Prince Albert

Young performers took to the stage at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre on Wednesday night for the Fifth Annual Search for the Stars competition.

The competition is meant to highlight and showcase the amazing talents of young performers in our area.

In the senior competition, for performers aged 13 to 18, 16-year-old Tristen Durocher was the selected winner.

“It was exciting because I never knew it was a contest. I thought you just auditioned to be in the showcase,” Durocher said.

Health care is something many take for granted, with few appreciating those who provide these lifesaving services.

But last night at the Travelodge people gathered to honour them—dedicated individuals, teams, and volunteers who show commitment to the quality of health care services.

This year’s Health Excellence Awards, sponsored by the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region Authority were separated into eight categories.

The Prince Albert Parkland Health Region is urging the area's residents to only use the Victoria Hospital's emergency room if it is absolutely necessary for the evening.

That's because the hospital is over-capacity by about 10 per cent said Doug Dahl with the health region. 

Dahl said only true emergencies should report to the Emergency Room, otherwise wait times will only continue to rise.

Dahl said the right alternative is to use one of the city's walk-in clinics for minor emergencies. 

Staff at the Prince Albert tourism centre held a barbecue this afternoon in celebration of Saskatchewan’s Tourism Awareness Week.

The barbecue proved to be quite popular and PA and area residents were lined up to enjoy a free burger and drink.

The province wide event is dedicated to promoting Saskatchewan’s wealth of tourism attractions and resources, as well as a broader understanding of the importance of Saskatchewan’s tourism industry.

news@panow.com

An RCMP vehicle was involved in accident today on the Diefenbaker Bridge.

The RCMP vehicle had extensive front end damage.

A person on scene said it appeared RCMP had their lights on and were crossing the bridge when the other vehicle turned onto the bridge in front of the RCMP vehicle.

This is a developing story more info will be posted as it becomes available.

news@panow.com  

Construction of the new Carlton Comprehensive gym will finally be going to tender later this week. At this point contractors will have a chance to bid on the highly anticipated project.

“We’re excited. It’s been a long time coming and we know there’s going to be challenges along the way but in the end we know this is going to be great for kids and great for our community,” said director of education for the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division, Robert Bratvold.

The City of Prince Albert is advising motorists of some road closures scheduled for today.

The closures will be on 22nd Street East for both east and westbound lanes from 10th to 12th Avenue.

The closure will start at 9 a.m. to accommodate work being done to repair a house service.

The work is expected to be completed by the end of the day.

news@panow.com  

A fire was set in a tree and surrounding grass area right outside Prince Albert’s Wesmor Community School this afternoon.

Firefighters received the call concerning the fire around 3:30 p.m.

When they arrived at the scene they assessed the fire decided to control burn the rest of the area as a preventative measure.

A firefighter at the scene said that as the weather heats up, conditions are so dry it doesn’t take much for a fire to grow.

He said the dryness combined with wind can cause a fire to spread quickly.

Wearing a helmet is cool.

That is the message that Lyle Karasiuk, Director of Public Affairs for Parkland Ambulance will be promoting this week at various schools in the city during bicycle safety week.

“They are cool to wear that’s what we want to get across to kids this week that helmets are cool and they need to wear one,” said Karasiuk.

Air Cadets is one youth program that can swiftly take a child from a passing interest to a career.

This is true for St. Mary’s High school student, Matthew Smith, who began Air Cadets six years ago with an interest in flight and has since travelled extensively, earned a glider’s and a pilot’s license.

Motorists are being advised of some lane restrictions on the Diefenbaker Bridge this week.

The City of Prince Albert is advising motorists that periodically throughout the week lanes will be closed to accommodate scaffolding that is being put up under the bridge as a part of ongoing repairs.

The lane closures will happen at none-peak times throughout the week and one lane in each direction will be available at all times.

Minor delays are not expected but there is a possibility there may be delays.

Residents at the Herb Basset Home jammed to some laid back tunes on Monday. The duet Cashback performed “The Johnny Cash Show” at 2 p.m.

Residents gathered together in the home to watch the performance. Some danced, others sat and tapped their toes.

The performance lasted all afternoon.

news@panow.com