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Issue 20

WEATHER & INDEX

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Careers ........C9 - 12Church Dir. ..........C8Classifi eds .....C4 - 8Obituaries .....C7 - 8Perspective ........ A6

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No Injuries In CollisionAn Estevan man was fortunate to walk away with no injuries after the semi he was driving collided with a train south of Estevan on Sept. 11. For more on story please see page A11. Photo courtesy of Estevan RCMP.

The eagerly antici-pated bolstering of RCMP presence on southeastern Saskatchewan highways could begin as early as next week according to Inspector Andy Landers of the F Divi-sion traffi c sector.

We have one guy, Corporal Andrew Knowles, recently from the Fillmore area detachment moving in to take on the supervisory role as early as September 26, said Landers.

The highway patrol constables will be working with investigation units in Weyburn and Estevan, he said.

Two more constables are in the process of being

Increased RCMP presence on local highways coming soon

released from their current detachment duties else-where so they can transfer into Estevan to provide basic traffic enforcement along this regions busiest thoroughfares, most notably Highway 39 between North Portal and Weyburn.

Its timely, its need-ed, said Landers.

The new constables will work out of the same offi ce that houses the In-ternational Border En-forcement Team on Fourth Street.

We want four con-stables filling the traffic detail as soon as possible and preferably we want six on the ground or on the highways, said Landers. He said one of the RCMP members who is transfer-ring into Estevan is coming from Broadview.

In the Estevan detach-ment, Sergeant Daryl Milo said he currently has fi ve constables being deployed plus himself and he sec-onded the comment made

by Inspector Landers. There are tons of ag-

gressive driving complaints coming into our offi ce from these highways and Im re-ferring to No.s 18, 39 and 47, Milo said.

A lot of them are road rage items that we try to deal with as best we can, so the increased visibility of police on these highways will be a welcomed addition in this region, he said.

That will no doubt come as welcome news to Marge Young and other members of the Estevan and Area Time to Twin committee who just issued a challenge during the Labour Day weekend.

Young said the RCMP had made a statement they would be out in force on Saskatchewans Highways 1, 7, 11 and 16 because they were the highways with the most traffi c. She said that while any increased pres-ence and enforcement on the highways is welcomed, she was troubled by the fact that the RCMP apparently werent aware of the fact that Highway 39 should have been included in this list of high traffi c through-ways.

She said while it is true Highways 1 and 11 have high numbers, they are also already twinned, but High-way 7 west of Time A2

A man who is likely a familiar face to many Este-van residents has launched a bid to become mayor.

J im Hal laday, the owner of M & H Taxi, has fi led his papers and will vie for the citys top job with Councillors Roy Ludwig and Lynn Chipley.

Halladay said he has spoken with a number of local residents regarding their thoughts and concerns on Estevan and he felt it was time to step forward to

Halladay launches run for mayor

Jim Halladaybecome part of the solution.

I felt that my decision should be based on what

people wanted to help me with and that is where I am going with it, said Halla-day who noted that his other foray into municipal politics was an unsuccessful run for council in the early 1970s.

Ive been in business for almost 40 years and I might as well put some of that input into the city and see if we can get something going in the right direction. I had looked at running for council but my wife said if you think that you want to

run for it, why dont you go for the mayors job. So here we are.

Halladay said one of his primary concerns is the citys infrastructure. It has been well documented that much of Estevans in-frastructure is in need of improvement and Halladay feels that should be a major focus going forward.

We have to start at the bottom and work our way to the top, Halladay said in reference to the need to

improve the citys water and sewer system before focusing on roads. Yes, we defi nitely need to improve our streets, but we cant do that overnight and that has to be a long range project.

Halladay added that a key to any success the City might have in improving its infrastructure is a cohesive council with everyone pull-ing in the same direction.

Weve got to realize that its not our job to

Three A2

Hard Knocks 28 Held At Spectra Place

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A2 September 19, 2012 Estevan Mercury

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Dr. Daniel Crooks, Dr. Daniel Crooks, DMDDMDAccepting new patients & welcoming back

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South East Corner-stone Public School Divi-sion is heading down the virtual school path over the next couple of years.

Students who embark on the adventure in edu-cation with Cornerstone are able to complete their Grade 12 diploma enjoying a greater variety of credit courses that will enable them to reach that goal, said Marc Casavant, the divi-sions director of education.

Its a first for the school division and one of just a few in the province that will be offering this opportunity to reach stu-dents who might otherwise not have the opportunity to complete a course, said Casavant.

Last year several hun-dred students took advan-tage of the virtual school offerings through online courses and the number and variety of the courses is be-ing added to this year, said Casavant. Total enrolment in the Cornerstone division

is now in excess of 8,200 students.

Even students at Es-tevan Comp and Weyburn Comp get more options with this system, not just the students in the smaller or more remote schools. Students requiring a ma-ternity or medical leave, for instance, can complete their work in a variety of time blocks. There is a lot more fl exibility and choice and the courses can be ac-cessed 24/7 and pretty well almost any day of the year, the director added.

Cornerstone will have a team of educators as-signed and dedicated to the project and it will be their role to make the virtual school their priority and as far as fi nancing the project, Casavant said that when it came to educational oppor-tunities, there was always a way to make it happen and that funding would be found within existing budgets.

Along with plans for

a virtual online school, Casavant said Cornerstone trustees will soon be pro-cessing a new four-year plan to coincide with the new boards term. When the board met Sept. 13 for their monthly business session, the current board agreed to a motion to set sights on long-term facility renewal plans that include the completion of a current major capital project for Weyburn Comprehensive School. This will be fol-lowed by a major overhaul of Weyburn Junior High in 2014-15 and then a new design and concept for Carlyle to encompass a kindergarten to Grade 12 program.That will then lead to a plan to undergo a major rebuild and overhaul of the Estevan Comprehen-sive School beginning with planning and design work in 2017 and a completed project by 2020.

Current facility repair projects that got the green light from the trustees

on Sept. 13 started with the agreement to assign $800,000 for a major re-build of three sections of the roof at ECS. Others that received a go sign included the addition of two relocat-able classrooms at Arcola School and one in Mooso-min while roof repairs were approved for schools in Wawota, Redvers, Stough-ton and Wapella.

The fi rst stage of the study that will lead to the Carlyle School refurbish-ment was also approved and that will include the idea of moving all grades into one structure.

The trustees, led by chairwoman Carol Flynn, agreed to proceed with the demolition of the old section of the Pangman School, a structure that dated back to 1946. It was reported that the area had been successfully vacated and all students were easily accommodated in the new-er sections of the school now, so the work could

begin immediately. Also included in the

work orders that were ap-proved were improvements to the administration offi ce parking lot and the schools transportation shop in Wey-burn.

The public school di-vision has also called a special meeting for Oct. 9 to discuss school review protocol. Trustee Audrey Trombley explained that the board is required to undergo the exercise each year with the director pro-viding the trustees with information regarding of-ficial enrolment numbers and whether a school meets the minimum registration requirements to avoid the review process. If any par-ticular school does not meet the minimum requirement, and the board decides it must be put under review, then it much be put on no-tice no later than Oct. 15, she said.

And since we dont have official registration

numbers until Sept. 30, and our next regular board meeting is Oct. 18, we need to have this special meeting to have our school reviews, she said.

In the meantime all of the Cornerstone trustees except one have indicated a desire to seek re-election in the upcoming Oct. 24 general civic election. Da-ryl Harrison, trustee for Subdivision 3 is the only one who has decided not to fi le nomination papers.

Cornerstone is gov-erned by a 10 member board consisting of two representatives each from Weyburn and Estevan plus six members representing rural and smaller commu-nity schools.

Estevans trustees Pam Currie and Janet Foord indicated this past summer that they would be seeking re-election and so far no one else has stepped forward to challenge them. The dead-line for fi ling nomination papers is Sept. 19.

