Starting in early November, Saskatchewan residents will have access to daily updates on emergency service disruptions across the province.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is launching a new reporting process for emergency service disruptions that will post all emergency service disruptions every day at 4 p.m. on the SHA’s website.

Currently, the SHA posts service disruptions of seven days or more.

“These changes will ensure that accurate and reliable information about service availability will be consistently available to the public while our teams work to restore emergency services impacted by temporary disruptions,” said Derek Miller, chief operating officer of the SHA.

According to the SHA, the new system will include an alphabetical listing of affected facilities, daily updates on the SHA website, notices on individual facility pages and real-time information available through HealthLine 811.

If a disruption occurs on short notice and is not yet reflected online, the SHA says signage will be posted at the affected facility, and the information will be included in the next daily update.

The announcement comes on the same day that the Saskatchewan NDP introduced a bill into the legislature that would require public notification of rural hospital closures within one hour of the closure occurring.

The Provincial Health Authority (ER Closure right-to-know) Amendment Act proposes that the SHA must notify the public through a website or electronic means.

What disrupts emergency services

The SHA says disruptions may occur due to staffing shortages, physician vacancies, unplanned absences, scheduled vacations or facility upgrades.

It says temporary closures are a last resort and every effort is made to maintain emergency services.

A leaked SHA memo provided by the NDP shows that a shortage of occupational therapists at Royal University Hospital (RUH) is disrupting nine hospitals, including the emergency department and general surgery.

The SHA confirmed occupational therapy services at RUH have been adjusted due to vacancies.

“Existing occupational therapy services will focus on patients where intervention will have the largest impact on patient outcomes and the health system,” the SHA said in a statement.

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the province recognizes the pressure staffing shortages are placing on health-care workers.

He has said a new occupational therapy program at the University of Saskatchewan, set to begin next fall, will help with recruitment and retention efforts.

Schedule disruption

The health minister says there have been scheduling errors that have led to pay errors and challenges in day-to-day operations, due to the Administrative Information Management System (AIMS).

AIMS is a provincial initiative that integrates numerous administrative systems into a single centralized platform for health-care workers. It’s designed to manage a wide range of functions, including human resources like payroll and scheduling.

On Wednesday, Cockrill announced that health-care workers will stop using the AIMS system and will return to using scheduling systems that were in place before AIMS.

“While significant effort has been put into correcting these problems, we have now determined that the AIMS team and the technology vendor will not be able to resolve the technical issues as quickly or effectively as needed,” Cockrill said.

According to the SHA, the supply chain, finance, payroll and human resources components of the program are not affected.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is scrapping the employee scheduling component of its new computer system but says the rest of the program will remain in use.

“I’m confident that the solution we have in the phase one component of AIMS will meet our needs,” SHA CEO Andrew Will said Thursday.

The Administrative Information Management System, known as AIMS, was designed to replace 80 separate systems with one platform for payroll, supply chain and scheduling across the health system.

The SHA says while it faced problems with the scheduling module, the system remains stable for payroll and supply chain functions, replacing 74 systems in total.

However, some health-care workers say the system has created new challenges.

Cindy Landry, a licensed practical nurse in North Battleford, says basic supplies such as syringes and needles have been difficult to access.

“There are times with the AIMS program I don’t have basic supplies,” Landry said. “I don’t have a catheter induction kit to put a catheter in safely.”

SEIU-West president Lisa Zunti says the program lacks a backorder function, meaning items that are out of stock disappear from the ordering list.

“When they do get that item back in stock, it doesn’t show that I ever ordered it,” Zunti said.

Will acknowledged there is room for improvement with the system.

“We will need to continuously improve our processes as we go forward,” he said.

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says shelving the scheduling component will allow the province to focus resources on fixing other issues.

“As we’ve pulled back from this time-validation scheduling piece, that means there are more resources to address other issues in the system more quickly,” Cockrill told reporters Thursday.

The AIMS project was initially expected to cost $86 million. 3sHealth, a partner in the project, says the total cost had reached $272 million as of August.

NDP MLA Keith Jorgenson criticized the project’s cost.

“An enormous sum of money for something that does not work,” Jorgenson said. “The taxpayers of Saskatchewan deserve better. The health-care workers deserve better. And the patients of Saskatchewan deserve better.”

An officer with Moose Jaw’s RCMP detachment is facing charges after an investigation into an on-duty incident back in January.

