Southwest motorists are being cautioned to take necessary steps to stay safe and be prepared when heading out on the highway, not only this Christmas season but throughout the winter season.

SGI is hoping to ensure all drivers get to their destinations and are able to celebrate another holiday by giving their customers a few tips about winter travel. 

Jeremy Pilon, communications consultant with SGI, noted that the two main things he tells people are to prepare themselves and prepare their vehicles.

"By preparing yourself I mean changing your mindset," he shared. "Slowing down so that you're driving for what's more appropriate out there or giving yourself more time to stop.

"Then when it comes to preparing your vehicle that's things like your winter tires, making sure your snowbrush and everything are in the car, and you want to make sure your car is well maintained."

Taking the time to do those extra things like ensuring the right fluids are being used, keeping phones charged, getting issues fixed right away, checking Saskatchewan's Highway Hotline, and checking the weather forecast can prevent break-downs.

"Everyone should have an emergency kit in their vehicle, some of your vehicles may come with things like jacks or road flares," said Pilon. "But when it comes to wintertime here in Saskatchewan we see such severe weather that you're going to want a few extra things."

An emergency kit can include booster cables, a snow shovel or traction mats, blankets, extra mittens, a tow rope or chain, non-perishable food, boots, candles, matches, and a portable charger and cord. 

"If you were in a collision or if you were run off the road by the weather, other people [might] be in the same scenario and you're going to want emergency services or someone there to help you out," he explained. "You want to stay with your vehicle because you don't want to be exposed to the elements in bad weather,

"and that might just lead emergency services on a goose chase to both your vehicle and you, in a bad situation."

In an emergency situation such as getting stuck or experiencing a mechanical issue or collision, drivers should try to get off the road if possible and call for help immediatley. SGI advises to use any road flares to become more visible, conserve heat and fuel by running the vehicle intermitently, and remain with the vehicle. 

"Another part of staying safe on the roads is just obeying those same rules we obey throughout the year, " Pilon added. 

Call 9 - 1 - 1 in an emergency as soon as possible, for more information about safe winter driving practices visit SGI's website.  

Teachers in the province are awaiting the decision of the Arbitration Board tasked to come up with the award that forms the basis of a new teachers’ contract.  

A release from the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation states that he binding arbitration hearing between the Teachers’ Bargaining Committee and Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee concluded just after 6 pm on Wednesday, December 18.   

There is no indication when the decision will be released. Until then, it’s a waiting game for the Federation and its 14,000 members. The STF says it will provide a comment at that time.  

The seventh annual Kakpik Fashion show took place last Sunday in Arviat, Nunavut, featuring 97 handmade garments made by 22 seamstresses in the community. 

A new Indigenous immersive language program inspired by the Māori communities of New Zealand is looking to help preserve Plains Cree, a dialect of the Cree language. The program, called a "language nest," is a non-classroom space for fluent Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers from the local community to help children learn the Cree language in their formative years.

An RNC officer who was going about their business doing an investigation at an Eastern Health facility in St. John’s last night was suddenly attacked – unprovoked – by a person unrelated to the investigation.

The RNC officer defended himself and was able to arrest the 23-year-old man for assaulting a peace officer.

The suspect remains in custody.

RCMP have issued an arrest warrant for a Labrador man wanted on a number of serious charges including sexual assault.

RCMP in Nain believe that 37-year-old Sonny Merkuratsuk is actively evading their attempts to locate him.

Merkuratsuk is wanted on charges of sexual assault, break and enter, uttering threats and failing to comply with a release order.

RCMP are asking anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact them or Crime Stoppers.

Police need help in locating a man who pointed a gun in the Gander Mall last night.

The incident happened at about 7:00, but there were no injuries. The person in question is about 5′ 11″ tall, has a moustache and was wearing black clothing at the time.

There currently is no public safety threat.

The holidays are a good time to turn away from devices and help children develop much needed social skills, such as communication, teamwork and problem solving, experts say.

New Brunswick hunters took 11,780 deer this fall, a 31 per cent increase since last year.

Seasonal affective disorder can make you feel tired, anti-social and hopeless. Here are the signs to look for and some ways to fight it.

Summerside's council voted earlier this week to repeal the city's taxi bylaw, deeming it 'redundant.' The mayor says the move should open the door to different ways of getting around.

Nearly 200 volunteers are slated to sort and pack urgently needed food donations at the Daily Bread Food Bank's centre in Etobicoke on Saturday.

The generosity of Nova Scotians outranks all others in Canada, according to CanadaHelps, a self-funded charity that connects donors to other charities around the country.

Musician Goldie Boutilier performed at some revered North American music festivals this year, but a promising start to her music career a decade ago with a major label in California turned sour and saw her doing sex work and struggling with drug and alcohol use.

Mount Pearl baker Jennifer Barrett is combining her culinary skills with a 3D printer and the results are custom sweet treats. It’s a sight to see and the CBC’s Elizabeth Whitten got an up close view, and even a taste.

When Santa Claus visited the Inuit communities of Hopedale, Postville, Makkovik and Rigolet last week, Labrador Morning host Rhivu Rashid was along for the ride.

Dozens of abuse victims who had their claims for compensation rejected earlier this year have won a victory in their ongoing legal battle against a Roman Catholic archdiocese in St. John's.

