Category Archives: Davidson

Sarich to compete at Western Canadians

The Saskatoon Raiders peewee A ball club is relying on some local help behind the plate this August as they try and capture the Western Canadian title.

Raiders back catcher Jamie Sarich, 14, said the competition at the Aug. 2 to 5 Under-14 Western Canadian Championships held in Prince Albert should be fierce as it brings together the best teams from Manitoba to B.C., but they have high hopes on doing well.

“It should be good games all around,” said Sarich.

The Raiders recently came in third place at the provincials’ tournament in Regina finishing with a 3-3 record. Before that the ball club won a silver medal June 25 in the peewee A division of the Saskatoon Minor Softball League as they lost a hard-fought final game to the champion Saskatoon Lasers.

Sarich said the season on a whole for the team so far has been “pretty good.” The Davidson School Grade 9 student said their hitting could improve, but the team’s overall defensive game have helped them better their competition.

“We got silver in all our tournaments except one and then silver in city playoffs,” she said.

Playing city league ball this year involved a lot of dedication on behalf of Sarich and her parents Lorne and Rhonda as they’re “gone six night a week” for practices and games, said Sarich, but the catcher and the rest of her team hope it all pays off with a Western Canadian title.

RCMP seek help solving hit-and-run

The Craik RCMP is asking for the public’s help in identifying a truck that fled following a serious collision earlier this month at the north entrance to Davidson.

The RCMP said a two-vehicle collision occurred July 6 at approximately 5:25 p.m. on Highway 11. In the collision a southbound Chevrolet Uplander van struck an eastbound truck that crossed into its path from a stop sign.

“The people in the Uplander were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and released,” said Craik RCMP Constable Ian Smith. “The truck is still unidentified.”

The truck has been described as tan in colour and possibly a GMC or Chevrolet work truck with a red fuel slip tank in the back. It received substantial damage in the collision as its rear bumper and tailgate were seen hanging from the back when it was last seen heading northbound on Hwy. 11 past the Davidson Golf Course.

Smith said the driver of the truck is at fault in the collision and also faces a criminal code violation for leaving the scene of an accident. He said the truck was pulling out into oncoming traffic at the time of the collision going from Davidson across to the other side.

“We don’t know at this point what the motive is for leaving (the scene),” he said. “If anybody has witnessed it or are possible witnesses or have any tips please let us know or Crime Stoppers.”

Saskatchewan MLAs lend their voice to fight against U.S. protectionism

Agriculture and rural leaders of state and provincial legislative bodies, including three Saskatchewan MLAs, came together last month to pass a resolution encouraging the United States congress to build trade in Canadian cattle and hog exports rather than implement a new regulation that could become very costly to each country’s producers.

Greg Brkich, MLA for Arm River–Watrous, said the U.S. government’s new rule that disallows meat from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the United States to be processed on the same packing line as meat from other countries is going to end up costing the cattle industry in both countries more money. He said in response to this new regulation SARL (State Agriculture and Rural Leaders) passed this resolution at their annual Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit held June 7 to 9 in Vancouver.

“We feel that North America should be just a straight trading block,” said Brkich. “The border should be an imaginary line because we produce the same kind of meat. We have the same safety regulations (and) environmental rules are the same. It’s just a little bit of protectionism. Some of their federal politicians down in the United States try to protect an industry that doesn’t need protecting. What it is is our producers are going to be getting less money.”

The United States government presented the new rule as a way to try and resolve years of trade disputes with Canada and Mexico over mandatory country of origin labelling rules (mCOOL). Canada and Mexico brought the United States before the World Trade Organization (WTO) over mCOOL, which ruled in Canada and Mexico’s favour last year.

In the resolution passed by SARL, it is stated that mCOOL was found by the WTO to discriminate against imported livestock, which creates challenges for Canadian cattle and hog producers, jeopardizes the viability of U.S. packing and feeding infrastructure placing local and state economies at risk and undermines North American competitiveness in the global market.

Canada’s Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz and Minister of International Trade Ed Fast responded to the U.S. decision to impose the new rule by stating their intention to apply retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports to Canada.

To read more please see the July 8 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Pro-life sign prompts council to take action

A request by Mid-Lakes Pro Life to put a sign up at the Davidson Rink has prompted town council to develop a policy on rules governing religious and political signage on town property.

Deborah Doell, chairperson of Mid-Lakes Pro Life, said the group “just wanted” to put up a sign to let people know their organization is around and people can join them if they like. She said a letter was sent to the town before their May 21 council meeting asking if this would be possible.

A reply back to her from the town was received a week later stating signs on town property are only available for businesses. There is currently no Davidson bylaw in place governing what can and cannot be displayed on signs on town property.

“I found that (reply) kind of surprising because the Elks aren’t a business, the Knights of Columbus aren’t a business and the Kinsmen aren’t a business,” said Doell. “Kenaston has allowed a pro-life sign by their highway and that is the same thing that I was looking for because their town has allowed it and other towns have (too), so I was a little surprised that Davidson isn’t supportive. I’m hoping they change their minds.”

