January 2, 2013
WEDNESDAY
www.estevanmercury.ca
Local Students Recognized
Bruins Fall To Weyburn
⇢ B1
Issue 35
⇢ A7
One person was killed when two semis collided on Dec. 23 near Hirsch.
Frehlicks Donate To New Nursing Home
⇢ B6
No Holiday Rest For Local Officers
⇢ A10
Scan with your smartphone to visit The Mercury’s mobile website
Thursday
Friday
High -5Âş Low -20Âş High -2Âş Low -11Âş
Saturday
Sunday
High -3Âş Low -9Âş
High -5Âş Low -9Âş
Careers .......B13-14 Church Dir........ B11 Classifieds ....B9-12 Obituaries ..B10-11 Perspective........ A6
Business ............ A7 Energy ............A8-9 Services Dir. .... B12 Sports .......... B1 - 5 Community ....... B6
Mailing No. 10769
WEATHER & INDEX
Two accidents, one fatality A Dec. 23 collision between two semi-trailer trucks on a stretch of Highway 18 near Hirsch left one of the drivers dead and sent the other to hospital with undetermined minor injuries. And a Dec. 21 collision between a car and SUV on Highway 39, approximately 10 kilometres east of Estevan, sent seven people to hospital, some with serious injuries. The Dec. 23 incident remains under investigation by the Estevan detachment of the RCMP. Police
spokesman Sergeant Daryl Milo said alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. The accident reconstruction team spent several hours on the scene, but Milo said some information has been released that indicates that visibility was obscured on this section of the highway at the time due to swirling snow and the presence of snowplow equipment nearby. “It appears they may have met in a snow zone, creating a temporary loss of vision, meeting head on
when one ended up crossing the dividing line,� said Milo. The unidentified deceased is a 45-year-old male believed to be an Alberta resident who had been residing in Redvers. The driver of the other semi received minor injuries. It took several hours to remove the wreckage and for the RCMP to complete their investigation which meant traffic had to be diverted. The Dec. 21 collision was also a head-on event
that involved a family of five travelling in an SUV heading east out of Estevan while an oncoming car, carrying two people was westbound, coming into Estevan on Highway 39. Again, one of the vehicles crossed the highway dividing line into the path of the other. The occupants of the two vehicles ranged in age from two years to 56 and all were taken to hospitals in Estevan and Regina suffering from injuries described as being from minor to very serious.
Milo said a Dec. 26 check on one of the most seriously injured passengers, a 12-year-old girl who was transferred to Regina, indicated she was now off the serious injury list but still in intensive care. An update on the physical condition of the others was not readily available. Alcohol may have been a contributing factor, but the RCMP said their investigation is continuing and charges are pending against the 16-year-old operator of the car.
Taking a look at Estevan’s future It all started with a simple question. After hearing that the provincial government was projecting Saskatchewan’s population would be 1.2 million by the year 2020, we posted a poll question on our website asking readers to predict what they think Estevan’s population will be at that time. The options were: status quo, 15,000, 18,000, 20,000 or less than our current population of 12,500.
The majority of people (38 per cent) voted for 15,000 while 18,000 came in second with 25 per cent of the vote. Instead of answering a question, the results of that poll got us thinking about a number of other questions. If Estevan does actually get to 15,000 people, or even 20,000, by the end of the decade how is that going to change our community? How might that increase affect our infrastructure? Is
our city ready for that kind of growth? Where would all these
Estevan 2020 people live? How would
our schools and health-care system cope? What are the potential social impacts? How are our police and fire services going to keep up? Those questions and others led to a special feature that we are calling: Estevan 2020. Over the past month, The Mercury editorial team has been researching the topic and speaking with officials from various areas to get a sense of where they see our community going.
Mercury co-editor Chad Saxon focused on the city perspective, looking at population, future growth and infrastructure. Saxon also spoke with officials from the Estevan Police Service and Estevan Fire Rescue to learn about how they are planning for the future and the challenges they see in the coming years. Co-editor Norm Park has the health and education beats covered as he takes a look Gazing ⇢A2
Strong argument to be made for CT scanner The executive director of St. Joseph’s Hospital is travelling to Regina next week with local committee members for a scheduled meeting with provincial Health Minister Dustin Duncan. The main purpose of the session will be the ac-
quisition of a CT scanner for the local hospital in order to serve the southeast region by upgrading the imaging and diagnostic services. “We’re giving him (Duncan) the ‘can’t say no’ proposal and we feel the argument we can make
is a compelling one where he should be receptive,� said Greg Hoffort. A schedule for training staff on the equipment could follow in rapid order. The executive director said that Estevan’s health community has to
be continually conscious of the fact “we serve the entire area and we just came out of a physician crisis situation in this city, but the problems exist elsewhere in the region. We need to work with them to improve health care everywhere and the
municipal sectors could get involved too.� Hoffort then added that “we will not be without a CT scanner for another whole year. We’re following the steps necessary to ensure we get one. The answer can’t be no, that’s not on anymore.�
6RXULV $YH 1 (VWHYDQ 3DUWV ( PDLO VDOHV#VHQFKXN FRP ZZZ VHQFKXN FRP
6HQFKXN )RUG 6DOHV /WG