Moose Jaw city council awarded the contract for the repair and replacement of sidewalks, ramps, curbs and medians to North Star Concrete Inc., but it isn’t coming without some controversy.

North Star Concrete was not only the second-lowest bidder on the tender.

“The city has determined that the lowest bidder did not meet the standards required under the clear terms of the tender documents that they filled out,” said Mayor Fraser Tolmie. “These reasons are confidential and will be released to the rejected bidder.”

North Star gave a bid of about $535,000. The capital budget was set out for $495,000 for the repairs, so council accepted $449,000 or 78 per cent of the bid.

However, the lowest bid was $395,000 to complete all of the work.

While the motion passed during executive committee on May 11, Coun. Brian Swanson asked for a recorded re-vote.

Swanson felt the reasons to disqualify the lowest bidder should be dealt with as a third-party civil matter.

“There are extenuating circumstances there and I do feel that Coun. Swanson is probably right, some of those things should be dealt with at another level of legality,” said Coun. Heather Eby, explaining why she voted for the second-lowest bidder.

“But those do colour my opinion on this and I am comfortable voting this way and I wish I could say more but I can’t.”

He pointed out that the lowest bidder came under budget, meaning about 25 per cent could have been done, while the next lowest bidder can only to 78 per cent of the work at the top of the budget.

Tolmie agreed that the taxpayers lose in this scenario, but the fact remains that the lowest bidder did not qualify under the terms of the application process for confidential reasons.

The revote to award North Star Concrete the contract passed with Tolmie, Eby, Dawn Luhning and Crystal Froese for and Swanson, Scott McMann and Chris Warren opposed.

Optimism is returning to Main Streets across the province as businesses prepare to reopen. The question facing many owners is whether they are ready to reopen, and how to plan for the expected bounce and revitalization of the economy.

Gordon Borrell is C.E.O. of Borrell Associates and is the local media industry’s leading analyst. Prior to starting Borrell Associates, he was Vice President for New Media for Landmark Communications, where he worked for 22 years.

He says how you plan to reopen will be just as important as the plan itself.

“So you have people who have never planned in the past, and really need to plan, and then you have people who planned in the past, and over-planned, and that can be just as bad,” explains Borrell. “We’ve seen this before at companies, ‘Okay, we’re going to have a committee meeting, we’re going to get together, and we’re going to make sure the marketing is right, and then we’ll have a decision next Tuesday.’ Meanwhile, the market is passing them by. There’s a bit of over planning you have to be careful about, and you have to pivot very quickly. And then not planning at all just ensures you’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”

Borrell says it’s crucial for small business owners to connect with customers through the right messaging for right now.

“If you put two businesses side by side, they could be the exact same type of businesses, the exact same type of product, great service, one will fail, one will succeed during this particular crisis,” notes Borrell. “The difference is exclusively the marketing. You can see it, where businesses have really thrived during this time, and it’s because they did something specific with their marketing, while the others went silent, and half of all businesses have gone silent with their marketing.”

Borrell is the featured speaker in the third session of Golden West’s FREE webinar series happening Thursday morning at 9 am. Jim Brown, President of Borrell Associates will also present during the webinar, bringing suggestions and perspectives from his more than 25 years of results-driven leadership in sales and marketing.

You can register now by clicking here.

It was announced on May 19th that the government of Saskatchewan would be providing all communities within the province funding under the new Municipal Economic Enhancement Program 2020 (MEEP).

The funding will provide $150 million to communities across the province, or approximately $143 per capita. According to Government Relations Minister Lori Carr "This $150 million investment into Saskatchewan’s municipalities can be used for shovel ready infrastructure projects and initiatives, and will help keep our municipalities strong during the current pandemic."

Moose Jaw will receive $4,870,956.

City Manager Jim Puffalt however, says there are some stipulations to receiving the funds.

"Our understanding of this, and we haven't had a whole bunch of time to dive into it, is that we have to develop a plan to present along with it, present it to the province, and there's potential to get some funding this year and some funding next year. We think its too soon to say completely that we will be able to get all of the money in 2020 or 2021, but it has to be spent by the end of March 2022."