On Jan. 13, 2025, Moose Jaw RCMP officers travelled to a home in the area as part of an ongoing investigation. According to RCMP, during an interaction with the occupants of the home, it’s alleged that a Moose Jaw RCMP officer unlawfully entered the house.

An altercation then took place between the officer and a man inside the home.

A day later, the man involved in the altercation filed a complaint with Moose Jaw RCMP. He did not report any physical injuries to police.

Moose Jaw RCMP notified the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response (SIRT) regarding the incident. However, SIRT determined the incident was out of the scope of its mandate.

An investigation by the Saskatchewan RCMP followed. The investigation’s findings were sent to the Crown on Feb. 13.

On Oct. 20, the Crown recommended criminal charges against the officer.

As a result, Cst. Steven Sharpen has been charged with one count of breaking and entering and committing an assault.

He was arrested by RCMP on Oct. 29 and is scheduled to appear in court in Moose Jaw on Dec. 3.

An impaired driver who bit a Regina police officer during his arrest is facing several charges.

Officers were called to Saskatchewan Drive and Broad Street around 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday for a report of an impaired driver, according to a release from the Regina Police Service (RPS).

The vehicle was no longer in the area when police arrived, but officers were able to find it near Saskatchewan Drive and Winnipeg Street soon after.

Officers attempted a traffic stop but the driver kept travelling slowly up Victoria Avenue until it turned south and stopped near Abbot Street, RPS said.

Police saw two people inside the vehicle, and said the driver was displaying “multiple signs of impairment.”

When police told the suspect, a 52-year-old man, that he was under arrest, he began resisting arrest, spit on two of the officers, and bit one of them.

EMS treated the officers on scene, and the suspect was taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries sustained while he was being arrested.

The suspect is charged with impaired operation of a conveyance by alcohol, two counts of assaulting a police officer, resisting a police officer, failure to comply with a probation order, and driving while disqualified.

Police said he will make his first court appearance on these charges on Dec. 3.

The Government of Saskatchewan is moving forward in creating the framework to allow tailgating events at Mosaic Stadium.

The Tailgating Act was introduced into the legislature on Thursday. The province says the specific regulations will be introduced after act receives royal assent in the spring sitting of the legislature – meaning it will be put into effect in time for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 2026 season.

According to Alana Ross, the minister responsible for the SLGA, introducing the act now will allow the province to collaborate with the Roughriders, municipal governments and police to work out the regulations.

“It will be the responsibilities of the Roughriders and of the city, for providing the safety and security, and we’ll be working with them to make sure [of] that,” she told reporters following question period. “We want this to be a safe, fun opportunity for families and a wonderful experience for the Roughriders fans to come out and enjoy the games.”

Saskatchewan is one of the last provinces to not allow tailgating. Roughriders’ president and CEO Craig Reynolds said the team is looking at other jurisdictions for guidance.

“We’d like to have tailgating very similar to what you would see across the country here,” he explained. “What you see at other CFL cities, and what you see in other sports environments in the U.S., whether it be college or professional football. So, a very similar model is what we’d be working towards.”

The eligibility of other events for tailgating will be considered after the 2026 CFL season, according to the province.

Ford Canada is recalling several models of its F-Series trucks and SUVs due to an issue with the moonroof.

According to a recall shared by Transport Canada last week, the moonroof wind deflector may not have been properly attached on some models, and the deflector could come detached.

The recall, which affects 23,437 total units, noted that the issue could also impact certain Ford Super Duty incomplete vehicles, which are trucks sold without a finished body.

“A moonroof wind deflector that detaches from the vehicle could create a hazard for others and increase the risk of a crash,” the recall said.

Owners of the recalled vehicles will be notified by Ford through the mail, the recall said. They will be advised to take the affected model to a dealership for inspection and if needed, the moonroof wind deflector will then be repaired.

The affected vehicles include the 2022 models of the Ford Expedition, F-150, as well as the Super Duty editions of the F-250, F-350 and F-450. The recall also said the 2021 and 2022 Lincoln Navigator is being recalled for the same issue.

Canadian National Railway Co. is laying off about 400 managers as tariffs imposed by the U.S. and Canada take a toll on freight traffic.

The cuts affect more than six per cent of the company’s non-unionized workforce.

CN spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski says the Montreal-based company has been “adjusting its unionized and management head count across Canada and the U.S to reflect the business environment.”

