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Issue 50

SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240

ESTEVAN’S

SOURCE FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS

Explosions from workplace incident rocked Estevan

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

A workplace incident in southeast Estevan Monday morning resulted in fires, explosions and a long day for local first responders.

Members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service were notified just before 10 a.m. of a titanium tank fire at the Regens Metals yard on Perkins Street.

The fire department, the Estevan Police Service, Estevan RCMP, Estevan Emergency Medical Services, Occupational Health and Safety officials and conservation officers were dispatched.

When they arrived on the scene, the fire was occurring, and they learned that explosions had occurred shortly before they arrived.

They also learned there were several unaccounted for workers at the scene. Those employees were found at the east end of the property, so they were told to go to the muster site and report.

“During this process, one worker was observed that he looked like he had suffered some burns to the face area, so he was directed to go to EMS,” said Fire Chief Dale Feser.

The individual was

Fires and explosions at a business in southeast Estevan on Monday forced the closure of a portion of Perkins Street. transported to hospital for assessment and treatment, and was released about an hour later.

None of the other workers were injured, Feser said.

The fire chief pointed out their first priority was safety for all involved, and making sure everyone is accounted for.

With the explosions, it created unknown hazards at the building, including concerns of whether another explosion would occur, or if there were compressed gas cylinders in close proximity that might explode.

“We have to make sure that adequate safety measures are taken into consideration, and there is adequate water for suppression efforts,” he said.

It was a fortunate situation that just one person suffered minor injuries.

“I don’t think we could have asked for a better situation considering the events that unfolded this morning,” said Feser.

Connor Barnstable, who works at Precision Machining less than 200 metres to the west of Regens Metals, filmed two of the explosions that occurred before fire crews arrived and posted them to his Facebook page. As of Tuesday morning, it had been shared more than 4,500 times.

He said one of his managers saw smoke and flames coming from the Regens building, so Barnstable stopped to take a look.

“I saw a bunch of smoke

coming from over the top of the one building,” said Barnstable.

He went outside to see if the fire was growing. He wasn’t expecting to see explosions, but after he started filming, two big ones occurred that everybody felt.

“It knocked a bunch of stuff off our walls in our shop,” said Barnstable. “It shook our shop pretty good twice or three times.”

There had also been a smaller explosion before he started filming.

Emergency crews had already been called when the explosions occurred, he said.

Feser noted the Regens Metals building suffered very minimal damage, as the explosion and fire occurred at

the exterior of the building.

But an unoccupied building to the north suffered some significant damage.

“Part of the explosion had a rain-down effect of burning materials, which started some property on fire,” said Feser.

At one point there were three major fires going: one at the explosion site, one at the unoccupied building and a third at a vehicle. A worker moved the vehicle from inside the fence compound to park it on the exterior.

The cause of the fire and explosions is still under investigation, and several agencies are involved. The Ministry of Environment was at the scene because the building was close to a drainage ditch, and

they want to ensure nothing was contaminated and entering the drainage system.

“We didn’t have to do too much damming and diking. It was contained to the property itself and saturated into the ground,” said Feser.

Occupational Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation have been checking to see if there are any unsafe work acts that contributed to the explosion and fire.

“We know that there was a hot works that was occurring that set some materials on fire,” said Feser.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency came down as well to assist with the investigation.

The fires and explosions resulted in a cloud of smoke that blanketed much of Estevan for about an hour Monday morning.

The explosion was heard and felt by much of the city, including those on the west edge of the community, several kilometres away.

A portion of Perkins Street east of Kensington Avenue was closed for several hours while emergency crews responded to the fires. The firefighters didn’t return to the fire hall until around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Flash mob shows gratitude to healthcare workers

By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

People of different ages and different walks of life gathered by St. Joseph’s Hospital Thursday night. At 7 p.m., over a dozen vehicles put their hazard lights on and started slowly circulating around the parking lot, led

by Estevan Police Service vehicles.

This flash mob was organized by a community member to thank the health care workers for everything they do during these times.

“At this time, we all have got to come together and support each other! Say thanks to every essential worker you encounter,” said Trisha English, who organized the flash mob, in her original Facebook post that was published March 31.

English said that the support she received from the post was overwhelming

and she shed some tears a few times during the event.

“I can’t believe that so much support came from just a Facebook post,” said English. “I just want to shout out to everybody that showed up, everybody that has shown their support to me and to all the healthcare workers, frontliners and all essential service workers … And a big shot-out to the Estevan police for helping. It really made me happy.”

Police officers participating in the flash mob helped to organize people who came to show their appreciation.

Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur said they know what it takes to be at the frontlines, and for them it was important to be there and recognize others.

“People who organized it asked us if we wanted to participate, and we certainly were happy to do that … There is a

Trisha English, who organized the flash mob was leasing the group along with the EPS vehicle.

Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia huge strain on these frontline workers during these times.

And it’s important to recognize that these are people that are dealing directly with this disease … It just exemplifies the fact that there are so many heroes through this whole crisis,” said Ladouceur.

Police vehicles put their lights on and also quickly turned the sirens on a couple

of times. And while it made the activity a bit brighter, since the sirens might have alarmed some of the hospital residents, Ladouceur clarified that they only went on due to miscommunication and apologized for the mistake.

During the 15-minute flash mob, all participants stayed in their vehicles to

ensure that all health safety measures were in place.

After the event, a few people messaged English to thank her for the activity she organized and for all the support.

“What I can only reply to that is ‘No, thank you!’

All I did was post a post on Facebook and show up, show my support there to the ones

that are frontlining this,” said English.

Staff at the hospital was also grateful for the support coming from the community.

“I know the staff were very excited about it. It was a really nice salute to our staff. It just shows that the community, Estevan is very strong. And people just want to make A2 » MORE

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A2 April 8, 2020

Estevan physician Dr. Horri suspended for four months The disciplinary council of the Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons has suspended a local physician for four months for unprofessional conduct.

D r. M e h d i H o r r i of the Estevan Medical Group pleaded guilty to five charges under the Medical Profession Act. The council accepted a joint recommendation for the penalty following Horri’s admission of unprofessional conduct, and after a joint submission between Horri’s lawyer and Bryan Salte, the attorney for the college.

The suspension began April 4.

The first incident occurred on April 21, 2017, when he was involved in the care of a patient identified

by the initials Q.L. Horri arranged for an iron infusion for Q.L., and provided or arranged for the infusion of fresh frozen plasma for Q.L., but not within the standard of practice of the profession.

The next incident, on April 22, 2017, involved the care of a patient identified by the initials A.W. Horri provided or arranged for a blood transfusion for A.W.; failed to follow the advice of a hemopathologist who was consulted with respect to the care of the patient; and failed to follow the transfusion protocol in place at the hospital when providing or arranging for the blood. According to documents from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Horri also exhibited anger towards nursing staff

involved in the care of A.W., and placed an entry in A.W.’s chart saying he might contact the licensing body for nursing.

Salte said this case was of particular concern for the college, because an expert in the field said there shouldn’t be a blood transfusion.

“From our perspective, in taking a penalty perspective, that was an important

« A1 sure that everyone feels supported and safe.

And that’s all that matters at the end of the day,” said Breanne Van De Woestyne, who is the executive director of the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.

English is now waiting to get a little bit more feedback before they organize another appreciation activity that she hopes will be even better.

“I took some notes down, just to make it a little

bit more organized. And I want maybe not do it in two days, maybe have five days,” said English. “If anybody has any ideas, they can reach me on social media, just search my name and send me a message if you have any idea

Dr. Mehdi Horri

factor in deciding how long that suspension should be,” he said.

Next, on or about May 22, 2017, Horri was involved in the care of a patient referred to as L.B., and administered Rocuronium without advising STARS personnel. He also left a medical student in charge of arranging the transfer of the patient to Regina without providing appropriate oversight; and failed to be present when STARS personnel arrived to transfer L.B. to Regina, leaving the medical student to communicate with STARS personnel.

Then, on or about June 12, 2017, he was involved in the care of a patient identified as W.V. One or more pharmacists involved in the care of W.V. recommended

a reduction in the quantities of medications being administered to the patient.

Horri failed to record reasons for not following the recommendations of the pharmacist(s).

Finally, on or about Oct. 30, 2018, he provided medical care to a patient identified as Patient Number 1 at his medical clinic.

The clinic was not approved as a non-hospital treatment facility, but he provided or arranged for the administration of propofol to Patient Number 1, contravening the Medical Professional Act, which failed to meet the standard of practice of the profession.

This is not Horri’s first reprimand from the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

His licence was revoked for a year in 2017 and 2018 in

Saskatchewan, after similar actions were taken by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Horri was found to have engaged in a sexual relationship with a patient too soon after the termination of the doctorpatient relationship while Horri was still practising in Ontario.

Salte said that when tr ying to determine an appropriate punishment for Horri, the fact he previously had his medical licence revoked was a factor in seeking a four-month suspension this time.

At the time of the revocation in 2017, Horri was practising as an anesthesiologist and a general practitioner in Estevan; he has been a general practitioner since returning to work nearly two years ago.

or you want to help organize the next one.”

English thought that in the days to come she may invite the community to join her in showing appreciation to grocery store workers at particular stores or even circulating around town.