"We want to come back with a recommendation as to the most strategic use of the funds that will meet the largest majority of needs that we have. Certainly we think being fiscally responsible and not borrowing if we don't have to is a good option, and we're glad that this program gives council that option to take a look at it."

The program is a part of the government's $7.5 billion capital plan meant to stimulate economic recovery within the province after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Moose Jaw Kinsmen Club in partnership with Knight Ford Lincoln has a new auction underway looking to support a number of local businesses; the Kinsmen Charity Auction.

Cory Olafson with the Kinsmen Club explains how it works

"We came up with this idea to go around to local businesses to buy gift cards to do a little part to help out. Simultaneously Knight Ford Lincoln came out with a similar project. We decided to partner up and we put $5000 each into a pot. Alex Carlton and I went around and bought 50 gift cards valued at $200 each roughly from 50 different businesses around town."

To look at items included in the auction, and to bid, you can click here. Olafson went on to explain where all money raised will go.

"We are going to take the money raised henceforth and donate that to the Moose Jaw Food Bank, Hunger in Moose Jaw and the Moose Jaw Transition House. Right at the start of COVID-19, we gave the Moose Jaw Food Bank a $5000 donation to help out and put some more food in their cupboard for people. We want to try and do what we can during these troubled times that we're going through."

Bidding closes Friday at noon. 

It was announced Wednesday that the Saskatchewan government would be investing $17 million into post-secondary institutes in Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic here in town will receive the bulk of the funding, with $12 million being used for renovations to several buildings on campus, which will increase campus usability and safety, and will see renovations done on the buildings which house construction, electrical, automotive and civil water programs.

The University of Saskatchewan's Griffiths Stadium will receive $3.1 million upgrades to the field and lighting, and the University of Regina's College of Kinesiolgy will receive $2.5 million to replace the roof of the building.

Construction will start later this year and is expected to be complete by the spring of 2022.

"As we re-open Saskatchewan and emerge from the pandemic, it is important to look to the future," Advanced Education Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor said. "These projects increase our post-secondary capabilities and reinforce our commitment to students’ safety and wellbeing in both academic and athletic pursuits."

Tourism week in Saskatchewan is normally time for a celebration of the creative ways people can be brought to the community.

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, things are definitely not seeming normal in the industry. Well-known destinations in the area, including the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, Temple Gardens Mineral Spa, Mosaic Place, Casino Moose Jaw and various festivals, have been restricted, shutdown or postponed for 2020.

“Many of our businesses that are draws to outside communities are still not open and don’t have a date to be open,” said Tourism Moose Jaw’s Jackie L'Heureux Mason. “Anything recreational or entertainment based, they’re a huge draw for us and they’re not allowed to open. Once we see how the restaurants do, once they get opened…  we can maybe see what kind of saving grace that gives us for the summer.”

Layoffs have hit many in the industry due to closures. Things might be allowed to start opening up this summer. Until they do, the local tourism industry remains in a holding pattern.

“It’s really hard,” L'Heureux Mason said. “I’d like to look at this as a real challenge. It’s going to be hard telling people from other provinces to be coming to Moose Jaw right away. There are no bans right now, but they’re asking people to respect provincial borders right now.”

Province-wide, the tourism industry generated over $2 billion in economic spinoff, and according to numbers from the organization, tourism brings about $90 million of economic activity annually to Moose Jaw.

“The Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to proclaim Saskatchewan Tourism Week and acknowledge the people and experiences that make our province an inviting destination,” Minister Responsible for Tourism Saskatchewan Gene Makowsky said in a media release this week.  “As we move through the phases of re-opening the province, I encourage residents to support local tourism businesses while continuing safe social distancing.”

Moose Jaw Minor Hockey had their AGM Tuesday night and they have several new members on their board.

The meeting was held on the Zoom app due to regulations on physical gatherings of people. 

Chris Flanagan is now the president, Lianne King remains the vice president and Nadene MacAngus stays on as secretary. Jillian Ross is the new treasurer.  

Rod Bauck is the development director, J.D. Craig is the equipment director, Dawn Froats is the female director and Trevor Tenetiuk is the tier director. 