Steep sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, auto and lumber imports by U.S. President Donald Trump have dented CN shipping volumes, with year-over-year traffic down in the spring and early summer.

On Wednesday, rival railway Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. said profits rose despite tariff disruptions, which cut into its steel and forest products business.

The CN layoffs arrive the same month that chief field operating officer Derek Taylor abruptly left the company, less than two years after he took up the role.

The country’s largest railway is slated to report its third-quarter earnings on Friday morning.

King Charles has stripped his younger brother Andrew of his title of prince and forced him out of his Windsor home, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday, seeking to distance the royals from him over his links to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Andrew, 65, the younger brother of Charles and second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, has come under mounting pressure in recent years over his behaviour and his ties to the late sex offender Epstein. Earlier this month, he was forced to stop using his title of Duke of York.

Charles has now escalated his actions against Andrew by stripping him of all his titles, leaving him to be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

The Buckingham Palace statement said a formal notice had now been served on Andrew to surrender the lease of his Royal Lodge mansion on the Windsor Estate, west of London, and he will move to alternative private accommodation on the Sandringham estate in eastern England.

The decision by the king, who is still undergoing regular treatment for cancer, marks one of the most dramatic moves against a member of the royal family in modern British history.

Palace says thoughts are with victims of abuse

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said. “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”

Andrew was once regarded as a dashing naval officer and served in the military during the Falklands War with Argentina in the early 1980s.

But he was forced to step down from a roving UK trade ambassador role in 2011, before quitting all royal duties in 2019 and then was stripped of his military links and royal patronages in 2022 amid allegations of sexual misconduct that he has always denied.

That year, he settled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, which accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager. Andrew has always denied her account, which has recently returned to prominence with the release of her memoir.

In her book, she said “entitled” Andrew believed it was his birthright to have sex with her.

Earlier this month, correspondence between Andrew and Epstein from 2011, published by the Mail on Sunday and The Sun, revealed Andrew telling Epstein that they should “keep in close touch” and that they would “play some more soon.”

King made decision but had support from family

A palace source said that while Andrew continued to deny the accusations against him, it was clear that there had been serious lapses of judgment. The source said the decision was taken by Charles but that the monarch had the support of the wider family, including heir-to-the-throne Prince William.

The decision to force Andrew to move away from Windsor was also significant after newspapers reported he had not paid rent on his 30-room mansion for two decades, after initially paying for renovations.

In a rare political intervention into the workings of the royal family, a British parliamentary committee had on Wednesday questioned whether Andrew should still be living in the house.

Polls show the royal family has been losing the support of younger generations for years. Charles, with the support of 43-year-old William, has acted to protect the institution, which experts say is the priority of any monarch.

In 1936, Edward VIII was forced to abdicate just over a year after ascending the throne so he could marry a divorced American socialite. He retained the title of Duke of Windsor but was largely banished from Britain.

🎉 Update Completed Successfully! 🎉

We are thrilled to announce that our scheduled network update has been completed without any issues! 🚀 All our broadcast stations, streams, and websites are now fully operational and running better than ever.

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Here’s what you can expect from this update:
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Thank you for your patience and understanding during this process. We’re committed to providing you with the best listening experience possible and appreciate your support!

🎧 Happy Listening!
The EVO Radio & EVO Media Corporation Team

We’re committed to providing our audience with a listening experience like no other! To maintain this standard, we’re excited to announce a major update to our Broadcast Network.

What’s New?

This update will bring:

• A Better Audio Player: Improved performance on our websites to resolve issues with streams cutting off.
• Enhanced Session Operations: Ensuring error-free radio streams.
• Upgraded Security & Quality: Improved protection and overall broadcast quality.

Downtime Details:

• Expected Downtime: 1 hour (we’ve allocated up to 4 hours for any unforeseen circumstances).
• Impacted Services:
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    • 979 The Cowboy – https://979thecowboy.evoradio.ca/
    • 101 The Rockhound – https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/
    • Classic 88.7 The Goat – https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/
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    • DJ Spinderella – https://djspinderella.evomcorp.com/
  • Third-Party Apps: Any apps relying on our live broadcasts will also be affected.

Commitment to Excellence:
During the downtime, our team will work diligently to complete the update and monitor the network to ensure peak performance. We’re committed to enhancing your listening experience to the highest standards.

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We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding as we work to improve our services.

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The EVO Radio & EVO Media Corporation Team