She also would want to show the gratitude and support to the Estevan drugstores, dollar stores and all essential service workers. And in the meantime, she suggested ensuring that the community members show gratitude on a daily basis.

“Just make sure that if you go to a grocery store, any

worker that you see there, you say thank you to them,” said English. “If we didn’t have these frontliners and essential workers, there is no way that we would be able to get through this right now. And if they are doing their part to keep us running, we need to do our part too and follow the rules: social distance yourself; only go to the store when you need it; if you can, do the online ordering and delivery. That’s the only way this is going to end … So if we can do our part to help too, then I think we’ll be back to normal sooner than later.”

She plans on working

closely with the EPS for the next time to ensure everything goes smoothly. Ladouceur pointed out that they will be happy to participate and show their support and gratitude to essential workers.

“Everybody from our truck drivers to the people working in grocery stores, there are so many people doing so much to people, just kind gestures like picking up groceries for people that are quarantined,” said Ladouceur. “This is about coming together and dealing with this crisis together.”

In the meantime, the EPS will do their part in keeping the community safe and healthy in all possible ways. Besides many other things, they recently put messages on the back of police vehicles, reminding people about all safety recommendations and also expressing gratitude to essential workers.

English asked that if people plan on doing something similar to ensure that they announce it publicly, so she could join others.

Make sure to follow the Mercury on social media to stay up to date on the new flash mobs of gratitude in Estevan.

More appreciation events could happen

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Third Page A3

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Five local women received lots of support as they challenged to be on the cover of Inked Magazine

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

It started with a call

by Inked Magazine for women to compete in a contest to be on the front cover of a magazine in 2020.

All they would have to do is go through several rounds of voting with thousands of other women, get their friends and family to vote, and in the process, they would raise money for a charity based on their support.

Not only would the winner get to be on the front cover of Inked, but the woman would win $25,000.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that the contest drew a local entrant.

But there were five. And they did really well.

Lacie Paige Carleton has the best showing; she made it to the wildcard round, where she finished second; had she won, she would have advanced to the quarter-finals, which would have been a oneon-one competition after several rounds of group votes. But she still marvelled at the support she received.

“It was actually incredible how many people were messaging me personally,” said Carleton.

A lot of people she talked to were impressed because there weren’t a lot of mothers entered, and Carleton made it known in her submission that she is a mother, and she is a supporter of the Estevan Family Resource Centre.

According to her bio, her first tattoo was a daisy on the inside of her forearm with 10 petals for each one of her brothers and sisters. But her favourite tattoo is one she had done in honour of her children by Shanda Tegart of Inkspire in Estevan.

“It was just a really meaningful piece towards my children. She really, really outdid herself on it. She incorporated their birth flowers. She did some carnations for a mother’s undying love, and then there’s a nice little portrait of a mom holding a baby and then there’s a nice little one of a baby grabbing a mom’s finger. It’s super beauti-

ful,” said Carleton.

Carleton said she loves tattoos because she’s a photographer and enjoys capturing different types of emotions. Tattoos have also helped her self-esteem.

She found out about the Inked Magazine contest through a friend.

S tephanie S eal y reached the top 10 of the competition, and finished ninth, coming up just short of the wildcard round. She didn’t realize she was in the top 20 until a friend messaged her.

Sealy thought that with so many women entered, there was no chance she could go so far.

“I didn’t know I had made it to the top 20 until my best friend messaged me. I wasn’t aware of it, because I was thinking there were too many women, and there’s no way I’m going to make it to the top 20. And then I made it to the top 10.”

She decided to enter the contest because of her fondness for Inked Magazine. She started collecting editions when she was a teenager. “ I al way s had a dream of being in Inked Magazine,” she said.

Her mom has tattoos, and Sealy believes that’s where her passion for tattoos began. Inked and other magazines gave her ideas for tattoos as well.

The first tattoo was her dog’s name Chaya on the back of her shoulder.

“All my tattoos are meaningful, but I think my most meaningful one and my favourite is Chaya’s portrait on my back.

It’s perfect. It looks just like her and everything. It tells me that she’s always going to have my back.”

Sealy didn’t realize at first that there would be other local women entered, and was surprised and excited to see the success of the others.

Julyn Halirewich advanced to the competition’s final stages, finishing sixth in her group, but still winding up in the top 30 overall.

She would have had to finish first or second in her group to reach the wildcard or quarter-final round.

“When you start the contest, you go through elimination every Thursday. They started with 25 in each group,” said Halirewich.

When Halirewich entered, it was a “shot in the dark.” Her friends wanted her to do the contest and she agreed.

The number of other local contestants came as a surprise.

“I knew some of them. I didn’t know about any of them (participating) until I had posted on my Facebook that I was in it, and then a bunch

Danita Macalalad

of other girls said ‘I’m in it, too.”

She also knew women from other areas who were entered.

Halirewich has nine tattoos, and the total is growing. There isn’t one that has great significance, but her favourite is the one that covers her entire back. It’s also her largest.

“I’m not done. I’m getting more. I have one that’s being worked on right now, and more thantI’m designing.”

People are born a blank canvas, she said, so it makes sense to her to get a tattoo.

Ivory Herman placed sixth in her group in the third round, but was still pleased with the showing and the number of people who supported her.

She learned of the competition through Instagram. She follows a lot of social media feeds for tattoo publications and artists, and found the contest for Inked.

“I have a lot of tattoos, and I thought it would be something fun to try out for, and something different,” said Herman.

Herman shared the sentiment that she is an empty canvas, and that she likes to get tattoos to add colour to her skin.

The tattoo that means the most to her is of a pet cat.

She knows there

were thousands of women entered, looking to make it to on the front cover of Inked Magazine, so she was happy to make it as far as she did.

Danita Macalalad wound up 16th in the second round, which she said was a really good result considering she didn’t promote herself.

“I initially just applied for it on a whim, and then I didn’t put too much thought into it. And then I made it to the second round.”

She would have had to finish in the top 15 to make it to the third round.

Macalalad has a lot of tattoos, and never thought she would ever have an opportunity to do something on this scale.

“I’ve always loved tattoos and always been interested and always loved the magazines before social media became huge.”

Her first tattoo was a shooting nautical star on her wrist. An eagle tattoo is one of her favourites. Macalalad is half-Filipino, and she has a personal fondness for a Filipino prayer tattoo.

“It’s for protection and guidance,” she said.

Each of them said they would be part of the competition again, and they hope to have the community’s support if they do.

Stephanie Sealy

Lacie Paige Carleton

Julyn Halirewich

Ivory Herman

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Editorial A4

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

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EDITORIAL

Wrong time to increase a bad tax Even a global pandemic that puts people out of work and creates serious uncertainty couldn’t keep the federal government from forcing a carbon tax increase on several provinces.

Despite all of the adversity facing Canadians right now, especially those from Alberta and Saskatchewan, the feds wouldn’t do the right thing and delay the higher carbon tax.

The price of Western Canada Select has been worth less than a four-litre jug of milk at times in the last few weeks, and the price of West Texas Intermediate cost less than a meal for four at a fast food restaurant’s drive-thru, but we still received that carbon tax increase.

And even though we keep hearing about the environmental benefits of modern farming practices, farmers are still getting another government hurdle for their operations.

The government could have done the right thing and delayed the imposition of the carbon tax increase, until we’re in a more fiscally sound position. The last thing that oil and gas, mining and agriculture need right now is higher taxes.

And the last thing that Canadians as a whole need right now is a jump in taxes that takes more money out of our pockets.

Yes, a lot of people are self-isolating or in quarantine or working from home. They aren’t going to events or meetings, and they don’t have

to take their children to school or programs they’re involved with.

But they still have to go out once in a while for groceries and other essential supplies.

And the cost of those groceries and supplies will be higher because the carbon tax is going up, and it costs more to get everything to market.

There are still a lot of people who work in businesses that the government has classified as essential. They need to find a way to get to work.

Some have long commutes. They’re now going to pay more to provide these essential services.

It’s particularly galling that those who work in the trucking industry, who are doing their best to keep the country going right now by transporting these essential items, face a higher cost of doing business.

And it’s frustrating that farmers, who are also an essential service for this country, get nailed with this higher cost of doing business right before seeding begins. As stated previously, some of the strongest practices you’ll find to reduce climate change are being employed by producers who are always looking for ways to improve their operations.

Worst of all, though, is this will represent one more expense for those who are unemployed or laid off. When they’re wondering how they’ll pay the bills and cover the costs of living with a reduced or eliminated paycheque, now they

have to worry about an additional higher cost.

It’s not a lot of money, but it’s death by a thousand small increases.

Generally the federal government has done a pretty good job of navigating Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic.They’ve been heeding the advice of medical community and scientists before making decisions, and learning from the mistakes of others.

They also haven’t tried to downplay this situation like other world leaders, who erred when they tried to treat this like it wasn’t a big deal.

Ultimately we’ll see whether the support for small businesses and out of work Canadians will be sufficient, or if more is needed, or if it will get to those who need it the most in a timely manner.

