the car.

“He was on his way to a domestic disturbance, while other officers were tied up on another call,” said King. “The accident happened and then another member of the public came along, discovered it, and then used the police radio to call for help.”

After the concerned citizen radioed for help, first responders from the Holdfast area, Davidson Fire Department, Craik Fire Department and Davidson EMS responded to assist. The constable had to be freed from the vehicle using the Jaws of Life before he was airlifted to hospital.

King said the RCMP member employee assistance program has been providing assistance to the family and members of the Craik detachment as they struggle to get through this tragedy.

“They’re a support service really,” he said. “They’re there for anything that his family needs or any type of assistance for the members within the detachment who work with him and know him well, any type of assistance they might need that is critical stress relief or things like that.”

This is the second serious car accident to befall a Saskatchewan RCMP officer this summer.  Const. Derek Pineo lost his life when his cruiser hit a moose in the early hours of July 20, 7 kilometres west of the town of Wilkie, while reported to a call.

featured

PFRA patrons try to lease pastures

Pasture patrons in the area are forming groups and seeking support from their RMs in an effort to lease PFRA lands from the province, but it appears the Government of Saskatchewan is only interested in selling the land.

Dean Palmer, chairman of the McCraney Pasture Committee patron group, said leasing the McCraney pasture through the RM of McCraney would be the best way for the patrons who use the pasture for grazing cattle to retain it. He said it would not be economical for the 25 patrons who use the pasture to buy it.

“The provincial government is working with Farm Credit to try and come up with some kind of a reasonable financing method to buy these pastures, but I really think, as far as buying it, all that does is create a lot of problems,” said Palmer. “If they start selling it quarter-by-quarter, the fence lines are not on the quarter lines…and with the Arm River valley going through it, it’s tough to divide quarter-by-quarter sections up.

“If we’re interested in buying it, it’s going to take a lot of money or some corporate sponsorship. For young producers, like myself, and a lot of the older producers, if they have to come up with however much money, they’ll just sell their cows and get out. I think that is probably the most realistic way, because I don’t think buying it is a real economic option just to graze cows in. There would have to be some alternative economic strength to help reinforce buying it.”

Palmer said the pasture would essentially be a RM of McCraney pasture instead of just a local pasture if the province accepts their lease proposal. Palmer said the group has already submitted the application to the province, but has not received a final decision back from them as of yet.

Lyle Stewart, Minister of Agriculture for the Government of Saskatchewan, said the first five pastures up for sale in the province will be announced sometime this fall and the government is taking bids for them right now. He said the federal government will continue to manage all of the pastures through the 2013 season, but “deals can be done anytime” and the government wants to have a number of them sold by the end of the next season.

“The patrons will have the first opportunity to own and operate these pastures and we’ve had, in this office, lots of calls and visits from people and individuals and corporations that would just buy them all or individual ones and we’ve turned them all down and just told them that the patrons have the first opportunity with these lands, so there is no competition at this point if the patrons are interested,” said Stewart about whether patron groups are competing with multi-nationals, out-of-province groups or corporations at this moment for the lands.

To read more please see the Sept. 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Bird kills power to region: SaskPower tweets about outages

A feathered fiend is to blame for the widespread power outage that enveloped Davidson and area last Saturday afternoon.

“It was actually a bird that made contact with some of our equipment near Davidson and sometimes that can cause an outage on its own,” said Tyler Hobson, media spokesman for SaskPower. “In fact, it looks like it caused a fuse at a substation near Davidson to actually blow when that happened. The fuse blowing caused some extra damage to another piece of equipment at the substation, so it took them just over two hours to get things fixed and then power restored.”

The winged marauder that rammed the power equipment kamikaze like took out power Sept. 1 between the hours of 3 p.m. to just past 5 p.m. in towns from Craik to Kenaston.

Hobson said if anything like this occurs again, be it a bird living out its Hitchcock fantasies or merely a scary storm, residents can now get updates via twitter. There has been no word on how to access twitter when the power is out.

