Local groups, clubs, and more can still register for a spot at the City of Swift Current's upcoming City Wide Connections featuring a plethora of spring and summer activities and more.

This season's City Wide Registration will be held on Wednesday, March 5 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and plans are on the way to being finalized. 

Brad Woods, partnerships and events coordinator for the City of Swift Current, noted that southwest groups interested in showcasing what they do will have the perfect opportunity at City Wide Connections. 

"We're doing a final reach-out to community groups in sport, recreation, or culture to invite them out to the event to show the community what they do on a regular basis and ways to get involved," shared Woods. 

He explained that the registration cost depends on whether the group is a non-profit or a business, details like this and more are available on the online form.

Any organizations interested can head to swiftcurrent.ca/cwc for the form. 

Questions about registration forms can be directed to Brad Woods at (306) 770 - 2502.

You've been asking us when Stefani Langenegger will be back on the airwaves. She joins Adam Hunter to share an update to share with listeners. 

Industry members and economists say the looming tariffs could be a chance to develop Canada's domestic market and expand exports beyond the United States.

A couple of small incidents forced the evacuation of the Swift Current Aquatic Centre last month.

There was a fire in the boiler room on January 12th.

"They had a bit of a problem with the boiler," said Dean Diguer, Deputy Fire Chief for the Swift Current Fire Department. "The fire was out on arrival and there was no actions taken by our guys other than a little bit of ventilation."

The City of Swift Current said in a report that cold weather caused the fire with no injuries or damage caused to the boiler.

They also had to evacuate the Aquatic Centre on January 18th due to the burst pipe in the men's change room.

Swift Current is already dealing with a $2.1 million dollar bill to repair the current Aquatic Centre as they look at options for financing a new one.

Two teenagers are facing charges after Regina police found them in a stolen truck early on Monday.

Officers saw the truck turning onto Montreal Street just after midnight, but when they approached, the three occupants had already fled.

The Regina Police Service Canine Unit tracked a 17-year-old female suspect hiding in bushes. She sustained an arm injury from a police dog bite, was taken to the hospital for treatment, and later released. A 17-year-old male suspect was also arrested nearby. A 30-year-old woman surrendered to police but was not charged.

Both teenagers are charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000. The male suspect also faces a charge for failing to comply with an undertaking.

The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team is reviewing the case due to the injury sustained during the arrest. The female suspect will appear in court on April 1, 2025.

A defence lawyer is challenging Saskatoon police on why they videotaped the strip search of a female suspect in a drug trafficking investigation.

A pair of disruptions are scheduled this week to emergency services in Maple Creek. 

On February 12th, these disruptions will start at 4 p.m. They will last until February 13th, at 8 a.m. Locals are advised that in this time period, emergency services will be unavailable at the Southwest Integrated Healthcare Facility. 

The SHA is advising people to seek alternative treatment if needed at Cypress Regional Hospital in Swift Current, Leader Integrated Facility, the Shaunavon Hospital, or the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital. 

Another disruption is scheduled for February 13th, lasting from 4 p.m. until 11:59 p.m. at the Southwest Integrated Health Facility. Once again, emergency services will not be available. 

People will still be able to call 911 in an emergency. 

Following seven years in the role, Karla Wiens has stepped down as CEO for the Swift Current and District Chamber of Commerce. 

Last Friday was Wiens's final day on the job, working alongside the new CEO, Corla Rokochy, to host the 2025 Ag Appreciation Night at the Living Sky Casino. 

Having helped Rokochy prepare over the last couple of months, the evening marked a handing over of the reigns, which Wiens is confident are now in good hands. 

"It warms my heart to know that the Chamber is in very good hands going forward," said Wiens. 

Wiens had worked with Rokochy to first plan the Swift Chamber OMG Funspiel. The event saw Rokochy stepping into the CEO's shoes for the first time, learning how to step and how to dance through the tasks and challenges that get presented in the office. 

Now, after the success of Ag Appreciation Night, Wiens is confident that Rokochy will be setting a whole new rhythm of success and accomplishments following her departure. 

"Good things are on the horizon," said Wiens. "This is a transition phase for our chamber, but a really good transition phase."

Rokochy for her part, will miss Wiens. However, she is ready to lead her way and to strive to her own goals as the Ceo of the Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce.

"I'm really appreciating the support that Karla is bringing in with her years of knowledge," said Rokochy. "You can just see the connections that she has through past events and working with the businesses and the individuals. There's a real connection and a relationship that she's built over time. I'm hoping to do the same."

Saskatchewan RCMP have released the identities of the four people killed on Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation last week.

REGINA – Regina is absolutely covered in snow, so now the residential plow is on to clear it away.