But when it comes to the carbon tax increase, the best thing the government could have done in the short-term was to shelve it until the pandemic’s impact on Canada has eased, and until we know whether the carbon tax can even withstand constitutional challenges.

The best thing the feds could do in the long-term, especially now, would be to scrap the carbon tax, and announce a fleet of incentives and spending measures that would reward innovation and create jobs for those who are coming up with ideas to combat climate change.

But when it came to the simplest move, the feds missed the boat.

Shutting down oil production The world is awash in crude oil, causing one of the largest oil shocks in history.

This is happening as Saudi Arabia and Russia began an oil price war just as the COVID-19 crisis caused the greatest demand destruction in decades.

But President Donald Trump tweeted he was doing something about that, claiming production would be reduced 10-15 million barrels per day.

It is not clear if he meant a one-time absolute 10 or 15 million barrels, or production of 10 to 15 million barrels per day on an ongoing basis. I’m taking it as barrels per day.

Before the oil price war and COVID-19 crisis hit, global production of oil was hovering around 100 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia had said it was going to flood the market with an additional two million barrels per day, and Russia said it would add 500,000 barrels per day. Then the United Arab Emirates said it, too, would add a million barrels per day.

As I often point out, the difference between $100 per barrel and $30 per barrel is two million barrels per day of global production. So they were going to slam an already weak market, flooding it with oil and destroying prices.

As the supply side went nuts, the demand side collapsed.

In the month of March since those announcements in late February, entire economies have all but shut down, with nations like Italy, Spain, France, Canada and much of the United States telling their populations to stay home and most businesses to close down. The result has been a tremendous decline in oil consumption as most planes and automobiles have stopped moving.

A few hours after the presidential tweet, total worldwide cases of COVID-19 hit one million people. In the days hence, it has

From the Top of the Pile BRIAN ZINCHUK climbed roughly 100,000 per day, although there seemed to be a slight slowing by the end of the weekend. Instead of rolling over another 100,000 cases by the evening of April 5, it did that closer to noon the next day.

And the world’s largest oil market is also being hit the hardest by COVID-19. The U.S. blew past Spain and Italy and as of April 6 at noon, had 352,000 cases. That’s more than the combined total of Italy, Spain, and most of Germany, the next three hardest hit nations.

This means that since there is no medical therapy just yet, no drug, no working vaccine, the only thing doing any good is putting everyone basically on house arrest. That simply has to have tremendous impact on oil consumption, probably more than most current projections.

This means we, as Canadian oil producers, will have to cut supply to maintain producible prices, indeed, almost any price that’s above essentially zero, or “no bid.” We have to cut production because we are very rapidly running out of places to store our produced oil.

This means shut-ins of enormous swaths of Canadian production. Since we didn’t build export pipelines to the coasts, and the U.S. isn’t going to need a large percentage of our oil, we have no other choice. If we could have sent two million barrels per day to tankers on our coasts, we could have at least had the option to sell to other nations, or store oil on tankers.

But we can’t, so we won’t.

Shutting in production is not an easy decision. It’s not like turning off your car when you get home, where you jump in, fire it up, and nothing changed from before.

When you shut in a well for a lengthy time, it may not come back on like it did before. It might not even come on at all. Each well has its own personality. There is some production you simply can’t shut in. Corrosion can take over if a well is shut in for a lengthy period. But some wells will load up and produce more after it’s been down for a while.

Thermal heavy oil production, such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), commonly used in the Lloydminster area, in particular, doesn’t just turn on and off with ease.

Then there’s the giant oilsands mines around Fort McMurray. These things don’t have a simple on/off switch.

And when you do shut in production, you also cut off your revenue stream. Your property taxes to the RMs didn’t end, nor did your power bill. You might be able to cut large amounts of your labour force, but not all. The taxman still wants to be paid.

But you won’t be paying royalties on the oil you don’t produce. And that means the province, and the freehold mineral rights owners, are out, too.

It seems that Alberta may be joining talks with OPEC+ later this week. Are we getting in bed with the people who chose this time to hurt us? Do we have much choice? Does Canada and the U.S. form its own oil cartel, and say to hell with market forces? Where does Saskatchewan fit in this?

This month will be the largest oil disruption since the oil embargo of the 1970s.

It’s going to be a rough ride.

Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News.

He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net.

Op-Ed A5

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School divisions start delivering supplemental learning

Ana Bykhovskaia Twenty Lines About…

By Ana Bykhovskaia

Work from home pitfalls

abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

The South East Cornerstone Public School Division (SECPSD) and the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division (HFRCSSD) had to retool their educational plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a pause, both school divisions started partially delivering the supplemental learning in online and offline formats while still communicating with parents about their children’s needs this week.

The Mercury talked to HFRCSSD director of education Gwen Keith and SECPSD director of education Lynn Little about the unprecedented process the schools and the students are going through now.

“We are working on a common theme of working safely, teaching safely and learning safely. To address these ever-changing conditions, we have two key goals. First, (providing a) safe and orderly environment for our students and staff permitted by our Catholic environment. And secondly, executing on our Holy Family continuity plans both on the business side and educational side,” said Keith.

Last week the administration and the staff team at SECPSD were reviewing the actual processes that the school division will be taking in terms of supplemental learning for the students. The supplemental learning is the continuation of the Saskatchewan curriculum, so the piece that they haven’t covered yet will be a part of the supplemental curriculum.

“The teachers are preparing materials and establishing those virtual classrooms. You could imagine changing from face to face traditional delivery to an online learning package delivery is challenging, especially in the middle of the year with very little warning …

Our staff is working very hard to get

This week I started working from home. Not that there are too many of us the Mercury office (hardly any), but we all are trying to follow the recommendations while still serving our readers and our community.

When the editor offered me a choice, I had some doubts but decided to give it a try. I don’t have kids, and my dogs are outdoors. I have enough room and it seems that my farming husband is constantly cheating on me by calving cows, disappearing at the farm for weeks.

The morning of my first day working from home started great. I moved to my office and started working. With a great mood, it felt that my working ability went up a bunch.

That lasted for about an hour or two, and then I heard a big bang. I thought something broke in the house so I went running outside. The dogs were going crazy and looked really stressed. I later found out it was the explosions at Regens Metals), my dogs decided that they should keep whatever it was away by barking. They went on for a good hour, while I was trying to work.

Then it went quiet. What a relief. But it only lasted until our neighbour rang the doorbell to let me know that the dogs are running loose in the field.

They still were terrified and anxious, so it didn’t take me long to get them back. But to teach them a lesson I decided to lock them up. What a mistake. In two minutes of self-isolation, they started barking, making me nervously vibrate. So I let them out hoping to finally get some work done.

But apparently Monday was a workday for our neighbour as well. He came to fix the pasture fence broken by deer. And since the pasture is abutting our property, my lovely puppies were so excited to see him. There was nothing I could do, so I just tried to keep my eye from ticking and work, work, work…

The dogs were so great, that they wouldn’t leave him alone until he finished. And half an hour after that happened the first wave of tourists arrived. People started driving by, enjoying a beautiful quiet afternoon. My lovely paws were so happy to see every new vehicle passing by our place, that they couldn’t resist greeting strangers and escorting passersby with a wonderful two-voiced melody.

But at some point, I realized that I actually was happy too. It turned out that just in one day I managed to develop an almost perfect disturbance resistance. But in reality, what I really want to say to all of you who are now working from home with spouses and kids all over them, huge kudos to you guys! How do you do it at all?

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Lynn Little

Gwen Keith

the pieces in place. It’s challenging, but really kudos to the staff for their work and their effort,” said Little.

Before trying to supply the education in a new format, school divisions needed to understand what parents wanted to see coming, how much they were able to be engaged and also what kind of technical capacities they had.

“The teaching staff has been reaching out to parents to discuss the programs and processes for each child.

That’s been ongoing all of this week, collecting that information back in. So in South East Cornerstone, we’re going to be offering courses through two different models: one online though the Microsoft teams format or learning packages for those who don’t have access to technologies or would prefer to use a mode other than technologies,” explained Little.

It wasn’t yet clear for Cornerstone how many people would need the printed copies of the classes, but Little said that the majority of the families they talked to preferred to receive the supplementary education through technologies. At the same time, Keith noted that many families in the province will have to rely on print outs and Holy Family is currently looking for support

from the Ministry of Education.

While the new process has begun, the safety of students and staff still remained the main priority for the school boards.

“As we go forward, our key focus was, first of all, on well-being and getting a sense of where people were at in terms of challenges that they face. The second key area was and continues to be safety. So whatever we do, we look at it from the safety lens whether it’s accessing our buildings or moving forward in whatever meeting or groupings that we need to have that safety is paramount,” said Keith.

It was left up to the parents to decide to continue with the education or to take a break, as well as in which format they wanted to take it.

Up to last Friday, SECPSD has reached 7,199 children and their families, and of those, 6,832 wanted to continue with supplemental learning. Holy Family (RCSSD) didn’t have numbers but said the process was ongoing and most parents were interested in continuing with the educational process.

“We are reaching out in an inclusive way to all families, and sometimes it takes different ways of communicating A14»TEACHERS

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Wednesday, April 8, 2020

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Estevan’s new business incubator has its first manager Among the initiatives that the City of Estevan has introduced in an effort to bring more economic development to the area is the Launchbox, a business incubator that would be a place for budding entrepreneurs to work in the same building and grow their businesses while leaning on the experiences of other businesspeople.

