Estevan Mercury - January 30, 2013

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Robbie Burns Night Held At Legion

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Hit The Street With a break in their final exams schedule, Christian Pfeiffer, (right) Ryan Eggan (left) and Matthew Grunert decided to relax with a little street hockey on Friday.

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

WEDNESDAY

February 2013

Careers ..... B15 - 17 Church Dir........ B12 Classifieds ....B9-13 Obituaries ....... B11 Perspective........ A6

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Following a May 2011 incident in which three people were kidnapped and assaulted by a group of seven local men and women, five will be serving jail time of between 10 and 30 months. The remaining two accused still have their matters to be dealt with at later dates, but Mark Davis, 26, Ronald Himmelspeck, 21, Dustin MacNeil, 21, Jessica Smith, 22, and Amanda Knebush, 20, were all present in Estevan provincial court on Jan. 22 for sentencing. Those five individuals previously pleaded guilty, with the three men pleading to charges of forcible confinement and assault with a weapon, while the two women each pleaded guilty to one count of forcible confinement. A number of other charges were stayed by Crown prosecutor Chris White.

White said there were a number of aggravating factors including the nature of the kidnapping, as he noted one victim was forced into the trunk of a vehicle. “There were certainly threats. There was physical confrontation on the roadside in a remote location, away from police, away from any manner of assistance,� said White. “It certainly appeared to be planned to a certain extent, but it does smell a bit like a crime of impulse.� The incident stemmed from a disagreement between MacNeil and the victims. They were unhappy with the cocaine they purchased from MacNeil and went back to his residence that night. When they found nobody home, they broke in and stole some items including drugs. The following morn-

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ing the female victim was confronted by five of the coaccused about the break-in. Davis did a lot of the

talking for the group, asking where the drugs were that had been taken. White said he was brought along to be

Ronald Himmelspeck

Amanda Knebush

Jessica Smith

Dustin MacNeil

the “muscle,â€? but didn’t have any specific ties to the original sale of the drugs. “It was not his fight initially, but he took it on with gusto,â€? White told the court. The victim denied taking the drugs, suggesting the two men she was with must have taken them and gave up the males’ whereabouts. The group went to the house to confront the two males, who also both denied taking the drugs. Smith called the female victim and told her to meet them at the Co-op grocery store. The victim sent a text to her father, requesting that he call the police if he didn’t hear from her in 20 minutes, and then went to the Co-op. The accused were driving two cars. The two male victims were with them in the vehicles when the Jail ⇢A2

Schools told to add instructional hours The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education’s move to lengthen and also set a minimum standard for the number of hours spent on instruction in provincial classrooms has been fairly well received in most quarters.

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Face-to-face time with teachers in public, Catholic and other private schools that receive public funding will be established at 950 hours each school year, starting this coming fall. Marc Casavant, director of education for the

South East Cornerstone Public School Division, said the move should not come as a surprise to anyone involved in the provincial education system since the subject has been discussed and debated for over a year at all levels. In

fact, he noted, the recent provincial auditor’s report alluded to the impending change. “Nobody was off guard on this topic,� he said, a statement confirmed by Saskatchewan’s Education Minister Russ Marchuk.

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January 30, 2013

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Sentencing in kidnapping case sends five to jail

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“These changes will help ensure all Saskatchewan students benefit from more consistent instructional hours and will bring us in line with our Western Canadian counterparts,â€? Marchuk said. New ⇢A2

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