There is a whole new community neighbourhood growing up on Estevans north side.

Trimount Estevan De-velopments Ltd. launched their latest venture in the Energy City last Friday morning with a splash of dirt and the introduction of another plan to provide space and housing for the citys growing population.

Mike Reinhael ler, vice-president of opera-tions for Trimount, served as emcee for a brief launch-ing ceremony and party at the development site located a block north of Wellock Road not far from Lynn Prime Park.

Reinhael ler in t ro-duced Trimount president Jason Fleury, along with Matt Rood, vice-president of business development, who drove from Weyburn where the company is also developing a tract of prop-erty for residential use.

Jack Grant, represent-ing both Boardwalk Prop-

erties, and Sam Kolias, investors in the Estevan project, also spoke to the gathering that included city councillors, civic employ-ees, construction personnel and corporate employees.

Were excited about Estevans growth. Our master plan for this area includes parks and path-ways. Were making it family friendly for new-comers to your city, said Reinhaeller. Weve been here as part of an earlier subdivision development, so were part of your com-munity now. I have moved here with my wife, were in.

Fleury said he had to thank the City of Estevan for embracing the com-pany, realizing that it is no small or easy task to work in tandem with developers to get a project such as this together in an acceler-ated timeline. He also paid tribute to local contractors who have translated the proposals and plans into a

project to build a commu-nity within a community.

Fleury said sites have been prepared for the fi rst 37 single family residences and Terry Germain of Cen-tury 21, the agents for the property sales, noted that the fi rst 12 properties have already been sold after less than a week on the market.

Duplexes and town-houses are being planned in the next step of the fi rst phase of development, said Fleury, and four storey apartment units are also in the plan.

Estevans new fire hall will be located in the neighbourhood as the new community within a com-munity expands to include the construction of up to 470 new sites for homes.

But today we mark the breaking of the ground for this beginning, said Fleury.

Estevan Councillor Chris Istace, speaking on behalf of the City, said the governing body realized

that their best resourceful move to move forward on housing plans, called for them to partner with those who know how to build homes.

Estevans land devel-opment offi cer Rob Denys was also thanked by Tri-mount for keeping them on the right track when it came to the specifi c properties and the details that needed to be tended to.

Istace added that this developer is taking the ball and running with it and making a full integration into a community ... not just homes. The council-lor added that these were the kinds of projects that had to roll out if Estevan was going to fi ll the 1,200 job vacancies that exist in the city and immediate area.

Grant, who hails from Calgary, brought greetings from Kolias and noted that he should win Estevans tourist of the year award. This is my 19th trip here in

less than a year, he joked. If you dont have such an award, you should have one and you should give it to me, he said with a laugh.

He said Kolias had de-cided to invest in the Este-van project when he could have invested anywhere. But he said he enjoyed the people, your folks at City Hall and their eagerness to move it along quickly while still adhering to the values that they were insist-ing on to build together.

Grant went on to say that growth in a city such as Estevan is inevitable, but it must also be sustain-able and ethical ... foster-ing ideals and here in the Dominion Heights com-munity you will fi nd values because there will be faith in the developer. This city deserves the best and no citizen should ever feel as a stranger in their new home town.

Trimount offi cials also noted that as an ongoing presence in the city, they

will be getting involved in the volunteer and chari-table sides of citizenship.

Ed Komarnicki, MP for Souris-Moose Moun-tain, said he was excited to see this particular area of the city undergoing growth since Ive walked on this prairie land, so its great to see development here now. I saw things come to fruition. Trimount took the risks. They saw houses where we saw a chunk of land and they will remem-ber theyre building com-munities where people will invest their lives.

Reinhaeller noted the entire project embraces a total of 86 acres with 22 of those being dedicated to the fi rst two phases of the de-velopment that can expand to embrace as many as 230 single family homes.

All services including sidewalks, curbs, water and sewer, et al, should be com-pleted by Dec. 1 of this year with most of the properties in Phase 1 already serviced.

New subdivision launched on citys north side

Cornerstone launching virtual school project

Trimount Estevan Developments Ltd. broke ground on a huge new project on the citys north side last Friday. Matt Rood, vice-president of business development (left), Jason Fleury, president (centre) and Mike Reinhaeller, vice-president of operations were on hand to survey the early excavation work that was underway on the fi rst phase that will see 37 serviced properties readied for single dwelling construction along with several multi-family units.

Were excited about Estevans growth. Our master plan for this area includes parks and pathways. Were making it family friendly for newcomers to your city.

Mike ReinhaellerTrimount VP Operations

A4 September 19, 2012 Estevan Mercury

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Estevans lone OB/GYN says a lack of pa-tients is behind the deci-sion to close his practice in October.

The Mercury reported earlier this month that Dr. Yusuf Kasim had informed his patients and those in the local medical com-munity that he planned to shutter his practice, which is located in the St. Josephs Hospital Clinic.

In an interview Thurs-day, Kasim said he and his family have enjoyed their time in Estevan but his hand was forced.

I dont have pa-tients, he said. Its been like that since the begin-ning. We thought with the anesthetist it would improve, but it has not improved.

Kasim added that he is paid on a fee for service basis and because he is a specialist, he does not see

patients with everyday maladies which means he does not have the volume of work that a general practitioner might.

He had inquired about

the possibility of being taken off fee for service and placed on a contract, but that idea was rebuffed.

We were talking with the ministry if I could

be taken off the fee for service and (placed) on a contract but they feel its not sustainable to have a specialist here, Kasim said. (The Sun Country Health Region) discussed with the ministry if a con-

tract was possible but they said no. It has to be fee for service and fee for service, I cannot sustain a sole specialist practice.

Kasim said when he looked at the population of the region that Este-van medical professionals

typically serve, he felt there would be enough patients to forge a strong practice. However after a slow start following his arrival, things never improved.

Its a surprise and I

felt that after one year, if it had not improved its not likely going to improve, he said. A lot of patients in the region go to Regina and go to Brandon.

Kasim said the deci-sion to leave Estevan was not an easy one. He noted

his family would like to continue living in the city but he also needs to be able to put food on the ta-ble for them, said Kasim who added he also enjoyed working within the local health-care system.

I really enjoyed the community aspect and the working environment in the hospital.

As of Thursdays in-terview, Kasim said he had not decided on where he and his family would be moving.

Theyve barely got the new academic year underway, but plans are already in the works for the preparation of a new school calendar to accommodate students, teachers and par-ents in the South East Cor-nerstone Public School Division in 2013-14.

Superintendent Lynn Little and Cornerstones board chairwoman Carol Flynn said they expected a report regarding the next academic calendar year should be completed by March 2013.

Trustee Audrey Trom-bley pointed out to Little that your options are pretty limited now.

Little agreed, seeing as how the potential of be-ginning a new school year prior to Labour Day is now off the table due to provin-cial legislation that prohib-its publicly funded schools from beginning prior to the statutory holiday following the summer break.

Trustee Bryan Wilson said there was no sense in getting into the fi ner details of scheduling the 197 man-

datory school days until such time as the provincial Ministry of Education had established the parameters.

Little said Corner-stone will have the oppor-tunity to sit down with the neighbouring Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division to discuss mutual concerns such as bus transportation and the sharing of schedules since Holy Family offers the only elementary age French im-mersion courses in Estevan while Estevan Comprehen-sive School and Weyburn Comprehensive School offer Catholic students their high school level courses.

Marc Casavant, direc-tor of education for Cor-nerstone, said he expected to get the governments directional paper by this week and after we see what is being proposed and what youll have to base your decisions on, then we can move on.

Little said she expected the committee will still be able to provide a few varia-tions or options to consider as they have in the past.