The city has now hired its business resource centre manager, Jeff Taylor, whose duties include operating the Launchbox.

Taylor, who started with the city March 9, brings a varied experience to the city.

After studying business with a major in accounting, and an emphasis on entrepreneurship, he earned a law degree,

and would practise in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.

His emphasis was as a solicitor, so he worked with transactions and companies, rather than going to court hearings.

Taylor has also worked with economic development agencies in New Brunswick and at the first micro-credit facility in Atlantic Canada.

Two years ago, he moved to Newfoundland to work for a startup, but wanted to come back to Saskatchewan, and found out about the Launchbox.

“It just seemed like such a great opportunity to help promote entrepreneurship in the community,” he said.

Entrepreneurship and helping people start busi-

nesses have always been a passion, he said.

“It’s a really exciting project, and it’s not very often in which you see this level of support from government of all levels, looking at doing something that’s quite unique for a place of this size.”

The provincial and federal governments have supplied support for the Launchbox, in addition to the City of Estevan.

“It’s such a unique opportunity to make a big impact and help people start businesses,” said Taylor.

He’ll be tasked with helping people with starting and growing their businesses, and providing them with support, help and advice.

“What I see as my main goals are to promote entre-

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preneurship in Estevan and also to make it as affordable and efficient as possible for people in Estevan to explore their business ideas,” said Taylor.

Getting into a new businesses is a risk, he said, and he wants to help people mitigate that risk by giving them support and advice early on so they can hopefully grow their businesses and explore without taking as much personal risk on their own.

“We can provide people with space and support and other resources that they might have to pay significant amounts for on their own.”

Taylor believes the city has taken the right approach to economic development with the Launchbox.

He did some research into Estevan before coming to the Energy City, visiting the Estevan Mercury’s website, www.estevanmercury. ca, and also researched the city’s recreation facilities and leadership.

“It’s just such an active community that I feel has a lot of good energy

Jeff Taylor to try to move forward on things. It seems like it’s a really progressive community that’s working to try to figure things out.”

Pe o p l e h a v e b e e n friendly and helpful, and he’s glad he has been able to walk to work a lot of days.

W hile COVI D-19 has put the breaks on the Launchbox and other projects in the community,Taylor said he is looking forward to moving the project forward, and giving entrepreneurs the tools and the mentorship they need.

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increase, the least I can do is give it back to my community in one way, shape or form.”

She hinted she might direct the money to an organization that supports those truly in need, such as the Estevan Salvation Army’s food bank.

Carr said the MLAs couldn’t have negated the pay increase because the Saskatchewan Legislature hasn’t been sitting since March 18, and nixing the pay increase would have required legislation, which couldn’t be passed electronically.

She hasn’t had a lot of concerns about the wage increase.

“People really aren’t aware of it. They don’t know that it happens, because it happens automatically. It’s not something that’s widely advertised,” said Carr.

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Estevan MLA Lori Carr is explaining why a scheduled pay increase for Saskatchewan MLAs went ahead on April 1.

The 1.7 per cent wage increase, which brought her MLA’s wage to $100,068 took effect April 1, which is the start of the provincial fiscal year. She also received a small increase for her cabinet minister’s allowance, which is an additional $50,947 to her MLA compensation.

“It’s already written in legislation and it’s been there for years and years,” said Carr.

Since it happens and it’s not something that can be turned down, Carr, Premier Scott Moe and other MLAs have decided to donate the wage increases to charity.

“It’s really tough, especially with everything going on with COVID-19 and stuff. I just thought that with that

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A7

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Western Star hotels in southeast Saskatchewan offer free hot showers and breakfast to commercial truckers

By Brian Zinchuk brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net

The Western Star chain of hotels in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba has opened up their doors to commercial truckers, offering free hot showers, coffee, and complimentary breakfasts at all of their locations.

Over the last decade, Western Star has built hotels in Estevan, Carlyle, Stoughton, Redvers, Carnduff and Esterhazy in Saskatchewan, and Melita in Manitoba, and all will be offering this service to commercial truckers who need a break and perhaps a place to wash up.

Another hotel under the same ownership, the Holiday Inn Express in North Battleford, is doing the same, except that one location is also offering a complementary supper. The Western Stars will offer a light snack in the evening instead.

But the coffee is on 24/7, said Twila Bauman, the general manager who looks after the Western Star Hotels.

The media has been filled with reports of how some places have shut down washrooms or shower facilities, and the difficulties truckers have had even to get a hot meal, despite being considered one of the most essential services in our economy today. They are one of the few groups of people whose mobility has not been restricted, but they’ve been having a hard time to even get a shower or a washroom.

Rooms in each of the Western Star Hotels have been opened up so that commercial truckers can use the washroom and showers. The rest of the room has been blocked off so that cleaning staff can clean and disinfect after each user.

Complementary breakfasts for truckers are from 5-10 a.m.

The Western Star Hotel chain is showing their support for truckers in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba. Photo by Brian Zinchuk Bauman said they intend to do this “until this whole thing has cleared. As long as needed.”

Estevan started on

April 2. Bauman said they had one person stop by early on, just wanting a brief rest and a coffee. But word is getting out.

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A8 April 8, 2020

Woodlawn hopes to have camping this year

The Woodlawn Regional Park still hopes to be open for seasonal camping this year. File photo Woodlawn Regional Park is among the attractions facing an uncertain future this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they still hope to have seasonal camping at the very least this year.

In a post on its Facebook page Thursday evening, the park said it will continue to monitor the situation, but they have not officially delayed the opening date of their season.

They have suspended short-term bookings and are in communication with their seasonal campers regarding the 2020 camping season.

“We are taking a hopeful and positive ‘wait and see’ approach as we deal with our current situation,” said park business manager Maureen Daoust. “We can’t wait until our parks can be safely opened and available for everyone’s enjoyment.”

The park traditionally allows seasonal campers to bring their trailers down May 1, and the gate house is open from the Victoria Day long weekend in mid-May to the Labour Day long weekend in early September.

“We don’t want to make any rash decisions. Obviously

we’re following the protocols the best we can from the chief medical officer.”

Short-term bookings had opened March 15. Some short-term campsites had been booked from March 15-April 2.

They also had seasonal sites booked for the summer.

Some seasonal campers said they wouldn’t be back this year, but others were looking forward to their first summer of seasonal camping.

She recognizes the current economy might force some people to abandon their seasonal camping plans.

A regional park would have some risks with the spread of COVID-19, particularly with short-term bookings and people who travel to the park from out of town. For seasonal campers, the park is almost a second home, and therefore similar to a cottage or a cabin during the summer season.

Daoust has been in contact with the other regional parks in close proximity to Woodlawn, including Mainprize, Moose Creek, Nickle Lake and Oungre Memorial.

“We’re trying to just create a communication group

between all of the managers, just trying to provide some consistency, however, keeping in mind that all regional parks offer different levels of amenities. Primarily we’re campgrounds, but even if we were to open just for our seasonal campers, we could accommodate them.”

With full service sites, people could camp and stay in their own site with access to potable water, sewer and 30-amp power. Other Saskatchewan regional parks don’t offer sewer services, so they need to have their public washroom open, which is not recommended at this time.

Other amenities such as washrooms, playground equipment and others that could be an issue as far as transferring the virus.

“We have a lot of user groups that use the park.”

The TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club, Fresh Air Fitness, a dog park, a free park, sports facilities and two halls that are rented out are all found within the park.

“The safety of all of those people is our No. 1 concern, and as soon as we can safely open, and allow everyone to come in and enjoy our park, we’re anticipating that,” said Daoust.

Warm Welcome Kitchen will finish its season The Warm Welcome Kitchen is going to continue operating until the end of its season later this month, thanks to the response so far to its new format.

The kitchen has recently been providing simple meals that can be picked up and prepared. People drop by the north entrance of the Estevan Salvation Army’s food bank on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and are presented with the ingredients for the meal.

Previously the kitchen served a meal on Tuesday and Thursday nights that would attract around 50-60 people, but that system came to an early end this season due to COVID-19.

“Of course, we would rather be doing it the old way, but this new way seems to be working out,” said Wendy Godfrey, the chairperson for the kitchen’s committee. “We’re feeding about 20 people each Tuesday and Thursday.”

She vowed they would serve as many people who come to the door.

The first couple of weeks in late March were considered a trial period for the kitchen’s new format.

People seemed to be OK with picking up the ingredients at the food bank door.

So they will continue with the new direction until the end of April, which is traditionally the end of Warm Welcome’s season.

“We met after the first

two weeks to discuss what we thought of the program, and it seems to be running well. People who need the food are coming and getting the food.”

When she was there last week, the kitchen distributed a box of macaroni, some ground beef and a can of soup – ingredients that could be mixed together and cooked as a casserole.

The amount of food disbursed is dependent on the number of people in the

household: a family would receive more than a single person.

Godfrey believes the number of people accessing Warm Welcome’s services has been in line with expectations.