Johnny Spencer becomes the U11 director, Adam Knudson is the U9 director and Jill Schwabe is the U7 director. Names of the age groups have been changed to reflect new Hockey Canada naming conventions. The U15/U18 director and U13 directors positions are currently empty. 

Two additional deaths of Saskatchewan patients who tested positive from COVID-19 have been recorded by the province.

Both are from the far north, with one patient in their 60s and another in their 80s. This brings the total amount of deaths in the province to 10.

There were three new cases reported in the provincial ministry’s daily release Wednesday, with the two new cases reported in Regina.  The other new case is in the far north.  

With a total of 559 recoveries, a total of 68 cases are considered active.

Also, there are four people currently in hospital. Of those, three are in ICU in Saskatoon.

Of the 68 currently active cases, 55 are in the far north, four are in the north, six are in Saskatoon, two are in the Regina region and one is in the south region, which includes the Moose Jaw area. There are no currently active cases in the central region.

Of the 634 provincial cases overall, 141 are travel-related, 363 are community contacts or mass gatherings, 77 have no known exposures and 56 are under investigation by public health.

Fifty of the cases are health care workers, and the province says the infections may not be because of their health care in all instances.

A total of 167 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 78 are from the Regina area, 111 are from the north, 253 are from the far north, 16 are from the south and 12 are from the central region.

Ninety-three cases are of people 19 and younger, and 122 are in the 60-and-older range. Of all of the cases, 51 per cent are in female patients and 49 per cent are male.

Thusfar, 45,118 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. There has been a rate of 34,492 tests per one million people, compared to the national average of 39,920 per million.

Saskatchewan still has the fifth most active cases in Canada.

Nationally as of Monday afternoon, there have been over 87,400 confirmed cases and over 6,700 deaths from COVID-19. There have also been over 46,000 recoveries. The United States had over 99,700 deaths Monday afternoon and is now over 1.69 million cases.

The Moose Jaw and District Food Bank needs a new place.

The food bank has launched its summer campaign in the hopes of raising $100,000 to help relocate to a larger facility.

At their current location, the food bank is running out of space and they are hoping to be in a new location by early fall.

"We are pressed for pace in our food bank and have been for quite some time," said assistant manager Deann Little.

"Our board of directors and staff have been looking at ways that we can move. We've utilized all of the space possible and because right now we are serving our clients outside, but come fall and weather changing this won't be able to be kept up at all."

Moose Jaw Food Bank chair Daycee Richardson explained how the funds would be used.

"That's not the cost of purchasing the property, that's just helping us get into it and customize it to our needs so we can be set up really well to serve the community down the road," Richardson said.

Donations can be made through the food bank's website, e-transfer to endhunger@mjfoodbank.org or mailing a cheque.

Shown is Cst. Jason Mercer. The most recent recruit for the Moose Jaw Police Service's K9 Unit has been named in his honour.The Moose Jaw Police Service has a new recruit, but he's of the four-legged variety.

"Merc" passed his validation testing last week and he is now the fourth dog to join Moose Jaw's K9 Unit.

"Usually, that's the proper protocol is that when an old dog retires a new one is brought in or when the service is increasing say dog power or canine handlers they will bring in other dogs and begin training from there," said Cst. Jim Biniaris, who is Merc's handler.

In many ways, this dog holds special meaning to Biniaris. The dog is named in honour of Cst. Jason Mercer, an 18-year veteran of the Moose Jaw police force who died on March 23, 2016.

Biniaris said he was very close to Mercer.

"Jason was actually my field training officer for the majority of my career and so we found it fitting that I'd get Merc as my police service dog," he said.

Police dogs go through rigorous training and Biniaris and Merc just finished training and Biniaris said he's looking forward to getting back into patrolling with his new partner.

The K9 Unit can be deployed for a number of different reasons. These include alarm calls, violent offences, scenarios where a suspect has fled the scene, searching buildings and vehicles and assisting in missing person cases.

Moose Jaw showed its love as the Canadian Forces Snowbirds returned home on Monday after Operation Inspiration was tragedically cut short.

The Snowbirds were forced to end the mission after one of their Tutor jets crashed shortly after takeoff on May 17 in Kamloops. Public Affairs Officer Capt. Jenn Casey was killed in the accident and Capt. Richard MacDougall was injured.