With the later starting date for the school year, other traditional breaks such as those in February, Easter and Christmas all have to be considered with perhaps some or all of the dates being tightened up to accommodate the new mandate.

In other public school business, Marilyn Yurkiw from the divisions fi nan-cial office delivered the quarterly financial report indicating that there will be an anticipated surplus in the $92 million budget. She reminded trustees and the public that construction expenditures and amortiza-tion payments must be met with the so-called surplus funds, therefore a seem-ingly impressive surplus of between $15 and $16 million is really only a temporary illusion that ap-pears on the bottom line. In other words, that money is pretty well all spoken for as construction projects are paid for and payments on previous projects are made.

We have to put the funds away in surplus to

pay each years amortiza-tion costs, Yurkiw said.

Instruction costs con-tinue to be the largest bill to be paid for Cornerstone at $63.9 million which is slightly over the budgeted amount of $63.3 million. She said additional funds should be forthcoming for a few salary adjustments that should cover most of the shortfall.

Operating the mechan-ical plants in each of the

divisions 38 schools is costing about $9.5 million and transportation (busing) is coming in at around $8.2 million with some amorti-zation payments to make on the recent purchase of sev-eral new buses in the fl eet.

Later during an in-terview with Casavant, The Mercury learned that functional assessments are planned for every build-ing in the divisions sys-tem which will provide

information regarding each schools capabilities over a greater period of time. This will allow better long-range planning and help the division with their capital project applications to the provincial government.

With efficiency re-views in hand, more infor-mation will be accessible for those planning future uses and life expectancy of facilities in the school division.

Lack of patients behind departure

Dr. Yusuf Kasim

New school year calendar may look a bit diff erent

I dont have patients, its been like that since the beginning. We thought with the anesthetist it would improve, but it has not improved.

- Dr. Yusuf Kasim

CAW meet NHLPA. NHL team owners meet

Ford, Chrysler, GM.Now that we have the intro-

ductions completed, would the CAW and the vehicle manufac-turers please provide a tutorial to the NHL and the NHL Players Association on how to conduct bargaining sessions.

The two auto sector groups were at odds and yes, there have been strikes in the past, so were not talking about Mother The-resa versus Gandhi here.

But this is how it went down. They sat at the table, discussed their differences, hammered out a last minute deal with one automaker, saw they were making progress with the other two, so extended the dead-line and I expect that by today, theyll have a deal. Bing, bang, done in 72 hours, deal made. Neither side won but they have a workable contract.

Now contrast that with the feckless NHLPA and NHL own-ers efforts.

All summer we heard stupid stories about the other side not coming back with any substan-tive counter offer, so there is no reason to return to the negotia-tion table.

When the meetings of the not-so-great minds did actually occur, and believe me, it wasnt often, the mantra then changed to we couldnt come to an agreement after 90 minutes of

tough discussion, so we walked away. We dont know when well meet again, but were avail-able and they have our phone number.

What a load of bull roar. So on Saturday, North

America lost its top rated profes-sional hockey season, for at least awhile and what bothered me more than anything was the fact that as the owner-imposed dead-line approached and then passed, nobody was even at the table trying to work something out. They let it pass as if nothing was amiss in the wonderful world of greed versus greed. There was nobody in the mix with the au-thority to keep the two sides at the table, nobody who could tell them that you stay at this table until a deal is done. I hope you like pizza. Fifteen minute bath-room breaks every three hours ... please exchange your smelly shirts for clean ones during those breaks gentlemen. See you in a few minutes.

That didnt happen. There were no lengthy give-and-take sessions, apparently no shouting, no frustrations, no real displays of anger, no confusion, no expla-nations and it seems, no actual

negotiation. They sorta just let the whole

thing slide into temporary obliv-ion, putting thousands of regular working people out of work because of their greed.

There were no eureka mo-ments, no fl ashes of brilliance, no meeting of the minds. In fact, no meeting at all. All the talking was done to reporters and other people who didnt count.

So shut down your fantasy pool sites, dear diary. Gary and Don have spoken ... but appar-ently not to each other.

And here I was, going to talk about educational issues this week, and I spend my valuable allotted time and space ranting about hockey.

How about exiting on a political note?

I understand that Justin Trudeau is going to be the next leader of the federal Liberal party, only because he has his mothers good looks and the political name recognition.

If thats what it takes, then I suggest that those four guys trying to win the provincial NDP leadership nod might want to take the hint. I predict that the fi rst one who changes his name to Thomas Douglas Bradley Diefenbaker wins in a landslide, and I dont care how good look-ing his Mom is.

Check out our website at www.estevanmercury.ca, its good viewing.

It wasnt the biggest news story you read last week nor was it the most political.

But it was a nice story ... and nice reminder that this country still works. And it comes along a time when some of us may be beginning to harbour other thoughts.

The story from the Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan was all about a national coalition of Canadian farm groups launching what is known as the Hay East 2012 program to assist Ontario and Quebec livestock producers dealing with severe drought this summer.

We clearly have a pressing need in Ontario and farmers in Western Canada are prepared to assist our livestock produc-ers, said Mark Wales, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Now we need the support of our federal and

provincial governments, the railways, corporate partners and other stakeholders to make this effort have a real impact on the ground.

Its a great gesture by Western farmers and ranchers. But if it sounds a little familiar to you, its because it is. A decade ago in 2002 when Western farmers and ranchers were experiencing drought problems, it was Ontario and Quebec farmers who launched an identical program called Hay West.

About 110,000 tonnes of hay were shipped west from benevolent Eastern farmers and millions of dollars were raised through fundraising to make the rail shipments possible.

Some 10 years later, appreciative Western farmers and ranchers are now eager to return the favour.

As we head into the fi nal stretches of harvest across much of the province and start turning our thoughts towards Thanksgiving, I think its time for all of us in the West to take a moment to think of those less fortunate than ourselves, said APAS president Norm Hall.

In 2002, Eastern farmers shipped us thousands of bales of hay to help save our herds from starvation. Its 10 years later and the time has come for us to give back to the people who helped us when we needed it.

In the great scheme of whats going on in our country today, this nice little program demonstrating Canadians help-ing other Canadians is really no big deal.

But it is more than a little ironic that the Hay East program comes along at a time when a separatist government in Quebec is again raising the hackles of Westerners.

The election of a Parti Quebecois minority government

was met with an immediate response from Saskatchewan Pre-mier Brad Wall, warning that Prime Minister Stephen Harper better not give any more special considerations to Quebec to appease the separatists.

Admittedly, its hard to argue against Walls sentiment. The threat of separation and the never-ending demands from the Quebec government have clearly worn down Westerners patience. Add to this the growing sentiment in the resource rich West that if Quebec wants to go so badly, maybe now is the time they should go.

But maybe a lot of people arent really thinking this through to its conclusion.

To begin with, at least half of Quebecers clearly want to remain Canadians - a number that would likely be higher when push comes shove.

What about the rest of us, though? What do we stand lose?Well, the loss of Quebec will make it exceedingly tough

to keep the remainder of the federation together, including both Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. So really, whats always at stake here is our entire country - all that it is and all that it represents.

We are a nation from sea-to-sea-to-sea that weve made work for the past 145 years simply because what has brought us together has always been stronger than what has divided us.

Sure, there are differences from region to region. Those differences run even deeper when it comes to Quebec. More-over, what unites us is sometimes hard to defi ne.

But sometimes its sharing in a time of need. Sometimes its a simple as bale of hay.

EDITORIAL

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PETER NG: PublisherBRANT KERSEY: General ManagerCHAD SAXON AND NORM PARK: Co-EditorsCINDY BEAULIEU: Advertising Sales ManagerMember Canadian Community Newspapers Association.Member Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association.Audited by Audit Bureau of Circulations.