“Not ever yone who came (under the old format) was there because they can’t afford a meal. Some people are hungry for conversation or just to be with other people, that kind of thing.”

Many of the clients

have been out each time since March 17.

Kitchen co-ordinator Christa Jorgenson is there for each supper, and they still have a couple of volunteers each time.

There have been discussions about extending the kitchen beyond the end of April, but right now the plan is to end it at that time. They want to keep their volunteers safe, and Godfrey believes it’s important for people to stay home as much as possible.

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Sports A9

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

New surroundings were beneficial for gymnastics club

The season ended ear lier than the y had hoped, but the Estevan Gymnastics Club still saw benefits from their first year in their new home.

The club purchased a property in the 1200-block of Seventh Street last year, and after spending the summer to get the building ready, they moved in there in time for the start of the season in September.

Club president Lisa Murphy said they had just over 100 kids in the Active Start program and almost 100 in the recreational badge-level program. About 15 boys were in the boys gymnastics/ beginner parkour classes.

With the extra space and new facility, they had better classes than ever, and the kids loved the facility.

They had a lot more space and more equipment to have more fun an d lear n g y mn ast ic s skills. “ The c lub needed a larger facility to accommodate the demand for our programs,” said Murphy. “O ur coaches continue to learn and

train in order to grow as a club. We plan to do more progr ams and expand the programs that we do have,” said Murphy.

The pre-competitive gymnasts were there M on d ay s a n d T h u r sdays, while competitive members were Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

They had about 40 kids between those two programs.

Rebecca Fedyk, who coaches the competitive gymnasts, said the extra space allowed them to have a full floor for the first time ever and a new strap bar.

“They were way better to learn our tumbling on, and to be able to teach floor routines and everything. It was a pretty big necessity we were missing in the city.”

When they were at their former home, the Doug Third Hall, they had about three strips of floor mats, and now they have seven.

The gymnasts compete on a full floor when they go to competitions, so it ’s a big difference having a surface of a similar size for practices.

“We were able to get

another beam set up. It’s been really nice. All of our equipment was really tight and close together in the last building, and this new building, everything’s able to be spread out a little bit more, and we don’t feel like the kids are running into each other here.”

They also have an area where parents can watch, an asset they didn’t have previously.

The club hasn’t seen a bump in registration numbers as of yet, but Fedyk pointed out they also don’t have to worry about wait lists any longer. They can get kids in who want to be in classes.

The kids were disappointed to see their season end, especially those who weren’t able to travel to a competitive meet.

But they also understood why the season ended prematurely. “ They worked so hard all year, and didn’t even get to go compete,” said Fedyk. “Hopefully it’s just a one-time thing and it doesn’t happen again next year.”

The club hopes to have programs in the summer in the facility.

The Estevan Gymnastics Club had a lot more space to work with in their facility this year. Photo submitted

Riley Beaulieu practises at the Estevan Gymnastics Club’s facility on Seventh Street. Photo submitted

Minor ball has been accepting registrations The Estevan Minor Baseball Association has been accepting registrations for the 2020 season, with the hope of having kids out on the ball diamond at some point this spring.

Registrations have been coming in for the upcoming season. The organization is using a register now, pay later system, so that if people sign up and the season is cancelled, they won’t lose anything.

supposed to be at city-wide registration at the end of March, but that event was cancelled.

Most of minor baseball’s registrations last year happened online, so Williamson said losing city-wide shouldn’t mean a big loss for the organization.

The players are looking forward to hitting the ball diamonds for the upcoming season. The AAA tryouts were just getting started

About 100 people have pre-registered already, but according to president Joe Williamson, a lot of people are holding off on signing up due to current uncertainty.

“It just gives us a chance to see what the numbers are like. And then if Saskatchewan Baseball gives us the go-ahead … we know the numbers, how many coaches we need, schedules and stuff like that,” said Williamson.

Minor baseball was

when they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had lots of people out for our skills development sessions, so we had lots of interest,” said Williamson, who added those skills sessions were happening Thursdays.

A lot of ball diamond upgrades have been taking place at Cactus Park under the leadership of former minor baseball president

Mel Murray.

Umpire clinics have also been postponed.

Minor ball is scheduled to host the under-11 (formerly mosquito) provincial tournament this year from July 17-19, which would bring an influx of teams to the community. Williamson is hopeful the tournament can still happen. They also had other tournaments booked, and a full host of leagues.

While baseball isn’t as prone to COVID-19 as other sports, there are still some risky areas. Williamson pointed out there are still three people in close proximity around home plate at all times, and there are usually several people close to each other in the dugouts, which are covered.

So they’re hopeful to play ball this year, but right now they’re in a holding pattern.

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A10 April 8, 2020

United Way encouraging letter-writing to seniors The United Way Estevan is looking to help people in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has forced the United Way to cancel its popular Day of Caring, in which people would volunteer at projects throughout the community; many of these tasks wouldn’t be completed otherwise.

So the United Way board has instead initiated the Days of Caring – a letter-writing campaign that

will support seniors in the community. Letters would be sent to the Estevan Regional Nursing Home, St. Joseph’s Hospital’s longterm care, Creighton Lodge and Hillview Manor.

Those four buildings have more than 160 residents combined. “ We know that the seniors are not getting out and about, so it can be a very lonely time for them, and they feel very isolated,” said United Way Estevan board member Wendy

Gustafson, who has been a chairperson for the Day of Caring in previous years.

T h e U n i t e d Wa y board is asking children and adults to write a letter, make a card, draw a picture or create something else that could be sent to local seniors’ homes.

“That will be a kind of a picker-upper for these people who are not getting to get out and socialize like they would like to,” said Gustafson.

The letters and cards

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Days of Caring how many cards and letters were sent.

She would like to see each resident at the four buildings receive something from a member of the public.

“To me, that would really, really make their day,” said Gustafson.

People will likely be asked to mail the cards and letters to the seniors’ buildings, indicating at the top of the envelope that they are through the Days of Caring, and then the staff

might include a brief poem or a note to someone to encourage them. Or there might be a picture of somebody outside enjoying the sunshine.

“Kids can be very creative, and I think we just have to open it up to the kids and encourage them to express themselves and to maybe do something that would make somebody feel good, cheer up their day,” said Gustafson.

Gustafson would like to know at the end of the SECTOR 1

would be asked to deliver it to a resident. But Gustafson said the process still requires some fine-tuning.

The United Way wants to create a caring environment, so they aren’t just focusing on one day a year.

They want to have that support every day.

“We have no idea how long this is going to go on.

But we thought that as the United Way, this was definitely a time where we could step up, shine and do our part.”

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HERE TO ASSIST YOU

Our constituency office is here to assist with government services and programs.

Please contact us by phone or email to maintain social distancing.

Call the HealthLine - 811 if you are experiencing symptoms and require medical advice For the latest information on COVID-19 visit www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19 Public inquiries may be emailed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca For general not health-specific inquires related to COVID-19 call 1-855-559-5502 The Business Response Team can be reached at 1-844-800-8688, emailing support for supportforbusiness@gov.sk.ca or by visiting www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-businesses

Lori Carr, MLA Estevan Constituency Office 306.634.7311 loricarrmla@sasktel.net

Information on support for workers who have had their employment impacted by the current economic situation is found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-workers

April 8, 2020 A11

Even when we’re apart, we stand together.

While physical distancing is the right thing to do to defeat the COVID-19 virus, coming together to support one another is the most important thing we can do to keep our country strong. In these uncertain times, we need each other more than ever before.

That’s why we’ve created the RBC Client Relief Program. You’ve had many questions and will have many more as events evolve. We want you to know we are listening, and we’ll provide the support you need, especially if you are in challenging circumstances.

First, let me share what we’re doing to relieve some of the day-to-day pressure on your personal finances by: •

Deferring payments on mortgages, credit cards, installment loans and auto loans for up to six months;

•

Providing access to skipped payments through self-service online banking;

•

Ensuring credit scores are not impacted by deferred payments, and;

•

Waiving certain fees, like stop payment fees and ATM statement fees.

Second, we know many of our clients are facing additional pressure from lost employment, a major disruption in their business or unique family circumstances.

Our employees are here to connect with you directly to create a personal plan to relieve the pressure you are facing. This may include reducing credit card interest charges by 50% for clients receiving credit card minimum payment deferrals.

If you are experiencing more extreme financial hardship, please book a call with an advisor through our online appointment booking service.

Third, for our commercial and small business clients – key engines of the Canadian economy – you can count on RBC to provide immediate relief by enabling payment deferral and temporary limit increases where needed. We are also temporarily waiving setup fees for business client enrollment in electronic cash management and remote cheque processing solutions. We are working closely with government to implement their new programs for business, and our advisors are here to help you.

RBC has been serving Canadians for more than 150 years and we’ve seen a lot during that time. The challenges may differ, but the resolve of our employees never wavers. I want to thank all our employees for their compassion and extraordinary dedication during this time.

The situation today is very fluid, and as events evolve so will our approach.

We stand together with you.

Sincerely,

Neil McLaughlin Group Head Personal and Commercial Banking RBC

For information on the RBC Client Relief Program, go to rbc.com/covid19 or book a call with an advisor at rbc.com/appointment.