The squadron returned to 15 Wing Moose Jaw in a Hercules aircraft after being in Halifax to return Casey home.

Across town, people used chalk to draw large hearts to show their support and people came outside to wave as they flew over the city.

"I thought the support was wonderful. I knew it would be good because I've personally seen it when the community comes together and the outpouring," said 15 Wing Honourary Colonel Lisa Franks, who helped organize everything.

"I've felt that in my own time and I knew without hesitation that the city would come together and pull something really special off to welcome the Snowbirds home."

Meanwhile, Moose Jaw's emergency services had static displays and dozens of people showed up to Tourism Moose Jaw and arranged their vehicles in the shape of a heart.

Wakamow Valley Authority mowed a heart into the grass, while over at Central Collegiate the Saskatchewan Roughriders brought over a giant Canada flag.

Franks was appreciative of all the organizations that came together to help honour the snowbirds.

"I was just a testament to how well-loved they are from all around the province and even I saw the hashtags from across Canada of people wanting to take part with the chalk art. It was just beautiful to see," Franks said.

The wait to return to sports has been long for athletes, and local Special Olympians are feeling it as well.

All of their activities have been cancelled for months, and Moose Jaw Special Olympics athlete and board member Carl Paulhus is missing the competitions and camaraderie. Paulus said that his coaches have been telling the athletes to make sure to keep active even without competition.

“They’ve been telling us to go get exercise and go for walks and stuff,” said Paulhus who competes in floor hockey, bocce and bowling.

It had been a busy start to the year for Special Olympics in Saskatchewan. In February, the local chapter hosted a major special Olympics floor hockey tournament and just before the pandemic, the provincial team went to nationals in Thunder Bay.

But with COVID-19, everything in the sporting world abruptly stopped. The 2020 Saskatchewan Summer Games that were scheduled for Lloydminster, which had a special Olympics component, were postponed until 2021. A lot of spring group activities for a lot of athletics just can’t happen.

Paulhus talked about what he is looking forward to the most.

“What I’m looking forward to is when we can all get together and play again,” he said. “That will be the happiest day of all.”

Despite being in the age of the internet, the latest statistic released by the Moose Jaw Public Library shows the library is still a valuable resource for knowledge.

The library gave their annual report for 2019 to Moose Jaw city council on Monday night.

In the report, library chairperson Sarah Simison said over 282,000 items were circulated in Moose Jaw and provincially in 2019, an increase of about 500.

The circulation of digital items increased 15 per cent and the video game collection circulation increased 24 per cent.

"The library continues to analyze the community's use of the physical and digital collection in order to ensure that the funds allocated to materials are directed towards areas of greatest impact," Simison said.

"Other reasons for visiting the library include finding a quiet place to study with reliable open hours, the use of our local history archives and many of our other services."

The library fielded over 25,000 inquires in 2019, including over 10,000 that were considered reference questions. These include questions about computer and technology training, in-depth research, genealogical questions and book recommendations.

The inquires to the library was an increase of 17.8 per cent.

About 8,800 people took part in 541 programs that took place over the course of last year. The library showed a 94 per cent spike in people taking part in adult programs.

"Examples of partnership programs include Tai Chi and conversation hub with the Moose Jaw Chinese Association and Dungeons and Dragons with the Moose Jaw Gamers," Simison said.

"We've also expanded upon programming geared towards specific groups like our Imagine Learning program which is a partnership program with MJ families for change and added an additional site to our outreach program for seniors homes that are meant to help stimulate the mind and keep people learning across the ages"

Simison was the library has put more energy into promoting their social media sites and their Facebook page had a 19.8 per cent increase in likes. She expects their social media presence will expand this year with the physical closure of the library due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The library was also honoured o the 2019 TD Summer Reading Club Accessibility Award for their effects to include children of all abilities to take part in the summer reading program.

Simison said in receiving the award one parent commented that they "appreciated being invited in a community program where their daughter, who had multiple disabilities felt welcomed."

Simison also highlighted the fact that the Friends of the Library were nominated for the 2019 Moose Jaw Chamber of Commerce Group of the Year Award.

The government of Saskatchewan has named this Disability Service Professionals Week in the province, celebrating the important work done across the province to provide support to people with disabilities.