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Published weekly by Prairie Newspaper Group Limited Partnership, 68 Souris Avenue N., Estevan, Saskatchewan. Postal address: Box 730 Estevan, Saskatchewan, S4A 2A6 The Estevan Mercury is owned and operated by Prairie Newspaper Group Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of Glacier Media Inc.

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Volume 110 Issue 20

Norm ParkAll Things

Considered

Murray Mandryk is a political columnist with the Leader Post

MURRAY MANDRYK

Prairie Perspective

Hay shows country may work after all

Now that the House of Commons is back to business, we feel certain our fellow Canadians can hardly wait for the next exciting announcement that nothing much is happening on Parliament Hill.

Oh, something might be going on, but with a self-imposed mandate to tell us very little of what is going on behind the closed doors, this cur-rent government in power with their majority status is about to establish an even more opaque barrier between themselves and the panting public.

The attitude that we know whats good for you, so quit asking all those questions, that currently dominates this current regime, will prob-ably continue to grow unabated.

We will be informed that we shouldnt be expressing any concern over the late arrival of the new Sikorsky helicopters that were supposed to replace the 50-year-old fl eet of Sea King maritime choppers. They were due 43 months ago. They might arrive any day now. The bill was going to be $5.7 billion. But dont hold your breath. As for an actual delivery date of these new Cyclone helicopters? Who knows? Nobody in the federal government is talking.

In the meantime the totally unreliable Sea Kings will be embarrass-ingly trotted out by our military as stop-gap tools to use, as they have been for the past 10 years.

In fact there are a few more Canadian Forces contracts that defi ed explanation and to be fair, some of these brain-trust decisions were made by previous governments. But at the same time, nothing much has happened during the Stephen Harper regime to ease the situation.

Take, for example, those second-hand submarines we purchased from the British. We believe there were supposed to be four of them, but in over 10 years of illusionary service, they still cant fl oat, dive, deploy or deliver. They have spent more time in dry dock undergoing repairs than they have at sea. If our memory serves us properly, two of them never have gone anywhere other than the service bay and none of them are capable of being armed.

Search and rescue planes? That purchase was on the books before too. Never happened. We dont

know why. Nobody is talking. Then, of course, there is the most recent military procurement circus

act, the phantom purchase of the F-35 fi ghter jets that were supposed to replace our aged out CF-18 fl eet.

This was a sole-sourced deal ... in other words, it was a done deal behind locked doors and curtained windows, a rumoured $15 billion deal with one supplier. Nobody else was asked to bid.

The auditor general disapproved and called out the government for their low-brow horse dealing, but the government ignored his warning and call for transparency.

These jets are still in the designer mode, and other countries that placed orders for them are cancelling due to lack of information about reliability, potential and delivery dates. Not Canada. We are the ideal suckers on the international military procurement front.

Maybe we should have built those Avro-Arrows back in 1959, at least we could have been fl ying our own planes all these years.

And these are just the non-transparency items we can off-handedly cite on the military front. You can only imagine how many other backroom deals are being fostered behind our backs as MPs head into a new House of Commons fall session.

We can hardly wait for the managed non-news items to start drib-bling out.

Dont expect too much

Devil is in the details

Letters to the EditorSeptember 19, 2012 A7www.estevanmercury.ca

12094TS00

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Council BriefsCouncil BriefsNews and notes from the September 10 regular meeting of Estevan city councilNews and notes from the September 10 regular meeting of Estevan city council

A8 September 19, 2012 Estevan Mercury

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12094MC02

An assault that took place at a local sporting event on the night of Sept. 14 is now under investigation by the Estevan Police Service (EPS) members. They report they were able to locate the people involved in the inci-dent and were able to deal with the immediate issue prior to the launching of the investigation.

Noisy house parties also attracted police attention that same night. Numerous tickets were issued as a result of calls complaining about the noise levels. The tickets issued were generally for such offences as open alco-hol containers in public and minors being in possession of alcohol.

Police also arrested some intoxicated people in local businesses on Friday night. They were charged with being intoxicated in public and held in custody until they regained sobriety. The fi nes for public intoxica-tion are usually $200.

Police arrested a Mani-toba man outside a local es-tablishment on Friday night after he was caught with an illegal substance. The Bran-don man was lodged in cells until sober and has an Octo-ber court date to answer to

the other charges pertaining to his drug possession.

Later that same night ,police responded to a call of concern regarding an in-toxicated man who had been spotted walking along the highway. Police located the subject and transported him to a safe location. While they were dealing with this man, they encountered an impaired driver on the edge of the city who had been involved in a roll-over. No injuries were sustained by the lone occupant, and the investigation was turned over to the RCMP for further processing.

Before the night was over, EPS members had to make their way to a local hotel to check up on some people who were causing problems in the hallway. Po-lice attended and learned that fi ve Ontario men who had been drinking were having problems with a certain situ-ation they found themselves in, so police managed to send two of the men in another direction and were able to conclude the matter with the other three in a peaceful manner.

On the night of Sept. 15, police attended a local lounge where there was a report of a

patron causing problems by refusing to leave after being asked to do so by staff. The 50-year-old Estevan man was arrested and charged under the Alcohol and Gam-ing Regulations Act.

There were two more reported incidents of people being intoxicated in public and both were arrested and lodged in cells until sober.

EPS members then en-countered several people

who were engaged in an argument in a parking lot. They noted that one of the subjects was injured and fur-ther learned that the man had been on probation and had attempted to start a fi ght with others while in an intoxicated state. The man was arrested and charged with being in breach of court-ordered con-ditions and was lodged in cells for the night.

A call from a local res-

taurant regarding an intoxi-cated male who was causing problems prompted police action. The man was ar-rested for being intoxicated in public and for causing a disturbance. He was also lodged in cells until sober.

On the night of Sept. 16, police responded to a call regarding an accident on the citys south side. They discovered a single vehicle had entered the ditch after

the driver had lost control. The vehicle had sustained substantial damage. The driver was handed a 24-hour licence suspension. While tending to the details of the investigation, police learned that two dirt bikes that were in the back of the truck had been reported as stolen, so they were seized and police have now extended their in-vestigation to include the ad-ditional elements and items.

Intoxicated subjects kept police on the run

They werent necessar-ily thrilled about it, but the provincial government has signed on to a new federal agriculture deal.

Saskatchewan Agricul-ture Minister Lyle Stewart joined federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and his colleagues from across Canada to sign the Growing Forward 2 multilateral frame-work agreement last week.

The new agreement in-cludes a 50 per cent increase in funding for strategic initia-tives such as research, water infrastructure and market de-velopment. In Saskatchewan this will mean $46 million per year from the federal

government versus $30 mil-lion per year over the past fi ve years. While all business risk management programs such as AgriStability, AgriInvest, Crop Insurance and AgriRe-covery will remain in place, there will be reductions to both AgriStability and Agri-Invest.

The decision to sign the agreement did not come easy as we had opposed changes to AgriInvest after consulting extensively with our stakeholders, Stew-art said. However, we are pleased funding for crop insurance remains unchanged and the increased investment in strategic initiatives such as

research and water infrastruc-ture will benefi t our farmers and ranchers.

The new agreement will reduce the trigger for AgriStability coverage from 85 to 70 per cent of a pro-ducers reference margin. Matching government contri-butions under AgriInvest will be reduced from 1.5 to 1 per cent of producers allowable net sales. However, limits on the funds producers can contribute and hold in their AgriInvest accounts will be increased substantially.

The new agreement would have passed without Saskatchewans support be-cause enough of the other

provinces supported it. By signing this agreement, Sas-katchewan can now enter into negotiations with the federal government on specifi c stra-tegic initiatives.

Our producers have told us that research and innovation is critical as we work to grow our industry, Stewart said. The increase in funding for research, as well as for business development, irrigation and other areas, will play a big role as we work to grow our industry and province. We look for-ward to consulting with our producers and industry on these strategic initiatives in the coming months.