RBC025344_03_A_PersonalBanking_OpenLetter_9.842x19.75_EN.indd 1

2020-04-06 3:02 PM

People A12

104 - Hwy. 47 South, Estevan, SK 306-634-5588 Bay #1 - Hwy. 13, Carlyle, SK 306-453-2519

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

WWW.FLOORSTOREESTEVAN.CA

Arts Council busy planning for the next season

By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

The COVID-19 pandemic had affected all of the Estevan Arts Council’s programming for the current season.

They had to cancel all of their remaining concerts, art classes, spring art camp and films scheduled until the end of the 201920 season, but they hope that they will be able to make all their plans come true when the appropriate time comes.

Through the Estevan Concert Series, they had singer Terry Barber who was supposed to be in Estevan at the end of April a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music.

Melanie Memory, the administrative secretary for the Estevan Arts Council, explained how they plan to readjust.

“We are hoping to get him in February of the next year because he wants to come and fulfill his commitment to our community. And we would like him here as a performer in one of our series’ concerts.

We are hoping that this can happen.”

In Koncerts for Kids, the Hip-Hop Hoop Dance scheduled for Apr il 4 had to be cancelled as well, but the hope is to still bring the performers to Estevan.

“We are hoping that in the 2021 ser ies we can have them come and replace a different performer that we are going, maybe, to substitute Hip-Hop Hoop in for, and that should hopefully be happening in the same timeframe as Terry Barber in February 2021,” said Memory.

The Estevan Arts Council’s governing body, the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC), organizes concerts and negotiates dates, times and other details with the performers. OSAC is currently working on re-arranging the plans for the next season. And while this season ended earlier, the Arts Council proceeded with making new plans.

“We have scheduled our whole 2020 and 2021 season for all of our concerts. So we are planning on fulfilling that season and everything hopefully

goes as planned provided with what we can,” said Memory.

The 2020-21 season will start in September and will go to March or April for the Estevan Concert Series, which was developed for an adult audience and usually includes about six concerts. The Koncerts for Kids series was developed for children and usually consists of three or four concerts. Koncerts for Kids series will open with the popular Missoula Children Theatre that is set for Sept. 21.

All visual arts classes also had to be cancelled.

“We had a full mixed schedule and we were pretty excited to go ahead with all of those,” said Memory.

They are now going to work with the instructors and try to postpone the scheduled classes to have them in the future when they can get back to their normal routine.

“It probably won’t be till the fall. We’ll just play it by ear,” said Memory.

At this point, no programs are planned to be moved to summer.

The pandemic affected plans for an Easter break

art action camp as well.

“When I did one in February, we had a lot of comments from parents asking if we would consider doing that. So we were going to do that and we had teachers and everything else lined up, the rooms were booked and the pool, and everything.

And I was just starting to roll all that out and then this happened, so we had to cancel everything,” said Memory.

The Energy City Film Circuit that is facilitated with the Arts Council also cancelled their films. They are currently in the process of deciding what they are going to do next season.

“They meet as a group and they pick their films.

And they have a contact person that they use at the Toronto International Film Festival that guides them along,” explained Memory.

At this time the Leisure Centre might be closed, but the Arts Council staff still has plenty of work. Memory said that on top of reschedulling and bookkeeping she is also trying to stay ahead of what’s happening in the

Estevan Arts Council hopes to bring some performances, like this one, that were cancelled due to COVID-19. File photo don’t get the money. Or they decide they are going to grant it to you … it’s just hard to say, there is so many ‘what ifs,’” said Memory.

While the leisure centre is on lockdown, people can follow the Arts Council Facebook page for the latest updates and news.

With any inquiries, people can email estevanartscouncil@sasktel.net.

arts and culture world, so they could later bring it to the Estevan community.

To ensure future plans can still happen, Memory also applied for some regular funding, but the global situation is changing now, so nobody can tell when decisions will be made and what those decisions will bring.

“If your program doesn’t happen, then you

If you would like prayer or just someone to talk to, please phone the Estevan Gospel Chapel at 634-3761

BUSINESS SERVICES LEGAL

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306.634.7311 loricarrmla@sasktel.net

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Classifieds A13

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Notices / NomiNatioNs

Mobile/ Manufactured

Advertisements and statements contained herein are the sole responsibility of the persons or entities that post the advertisement, and the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association and membership do not make any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness or reliability of such advertisements. For greater information on advertising conditions, please consult the Association’s Blanket Advertising Conditions on our website at www.swna.com.

YELLOW HEAD MODULAR HOME SALES

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PROVINCE-WIDE CLASSIFIEDS. Reach over 550,000 readers weekly. Call this newspaper NOW or 306-649.1405 for details

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PUBLIC NOTICE

Rural Municipality of Estevan No.5 Notice of Intent to Amend the Zoning Bylaw Pursuant to Section 207 of The Planning and Development Act, 2007, the Council of the Rural Municipality of Estevan No.5 hereby gives notice of its intention to amend Zoning Bylaw 5-2014 by passing bylaw 2020-02.

Intent: This text amendment is for accessory buildings or accessory structures in the LDA-C – Lakeshore Development Accessory Contract District shall only be required to obtain a report from a professional engineer if the building or structure is within 15 meters of the crest of a slope greater that 15%.

Reason: The reason for the amendment is to allow for less restrictive conditions for accessory buildings or accessory structures built in the LDA-C – Lakeshore Development Accessory Contract District Public Inspection: Any person may inspect the proposed bylaw at the R.M. of Estevan Municipal Office at #1 – 322 – 4th Street, Estevan, Saskatchewan between 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday, excluding statutory holidays. Copies are available at cost.

Public Hearing: Council will hold a public hearing to receive submissions, written or verbal, on the proposed bylaw at 11:00 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020 in the Council Chambers of the R.M. of Estevan No. 5, #1-322 4th Street Estevan, Saskatchewan.

Dated at Estevan, Saskatchewan this 1st day of April, 2020 Michelle Dickie, Administrator

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TOWN OF MIDALE 2020 ASSESSEMENT ROLL

20042SS0

Notice is hereby given that the Assessment Roll for the Town of Midale for the year of 2020 has been prepared and is open for inspection in the office of the Tax Assessor 233 Main Street Midale, SK from: April 10, 2020 to May 12, 2020 during regular office hours Monday-Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm and Wednesday May 13th, from 8:30am to 4:00pm.

Due to the COVID - 19 virus please call Linda at 458-2400 to set up an appointment to view the assessment roll. We will also be accepting email at townofmidaleadmin@sasktel.net.

A Bylaw pursuant to section 214 of The Municipalities Act has been passed and the assessment notices have been sent as required.

Any person wishing to appeal against his/her assessment is required to file a notice of appeal in writing along with a $25.00 fee to: Tax Assessor Box 128 Midale, SK S0C 1S0 Dated this 10th day of April, 2020.

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Trinity Tower has been proudly serving the community of Estevan by providing a friendly, senior living community for over 30 years!

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Enjoy retirement in a friendly, senior living community with an active tenant association offering social and recreational activities.

Notice is hereby given that the assessment roll for the R.M. of Cambria No. 6 for the year of 2020 has been prepared and is open to inspection by appointment only, April 3, 2020 to May 15, 2020.

Suites are now available to accommodate your individual needs through a one bedroom and den life lease with guaranteed buy-back or government subsidized rentals.

A Bylaw pursuant to section 217 of The Municipalities Act has been passed and the assessment notices have been sent as required.

Any person who wishes to appeal against their assessment is required to file their notice of appeal by the 15th day of May, 2020 with: The Assessor R.M. of Cambria Box 210 Torquay, SK S0C 2L0 Monica Kovach Assessor

Sell Your Unwanted Items with an Ad in The ESTEVAN MERCURY CLASSIFIEDS! Phone 306-634-2654 Today!

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Obituaries

Obituaries

Shauf, Marvin 1951 – 2020 Marvin passed late on the night of Monday, March 30, 2020 at the age of 68 years.

He had fought valiantly and stoically with cancer for over 6 years and lived and worked every day that he could while doing so.

Marvin was predeceased by his mother Loris and father Ivan; his father- in- law Matthias Wanner and mother- in -law Jeanne; brother- in- law Barry Larsen; sister- in -law Linda Shauf; brother- in- law Bernard Wanner.

Marvin will be remembered in reverence as he is survived by his wife of 44 years, Colette; his children Steven (Chrissy), Aaron (Aida), and Brenden (Karen); grandchildren Chance, Lakyn, Ceanna, Kiera, Kruz, Semiah, Kasia and Adelie; brothers, Dale, Gerald (Florence), Brian (Carol), and Murray; sister Jo Ann; brothers-in-law Mike Wanner (Marlene), Patrick Wanner (Lydia), Greg Wanner; sisters-in-law Ramona Timar (Alvin); Geralynne Mitschke (Al), Jacqueline Trombley (Brian); as well as many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, other relatives and a long list of friends and neighbours.

Marvin grew up in Macoun, moved with his family to Kincaid in his teenage years, but came back and bought is own farm in 1970 near Stoughton. While visiting his oldest brother in Torquay, he met the neighbor girl over the fence, and in 1975, he and Colette Wanner were married. The first of his boys, Steven, was born in 1977, Aaron came in 1979 and Brenden in 1981.