On Monday, winter crews began their effort to plow all city residential streets, and it is scheduled to run until Feb. 22.

According to the city’s news release, Regina got about 17 cm of snow in a two-day period from the major snowstorm that come through last week. That exceeded the 15 cm threshold needed to greenlight a residential plow.

Residents are being asked to remove vehicles from the roads to help city crews plow efficiently and be on time. Information on when you should move your vehicle can be found by downloading the City of Regina’s sweep and plow app by going to Regina.ca/Plow. You can also get information at that website on when to expect the residential plow to come to your neighbourhood.

The work to clear the main roads is already completed. On Sunday, crews finished the systematic plowing of roads, sidewalks and alleys. Routine maintenance activities, including snow removal from school zones, is ongoing. Last week, snow routes had been declared in Regina and work got under way at that time to clear the snow on those roads.

The city reports that narrower residential streets and denser neighbourhoods could get ice shaving instead of grading. The city says this is to avoid on-street parking challenges due to snow ridges. 

In the meantime while the residential plow goes on, the city is asking residents to slow down and to stay back at least three to four car lengths from plowing and sanding equipment.    

Mounties and the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service have confirmed that four people found dead in a home on the Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation last week were murdered.

Last Tuesday, police responded to the scene, where they found the bodies of two men and two women.

The investigation has determined that the four were shot to death.

Police have also released the names of the victims, in order to help with the investigation, and they are:  34-year-old Tracey Hotomani of Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation, 51-year-old Terry Jack of Carry the Kettle, 44-year-old Sheldon Quewezance of Zagime Anihinabek First Nation, 47-year-old Shauna Fay of Indian Head.

No arrests have been made at this point, and the investigation is ongoing, with anyone with information related to this case asked to contact police.

Swift Current Municipal RCMP were called to a local business last week that had been the target of ice cream thefts.

Two adult males reportedly entered the business, located on Swift Current's North Service Road West, in the late afternoon on Thursday, February 6.

The individuals headed directly to the cooler where they stole an ice cream cake and a box of ice cream bars.

The pair was seen leaving in an early 2000s two-door Ford F-150 with a snowblower in the back of the truck, a clear canopy was attached to the snowblower.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at +1 (800) 222 - TIPS(8477), submit an anonymous tip at saskcrimstoppers.com, or text TIP260 along with the message to 274 - 637.

Information submitted through Crime Stoppers is anonymous and is not recorded or traced. Those with information leading to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward.

Residents of Swift Current are being advised of another road closure to allow for vital repairs to a water main.

Eighth Avenue North East, between Elizabeth Place and North Railways Street East, is closed for the remainder of Tuesday, February 11. 

The City of Swift Current advised that motorists can follow the signage that has been put up for a detour. 

Anyone looking for more information can contact the City of Swift Current. 

The Saskatoon Blind Hockey League is in its third season, with players ranging from six-year-olds to adults. Players must be legally blind, meaning they have no more than 10 per cent of their vision, while goalies must be fully blind.

It's not just the municipal leaders feeling the pressure of the proposed tariffs from the United States. 

Even the RM of Swift Current has been feeling the tension. The RM is home to many agricultural producers and ag-related entities, which are all nervous about what may happen once President Trump implements a broad spectrum 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods. 

Agriculture depends on the U.S. as a trading partner, as the southern border takes in a little over 60 per cent of all Canadian agriculture exports. Even when it comes to imports, the U.S. supplies nearly 57 per cent of everything agricultural that Canadians buy. 

Romona Dyck, Reeve for the RM of Swift Current, is certain that the impact will be unavoidable in many instances. 

"Tariffs are definitely gonna affect our bottom line," said Dyck. "We do a lot of trade with the United States as producers and just having the fear of that being taken out of our market or diminished in our market and having to market some of those products in other areas of the world, it is a great concern."

Dyck is hopeful that the tariffs won't be implemented, and the U.S. realizes just how damaging that would be to not only Canada but to themselves. 

For her part as the Reeve, Dyck is still working to figure out how the tariffs could impact the RM itself. Things like road maintenance, ditches, and other infrastructure are all maintained through taxation. If the tariffs raise the cost of the materials and equipment used, while her constituents are already bearing the cost of the tariffs, it may become difficult to reach a balancing point on those taxes. 

"I'm very new at the RM so I don't really know the entire process of how we come up with taxation," admitted Dyck. "Obviously taxation does support the work that the RM does for its ratepayers. I don't know how to answer that question at this time."

One thing she is certain of is that ag producers will weather the storm. 

"Farmers are very resilient and farmers are innovators," said Dyck. "No matter what is thrown at them, they always seem to find a way through. I expect that is what will happen with both the RM administration and with the farmers who are ratepayers."