Locally, Moose Jaw Families for Change has been incorporated for 20 years now, and Program Coordinator at the centre Mike Bachiu says it's great to get some acknowledgment.

"It's really wonderful. It's nice to see some recognition, the government of Saskatchewan has always been very supportive of this sector, it's just nice when it's out on a public scale like this. Nobody gets into this line of work for the credit, but it's nice to get a little bit of a shout out and acknowledgment for all the hard work people do in this field."

A number of programs have had to be scaled back at Moose Jaw Families for change due to the ongoing pandemic, such as their day program, the Kinsmen Cafe has been closed, and their meal delivery to the Victoria Towers - which is usually done by clients - is solely being done now by staff.

Bachiu says that while programs have had to be dialed back at the centre, he's very appreciative of how helpful the community has been.

"I just want to say that this community has been incredibly supportive. Whether through COVID or otherwise, Moose Jaw is always very supportive of Moose Jaw Families for Change and we really truly appreciate it. We also want to say just how lucky we are to work in this field."

If it all comes to fruition, it'll be a major boost to the local economy.

We've learned Donald's Fine Foods, the owner/operator of Thunder Creek Pork in Moose Jaw, has purchased the former XL BEEF plant on Caribou Street West.

That plant has been closed for about 10 years.

Our source tells us Thunder Creek Pork will continue to operate on South Hill but, they'll expand their operation, converting the old beef packing plant into an abattoir for sows.

We're also hearing it'll be a $20 million investment that will create up to 100 new jobs in our city.

We have yet to get an official word from Donald's Fine Foods.  

READ MORE: XL Beef Plant Sold 

The Western Canadian Baseball League has officially cancelled the 2020 baseball season. 

The wood bat collegiate league, which includes the Moose Jaw Miller Express, is based in Alberta and Saskatchewan and wasn't going to be able to make this season work due to restrictions on crowd size this summer. 

There was also the issue of a lot of players coming over the border, since many players are American. 

"Pushing back the start date to July 4th or playing with only Canadian players to prevail over border issues are a couple options the league explored before cancelling," said a media release from the league issued late Wednesday night.  

The leaue's schedule issued in January originally had the Moose Jaw Miller Express starting play this week,  

"Social distancing would be a challenge in clubhouses and especially on buses that teams must use for travel..."

The leaue vows to come back in 2021. 

It was announced Wednesday that the Saskatchewan government would be investing $12 million into renovations at the Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus here in Moose Jaw.

The funding is part of a $17 million dollar announcement from the government which will see the other $5 million go toward field upgrades at Griffiths Stadium at the UofS, and to the UofR College of Kinesiology to replace the roof on the building.

Dan Mackay, Special Advisor to the Provost explains where exactly the funding will go.

"What this will allow us to do is to make updates to what is referred to as the mezzanines, which is an upper level in our shop areas, to make improvements to those facilities so that they can better make the needs of changes in our training requirements, not only for our faculty but for our students."

The buildings which house construction, electrical, welding, automotive, and civil water programs will see the renovations.

"This is a really strong commitment by our provincial government in terms of what we need." says Mackay, "There's strong recognition that what we provide is important, and the investment really reinforces the commitment to the pivotal role that the Moose Jaw campus plays in the ongoing success of our students."

Construction will start later this year and is expected to be complete by the spring of 2022.

The renovations were made possible after conversations between the institution and the Ministry of Central Services. Both parties had been working hard the bring the needs forward to the provincial government, who then helped make it happen.

Waste collection is making the move Monday from Bi-weekly pickup to weekly pickup.

No changes have been made to which day of the week your waste is picked up, however, pickup will happen on a weekly now through to the end of September.

One other date of note - household hazardous waste collection day is scheduled for Saturday, August 29.

You can find a full waste collection schedule for 2020 by clicking here.

Two more cases of COVID-19 were reported Thursday in the province’s daily pandemic update, while Saskatchewan has extended the state of emergency for two more weeks.

One new case is in the north region and the other is in Saskatoon and this now brings the province to a total of 639 positive cases. Nine more recoveries have also been noted,

With a total of 568 recoveries, a total of 61 cases are considered active.