Province reluctantly signs new ag deal

Check our weekly Poll Question - www.estevanmercury.ca

Its a great indicator of how things are going and that there are other areas in the vicinity of Estevan that are open for development

Kelly Lafrentz

A10 September 19, 2012 Estevan Mercury

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While its been well documented that the City of Estevan is enjoying a building boom, the RM of Estevan is letting the public know that theyre doing pretty darn good themselves, thank you.

The RM released its building permit figures to Sept. 12 last week and its clear that 2012 has been a banner year for the organization. In the report from engineering service manager Billy Fowler, it was noted that 52 build-ing permits, which had a combined value of $27.64 million, have been issued as of the 12th.

Of that total, $21.25 million were for commer-cial permits while just over $5 million were for residen-tial dwellings.

Fowler noted in his report that $15 million of that total can be attributed to expansion of the Pioneer Grain Terminal to the west of the city. However, even with that total set aside, the RM is still almost $3 mil-lion ahead of the pace set

in 2011 when it had issued $9.74 million during the same time period.

Kelly Lafrentz, the reeve of the RM of Estevan, said they are obviously pleased with the figures and the level of activity in the area.

Its a great indicator of how things are going and that there are other areas in the vicinity of Estevan that are open for develop-ment and that in the RM of Estevan, both the east and west side industrial sub-divisions, said Lafrentz. Things are going very well.

Lafrentz said the RM noticed a bit of a slowdown over the summer as the local oil industry sagged for a few months. How-ever things have picked up again and he anticipates the strong numbers to hold up for the next couple of years.

Once the truck bypass comes to pass, I think we will see some more com-mercial development and fi lling around the fringes on either side of our industrial

we have now, and that will probably take off too as long as the industries in the area stay busy. It should be great for the RM and the city.

Aside from the obvi-ous commercial interest, Lafrentz said there remains a high interest in develop-ing residential property in the RM.

We have had some

interest in the RM for quite dense residential subdivi-sions and we have kind of turned those away. We are sticking to mostly acreage development and multi-parcel county residential and this is working well. We are in some rezoning and planning preparations right now. We are going to designate certain areas and turn them into acre-

age corridors or indus-trial corridors so you dont have things intermingling. We are trying to get those things apart so we can keep everyone happy as much as we can.

The rezoning and planning preparations that Lafrentz spoke of will be on display for the public to see when the RM hosts a land use planning open house at their offi ce on Fourth Street on Thursday.

Lafrentz said the event is open to anyone interested in seeing what direction the RM is taking and will also give them a chance to provide their input.

Maybe people have

some input or ideas we havent thought about, Lafrentz said. We have been working on this since late March. We have had a lot of development in the RM so we thought we need to stop scribbling plans down on a napkin and take some steps to put some offi cial planning and zoning into effect. Then not only do we know where we are directing people, when somebody comes and wants to develop in the RM, they know where they can go and do the specifi c things they want to do.

The open house is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m.

Construction boom in RM of Estevan

A local woman has come up with a novel ap-proach in the fi ght against cancer.

Abbey Webber is part of the group putting to-gether the Crushing it For Cancer obstacle race on Saturday. Webber is host-ing the event on her land north of the city and it is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.

The race will be used to raise money for Phase II of the expansion campaign of the Breast Health Cen-tre at the Saskatoon City Hospital.

Webber said she came across the idea of rais-ing money for the centre through a friend of hers who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. While riding horses at her friends ranch over the summer, Webber said the friend asked her if she would help raise money for the centre.

I had told her a num-ber of times my favourite thing about Estevan is the generosity of the people, Webber said in an e-mail.

Webber added that she has also held an interest in taking part in one of the popular obstacle races such as Tough Mudder or the Spartan Races, but since they are held outside of the province it was diffi cult for her to travel to them as a mother of two.

While on her way home from riding horses at her friends, Webber came up with the idea of putting the two events to-gether. After speaking with a couple of friends who felt it was a good idea, the ball began rolling and led to the event this weekend.

Webber said the course is a loop through 100 acres of challenging terrain. The natural obstacles include sloughs, uneven ground, six-foot-tall grass with al-

falfa underneath and trees with quite a few fallen logs.

They have also built obstacles including a tire run, two low tunnels that participants will crawl through, a long line of bales to run on top of, two old bale stacks to climb over, an over-under ob-stacle and loose hay. A few more will also be add-ed this week. The course should take 45-60 minutes and there will be options to go around the obstacles, to make it more accessible to all fi tness levels.

Webber added they have several sponsors who have enriched the event. Extreeme Limou-sine will be providing a shuttle which will meet at the PennWest parking lot at 11 a.m. All participants and spectators will be required to take the shuttle as there is limited parking avail-able at the scene. Metra Equipment Inc has been very generous in their sponsorship and Certifi ed Energy has also signed on as a sponsor. M & M Meats will be hosting a

barbecue at the site and the money raised will go to the centre as well. Webber added the cost of the event is covered, so additional sponsorship dollars will go directly to the centre.As well, sponsorship is covering the cost of print-ing pink bandanas. All registrants are required to sign a waiver and once

that is completed, they will get their bandana. Nobody is allowed on the course without a ban-dana. There will be wash-room facilities provided.The shuttle will return to Estevan around 2 p.m.

We are really hoping this is well received and we can do it again every year, Webber said.

Crushing it for Cancer set for Saturday

Kelly Lafrentz

September 19, 2012 A11www.estevanmercury.ca

12094UC00

An Estevan man es-caped with no injuries after a train struck the semi he was driving.

The Sept. 11 collision occurred when the truck stopped at a railway in-tersection on the southeast outskirts of the city. The train hit the front end of the truck and the impact sent the vehicle into the ditch to the right of the intersection. The semi was hauling a flat bed trailer which did not have a load on it.

R e m a r k a b l y, t h e 33-year-old driver of the truck was unharmed and after being checked over by EMS personnel was

released at the scene of the incident. No one on the train was injured and there was no derailment.

Estevan RCMP report that the weather was clear and the road conditions were good at the time of the collision. The inter-section is also marked with rai lway crossing signs. Police also do not believe that alcohol was a factor.

The RCMP, Estevan Police Service, Estevan Fire Rescue Service and local EMS all attended the scene. There was no word if any charges would be laid against the driver of the vehicle.

No injuries in semi-train collision

An Estevan man walked away with no injuries after the semi he was driving was struck by a train south of Estevan last Tuesday.

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Theyve drilled the deepest hole thats ever been dug in Saskatchewan.

At a total depth of 3,396 metres or about 3.3 kilometres down, the Petro-leum Technology Research Centres (PTRC) Aquistore primary well in southeast Saskatchewan is officially the deepest hole ever drilled in this province.

This project is already the first of its kind in the world, so to find that we drilled the deepest well is a nice surprise, said Malcolm Wilson, PTRCs CEO.

Prior to this, the deep-est hole was also drilled in the southeast, an oil-bearing hole in the Torquay-Outram area.

It was confi rmed Aug. 31 by the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy that at 3,396 metres total vertical depth, the Aquistore well is the deepest well drilled to date in the province.

The well, located near Estevan, will be used as a deep saline carbon di-oxide storage site for the SaskPower Boundary Dam carbon capture project. To-gether the two will meet the emission reduction targets by taking captured CO2 gases from the emissions coming from the newly refurbished Boundary Dam Unit No. 3 (BD3) and sequester them

deep underground.The $1.23 billion BD3

clean coal venture is being observed by many global power suppliers since it will be the fi rst commercial-sized exhibit of carbon dioxide capture and storage tech-niques once it is completed in 2013.