Residents of Minot, N.D., are used to Canadian visitors. But now many are worried that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats will drive away business and tourism.

Southwest residents and families enjoyed a tradeshow, outdoor activities, gourmet foods, sleigh rides, and more at Winterfest this past weekend in Gull Lake.

The annual event, sponsored by Whitecap Resources, took place on Saturday in conjunction with a weekend of local hockey, in which the Gull Lake Grey Hounds took a victory. 

Lindsay Alliban, economic development officer for the Town of Gull Lake, noted that she saw roughly 300 to 400 people throughout the day.

"We had a great day, the weather was a little bit cold but we had a good turnout," shared Alliban. "People enjoyed the outside bonfire with smores, the outdoor skating rink, lots of people tried out our snowshoes, and we had a large sledding hill that many kids enjoyed all day long."

A few other activities features at Winterfest this year included a pancake breakfast, nearly a dozen tradeshow vendors, a food & drink fair, beer gardens, winter disc golf, a pie-eating contest, a children's magic show, and more. 

"It's a great fundraiser for many different organizations in the community," she said. "Local businesses receive support, organizations got to run a 50/50 or sell raffle tickets, and every year at Winterfest a local organization gets to run the evening portion of the event."

This year's organization responsible for the evening event was Gull Lake's Kreative Kidz Early Learning Centre, which saw a successful fundraiser with Banger Bingo.

"A big thank you to all our sponsors that helped with the event," added Alliban, highlighting Whitecap Resources, RBC, the volunteers, and the community members who provided food and drinks. 

Swift Current residents will be experiencing road closures this week to allow for environmental drilling.

First Avenue North West, between Alexander Street and Grey Street West, will be closed in addition to the alleyway behind the old Rexall location.

The roads will be closed from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Tuesday, February 11 to Thursday, February 13.

For more information, contact the City of Swift Current. 

A local non-profit had its final winter Pop-Up Shop of the season this past weekend in Swift Current, providing those in need with warm winter clothing and more.

Volunteers with MyCityCare began setting up the Pop-Up Shop early Saturday morning in the Great Plains College gym and opened the doors from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Tom Weppler, director for MyCityCare Swift Current, highlighted that around half of the items available were picked up and nearly 100 people stopped by. 

"We were pleased with the Pop-Up Shop over the weekend," he shared. "We had a good group of volunteers come out and add to our team, which is really great to see."

As it was the last one of the season, the clothing left over from the Pop-Up Shop was donated to other non-profits in Swift Current. 

Additionally, the organization has another event in the works called Cinderella.

For this event, MyCityCare is accepting donated graduation dresses and suits that can be dropped off at Elite Automotive Repair Ltd, located on South Service Road West in Swift Current. 

"We appreciate everyone's support and help," he added. "It's great to be working with the amazing team we have and if anyone else is interested in being a part of MyCityCare, please feel free to reach out."

For more information or to get involved contact Tom Weppler at [email protected], head to MyCityCare's website, or check them out on Facebook or Instagram.

The Saskatchewan NDP is calling for the provincial government to step in and prevent the layoffs of 80 educational assistants at Saskatoon Public Schools.

The temperature during the month of January was a roller-coaster but precipitation was easier to track since there wasn’t much.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Danielle Desjardins says the month started colder than average followed by multiple days of back-and-forth changes in temperature. 

Despite that, Desjardins says the monthly averages at some weather stations including Moose Jaw, Regina, and Swift Current were near normal, while Yorkton and Saskatoon were one degree above normal. Northern stations at Key Lake, La Ronge, Meadow Lake, and Prince Albert were two degrees or more above normal. 

The last 10 days of January ended up warmer than average, added Desjardins.

Precipitation during the month was below monthly averages for roughly half of the weather stations and a few above 50 per cent of normal. 

“It’s kind of the opposite oft the temperatures where it looked like it was slightly above normal in the north, or nearing normal, but the south extremely dry.” she said.

North Battleford and Swift Current recorded their second driest month on record, respectively, while Yorkton had its fifth driest month. Regina, Meadow Lake, La Ronge, and Key Lake recorded over 50 per cent of normal levels of precipitation last month.

While most areas were fairly dry, Desjardins noted significant snowfall in the Cypress Hills area in the southwest “due to two prolonged heavy snowfall events.”

Evraz, which operates an iron plant in Regina, has yet to comment on the potential effects of a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum imports.

Rural residents southeast of Swift Current were set for a planned power outage on Wednesday which has recently been cancelled.

The three-and-a-half-hour outage would have affected customers around Rosenhof, Hallonquist, Wymark, Pambrun, and more. 

Scott McGregor, spokesperson for SaskPower, noted that the outage has been cancelled for the time being due to extreme cold conditions. 