Also, there are four people currently in hospital. Of those, three are in ICU in Saskatoon while the other is in inpatient care in Regina.

Of the 61 currently active cases, 46 are in the far north, four are in the north, seven are in Saskatoon, two are in the Regina region and one is in the south region, which includes the Moose Jaw area. There are no currently active cases in the central region.

Of the 639 provincial cases overall, 141 are travel-related, 369 are community contacts or mass gatherings, 76 have no known exposures and 53 are under investigation by public health.

Fifty of the cases are health care workers, and the province says the infections may not be because of their health care in all instances.

A total of 168 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 78 are from the Regina area, 112 are from the north, 253 are from the far north, 16 are from the south and 12 are from the central region.

Ninety-four cases are of people 19 and younger, and 122 are in the 60-and-older range. Of all of the cases, 52 per cent are in female patients and 48 per cent are male.

Thusfar, 45,869 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. According to the latest numbers, There has been a rate of 34,883 tests per one million people, compared to the national average of 40,658 per million.

Saskatchewan still has the fifth most active cases in Canada.

The provincial state of emergency has been continued for two more weeks.

“While new case numbers remain low, residents are reminded that COVID-19 is still present in Saskatchewan,” the provincial release said. “Public health orders remain in effect, including the order limiting public and private gatherings to no more than 10 people

“The declaration of a community-transmitted outbreak in Saskatoon linked to two large family gatherings, reinforces the importance of following public health orders.”

Nationally as of Thursday afternoon, there have been over 88,400 confirmed cases and over 6,800 deaths from COVID-19. There have also been nearly 47,000 recoveries. The United States had over 101,100 deaths Thursday afternoon and is now over 1.71 million cases.

Hopeful that their momentum of good numbers and great football will carry over into this season, Moose Jaw Minor Football will be opening up for registrations online right away.

Numbers for last year were very good for minor football, according to their president Scott Montgomery.

“What we’re doing right now, as of June 1 (monday), we’re going to have the registration open,” said Montgomery. “Our season doesn’t start until the middle of August. Our draft is the 15th and 16th of August. So our season, because it does start in August, we’re hoping everything’s open up by then and we get right at it.”

Registration will be open to players in the U10, U12 and U14 divisions. Registration for their early bird rate will be June 1 to July 15.

“We’re going to have the option put on there, where obviously we don’t want to be refunding a bunch, so what we’re looking to do is have kids register and there will be an option once the government gives us the OK to open up, the option to click on it an finalize your payment ,” Montgomery said. “But we wanted to get a number of registrations in with early bird pricing still in effect.”

He said they’re hoping to see an increase, even as the flag football season couldn’t get underway this summer. They also have a special first year rate for players who haven’t played yet this year.

The U14 teams will be 12-man this year, while the U12s will be nine-man and U10s will be six-man.

Registration is available at their website. 

Farmers are ahead of schedule, as eighty percent of crops are in the ground in Saskatchewan.

This is ahead of the five-year average of 78 percent, according to the Agriculture Saskatchewan’s weekly crop report.

The southwest region is the farthest along with 92 percent of crops seeded, followed by the southeast region with 84 percent of crops planted.

“Again this year, like last year, it just went on without a hiccup. Unfortunately, the rains didn’t come in a lot of places to give everyone that break,” said Kerry Olson, general manager of Parrish and Heimbecker.

“We’ve got some people that are wrapping up, that are taking that break and a little bit of rest time, to follow up and onward with the next sessions.”

Many parts of the province got some much-needed rain last week. The Cando area received the most with 100 mm of rainfall. A rain did delay some seeding for producers in the west-central and northwest regions.

“Moisture was receptive to what was carried over in the soils,” Olson said.

Some producers may have experience crop damage last week from strong winds, light frosts, limited moisture and flea beetles.

The City of Moose Jaw is taking another shot at implementing the Downtown Local Area Plan that was passed in 2017.

City administration will work with stakeholders such as the Moose Jaw Downtown Association to develop a specific, achievable, realistic and timely strategy to implement the plan and come back to city council with recommendations.

With the exception of the Facade Grant Program, very little has been done in regard to the plan.