PTRC is attempting to demonstrate that deep geo-logical storage of industrial CO2 is safe and economi-cally and environmentally feasible since it is geared to reduce greenhouse gases to meet Canadas climate change goals.

The Aquistore project is an important one as it puts Estevan and Saskatchewan on the world stage, said Wilson.

The BD3 unit will be pumping out approximately 110 megawatts of electrical power into the Saskatchewan grid while capturing most of the carbon dioxide and other noxious and useful gases. CO2 can be used as an agent to enhance oil recovery practices in the southeast Saskatchewan oil patch.

The long-range plan will be to have some, or all, of the carbon dioxide that is captured used to recover oil by piping it into nearby concentrated oil bearing sites which will extend their production lives.

The drilling to the deep-est point ever took 58 days,

said Kevin Brydges, drilling supervisor for Aquistore.

Once operational it will be the fi rst of its kind, and being the deepest brings it additional recognition. he said.

Aquistore will become a primary data point for the deeper Deadwood geologi-cal formation, the deepest sedimentary unit in the Wil-liston Basin. Research is the essential component of the entire project, so the Aquis-tore well will be used for evaluation since it is heavily instrumented with monitor-ing equipment.

The comprehensive suite of well logs and core samples is creating a buzz within the industry, said Kyle Worth, Aquistores project manager. To have quality cores from such a depth is a rarity and our science and engineering research committee is eager to analyze the samples.

The complete set of logs and other data that accom-pany the well will be useful not only for CO2 storage, but also for oil companies in the area who have inter-ests in hydrocarbon bearing formations.

A second observation well will be drilled after the primary one is completed.

That process will begin, probably in October. The observation well could reach a comparable depth. Wilson said the second well will contribute signifi cantly to the data already being collected and might even beat PTRCs just-established record.

Background: Aquistore is an indepen-

dent research and monitor-ing project which intends to demonstrate that storing liquid carbon dioxide deep underground in a brine and sandstone water formation is a safe, workable solution to reduce greenhouse gases. Deep saline aquifers have the potential to store centuries worth of CO2 emissions.

Aquistore, a $26.5 mil-lion research project, is the fi rst commercial scale deep saline injection project in the world, even though injecting CO2 into geological forma-tions is not new, the North American oil industries have the most extensive experi-ence with the process, using it for enhanced oil recovery.

PTRC is a not-for-profi t corporation whose primary focus is on research of sus-tainable development tech-nologies for the petroleum industry.

Aquistore well the deepest in Saskatchewan

The Envision Counsel-ling and Support Centre Inc. is in need of volunteers. Envision recently announced through a press release that its planning fall volunteer training and is looking for women who are willing to as-sist with the 24-hour Abuse/Sexual Assault Support Line.

This year will mark the 18th year that the line has been operating throughout Southeast Saskatchewan. Last year, Envisions line received 420 calls and more assistance is needed with the region growing. Callers often just want someone to talk to about their situation; and some are looking for services or assistance. The volunteers act as a friendly ear and a referral source.

Envision is looking for anyone who wants to make a difference in their commu-nity and a way to help others.

Anyone interested is asked to come out and take a look at Envision Counselling and Support Centres We Treasure our Volunteers booth at the Estevan Show-case on September 29 and 30.

It will be an opportunity to meet with experienced volunteers who can go in depth about the program and how good it feels to give back to the community.

The program is actively looking for women available during the day and evenings for training beginning in October. Envision provides 25 hours of comprehensive training and monthly meet-ings. Potential volunteers only need a desire to help others, a concern about the issue of violence in our so-ciety, and a willingness to listen.

According to Canadian Womens Foundation, in Canada today, one out of three teens experience some form of abuse in their roman-tic relationships. One in four women in Saskatchewan is abused by the man she lives with and each year 24,000 children in Saskatchewan

are exposed to domestic violence. Remember that the average woman will call the police after the 35th time she has been beaten by her partner. With these startling statistics you can see the importance of volunteering and creating a safe place for people to call and be advised of the services available for them, in our community.

We all have something to offer that will make our community a little stronger,

a little more vibrant. When we work together, theres no limit to the heights we can reach, said Patt Lenover-Adams, executive director of the program.

Envision volunteers are able to work out of their own homes with the use of a pager or their own cellphone. Vol-unteers with small children at home have not found the support line to be a problem or an inconvenience during the daytime shifts. There are

at least two people scheduled on the line at all times. The volunteer on call is never on the line without support and guidance, if needed. A back-up person, an experienced volunteer or staff member, is always available.

Anyone interested in volunteering can call Envi-sion Counselling and Sup-port Centre at 637-4004. They can also drop by Booth 10 on Sept. 29 or 30 at the Estevan Showcase.

Envision searching for volunteers

This well located south of Estevan is offi cially the deepest ever drilled in the province.

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September 19, 2012 A15www.estevanmercury.ca

12094MC00

They were speaking on different topics but the two speakers at the Sept. 10 regular meeting of Estevan city council shared a com-mon theme.

Terry Gibson of the Southeast Saskatchewan Airshed Association and Dr. John Gordon, who is part of a group conduct-ing an air quality and lung health study in the Estevan area, both made presenta-tions to council during the meeting.

Although the two men represent groups that have no affi liation with one an-other, their issues are much the same as they share a keen interest in local air quality and the impact that air has on the populace of the region.

Gibson, the execu-tive director of the airshed

association, focused his presentation on what ex-actly an airshed is and the benefi ts that membership could have for the City.

An airshed associa-tion is concerned about the future of an area, the future of the health of the residents and the environ-ment as well as the eco-nomic well being of the region, said Gibson who also touched on why an airshed is needed, noting that without them, there would be no agency around to monitor the quality of the air and ensure that the health of residents was be-ing considered.

The local association was the first of its kind in Saskatchewan and its passive air monitoring pro-gram began in 2006 with the objective of monitoring

ambient air quality. Gibson added that membership is voluntary and their roster consists of local oil com-panies, the mining industry and the local power plants.

This is a very ex-citing time for our asso-ciation. We got a grant just lately from the Ministry of Environment and our mem-bership has been paying better so we can buy some more equipment to monitor things, he said.

Gibson also touched on a few statistics regard-ing the air quality within the airshed. He noted the Saskatchewan standard for the sulphur dioxide is 11 parts per billion and that their data show the area is well below that and has been trending lower. He added that the area is also well below the standard for

nitrogen dioxide.As he wrapped up his

report, Gibson asked that the City of Estevan become a member of the associa-tion and that the cost to join is just $400. He also asked for a councillor to sit on their board.

I think its important that an airshed association raise awareness and en-courage members to come forth from various com-munity circles, he said. We need you and I think you need us to be part of it all with you.

Gordon was before council representing the Airways Research Group at the University of Saskatch-ewan. The group, which is comprised of a number of medical professionals, is interested in the impact of air contaminants on respi-

ratory health. There is an undue

incidence of asthma in southern Saskatchewan and Estevan has been home to a number of studies from the airways group researchers and we have shown that there is a very high incidence of asthma here. And we want to know whether it is due to envi-ronmental contaminants in the air, Gordon said.

The study has two sides to it, the doctor add-ed. One side of the study is the clinical side where they will enlist 100 people in Estevan and 100 in Swift Current who will keep a diary of their respiratory health and lung function each day.

What we are looking for is spikes that occur in reported symptoms at any

one point in time, said Gordon, who added they will also be collecting air samples.

If we identify spikes in respiratory symptoms across any one window in one week, what we will do is go back into the archive dust samples and we will analyze those to see exactly what is in there. The idea is we would like to answer if there are airborne con-taminants that are directly contributing to the respi-ratory symptoms in the population. Estevan is go-ing to be our experimental site and Swift Current will be our control site because the incidence of asthma is slightly higher here.

Anyone interested in taking part in the study is asked to contact the group at 1-306-966-1356.