"It's too cold for our contractors to work and it's not advisable to have the power turned off when it's that cold outside," said McGregor. 

The power outage will be rescheduled in the near future when weather conditions improve, for updates like this head to the outage map on SaskPower's website. 

A chance to connect and promote Swift Current to potential commercial partners.

Swift Current Business Development Officer Denise Wall attended the ICSC conference last month in Whistler, BC.

"It was quite overwhelming it was quite a large conference," Wall said. "My goal going there was just to see what other cities were doing. Some actually did get a booth at this conference so that is an option for the future. I wanted to gain some information there and see how they were doing it."

The conference was also a networking opportunity.

"I connected with commercial realtors and potential franchises that could possibly come to Swift Current," Wall said. "Just getting my face and name out there in connection to what we have to offer for commercial realty." 

Wall also was able to utilize their new promotional video for business development when connecting with new potential partners. 

She hopes to attend again and implement some of what she observed. 

ICSC promoted their event as a chance to create connections and catalyze deals with the innovators, dealmakers and changemakers driving the marketplaces industry forward in your region.

Tensions continue over American tariffs threatening the Canadian economy.

Locally, the agriculture, oil, and manufacturing industries are feeling the pressure, alongside virtually every other economic force. The federal government has been opposed to the tariffs, having already secured Canada a 30-day reprieve from a broad spectrum 25 per cent tariff on nearly all Canadian imports into the U.S., excluding oil which was set to be 10 per cent.

MP for Cypress Hills-Grasslands, Jeremy Patzer, is a member of the opposition with the Conservative Party of Canada. He believes that Canada needs a federal body capable of maintaining U.S. and Canadian trade relations.

"We need a government that actually pays attention to what it's supposed to be doing, and one of the things it's supposed to do is continue to maintain, but also build on our trade relationships," said Patzer. "We've seen that the current government is not interested in doing that. They've done nothing for nine years on that front."

Canada entered into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on July 1, 2020. It replaced the previous North America Free Trade Agreement. This deal included more access for Americans to the Canadian dairy market, and increased the duty-free limit Canadian buyers could utilize on American goods bought online amongst other things.

Tariffs on agriculture, one of the largest sectors in southwest Saskatchewan, would have a debilitating effect on producers. The largest buyer of Canadian crops is the United States, buying roughly 60 per cent of the total crop each year. They are also the largest contributor to Canadian crop imports, providing nearly 57 per cent of imported crops.

Patzer said the demand for Canadian crops is high, and that the chance for 'value-added production' of those crops is part of the way forward.

"We got the rail lines, we got the number one highway close to the U.S. border, so we have that strategic advantage," said Patzer. "We could use some help on the on the ports on the East and West Coast both, but in the same breath we're well positioned here in the southwest to not just maintain, but to grow what we offer."

Value-added production would mean developing the crop into products like bread, pasta, or other goods. These often sell at a better margin, thus adding value. Currently, the facilities to produce these are, at best, limited in scale in southwest Saskatchewan.

"I personally am looking for opportunities (for that growth)," said Patzer. "I know there's lots of companies who are looking to invest. We just need a government that's actually going to get out of the way and allow people to make those investments and make Canada an attractive place to invest once again." 

Patzer also stated that these tariffs will force some diversification of export partners.

"The U.S. is obviously our greatest ally and we will continue to rely on that relationship," said Patzer. "But we do need to continue to pursue other relationships as well and try to expand that access for our producers."

Even in the face of President Donald Trump's continued aggression toward the Canadian market, Patzer stood firm on his stance that trade with America remains key to Canadian success.

"He's doing what he sees as best for his country and we have to be able to adjust on the fly," said Patzer. "This is why we need a government that's actually going to be active on its duties to make sure that not only are they working on that key relationship with America, but also with their partners around the world."

Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan (LGS) is urging people to be cautious about scam ads for fake online casinos appearing on social media. The fraudulent ads mimic well-known Saskatchewan casinos, such as Dakota Dunes and Casino Regina, using stolen logos and branding to appear legitimate. The scammers’ goal is to steal credit card and other banking information.

Steve Tunison, LGS Vice President of Gaming, stressed in a media release from the province that none of the province’s land-based casinos have legitimate online versions. He recommended using PlayNow.com, Saskatchewan’s only legal online gaming platform, for secure gambling.

The problem is not unique to Saskatchewan. Similar scams affect casinos across North America, including those operated by the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA). LGS encourages residents to report fraudulent ads directly to the social media platform where they appear.

“Scammers are constantly evolving their tactics, and it’s important for people to protect their personal and financial information,” Tunison said in the release. Saskatchewan residents are advised to stay vigilant and skeptical of social media offers.