Davidson town councillor Tyler Alexander said council needs a policy about what is allowed, so they have sent a request to Davidson recreation director Trevor Ouellette to write a policy eliminating religious and political messages from appearing on signs displayed on town property.

“I feel that we really shouldn’t start expressing any beliefs on our taxpayer signs because beliefs are just so radically different among town members,” said Alexander. “We really can’t start doing that and be seen supporting one side or the other.”

Alexander said the difficult part in developing this policy is the question of what is considered a political and religious message. He said if federal conservative member of parliament Tom Lukiwski asked to put up a sign that just had a picture of him and his name, would that be considered a political message?

“It is so hard to draw the line,” he said. “There is so much grey area. We just figured it would be easier and really wouldn’t cause any grief if we just stayed away from religion and politics altogether.”

To read more please see the July 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Schmit earns Stars of Life honour

Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) James Schmit has been honoured with a Stars of Life Award for his outstanding achievement, exemplary service and commitment to Emergency Medical Services.

“It was quite a surprise to me,” said Schmit, noting he received a letter from Saskatchewan Emergency Medical Services Association president Steve Skoworodko informing him he won the award only two weeks before the presentation. “I think there was eight or nine of these awarded in the province this year. There is (only) one of these awards in the Heartland Health Region and I received it.”

Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield presented Schmit with the glass sculpture award at Government House in Regina on June 19. He has been an EMR with the Davidson EMS (Emergency Medical Services) for the past 11 years.

As a responder, Schmit has provided pre-hospital emergency care to citizens in need from Chamberlain in the south to a couple miles north of Kenaston as well as from Lake Diefenbaker in the west to halfway between Davidson and Imperial to the east.

Davidson EMS coordinator Adrian Schmiedge nominated Schmit for the award because of his passionate dedication to the service. He said the Davidson EMS would not be what it is today without Schmit’s involvement.

“These awards get sent out for people who have done extra, have done a lot of work for their community, and I nominated him because he has done so much work for EMS,” said Schmiedge. “He has always been available when we need him. He has another job (at C & M Motors) he has to worry about, but he still makes time to be on-call for us when we need him which is very often.”

Schmit describes his job as an EMR as a cross between “intense boredom and sheer terror,” but he is proud to do it because it gives him another opportunity to help those who might need it.

“I’ve always volunteered within the community,” he said. “I’ve been with the fire department here for 33 years. This is something that the community needs and I believe in the community and in small towns.”

Health officials warn people of hantavirus

A rare virus has killed one person in the Heartland Health Region this summer while another death in the region is being investigated to determine if the same virus is the culprit.

Phil Curry, zoonotic diseases consultant with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, said complications from hantavirus has been confirmed by health officials as the cause of death in the first west central Saskatchewan case. He said hantavirus is caused by exposure to airborne particles from the droppings, urine and saliva of infected deer mice, so people need to be careful when cleaning up areas that might have had a mouse infestation over the winter months.

“Deer mice are found throughout Saskatchewan, but they’re more common in rural and semi-rural areas,” said Curry, noting hantavirus has been detected in many samples of deer mice in southern Saskatchewan this year. “They put their nests in stumps, hollow tree cavities, under logs, abandoned bird nests and manmade structures such as wood piles and old cars. They might even enter buildings like garages and homes later in the fall when the weather turns cool. If you think of a lot of areas like farms or small rural communities you’ve got nature right next door to you and deer mice are one of the more common mice in those areas.”

A deer mouse can be distinguished from the common house mouse because of its two-tone colour. The deer mouse has a dark brown back and a white belly, feet and under-tail, while a house mouse is uni-coloured.

Curry said deer mice infected with this strain of hantavirus is “pretty exclusive” to Western North America and the Prairie Provinces. He said since the virus was first characterized in 1994 there have been 24 reported cases of hantavirus in Saskatchewan with seven of them proving fatal.

“It’s important to note too that we basically tend to see the more severe cases and not everybody gets a severe case,” he said. “There is a lot that we don’t know about it. It seems to affect all age groups, so it’s not just people with compromised immune systems. It can affect anybody including young healthy working adults.”

Common symptoms of hantavirus in humans include fever, muscle aches, cough, headaches, nausea and vomiting. If a person develops a fever, cough and shortness of breath within one to six weeks of exposure to a mouse-infested area, immediate medical attention is required.

“Hantavirus is widespread, the actual virus in mice,” said Curry. “We’re asking people to make sure they take precautions when they clean out a building. It’s very important to ventilate a building properly. It is very important not to stir up the dust and breath in the dust particles, so wear gloves, wet mop the area down, don’t use a vacuum cleaner and don’t use an air hose or sweep vigorously. Then you can disinfect the area with one-part-to-10 of bleach.

“For more heavier infestations, it is advised that you take more precautions like wearing coveralls, gloves, and maybe even a mask and eye goggles if you’re cleaning overhead on shelves and things like that. You don’t want the dust to fall in your eyes.”