Air issues highlighted at council meeting

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For the second straight year, a capacity crowd fi lled the grandstands at Estevan Motor Speedway for the event dubbed Eve of De-struction.

The evening, orga-nized by former EMS driver Davin Emmel, was high-lighted by a figure eight trailer race but had plenty more to offer.

Three stunt bike riders were brought in to perform, including two former X Games fi nalists.

The bikers stationed a massive ramp in front of the

grandstand and entertained fans with their high-fl ying stunts throughout the pro-gram.

A rollover contest saw drivers go off the side of a ramp trying to fl ip over and back onto the tires.

The winner of that event , for the second straight year, was Karson Dixon of Lignite, N.D.

There was also a truck pull event, with rival Ford and Dodge drivers taking part in a tug of war. Devin Shirley of Estevan was the winner.

There were 24 entries for the figure eight race, each one hauling a trailer at least six feet long.

Once the drivers got spread out a little, the may-hem soon followed and before long the track was covered in debris.

Brian Wenzel of Este-van was the last driver with some semblance of a trailer and won the event.

There was a calcutta for the trailer race and a truck and trailer unit was auctioned off, with the win-ner participating in the race.

Felix Jimenez wasnt expecting a third round, but in the end, what he did in the fi rst two spoke for itself.

Jimenez beat Wade Baldwin by unanimous de-cision in an all-Estevan main event at Hard Knocks 28 on Saturday at Spectra Place.

After holding the upper hand in the fi rst two rounds, Jimenez (2-2) said he was surprised that the fi ght went the distance.

He was ready for my guillotine chokes, I guess. In training, I used to do it to him all the time. He was ready for that, Jimenez said.

I know he was tired. I was tired too, but I know he was more tired than I was.

Jimenez had Baldwin (1-3) in a deep choke a couple of times, but wasnt able to close the deal.

The fi rst one, I had it pretty deep there. I thought

he was going to (go) limp there, but I guess the only way they were going to stop that one was if he passed right out, because the ref, I think was on his side, but thats all right.

Baldwin said he was trying to wait out the chokes in the hope of tiring out Jimenez.

He was really playing that choke pretty heavy, but he never really had it sunk in, so I was just hoping hed gas his arms out.

Baldwin conceded that he lost the fi rst round, but thought the second round was even, partly due to Jimenez being deducted a point.

I think I started out good and then it seemed like I was a little hesitant to engage after awhile. I think I was applying lots of pres-sure, and then I kinda just gave up on it and stood back and let him dictate where

the fi ght went, he said.He countered most of

what I was trying to do to him. He had a good game plan.

Other than a late fl urry of strikes, there was little action in the third round as both fi ghters were worn out. That led to booing from the crowd.

Its expected. Id boo (us) too. You want to see ac-tion non-stop when youre in the crowd, so I dont blame them for that at all, said Baldwin.

Still, the audience was fi red up for the fi ght, with both locals getting their share of support.

They were going for both, for me and him, so it was good, said Jimenez. I could hear the crowd in the third round (chanting), Fe-lix! Felix! and I dug down a little bit deeper after that.

There were fi ve other Estevan fi ghters on the card,

with two of them winning.Matthew McCormick

won his fi rst bout, needing only 53 seconds to defeat former Estevan Bruin Lee Ruff by technical knockout, using a choke.

Derek Daku (3-1) was not tested in his fi ght against Allan Bogle of Toronto, who was clearly overmatched.

Daku needed just over a minute to win by TKO, knocking Bogle down with a left and using the ground-and-pound to end the fi ght.

He was a big dude, he had just about 40 pounds on me, but I dont know if he was quite prepared for the fi ght. Maybe he fi gured (with) my age, hed have a chance to do a little better, I dont know, said Daku.

The way I got him with that left hook was ex-actly what I was shown last weekend (while training in Las Vegas).

After his fight, Daku

publicly challenged Devon Smith, who was in the build-ing as a corner for a La Ronge fi ghter, to a rematch. Smith defeated Daku in a heavyweight title fight at Hard Knocks 24.

I dont care if its in Langbank, Saskatchewan in the back alley, I dont care, I just want a chance, Daku said in an interview later.

Kurt Bailey (9-7) lost in the second-last fi ght of the evening, with Humboldts Corey Atkinson defeating him by TKO via rear naked choke midway through the fi rst round.

Craig Gaudry (2-2) lost to Meelad Hashtee of Toronto, tapping out during a guillotine choke with just three seconds left in the fi rst round.

Mike Geib (0-3) pulled out of his fi ght with Bran-dons Kevin Taylor after the first round, when he incurred a knee injury.

Sandy Lakes Ian Ab-bott had the only knockout of the night against Nic Dupasquier of Winnipeg. Abbott landed a solid kick to the head, followed by a blow to the neck area that ended the fi ght with 22 sec-onds left in the fi rst round.

In other action, it was Ryan Starkell over Zach-ary Atkinson (referee stop-page) in an all-Winnipeg bout; Christian Olson of La Ronge over Nic Grandbois of Kenora, Ont. (injury); Brandons Ethan Cornect over Calgarys Chris Wil-son (TKO); Harold Brun of Kenora over Miguel Tock of Lethbridge, Alta. (tapout); zCurtis Richard of Thunder Bay, Ont. over Joshua Ferguson of Bran-don (TKO); Calgarys Justin Hill over Kenoras Cody Puls (submission); and Der-ek Lapierre of Brandon over Kenoras Madison Mejia (tapout).

Packed house again for Eve of Destruction

SOUNDING OFFThey were going for both, for me and him, so it was good. I could hear the crowd in the third round (chanting), Felix! Felix! and I dug down a little bit deeper after that. Estevan fighter Felix Jimenez on his bout with Wade Baldwin in the main event at Hard Knocks 28 on Saturday.

We finally did what we said we need to do. We needed to execute and score in the red zone and it was like the light switch just came on. We looked like a dominating team. Estevan Steelers head coach Phil Zajac on Saturdays 68-8 victory over Weyburn.

Jimenez defeats Baldwin in HK 28 fi naleEstevan fi ghter Craig Gaudry attempts a choke hold on opponent Meelad Hashtee of Toronto during their bout at Hard Knocks 28 on Saturday.

Estevan Motor Speedway marketing director Tracy Lewis-Miller manages to fl ip her car over during the rollover contest at Eve of Destruction on Saturday.

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Recruitment DriveSome members of the Estevan roller derby community gathered at the Icon Centre Sunday afternoon in a welcoming gesture for any woman who might be interested in joining them. The welcoming crew consisted of, from the left: Stacey Lowe (Tinker Toes), Lorelei Lachambre (Hell Squared); Stephanie Dukart (Ghostbuster), Jory Lafrentz, Renee Buskow (Sweetheartless) and Jodi Baht (Vanquisher). The team was hoping to recruit from four to 10 new members to help sustain their squad. They noted that the sport provides great exercise opportunities and is no more dangerous than playing soccer or womens hockey and those who didnt like a lot of contact, could always referee or take on another role as part of the fun package. The team has played fi ve games so far this season.

The Estevan Lions Club Steelers had been pushing on the fl oodgates for awhile and on Saturday, they fi nally burst open.

The Steelers picked up their fi rst win in two years in convincing fashion, stomp-ing the Weyburn Falcons 68-8 on the road.

Running back Levi Pick led the bantam club with fi ve touchdowns, two through the air and three on the ground.

Steelers head coach Phil Zajac estimated that Pick alone romped for 300 rushing yards and that the team racked up 700 total yards.

Im not really sur-prised. Weve been playing well all year. We fi nally did what we said we need to do. We needed to execute and score in the red zone and it was like the light switch just came on. We looked like a dominating team, he said.