Eighty-eight-year-old Lorne Collie has been making musical instruments for more than three decades, creations that dazzle for their unique materials as much as their sound.

There’s a hefty bass guitar and a cello made of moose antlers, a baseball bat violin, ukuleles made of cookie tins, and guitars fashioned from pitch forks, a shovel, and a rake.

His personal favourites? A frying pan mandolin and a banjo made of a motorcycle tire rim, covered by stretched deerskin painted by his late wife.

“When people wanted to buy them, I always said No,” Collie said from his home outside the tiny and remote Manitoba community of Hilbre, about 230 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

“I wasn’t hurting for money, but what I was afraid of is that if I started selling them, I would be working myself to death to try to keep up to the orders.”

Collie said he once turned down an offer of $35,000 for a moose antler electric guitar.

Now things have changed.

“That was the policy back then,” he said. “I’m 88 now and not as spry and lively as I used to be.”

With the help of his son James who lives in Hope, B.C., Collie is hoping to sell some of his collection. The electric bass guitar is on sale for $8,000, and the cello for $6,500.

Collie said he needs the funds to upgrade his older model electric car to one with better range and speed, so he can see his large family.

“I would like to and I do quite a bit of travelling. My wife has passed on and I’m alone. I’ve got 25 great grandchildren and they’re all in Alberta and B.C.,” Collie said. “I’ve got lots of reasons to drive.”

Collie said he first put the antler instruments up for sale this summer, but while there were a few inquiries from Vancouver “nobody came out to see them.”

“You really have to see them to appreciate them,” he said.

Collie’s instrument building began with a near-death experience that forced him to retire from his trade as a machinist.

He said he was “working tremendous, long hours at a high stress” job in the late 1980s, when he collapsed with a brain aneurysm that put him in a coma for more than a week.

“That was supposed to have killed me,” he said. “They wrote me off as dead.”

Collie said he woke up with a clear head, and after a friend challenged him to “put strings on a shovel,” he began making instruments from other odd, kitschy implements.

He said he walked into his workshop one day, saw a broken guitar on a workbench and a moose antler on another and “got the idea of putting them together.”

Friends on a nearby First Nations reserve and a brother-in-law who maintains a trapline found the antlers and gave them to him.

The first antler instrument, a guitar, “turned out very, very good.”

The antler doesn’t warp and it’s very strong, Collie said, adding that he’s had success with most materials, other than an ill-fated attempt at making a lap steel guitar from a snowshoe.

The moose antler bass guitar weighs nearly eight kilograms, he said, but it’s “one of the most comfortable” instruments he’s made.

“And it sounds good, just like a good solid-body electric guitar,” Collie said.

Collie isn’t done yet with his unique instruments. He said he also wants to make a Celtic harp, but he needs “fairly large antler with quite a deep curve in it.”

“I’m not much of a musician,” he said. “I can play any of them good enough to know if they’re working, but I’m not a performer.”

He likes the idea of a group of musicians getting together to do a “talent show” with his creations, but if he can sell the antler bass and cello, he’d be happy “just to know they’re being enjoyed.”

“I’ve been making stuff my entire life,” he said. “I was born for making things, that’s for sure.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2024.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press

A London dog owner is pushing for a bylaw change after his dog was bitten, and the owner of the other dog refused to provide him with their contact information. 

Woodstock fire chief and Regional Fire Marshal visit school to present backpack of special gifts

With a shy and bewildered smile, Townsview School kindergartener Hafizullah Ibn Jibnel Ona wore his plastic fireman’s helmet and held his stuffed Sparky the Fire Dog as he accepted his Fire Prevention Poster prize from some special guests to his classroom on Tuesday, Dec. 17. 

Regional Fire Marshal Eric Guerette, Woodstock Fire Chief Harold McLellan and the chief’s dog Ember visited teacher Shannon Despres’s kindergarten class to deliver a backpack and contents to the five-year-old winner, one of 27 across New Brunswick. 

Children throughout New Brunswick created posters during Fire Safety Week in October. 

The backpack included a stuffed Sparky toy and a plastic fireman helmet, as well as a household fire extinguisher, a smoke alarm, and an assortment of children’s items. 

Ember, the chief’s nine-year-old child-friendly Dalmatian, was “Haffy” and his classmates’ favourite visitor. Ember made several trips around the classroom to take in the young students’ head rubs. 

Guerette quizzed the children on fire safety. Many of them already knew the purpose of the fire extinguisher and smoke alarm, including that they needed a working battery. 

Guerette explained the annual Fire Safety Week and the Fire Prevention Poster Contest encourage schools and their young students to learn about the dangers of fire while sharing in the fun. 

The post Townsview kindergarten student earns Fire Safety Poster Contest prize first appeared on River Valley Sun.

The Royal Family gathers for Christmas celebrations, but amid the festivities, there will be ongoing concerns for the health of King Charles, as his cancer treatment continues and a notable absence sparked by a high-profile controversy involving an alleged Chinese spy.

As the U.S. Congress scrambled to come up with a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown Friday, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump insisted that a debt ceiling increase be included in any such deal, then went a step further by seeking to suspend or eliminate the debt limit before he takes office. Here's why.