In January, Coun. Crystal Froese brought forward a motion that the parking reserve interest is used to implement projects in the downtown plan.

“The cost of the plan was close to $100,000 and somehow there is always this gap between creating a great plan with all these wonderful ideas and not aligning it with a budget process or strategy without implementation,” Froese said.

James Dixon, Manager of Economic Development, said there is a precedent for using parking funds to improve the downtown.

“The thought was, the motion that was put forward, was that parking meter recipients and fines would be used to fund the various downtown improvement enhancement initiatives,” Dixon said.

“This has been done in the past. If you go back to the 80s when a lot of the street enhancement program and initiatives, paving stones, lamp standards, trees, all those things were implemented.”

Froese added that “The 80s you could have shot a cannon down Main Street it was so empty” and that the funds invested made a huge improvement.

In his report, Dixon said the parking reserve interest earned $49,000 in 2017, $51,000 in 2018 and $55,000 in 2019.

However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, city administration believes there will be no investment earnings from the reserve for 2020.

Coun. Brian Swanson was the lone councillor opposed to the plan, saying in the 1980s the city stopped putting money into the downtown because of spending fatigue and he felt stakeholders need to help fund these projects as well.

Coun. Dawn Luhning countered that saying, until the pandemic hit, the downtown association was collecting memberships in order to contribute to the downtown plan.

The main components of the plan include heritage conservation, infill strategy, a public realm plan, character areas and implementation strategy. Recommendations were also included for streetscape improvements, public art and wayfinding.

Donald's Fine Food, the owner/operator of Thunder Creek Pork in Moose Jaw, announced it is undertaking a study to determine the viability of converting the XL Beef plant in Moose Jaw into a sow processing facility.

The company expects the study to take six to eight weeks. That plant has been closed for about 10 years.

In a press release, the company says producers export over 80 per cent of their cull sows to the United States for processing, so the new plant would significantly benefit the Western Canadian pork industry.

"Today's announcement is the first step toward a strategic investment to meet the demand for domestic sow processing," Allan Leung, CEO, Donald's Fine Foods, said in a press release. "We want to create more opportunities for pork producers and support the forecasted need for domestic sow processing capacity."

Thunder Creek Pork will continue to operate on South Hill independently from the sow plant.

Donald's Fine Foods said it expects the plant will create up to 100 new jobs in our city.

Construction on the 200 block of High St. began May 25th as part of the 2020 Water Main Replacement Program, and construction will also be starting at the Fairford St. location, with the 0-200 block being replaced.

Estimated construction time is about four weeks per block, depending on weather.

A traffic plan for Fairford St. East will be released closer to the construction date, and construction will not impact the current hours of operation for businesses in the construction zone.

Details and start dates of the final two locations selected for the 2020 Water Main Replacement program will be released at a later date.

Former Moose Jaw City Councillor John AustinFormer Moose Jaw city councillor John Austin has died at the age of 94.

Austin's family said he "passed away gently in his sleep" last week.

Austin served his country in the Second World War and spent 20 years with the Canadian Armed Forces.

He went on to a career as a recreation consultant with the government of Saskatchewan. In fact, he was an Honourary Life Member of the Saskatchewan Association of Recreation Professionals.

Austin was also an avid outdoorsman, spending much of his leisure time hunting, fishing and playing golf.

He served two terms on city council. He was first election in 1982 and re-elected in 1985. He ran for the mayor's chair in '88 but was defeated by Stan Montgomery.

John Austin's obituary can be seen here.

Today there are four new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 645. 

Three cases are in the Far North region and one is in Regina. Since yesterday 10 more people have recovered, bringing the total to 580.

A total of 55 cases are considered active. Ten people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died over the course of the pandemic.

Also, there are three people currently in the hospital. Of those, one is in intensive care in Saskatoon.

Of the 645 provincial cases overall, 142 are travel-related, 379 are community contacts or mass gatherings, 76 have no known exposures and 48 are under investigation by public health.

Fifty of the cases are health care workers, and the province says the infections may not be because of their health care in all instances.

A total of 169 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 79 are from the Regina area, 112 are from the north, 256 are from the far north, 17 are from the south and 12 are from the central region.

Ninety-four cases are of people 19 and younger, and 124 are in the 60-and-older range. Of all of the cases, 52 percent are in female patients and 48 percent are male.

Thus far, 47,114 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. According to the latest numbers, There has been a rate of 35,858 tests per one million people, compared to the national average of 41,482 per million.

Saskatchewan still has the fifth most active cases in Canada.

Nationally as of Friday afternoon, there have been over 89,300 confirmed cases and over 6,900 deaths from COVID-19. There have also been over 47,400 recoveries.

If you haven’t already, there is still time to pick up your tickets for the Saskatchewan Elks Children’s Charity Lotteries.

The main drawing will be taking place on June 13.

Tickets are not quite sold out as 1,000 for the $50 main draw tickets sold of the 4,000 that are available.

Meanwhile, tickets are still available for the 50/50 draw with a jackpot that is reaching $13,000 and growing. There are 62,000 50/50 tickets printed for a maximum jackpot of $130,000.

The Early Bird Prize was recently drawn with Andrea Guillaume of Moose Jaw winning $5,000.

Saskatchewan Elks provincial president Chris Svab said the funds from the lottery go towards helping children in Saskatchewan with hearing disabilities.

“They either get Cochlear implants or a decent set of hearing aids. When they first hear their mother’s

voice, you see a lot of old guys like me with tears in their eyes when you see them begin to hear it. So that’s why we do it,” Svab said.

Harold Claffey is the draw chair. He said the children’s charity lotteries replaces three previous provincial lotteries put on by the Elks.

“What we are hoping to do is establish a lasting lottery like everyone does and keep it going for several years as our major fundraiser,” Claffey said.

Tickets for the Early Bird and Main Draws are $50 each and the 50/50 tickets are one for $10, four for $20 and 15 for $50

The grand prize for the main draw is the choice of a 2020 Ram 1500 Bighorn Crew Cab truck, a 2020 Ford F150 Supercrew truck, $50,000 cash or $1,000 per week for a year.

Second to sixth prizes are one-week all-inclusive trips for two to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, or $2,000 cash.

Seventh to ninth prizes are Blue Jays Ball Game tickets for two and a five-day bus tour or $1,500 cash.

Tenth to 12th prizes are fishing excursions at Jan Lake or $1,000 cash. The trip includes a four-night cabin rental and a motorboat package.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-833-769-0100 or 50/50 tickets can be purchased at www.elks5050.ca.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had one big impact on schools and one of the biggest hits has been the lack of access to libraries.

William Grayson has adopted a new program called Take a Book, Keep a Book where a shelf full of books is placed in front of the school every day for the community.

It holds about 100 books and has material for all ages and reading levels.

Vice Principal Robin Heshka.

"Our goal as a school is to get as many books into the hands of as many kids as we can. We thought that was a great way for kids, families, and community members to come in and take one, two, or 10 books it doesn't really matter, we fill it back up every day."

Heshka detailed what the response has been so far.

"It's been really good actually. We tried to get it out on social media because I think at the beginning when you see something like that you aren't really sure. We had some people come up to it and look, and back away. We wanted people to know that it's out there for them. They don't have to ask, and they don't have to tell anybody."

Heshka says being able to give back to the community and help kids feels amazing.

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began the Homegrown Farmers Market was up and running on Langdon Crescent Saturday.

Although this time with new restrictions like offering hand sanitizer and keeping vendors farther apart as well as social distancing.

Crystal Millbourne is the owner of Prairie Bee Meadery, she was one of many vendors there.

"Obviously they have more space between the vendors so it feels like there are fewer vendors here but I don't know if that's the case. They are asking people to travel in one direction on one side and the other direction on the other side. People are encouraged not to touch anything."

Millbourne added that everyone followed the rules and it was nice to see people out.

Additionally, no one can offer or take samples of anything like they would under normal circumstances.

At 4:44 pm Saturday, Police and Fire responded to a fire call on the 100 block Iroquois St E.

An overheated gas BBQ erupted in flames igniting the back of the residence.

On account of the wind, the fire then spread to the residence next door, as well as a camper in the rear of the yard.

Damage is estimated at approximately $200,000 and the homeowner sustained only minor injuries.