The focus in practice all week was fi nishing off

Steelers hammer Weyburn to earn fi rst win

Evan Stabenow of the Estevan Steelers looks for a hole on a return during the teams 68-8 drubbing over Weyburn on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

drives and it paid off for the Steelers (1-4).

We did a lot of work on the red zone last week and perfecting those plays

you have to be able to score on, Zajac said.

We were throwing bombs and completing them for touchdowns. Justin (Tail-

lon), our quarterback, had his best game of the year.

Taillon, Kolby Dyck and Matt Haux also had majors for the Steelers.

On top of that, Estevan had three big-play touch-downs called back due to penalties.

Zajac said the teams

defence was stifl ing, hold-ing the Falcons to under 100 yards, and that the offensive line did a great job in al-lowing Taillon enough time to make plays.

The Steelers led 38-8 at the half.

Now that the team has its fi rst win out of the way, Zajac is expecting much bet-ter football in the last three regular season games.

This is the most im-portant thing. Its nice to totally dominate both sides of the ball, but as a team, you have to learn to win. I told them after the game, Weve learned a whole bunch of stuff this year, now weve learned how to win, he said.

What Im hoping is that well just continue it through and well shock the Raiders (in the season fi nale Oct. 6), who are the No. 1 team in Regina.

The Steelers will host the Lumsden Devils on Sat-urday. Game time is 3 p.m.

The narrative was similar.

In their second game of the season, the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs were right in it at halftime, but saw it all fall apart in the third quarter.

The Elecs lost 31-14 to the A.E. Peacock Torna-dos on Thursday in Moose Jaw High School Football League action.

The teams opener against Weyburn on Sept. 8 followed much the same story.

Just like the game against Weyburn, the fi rst half was really strong. We moved the ball well, said Elecs head coach Mark Schott.

We just had a couple of missed opportunities where the defence forced a turnover and we werent able to capitalize. It would have been nice to push a couple of those into the end zone to get the lead before half.

After a scoreless fi rst quarter, the Tornados struck early in the second on an 82-yard completion from quar-terback Sawyer Buettner to receiver Levi Paul.

The Elecs countered later in the quarter when

Elecs drop to 0-2 with loss to Peacock in Moose JawColten Bachorcik punched in a three-yard rushing ma-jor. After a missed convert, the Elecs trailed 7-6 at the half.

It all came apart for the Elecs in the third quarter, with Peacock scoring two touchdowns and adding a fi eld goal.

Schott said the first major for the Tornados was painful.

At the start of the second half, our defence forced a two-and-out. Our offence came out and turned the ball over on their fi rst play, then Peacock scored on their next play. That was a big turning point there, he said.

Penalties also cost the Elecs for the second straight week.

At one point, the Elecs were slapped with two 15-yard penalties on the same play. Schott said the of-fi cials thought they heard swearing and the Elecs players denied it, which only resulted in a second penalty for talking back.

Peacock would score a touchdown on the same drive.

That was unfortunate and we just couldnt dig ourselves out of that hole,

said Schott.The Tornados extended

their lead to 31-7 in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard pass to Blake Olsen.

ECS closed out the scoring on a one-yard plunge by running back Kaleb Memory.

Elecs quarterback Kol-by Fleury threw 15-of-28 for 204 yards, an improve-ment on his showing in the opener.

He was great. The receivers have been run-

ning really good routes and getting their hands up there catching the balls and Fleu-rys making terrifi c passes to them. Thats defi nitely our strong suit right now, moving the ball through the

air, said Schott.Ian Ferguson had a

solid day in the receiving corps and Cole MacCuish made quite a few tackles for losses in the backfi eld, Schott said.

Jesse Mack was also impressive, serving as the teams punter in his first football game ever.

For his fi rst football game and being told he was the punter in the pre-game, he averaged about 40 yards per punt.

The first few weeks of the MJHSFL schedule are very compressed, and the Elecs had a quick turn-around after Thursdays game, hosting the Swift Current Colts yesterday.

After that, they only get three days off before visiting the Central Cy-clones this Saturday.

With four games in two weeks, Schott said there is a focus on conditioning in practice.

Weve really been monitoring guys at practice and keeping tabs on the bumps and bruises, and making sure that guys are both mentally and physi-cally sharp.

Cole MacCuish of the ECS Elecs runs the ball toward the sideline during a recent game. (File Photo)

September 19, 2012 B3www.estevanmercury.ca

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The fi nal roster deci-sions have yet to be made, but the Estevan Bruins look at the nucleus of their roster and see a team that can contend in the SJHL this year.

The Bruins have sev-eral key 20-year-olds to lean on, as well as a strong group of sophomores who impressed last year and will be asked to build on that.

This team certainly has the talent and potential to do so and its just going to be a matter of us play-ing at a consistently high level, said Bruins head coach and general manager Keith Cassidy. You would expect that talent to peak almost next year, but the makeup of our team says we certainly do have a chance this year.

The Bruins forward corps has plenty of depth and perhaps the biggest question right now is who will play on the fi rst line with Calder Neufeld and Cole Olson.

Rookie winger Hud-son Morrison and 20-year-old trade acquisition Nick Weiss have both been given a shot on the line in training camp and preseason play. Morrison may yet centre a line of his own.

I think Nick Weiss is going to provide some scoring for us as well. Hes a bigger bodied guy with a good shot and a good nose for the net, Cassidy said. Its all going to come down to the chemistry be-tween them.

T h e s e c o n d l i n e , for now, is comprised of

19-year-olds Taylor Reich, Matt Brykaliuk and Tanner Froese.

They did a heck of a job last year and took a good step in their develop-ment, said Cassidy.

Among the Bruins other forwards are over-age right winger Tyler Paslawski and promising rookie Wyatt Garagan.

There are still major decisions to be made on defence, with 12 players in the running heading into Mondays preseason game against Notre Dame.

Rookie sensat ions Austin Yano and Tyler Kauk return to make up the top pairing. Although both can be better, they exceeded all expectations last season.

Veteran defenceman

Connor Milligan will also see his fair share of ice in the top four and will be re-lied on for some sandpaper and leadership.

Milligan was paired with Patrick Hurley, a 20-year-old trade acquisi-tion from the SIJHL, in Mondays game. It was the fi rst preseason appearance for Hurley, who struggled in training camp and was hurt in warm-up prior to a Sept. 12 exhibition game against Weyburn.

I think hes typical of a 20-year-old, they tend not to show as well in camp as the younger guys, Cassidy said. I think for a big guy, he moves very well. Hes obviously got the instincts to play the game and do it at a high level.

The picture also in-

cludes returnees Tyler Poskus and Denin Boesch, as well as 19-year-old try-out Nick Sova and a hand-ful of potential rookies.

I think youll see Brett Dumaine make a pretty big impact on this hockey club. (David) Rob-ertson has exceeded my expectations and as a solid stay-at-home defenceman, I think hes going to fi t in real nice.

There is also 17-year-old Zach Douglas, who appears to be a lock to stick around.

The goaltending situ-ation is even more fuzzy at the moment. Returning starter Steven Glass is still struggling with a knee injury stemming from last season. He was evaluated by a doctor on Monday

and was not expected to be ready for Thursdays opener in Melville.

Im not anticipating him starting the season, no, and we do have some work to do there. Im not in a tremendous panic to bring someone in. If were go-ing to bring somebody in, were going to make sure its the right person, said Cassidy. I think (rookie Travis) Pelletier has done whats been expected of him so far.

One option had been to bring back last years backup, Tyler Ross, as a temporarily fill-in, but Cassidy said that ship has sailed.

The Bruins home opener is Friday against the Melville Millionaires. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Estevan Bruins traded centre Ben Johnstone to the Virden Oil Capitals of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League on Sunday.

In return for the Car-lyle native, the team got the rights to Kootenay Ice defenceman Luke Paulsen a