“We’ve just launched a twitter feed about a week and a half ago to report power outages as they happen,” said Hobson, adding residents can access it through @SaskPower. “We’re just working towards getting that operating seven days a week right now, so it will be very soon and that’s a good spot residents can go to and check for information on updates. They can always call our outage centre line as well, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Davidson, Sports

Raiders suffer loss against LCBI Bisons

The Davidson Raiders Senior boys football team lost their only exhibition game of the season 46-13 to the LCBI Bisons last Thursday. This came as they try to shake the cobwebs out after a long summer before taking home field this week for their regular season home opener.

Jason Low, head coach of the Raiders, said it took the 6-man football team a while to get going and remember how to play football Sept. 6 at Outlook field, but that all in all it was a “good first game” for the club.

“We pretty much were sleeping for the first half, that was the hardest part for us,” said Low. “The score was 32-0 at half and then we regrouped and made some adjustments and changes and started playing a little bit better.”

The Raiders were able to push the ball up the field against the Bisons during the second half and kept up the pressure on LCBI almost matching them on the scoreboard 14-13 in a tight second half.

“It was good,” said Low. “Towards the end of the game we made sure everybody got some playing time. We subbed in all our rookies and got everybody in.”

Low said the team would be working on “fine-tuning their defensive system before squaring off Sept. 14 against the Hanley Sabers at Davidson field. He said the offence has to get a little more comfortable with each other as well.

“I’m just trying to help them gel a little more and get some more points on the board.”

Obituary

JOHN WILLIAM GILMOUR
August 7, 1934 – September 2, 2012

The family of Jack Gilmour are saddened to announce his passing at age 78 years after a short battle with lung cancer.  Jack is survived by the love of his life for 52 years, Karen and their three children: Lori of Calgary, Ron (Stella) of Craik and Ray (Coralee) of Edmonton; six grandchildren: George, Vivian, Ashley, Adam, Garrett and Kennedy; as well as a sister Pat (Al) of Indian Head and four Buckingham brothers-in-law: Doug (Rita), Neil, Russ and Bernie; plus numerous nieces and nephews.  Jack was born on the farm to Bill and Betty in the midst of the dirty thirties and his vocation and passion was always farming.  He took over the family farm at the young age of 21 when his own father died prematurely.  Jack expanded the operation through the years and was very proud that his son Ron has carried on as the fourth generation.  Jack was always a good neighbour and was very active in the community as a board member of the Aylesbury Curling Club, Aylesbury Skating Rink, Hallville Snowplough Club, Hallville Telephone Company, Aylesbury Farm Club and the Hustler Machinery Club.  Through the years, Jack was an avid curler and enjoyed many ‘bonspiels’ – collecting a few boxes of trophies along the way and thoroughly enjoying the social aspects of the game.  He was a loyal Craik Warriors hockey fan and in his later years he spent many hours reading and watching television becoming well versed in world politics.  The funeral service was held on Friday, September 7th, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in the Aylesbury Community Hall, Aylesbury, Sask.  Ann Marie Francis officiated and interment followed at Aylesbury Cemetery.  Flowers are gratefully declined.  Memorial donations in Jack’s name may be made to the Aylesbury Cemetery Fund, Box 148, Aylesbury, Sask. S0G 0B0; Aylesbury Recreation Board, Box 45, Aylesbury, Sask. S0G 0B0 or to a local charity of one’s choice.  Arrangements are entrusted to Moose Jaw Funeral Home, 268 Mulberry Lane.  Todd Sjoberg, Funeral Director. 693-4550 www.moosejawfuneralhome.com

Obituary

Tansley

Dora (Ashby) Tansley (retired North York teacher) passed away at Willows Nursing Home at Aurora, Ontario on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 104 years of age. Dora is the mother of the late Jack Tansley and his wife Shirley; grandmother of four, great-grandmother of four and great-great-grandmother of two. Dora taught school for many years, first in Bladworth area and later in Toronto.

Dora is survived by Madeleine Rhodes and family.

Interment at Memorial cemetery, Gravenhurst, Ontario.

The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan