A new one year deal between 15 Wing Moose Jaw and the local fire department has been given approval by Moose Jaw City Council.

The contract, worth 1.2 million dollars, provides fire services to the base south of the city as well as rescue, first aid and initial fire investigation services. Fire Chief Rod Montgomery says new to the contract is a $34,000 payment that will help cover the cost of the new computer aided dispatch system.

"That's a benefit for the citizens of Moose Jaw," says Montgomery. "To have that computer-aided dispatch, turn by turn direction, having the knowledge of any hazardous materials that may be on the site we're responding to, road closures...it certainly will be an enhancement to our services."

Moose Jaw has provided fire services to 15 Wing since the year 2000, but this is the first time that it's been a one year contract.

"It (one-year deal) hasn't been the norm," acknowledged Montgomery. "There were some procedural issues..on the (federal) government's side they brought forward this one-year contract. My understanding moving forward is we'll be back to the three (year deal) with two (1-year) extensions. 

The Moose Jaw Fire department typically makes fewer than 30 calls per year to 15 Wing. 

The largest jackpot in Swift Current history was claimed by two Moose Jaw men.

On October 21 at the Living Sky Casino, David Crawford and Jason Ludwar were playing the "Sea Of Tranquility" slot machine, when they won the progressive jackpot worth over $96,000.

Both Ludwar and Crawford say they plan to pay off their trucks with their winnings. 

A few flurries in the forecast were one reminder.  The announcement of the 24th annual "Festival Of Trees" (FOT) fundraiser for the Moose Jaw Health Foundation (MJHF) was another.

Christmas is coming soon.  

And that will be evident, maybe more than ever at a "Festival Of Trees" gala, when the event arrives November 21 at the Heritage Inn with a theme of "Oh Santa". 

"This committee has never done a Christmas-type theme," explained FOT chairperson Laurie Kosior, who has been on the committee for nine years. "This year is going to be a modern take on Santa's workshop, and (we'll) bring a little bit of Christmas into the room.  We're going to use a lot of colours that maybe aren't traditional Christmas colours...maybe a little more fun this year."

Funds raised at the dinner, dance and auction will go towards the MJHF fall fundraising campaign, which has a goal of raising $2.3 million dollars.  That money will be allocated for the expansion of the new Dr. F.H. Wigmore regional hospital so that it can accommodate the hyperbaric chamber, which had been housed at the Moose Jaw Union hospital.  The money will also cover the refurbishment of the 15-year old hyperbaric unit, plus allow for the purchase of new, state-of-the-art medical equipment for the new Wigmore hospital. 

Last year's FOT raised about $270,000, thanks in part to JGL Livestock contributing $100-thousand, as they announced a 5-year, $500,000 pledge to the MJHF. 

"I'm continously in awe of people in this community and surrounding communities that support (FOT) each and every year," said MJHF Executive Director Kelly McElree. "Festival Of Trees really touches the heart of everyone in this community."

Tickets for this year's Festival Of Trees are available from the Moose Jaw Health Foundation office in the new Wigmore hospital.  You can call the office at 306-694-0373 to obtain yours.  The cost is $200 per person.  

In addition, there is a Festival Brunch on Sunday, November 22 at the Heritage Inn. Tickets are $25 for adults and $8 for children.  You can also purchase those at the MJHF office. 

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A two-vehicle accident in downtown Moose Jaw Tuesday afternoon caused about $15-thousand dollars in damage. 

Moose Jaw police say nobody was hurt in the incident on the 0 block of High Street East sometime after 4pm. 

One person has been charged with leaving a stop sign before safe. 

Depending on where you are in the province and even where you are in the city, you could be getting a little bit of snow here in Saskatchewan.

There were a few flakes of the white stuff Tuesday afternoon as temperatures started to drop but it was more rain that snow really.

The scattered flurries are expected to leave by Wednesday afternoon and while we'll stay around the freezing mark for the day, warmer air is on the way that could take us to double digits for the weekend.

There are two things that seem to ruffle feathers faster than anything else.  Taxes and parking, with the latter causing a flap at the new Dr. Wigmore Regional Hospital.

The hospital has been open for a week now and parking along Diefenbaker Drive, in front of the hospital has become the preferred spot for vehicles as drivers look to avoid paying for parking or for staff who say there are no spots left in the employee lot.

Warning tickets were issued to parked cars on the Diefenbaker Tuesday and Colin Prang with the City of Moose Jaw's Engineering Department says they weren't surprised when they noticed the number of vehicles on the side of the road.

"We figured people would do that but we were a little behind on getting our no parking signs up."

Temporary signs were put into place as the installation of the permanent signs takes place this week.  Once those placards are installed, parking tickets will be issued but until then, warnings have been placed on the vehicles.  They look like parking tickets but have $0.00 at the bottom.

Two hospital employees contacted us Tuesday saying there simply aren't enough staff parking stalls at the new facility so they have nowhere else to park.  Five Hills Health Region CEO Cheryl Craig will address the matter on the Heartland at Noon with Rob Carnie Thursday on 800 CHAB.

A former priest who worked in Moose Jaw in 1979 and was convicted of sexual assault, has been removed from the priesthood.

Seraphim Storheim (SAIR'-uh-fim STOHR'-hime) left Moose Jaw for Winnipeg in 1980, where he assaulted an alter boy. He would rise to become the highest official in Canada for the Orthodox Church in America.

The 69 year old was convicted last year and sentenced to 8 months in jail. He has since been released.

He was demoted to the rank of Monk after a fall convention of the Bishops in Detroit.

Jamie Munroe will have to wait a few weeks longer to find out his punishment.

Yesterday, the Moose Jaw man had his sentencing hearing, which was initially adjourned October 6, pushed back until November 23.

He faces charges stemming from a stolen vehicle incident in August and subsequent escape from provincial court, which resulted in a 9-hour manhunt through downtown Moose Jaw.

Munroe has pleaded guilty to numerous charges including breaking from court cells using force, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property over $5,000,and operating a vehicle while prohibited. - his initial sentencing hearing October 6 was also postponed.  He'll remain in custody until November 23. 

The Moose Jaw Burrowing Owl Center is hosting their annual fundraiser November 7th. 

This will be the fifteenth year for the event, which will feature an evening of food and entertainment.

"Our entertainer this year will be William James," says Burrowing Owl Coordinator Lori Johnson. "He does an interactive game show and hypnotist show, so we're really looking forward to that. Then there will be various activities like a penny parade, silent auction, and we always do a meet and greet with our owls."

Johnson says the proceeds from the event will help cover expenses at the Center, especially food for the owls.

"These little guys eat a lot, and you wouldn't really think about it when you look at their small stature but they have big appetites for little birds. It costs nearly $400 a year to feed a single owl and we have eleven, that's probably our biggest expense right there."

With ten burrowing owls and one short-eared owl currently calling the center home she hopes the community will understand why this night is important to the Burrowing Owl Center.

Johnson would like to see the Burrowing Owls get off the endangered species list but says "it's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication between a lot of organizations and groups but hopefully it can be done. It's been done in the past with whooping cranes and peregrine falcons we hope that the burrowing owls can follow suit."

The fundraiser will take place at Moose Jaw's Exhibition Convention Center with doors opening at 5:30pm and supper beginning at 6:30pm.

Tickets are $40 each or $300 for a table of eight people and tickets can be purchased through the Exhibition Center by November 2. For more details on the event and the Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, click here.

Moose Jaw Wakamow Rotary Club member Glenn Hagel was recently making a difference in Guatemala.

The Rotary club partnered with the Ripple Effect Program whose aim is to increase education in countries with difficult environments.

"50% of them (population of Guatemala) are under the age of 22, so it's a very, very young nation," said Hagel. "It's good news and it's bad news combined. The bad news is education is a real challenge, but the good news is that it is the optimism and the energy of their youth that I think will become a significant part of a more positive future for Guatemala."

Hagel was a part of a successful project that completely renovated an existing school which houses youth from Kindergarten- Grade six, as he said not many children exceed Grade six. 

The Ripple Effect added two school rooms as well as televisions, books, projectors, a cement pad for a playground and a kitchen  which he hopes will help Guatemala with its challenge against malnutrition.

"Every single family that had a kid in that school gave five days of volunteer manual labor to make those things happen, it was done in cooperation and its a part of their future. And they were all out in large numbers in their tradition Guatemalan dress it was a magic day that we had for the official opening for the new school's facilities."

After completing their goals of renovations and additions to the school, Hagel said he was honoured to be a part of the end of the school year which included Grade six graduation for some of the children.

Glenn with proud mother whose daughter just graduated from Grade 6 and two of her classmates.

"When I had a chance to get a picture with a mom wearing her traditional Guatemalan dress and she was so proud, (be)cause when we were there it was the last week of school and her daughter was graduating (from) grade six and this a proud mom who sees a future for her daughter that's more than she has and at the end of the day that's what its all about."

Continuing with this hard work Hagel says that the Moose Jaw Wakamow Rotary club will continue their hard work to contribute to our community as well as helping other struggling areas grow as well.

It's a gift that will keep on giving to the Peacock Collegiate welding department. The Moose Jaw high school was awarded a ten year, $50,000 grant from the Canadian Welding Association (CWA) Foundation and Marinucci Family Foundation (MFF) on Tuesday.

"Through the generous gift of the MFF, we are able to offer Albert E. Peacock Collegiate with the funds to provide their students with a better quality learning experience within their welding program," said Deborah Mates, executive director of the CWA Foundation. "It is our objective to grow this model program by encouraging other individuals, corporations and industry partners to look within their own communities to support their local secondary school welding program."

"The MFF, a Canadian charity established in 2010, is committed to funding programs that significantly improve youth education. We are excited to partner with the CWA Foundation to significantly enhance secondary school welding programs across Canada," said John Marinucci, founder and chairman of the MFF. 

Peacock's welding instructor Martin Holzer says the money will expand the equipment and technology available, while giving them some budget breathing room. 

"We can start upgrading some of our equipment to the new technology (like) inverters," said Holzer. "We can also proceed on consumables...more steel (and) more supplies for the kids.  So that's going to alleviate some of the (financial) pressure."

Holzer says they have about 150 students in the welding class at Peacock every year, which is offered to Grades 10-12, though Holzer says they have "started a Survey program in Grade 9...about 25 hours that gets the students some (experience with) tools...and learn safety."

Holzer says not only is welding a usefull skill, but the program is a tremendous way to groom students for a career, explaining "the way this program was developed is that kids could actually get their equivalence of a Level 1 welding (certificate) in high school. The apprenticeship board has recognized that so that if kids take the (Peacock) welding program all four years, they can claim 400 hours towards their apprenticeship, which is a big advantage when they're stepping out into the job market."

The welding program has a long history at A.E. Peacock, with Holzer saying that "when the school opened it was actually opened as 'Peacock Tech". At that point they had high school during the day, and then evening classes because SIAST was not in place at that time.  They did a lot of their training for a lot of the trades after school hours."

Holzer added that in addition to the $50,000, CWA also chipped in a complete class set of welding helmets, worth $250 each, which Holzer says is "something we couldn't afford previously."

Peacock has offered a welding program since the school opened in the 30s, and current welding instructor Martin Holzer says it's a tremendous way to groom students for a career.

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Holzer says the grant money will allow them to buy much-needed new welding equipment. CWA also provided new protective helmets for the students.

New welding equipment and new protective helmets will be coming soon to the welding classes at Peacock.

The Moose Jaw high school just received a 50-thousand dollar grant, paid over 10 years, from the Canadian Welding Association.

Every year about 150 students from Grades 10-12 take welding at Peacock, continuing the program's long history at the school, according to welding instructor Martin Holzer.

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Holzer says that Grade 9 students can also spend a few hours per semester gaining an introduction to the course.