Marvin has farmed every year since buying his farm. He was lucky enough to continue operations with Steven and Brenden right up until the end. He had every intention of participating in the coming crop year to the extent that he could.

Marvin also enjoyed a long career, primarily with the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Canadian Federation of Agriculture, and Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan, and was elected to leadership positions involved in the guidance of Saskatchewan and Canadian Agriculture policy.

Marvin enjoyed farming, his grandchildren, arguing, coffee and ice cream. He greatly enjoyed the company of his family, friends and neighbours.

He will be remembered as a man who worked hard, loved his family, and was a great friend to many.

Thank You

On behalf of Marvin, his family would like to express their gratitude to his Medical Staff at the Allan Blair Cancer Institute, with special thanks to Dr. Llewellyn-Williams, and Sharon in Regina; as well as the Medical Staff in Estevan, with special thanks to the chemo nurses. He considered many of them friends.

Flowers are graciously declined. Donations in Marvin’s memory can be made to the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan (designate Allan Blair Cancer Centre) or St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation in Estevan.

A celebration of life will be organized at a later date.

Deb Heidinger with Hall Funeral Services, Estevan is assisting Marvin’s family.

Obituaries

Obituaries

Cecilia Smith 1933 - 2020 On Wednesday March 25, 2020, Cecilia Helen Smith (Tommelein), loving mother, grandmother, aunt and friend, passed away peacefully at the age of 86 at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Estevan, Sask.

Cecile will be lovingly missed by her children: Marvin (Shelly) and Michael (Louise); her grandchildren: Amanda and Carter; along with her sisters-in-law, many nieces, nephews and friends.

Cecile was predeceased by her husband Lloyd Smith (2019); her daughter Marlys in infancy; her parents: Leonie and Emile Tommelein and her sisters: Marguerite (Marge), Mary and Madeleine.

Cecile was born on July 6, 1933 in Lampman, Saskatchewan to Emile and Leonie (Debusschere). She received her Nursing Diploma at the Regina Nurses’ College. In 1956 Cecile married Lloyd Smith. They started their married life in Davidson, Sask. Cecile practised nursing at the Davidson Hospital as a Matron from 1956 to 1958. In 1958 they moved to Benson / Estevan. Cecile joined several service clubs during her time in Benson. She was a member of the CWL, a treasurer for the parish council, project leader for the 4-H club, and served on the home care board. In 1970 Cecile continued her nursing career at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Estevan.

Mom’s nursing practise was very important to her. At St. Joseph’s Hospital she worked in Addiction Rehabilitation, Emergency Services and Critical Care. Mom retired from nursing in 1996 but continued to do paramedical tests for insurance companies.

Mom loved life and being with family, her many friends and acquaintances. Her laugh, wonderful sense of humor, friendship and compassion and her fantastic butterhorns, cinnamon buns and beef chop suey, will be truly missed.

The Funeral Mass will be held at St. John the Baptist R.C. Church, Estevan, at a later date when we can once again gather to celebrate Cecile’s life. Announcements will be made at that time.

If friends and family so desire, donations can be made to the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation, 1176 Nicholson Road, Estevan, Sask., S4A 0H3 in memory of Cecile Smith.

Dustin Hall with Hall Funeral Services, Estevan is assisting Cecile’s family.

She died as she lived, as everyone’s friend. In our hearts her memory will always be kept, of one we loved and will never forget.

Raymond Chester Holmes May 16, 1929 – March 25, 2020 Raymond Holmes, late of Estevan, SK passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at the age of 92 years.

Ray was predeceased by his parents, Chester and Violet (nee Moore) Holmes; wife Mick Holmes; brother George Holmes; daughter Gwen Widenmaier; infant granddaughter Barbara Lynn; infant grandson Car Stein; brothers-in-law, Norman “Tub” Mursell and Joe Gonas; nephews, Norman “Pudge” Mursell and Norman Whatmore.

Ray is survived by his daughter Norine (Scott) Stein; grandsons, Rayce and Jordan Stein, DJ (Carmen) Widenmaier-Smith, David (Marj) Widenmaier; brother-in-law Wayne (Margaret) Whatmore; sisters-in-law, Dee (Bob) Mayer, Wynnie Gonas and Betty Holmes; a very good friend Marv Sulley as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

There will be a private family interment at a later date at the Frobisher Resthaven Cemetery, Frobisher, SK. If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to Hillview Manor Activities Fund, 1401 1st Street, Estevan, SK, S4A 2W7.

Yvonne Clark at Hall Funeral Services, Estevan assisted Ray’s family.

Elizabeth Ripley Jan14/28 – Mar18/20 With great sadness we the family of Elizabeth announce the passing of our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great great grandmother.

Elizabeth passed away peacefully at Good Samarian Pembina Lodge in Evansberg Alberta at 92 years of age. She will be lovingly remembered by her husband of 61 years Owen her children Doug, Reggie, Vicky (Blaine), Larry (Lorna), Micheal (Rosaline), Linda, Danny Barb (Butch), and numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her children Bobby, Kathleen and Donald.

Elizabeth will always be remembered for her passion for baking

CAREERS

ASSOCIATE RETURNING OFFICER City Clerk’s Office (Contract position for up to 9 months)

SCOPE AND MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES: • Provides administration support for the Returning Officer in fulfilling requirements of The Local Government Election Act. • Assists with booking of polling locations (regular, advance, special, mobile).

• Assists with recruitment, organizing of temporary election officials.

• Provides customer service for candidates, electors, and election workers, including answering or redirecting emails, telephone calls and in-person inquiries.

• Assists with ordering and distributing ballot boxes, ballots, vote counting equipment and election supplies including coordinating logistics with voting locations across the city.

• Assists with the nomination process.

• Assists with closing of the Election process and evaluations following the election.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS: • • • • • •

Two-year diploma or a recognized 2-year business-related program.

Proven experience working in a fast-paced office environment.

Experience in public sector and knowledge of the Cities Act and Elections Act is preferred.

Project coordination and previous election-related experience would be considered an asset.

Required demonstrated ability using Adobe Acrobat Pro and Microsoft Office Suite.

Outstanding highly confidential, customer service and time management skills including the ability to undertake multiple tasks, meet deadlines, address customer requests while maintaining extreme attention to detail and accuracy to maintain orderly files and related administrative processes.

• Must be able to qualify and obtain a Commissioner for Oaths designation.

REQUIREMENTS AND HOURS OF WORK: • This is a contract, hourly assignment for up to 10 months. Hours will vary based on operational needs, with increasing hours as the election date (November 9, 2020) approaches.

• Must be available to work Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. as well as some evenings and weekends from October 1 to November 15, 2020.

• Physical ability to repetitively lift and carry bulky items weighing up to 20 kgs (40 lbs).

Please apply in writing to: Judy Pilloud, City Clerk 1102 – 4th Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0W7 • Or email to: cityclerk@estevan.ca

Obituaries

and knitting.

Elizabeth was cremated as per her wishes and a private family ceremony will take place at a later date.

Teachers have been adjusting to new system « A5 as well, but certainly our hope is to work in some way with all of our children,” said Keith.

One way or the other, there will be something offered for students of any age.

The progress in delivering the online or printed versions of classes depends on how far each teacher has gone in readjusting their programs and also with communicating with their students’ families.

The schools might need to provide additional resources to staff and look at some readjustment of technology, but they hope to get fully engaged within

the next week.

As soon as the divisions know who needs supplemental learning, which pieces they are interested in and in what format, they start delivering programs. Little said that this week they need to solidify everything and have the information in place, then they will start tr ying the lessons out, and the full process will begin right after the Easter break.

One of the first things that the HFRCSSD looked at was the capacities of providing faithbased aspects of their education to their students. It

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turned out that there was a fully electronic home program available to the division that allowed them to deliver the services.

“We are very excited about the fact that we do have many, many resources from both provincial and national levels that are online resources, and we continue to bring those forward not to overwhelm either staff or families, but in terms of one of the parameters certainly that Catholic formation is there and we respectfully will be able to provide opportunities to parents based on their needs,” said Keith.

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April 8, 2020 A15

Winner announced for Arrest warrant for vehicle theft suspect EWF motorcycle draw The Estevan Police Service (EPS) has obtained an arrest warrant for Kevin Aaron Evans.

Evans, a 34-year-old man from Estevan, is wanted for allegedly stealing an automobile and failing to comply with a release condition.

The EPS issued a post on the Saskatchewan Crime Watch advisory network March 27 regarding a theft the previous day of a grey 2006 Toyota Avalon fourdoor car with Saskatchewan licence plate 582 JLU. The vehicle was recovered March 28 in Regina, and the arrest warrant was obtained March 31.

Please contact the Estevan Police at 306-634-4767 or your nearest police service if you have any information about his whereabouts.

In other recent police news, the EPS has released the names of two people recently charged with alleged impaired driving offences.

On March 23, Bonnie Loutitt, 28, of Prince Albert was charged with operating a conveyance while impaired and operating a conveyance with a blood alcohol content exceeding .08.

The following day, Alex Howard, 26, of Roche Percee was charged with operating a conveyance while impaired and operating a conveyance with a blood alcohol content exceeding .08.

