review
weyburn Vol.114 No. 2 - Weyburn, Saskatchewan Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 16 Pages
Wings win Hwy 39 Cup The Weyburn Red Wings claimed the Highway 39 Cup with a win over Estevan. Page 4
See some of the photos and stories that made up the year 2023 in Weyburn and surrounding areas, in our Year in Review. Pages 11-16
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City to amend community plan, appoints interim clerk By Greg Nikkel The Official Community Plan for Weyburn is getting two amendments to accommodate the rezoning of two separate parcels. The amendment is needed for a parcel owned by Bree Patterson at the corner of Second Street and Prairie Avenue, as the former real estate office will revert back to a residential property. This requires rezoning from neighbourhood commercial to residential semidetached, or R2. Council gave second and third readings to amend the bylaw for the OCP. The second property are two lots on Regina Avenue, as owner Ryan Bousfield purchased cityowned land in order to build a custom workshop on the land. The land needs to be rezoned from urban holdings zone to a light industrial zone, and the land designation in the OCP has to be changed from no designation to industrial. First reading was given, and notice has to be given to neighbouring properties and the public before it will come back to council on Jan. 22 for input, and second and third readings, if it’s approved. The Minister of Government Relations needs to give approval for the amendments to be made
to the Official Community Plan, then the bylaws can take effect. • In other council business, city manager Mathew Warren was appointed as the interim city clerk, while administration is making a search for a permanent clerk to replace Donette Richter, who retired at the end of 2023. While the city is actively recruiting for this position, The Cities Act requires that the position be filled temporarily. Richter retired after serving for 17 years as city clerk, ending a 30-year career with the City of Weyburn. • City refuse pickup is returning to a biweekly pickup schedule again, and city engineer Jennifer Wilkinson was asked what the rationale is for picking up garbage every second week through the winter. She noted there are a number of reasons, including that the driver for the refuse pickup is also used for snow removal when it’s required, and in a normal winter, it’s more difficult for the garbage truck to navigate the residential streets, particularly after a snowfall. In addition, she said it also assists making the service more affordable in the public works budget by reducing costs while still being able to provide the service.
Wildlife Federation has 88 out for fish derby The Weyburn Wildlife Federation held a successful fish derby at Nickle Lake on Saturday afternoon, with 88 registered for the competition. For the safety of those attending, most of the participants parked on the shore and were transported onto the lake to the spot where the Wildlife Federation had some 250 holes drilled for the competition. Of those registered, there were 18 youth, and a total of 26 fish were caught weighed and released. The winners in each category for youth and adults are as follows. In the youth category, there were prizes of $100 each. The biggest pike, which weight in at 1.27 pounds, was caught by Nazlund Friday, and the biggest walleye at 0.73 pounds was caught by Jacek Ashworth. Adults had prizes of $400 each for the biggest fish. The biggest perch at 1.05 pounds was caught by James Donison; the biggest pike at 2.25 lbs. was caught by Clint Shepard, and the
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biggest walleye at 2.98 lbs. went to Ken Kopeck. The hidden weight was 2.51 lbs., and Clint Shepard won a $25 gift card for Canadian Tire. The prize for the first fish caught went to James Donison, and he won a $25 gift card from Canadian Tire. The 50/50 winner was Clint Shepard.
Prowling at the People’s Choice exhibition
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Review Photo 2967 – Greg Nikkel
A sculpture of a black panther called “Pharoah” was on guard at the James Weir People’s Choice exhibition on Friday, the first day of voting for the 40th annual competition. There are 27 entries for this year’s contest, on display at the Weyburn Art Gallery from now until voting closes on March 17, with the awards reception on March 23.
Info, security detailed to Cornerstone trustees
By Norm Park, Contracted Reporter for SECPSD Delivering information throughout the South East Cornerstone Public School Division in a safe and secure fashion is no mean feat. Brian Belinsky, manager of Information Systems for Cornerstone was in the division’s boardroom in Weyburn on Dec. 20 during a general business session to explain information security for the school division. Belinsky led off his presentation by noting statistics that showed that ransomware breaches grew by 41 per cent in North America last year and 54 per cent of organizations experienced cyber attacks in the last 12 months, while 34 per cent of the data breaches in the education sector involved online phishing. He noted that outdated software and unpatched systems are the common entry points for cyber attacks and therefore cyber security training continues to be a vital com-
Hoping to land a big one
ponent to enhance security within educational systems and institutions. Citing some examples, he added how security breaches are becoming commonplace on mobile devices and found the information gathered at this session as being “extremely insightful.” Extra levels of security can be attained by improving password codes, and understanding the lack of cyber security while using more public Wi-Fi sites, as an example, he said. As a result of the growing concerns, patching is done weekly within Cornerstone now, not monthly, and “senior leadership saw the value” of having a tightened security system. While teaching and administration work has not been “cut in half” by cyber systems, it “can make things easier or better,” Belinsky said. Belinsky rolled through dozens of examples of the role these information systems play in education, such
as accessibility, efficiency and optimizing resources as well as enhancing learning experiences, global reach outs that included exchanges and datadriven insights. “In an increasingly digital world, exposure to and proficiency in information systems are essential skills for students,” Belinsky said. “Integrating systems into education prepares students for future academic pursuits and careers where digital literacy is often a prerequisite.” Belinsky took some time to discuss the support systems for the delivery of information within the division that included not only the education system, but also the business and enterprise side of the division’s activities. The benefits are manyfold, he suggested, since strong cyber information systems allow for better resource management, improved decision making, and community engagement as well as the aforementioned enhanced security. He also talked about
choosing the right systems for the needs of the organizational goals, budget and technical infrastructures. Implementation considerations were then discussed, as were system challenges and solutions. Belinsky spoke about how some more remote schools in the division have been challenged by lack of access to stronger Wi-Fi outlets, but that is being covered now by provincial assistance and, he said, 17 Cornerstone schools received system upgrades this school year. He emphasized the importance of upgrades by noting that when he started in the then-new SECPSD 13 years ago, the schools were reporting cyber systems that were using 3, 5 and 10 Mbps whereas now they have a minimum of 10 (one school) with most schools having at least 200 Mbps. Another four have 500 Mbps and Estevan Comprehensive School boasts of 1 Gbps since it is home to the back up security system.
Review Photo 5292 – Greg Nikkel
There were 88 people registered for the Weyburn Wildlife Federation’s fish derby on Saturday afternoon, with prizes awarded for youth and adults for the biggest fish. As a safety precaution, most of the parking for the participants was on shore, and the fishers were driven to the area on the ice where the competition was held.