Small business month is coming to a close, and one local business celebrating their success is Moose Jaw's Eneray Sustainable Products which opened in 2008.

Founder and President of the company Michael Dombowsky says as a small business owner he has many obstacles to overcome but loves this city and is happy this is where he calls home.

"Saskatchewan, and in particular Moose Jaw, is a great place for a small business," said Dombowsky. "Our rental rates are less than Regina and Saskatoon. There's opportunity in Edmonton with the slow down of the oil patch but the family aspect of Moose Jaw remains attractive, we just have to overcome the labour issues here in Moose jaw."

Dombowsky says he still struggles like any new business owner, finding it hard to retain good people as his business grows.

Eneray supplies high-performance fiber re-enforced concrete products used for various structures like bridges and luxury decks, which Dombowsky says is right up his alley. Eneray Sustainable Structures Inc. living project out at Marquis

"I designed and project managed the whole Tunnels of Moose Jaw development, so design is what I do and this business is based on technologies that we invented and are patent pending which are a result of both my brother Ben and myself. So innovation is really the hallmark of what we do."

Dombowsky says that in addition to the local work, they are quickly expanding. 

"(We have projects in) Regina and Saskatoon and doing a massive project out at Big Shell Lake (with) over 3,300 sq ft of decks on multiple tiers and we're doing projects in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge and Vancouver and finding opportunity in Ottawa and  (we) just fielded an inquiry for Georgia."

Dombowsky couldn't be more pleased with how well his business is doing so far, and is excited to see what the future holds.

Eneray's plant is in the old Sasko Windows building on Athabasca Street East.

A 61-year old Moose Jaw man has been arrested and charged with several firearms-related offences. 

Police, along with the RCMP Emergency Response Team, made the arrest after executing a search warrant on the 1000 block of 7th Avenue SW Wednesday afternoon. Two non-restricted firearms, plus a prohibited firearm and ammunition were found, leading to the arrest. 

The suspect has been charged with 7 offences, including:

• Possession of Firearms Without a License
• Possession of a Prohibited Firearm
• Careless Storage of Firearm
• Careless Storage of Ammunition

The suspect is in custody and will make his first court appearance Thursday morning. 

No that's not a typo but rather a shocking number of drivers who have been caught on camera speeding around the City of Moose Jaw.

In the past six months, over 25,000 speeding violations have been recorded with the photo speed enforcement camera at the intersection of the Trans Canada and 9th Avenue Northwest in Moose Jaw, but only 6,500 tickets have been mailed out to the offenders.

Police Chief Rick Bourassa says part of the issue is that they've been caught off guard with the sheer number of offenders.

"One of the factors is that we underestimated the number of violators that are going through that intersection." confessed Bourassa. "We were certainly surprised by the high numbers and we've had to increase resources to manage the ticket issuing on this and we're behind. We just haven't been able to keep up with the demand."

Bourassa says another issue is if they're not 100 per cent clear on identifying a license plate number, they can't issue the ticket. With that said, if a vehicle is pulled over with a dirty license plate or something covering it, like a clear cover that's marketed to trick traffic cameras, Bourassa says a ticket can be issued.

About 180 police officers from across the country have gathered in Moose Jaw to end the week as the local police association plays host to a very special conference.

Corporal Taylor Mickleborough says they'll be focus on officer wellness over the next two days.

"It's the first of it's kind in Saskatchewan and we're bringing in subject matter experts." explained Mickleborough. "Post traumatic stress syndrome has made the media lately but also things like compassion fatigue, the effects of shift work and the stress that that puts on people and nutrition."

The conference runs Thursday and Friday at the Heritage Inn with internationally renowned key note speakers.

Wednesday marked the official 45th anniversary of the creation of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.

The day was made special with current members of the 431 Air Squadron team invited to the Saskatchewan Legislature, where they were introduced by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. 

“This 45th anniversary is an opportunity to recognize the entire team for their great skills as well as their military service,” Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield said. “To the pilots, flight maintenance crews, administration, communications and command personnel - more than 80 in all - well done and thank you.”