The charges have not been proven in court.

Officers arrested two people from Weyburn on March 31 as a result of what the EPS described as “a shoplifting spree.” A 31-year-old man is facing six criminal charges of theft

Kevin Aaron Evans under $5,000. He also had a warrant for his arrest out of the Weyburn Police Service.

A 41-year-old woman is also facing six criminal charges of theft under $5,000, one charge of possession of property obtained by crime and one charge of possession of crystal meth. The pair arrived in Estevan and made their way to five businesses where several items were taken. The two were released on conditions several hours later.

Police attended to a residence in relation to a disturbance.The matter is under investigation for charges of assault and mischief against two males.

Members received a complaint about a fraud involving Health Canada and remind the public not to provide any personal or financial information to unknown person(s) or parties.

Police attended to a residence on the city’s north side April 1 after a complaint of a woman causing a disturbance. As a result of the incident, a 25-year-old Estevan woman was arrested and is now facing the following charges: two counts each of uttering threats to cause bodily harm and as-

saulting a police officer, and one count each of mischief and failing to comply with a probation order. She also allegedly failed to comply with a conditional sentence order.

She appeared in court April 2 to answer to the charges.

Officers responded to a complaint of a domestic disturbance in the Willow Park Greens area and arrested a 34-year-old man from Lampman. He was lodged in cells and will be brought before a judge April 2 to answer to charges of assault, mischief and two counts of failing to comply with a release document.

Police responded to a disturbance call early April 2.

Members attended and were able to mediate the situation.

Members attended to an eastside business after a report of someone breaching their release conditions.

The matter is still under investigation.

Members arrested a 26-year-old Estevan man for obstruction after a traffic stop in the Grundeen Crescent area. The male was lodged in cells and was released when sober for court in July.

As a result of domestic complaint a 22-year-old Estevan man was arrested and charged with assault. He was released with conditions and will appear in court at a later date.

Police attended to a motor vehicle accident in the Hillside area of the city.

There were no injuries but a fire hydrant was damaged in the accident. A driver was charged with proceeding from a stop sign before it was safe to do so.

The winner has been announced for the Estevan Wildlife Federation’s motorcycle draw. File photo The Estevan Wildlife Federation (EWF) has announced the winner of its motorcycle raffle. The draw was scheduled to happen during the organization’s annual fundraising banquet and auction April 4. While the banquet was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EWF proceeded with the draw.

The winner of the motorcycle was Earl Duncan of Halbrite.

A total of 750 tickets were sold for the raffle. The motorcycle, a 2013 Harley Davidson Dyna wide-glide FXDWG, was donated by Darcy Vatamaniuk of Estevan Fresh.

Proceeds from the bike raffle will be directed towards

the EWF’s youth programs, which include their conservation camp, the Fish in Schools program that has

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been offered for local students, and the trophies presented to youths during the EWF’s annual awards night.

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A16 April 8, 2020

In time of uncertainty, St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation keeps doing their work

By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

There were some minor changes in their work, but the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation keeps operating. While they keep fulfilling their usual duties, they also do their best to ensure the community stays informed about the health guidelines and the news coming from the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Foundation executive director Breanne Van De Woestyne said while this time is uncertain for everyone in the community, they are also taking it day by day.

“It’s obviously a new experience for all of us in our office and our board of directors. But we are working together to keep up going on. And the community support is so evident,” said Van De Woestyne.

Their main focuses

St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation executive director Breanne Van De Woestyne now are interacting with the community and relaying the messages from the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

“Right now we are just tr y ing to communic ate

and work with the Saskatchewan Health Authority to just make sure that people in our community are informed about the new guidelines and everything that is going on with the hospital.”

Their day to day operations that still need to be done now have to happen in a new format.

“The hospital has visitor guidelines, so we are actually not able to see clients or donors in person anymore. But we are still doing some work over the phone or over the emails,” said Van De Woestyne.

Even though one of their biggest fundraisers, the Radiothon for Life, was postponed they can still see a lot of support coming from the community.

“We still have donations coming in, we have campaigns running, it’s just those events that require

community gathering that we have to put on hold,” said Van De Woestyne.

G o i n g f o r w a rd t h e f oundation might look into organizing some new fundraising activities that are appropriate during the social distancing times, but right now they just want to make sure that people know they are valuing everyone’s safety more than anything.

“We just want to say to our community, ‘Right now it’s the time of uncertainty and we are with our community. The hospital is the huge part of our community and we are still seeing lots of donations and support coming in. And we are very grateful for our community no matter what we go through. It just seems that ever yone just comes together, we are just together and hopefully, we can get through it,” said Van De Woestyne.

Pandemic put Radiothon for Life on pause In an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation announced the postponement of their annual Radiothon for Life.

The event was scheduled for April 29, to be aired live on Golden West Broadcasting’s Estevan stations, and take place at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

“Many individuals, community groups, businesses, volunteers, radio staff and healthcare workers are involved each year. The foundation does not want to put anyone at risk during this time,” said Breanne Van De Woestyne, executive director of the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.

An announcement of the new date for the event will be shared once decided.

In the meantime, those who are interested are still able to make donations towards the Radiothon and the Hospital Foundation online at www.sjhf.org, by mail or by calling the office at 306-637-2474.

The Radiothon for Life is an annual event hosted by St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation that has raised thousands of dollars to support the funding of medical equipment at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

City Hall: 1102 4th Street 8 am to 4:30 pm | (306) 634-1800 Leisure Office: 701 Souris Avenue 8 am to 4:30 pm | (306) 634-1880

The Mayor

Message From

We would like to thank our community for their cooperation during these difficult times. Please continue social distancing, by working together we will win this fight.

UTILITIES AND TAXES DURING COVID 19 PANDEMIC

MESSAGE FROM EMO COORDINATOR MESSAGE FROM OUR EMO COORDIANTOR: COVID-19 is a serious health threat, and the situation is evolving daily. In order to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, everyone has a role to play. Social distancing measures are a way to minimize COVID-19 transmission in the community. This means minimizing close contact with others such as hand shaking, hugging, elbow bump and being within personal space of 2 meters during this outbreak. Your cooperation during this pandemic is critical.

Thank you.

FLUSHING PROGRAM Beginning Monday April 6,2020,and continuing to Friday, June 26,2020, the Water and wastewater Division will be carrying out Sanitary Sewer Main Flushing and Storm sewer Flushing, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. During the periods of jetting, residents and businesses are advised to securely cap basement floor drains. You may smell an odor in your home, this can be resolved by simply opening windows for a short period of time and running water to ensure all traps are full of water. Storm sewer will have no effect on homes and business’.

2020 Program Area will encompass all streets North of 6th Street, and west of Souris Ave within City limits including:

Morsky Drive Larter Road MacCready Bau Tedford Way Matte Court Jesse Bay Wellock Road Irvine Crescent Dieppe Crescent Victory Road Gibbs Road Mayfair Drive Mayfair Bay Cardinal Avenue

Barabash Bay Taisey Crescent Newcombe Drive Nicholson Road Wahlmeier Drive Boyer Avenue Mack Place Mather Crescent Dyer Road Pettigrew Road McCormick Crescent Grundeen Crescent Thorn Crescent Sinclair Bay

U-

Hill Avenue Veterans Avenue Veterans Crescent Veterans Bay Kohaly Avenue Lynd Crescent Hudson Road Hillcrest Drive Hillcrest Bay Woodend Place Cundall Drive King Street Chinook Bay

To offer assistance and best service to citizens experiencing the effects of the economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City is committed to providing increased flexibility and immediate short-term relief for your utility and property tax payments through the following: UTILITY SERVICES: The City will continue to bill for utility services as normal.

However, to best serve the City’s customers in these extraordinary times, the City has made the following changes to current utility collections activities: Utility disconnections due to arrears will be suspended until September 1, 2020; Late payment charges will be suspended on all utility accounts until September 1, 2020; and We will continue to generate utility bills, reminders and other related notices for customers who are in arrears to keep them informed of their current situation.

These measures are aimed at providing financial relief for customers who may not be able to afford to pay their bills on time. By suspending late payment charges, utility customers will have the option to delay bill payments without putting themselves in additional financial hardship. However, civic staff will continue to work with the City’s utility customers regarding payment arrangements so as not to leave them in a difficult financial situation in the future.

Delaying disconnections will help ensure that all homes have access to water, allowing for proper hand-washing and personal hygiene.

PROPERTY TAX: Your 2020 Property Tax notice will be delivered by the end of June, 2020.

To offer assistance and best service to citizens experiencing the effects of the economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City is committed to providing increased flexibility and immediate short-term relief for your 2020 Property Tax payment.

On your notice, your 2020 Property Tax due date will still show as July 31, 2020.

HOWEVER: The City is extending a two-month grace period to provide you with additional time to pay your 2020 Property Tax. You will not incur any late payment penalties on your 2020 Property Tax if you pay the full amount due by September 30, 2020.

We would like to answer your property tax-related questions. We understand and will work with you.

‘Em WE mEnd ‘Em Owners - Lance Mack & Yancey Hagel

Call 306-634-6060