“The Province of Saskatchewan is the centre from which our mission to demonstrate military skill, professionalism and teamwork to Canadians emanates,” 431 Air Demonstration Squadron Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Brad Wintrup, C.D. said. “Our home from the beginning, Moose Jaw is not only the birth-place of our present day mandate but it also serves as an example of international co-operation and the connection between the Canadian Armed Forces and with the broader community that we serve.”

The 431 Squadron traces its lineage and military Battle Honours back to 1942 and the Second World War. Originally a bomber squadron, after the war they reformed first as a fighter squadron before becoming an air demonstration squadron. They flew under the name the Snowbirds for the first time at the Saskatchewan’s Homecoming Airshow in Moose Jaw, in July 1971.

“Moose Jaw is home to the Snowbirds and southern Saskatchewan their training ground,” Provincial Military Liaison and former Snowbirds lead pilot D.F. (Yogi) Huyghebaert said. “Our country’s proud tradition in aviation and military service is on display every time the team performs. The province views this squadron as a source of pride, especially when we are able to watch them fly in formation.”

The Snowbirds recently celebrated their 45th Anniversary with a weekend event in Moose Jaw that coincided with their end of season show.  They have now flown over 2500 flights in their existence. 

Earlier this week, it was revealed that the carbon capture facility at Boundary Dam was operating at only half its anticipated capacity.

That resulted in SaskPower paying out 12 million dollars in penalties to Cenovus Energy, with more possibly on the way.

President and CEO of SaskPower Mike Marsh says despite not reaching their goals, he's still pleased with the progress with the one-of-a-kind Carbon Capture and Storage Facility.

"We still achieved over 400,000 tonnes of production, which I think is very good. We're looking at improved performance as we move into the later part of 2015 and into 2016."

Marsh adds that he is still looking forward to the future of the project.

"400,000 tonnes of production to date is great, if you want it to be higher, it's certainly possible. Having lower performance in a first year like this with it being the first of its kind isn't unreasonable."

The Carbon Capture and Storage facility at Boundary Dam officially open in October of last year.

The Five Hills Health Region has acted quickly in the wake of an apparent parking issue at the new Wigmore hospital.

Several hospital staff claimed earlier this week that there weren't enough staff parking stalls available at the facility, which opened last week.

Five Hills CEO Cheryl Craig says that they recognize that there is an issue with parking at the new hospital.

"We did identify very early that there was insufficient parking. We had a consultant in planning the parking spaces, what was evident though is that we didn't get it right."

Several people were parking across from the hospital on Diefenbaker Drive, which the city says is illegal.

Craig explains that they have a plan going forward.

"We've been in touch with our constructor and actions are being taken to add a gravel, temporary parking spot. It won't be electrified, but it should support about 100 additional parking spaces."

For the time being, a business near the hospital has allowed for around 30 spots to be given to the hospital staff.

Moose Jaw Police need our help in locating a grey Pontiac G6 that was apparently involved in a case of indecent exposure Thursday afternoon.

Investigators says a man was parked just west of Prince Arthur School on the 500 block of Athabasca Street East around 3:30 in the afternoon, as two females walked past he asked them for directions and as they approached the vehicle, he allegedly exposed himself. The two left the area and told their parents who then called police.  

The man is described as Caucasian, in his twenties or early thirties, average build, with a moustache, goatee, dark brown curly hair, and wearing wire-framed prescription glasses.  He was dressed in camouflage or a similar type patterned hoody in green, grey, and brown.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

A 61-year old Moose Jaw man has appeared in court after being arrested for several alleged firearms related offences earlier this week.

Murray Banilevic was arrested after a raid by police and the RCMP's Emergency Response Team on Wednesday. The search warrant was executed on the 1000 block of 7th Avenue Southwest where officers say 2 non-restricted firearms and a prohibited firearm were found.

Banilevic appeared in court Thursday facing seven different charges related firearms and has also been charged with assault from an October 21st incident and a charge of uttering death threats on October 24th.

He has been released under certain conditions and will appear back in court on November 18th.