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CHOICE REAL ESTATE
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Issue 10
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Struble investigation remains open It’s been 13 years since the disappearance of Courtney Struble, but the RCMP’s Historical Case Unit hasn’t given up on the investigation. July 9 marked the anniversary of when she vanished. Sgt. Earl LeBlanc said the case is still open and active. “We encourage anyone who has any information, whether it be present information or information from the time of her disappear-
Courtney Struble ance, to come forward by going to any police force, or they can contact Crime Stoppers if they want to
remain anonymous,” said LeBlanc. “We take all missing person files seriously, and our goal is to locate her.” When the police do receive tips or information regarding the case, the officers follow them up, he said. Courtney, who was 13 years old when she disappeared, was last seen at approximately 12:30 a.m. on July 9, 2004, in the vicinity of Highway
39 and Woodlawn Avenue North (now Sister Roddy Road) in Estevan. She had been watching movies with friends at the Estevan Veterinary Clinic. Her friends offered her a ride home, but she decided to walk. Investigators believe she made it back to Estevan, but didn’t reach her home. The case was originally treated as a missing person. The RCMP Historical Case Unit took over the
investigation in 2009, and started investigating it as a homicide. Officers have received tips regarding the case, but nothing that has yielded an arrest in the case, or the discovery of her remains. The Historical Case Unit has also visited the Estevan area to follow up on information regarding the case. There have been numerous searches since she went missing.
The HCU has stated previously that it believes her body is somewhere in the Estevan area, or a nearby rural community. Courtney was fivefoot-three and weighed between 110 and 125 pounds when she vanished. She had a birthmark on the nape of her neck, and a 1 1/2inch scar on her left shin. The night that she disappeared, Courtney was wearing a grey hoodie, blue jeans and running shoes.
Estevan welcomes new physician to town By Jaime Polmateer jpolmateer@estevanmercury.ca
There’s a new physician in town and with the new addition to the local medical staff Estevan now has full coverage for obstetric services. Dr. Edward Krickan, who recently finished a two-year residency training in family medicine and an additional year of enhanced surgical skills training, said he’s passionate about rural healthcare and is looking forward to working in a dynamic community. “My long term goals are to establish in a full scope family practice, and by full scope I mean not only cradle to the grave care with obstetrics and throughout the age range to geriatrics, but also using my skills that I’ve learned over the last couple years to do surgery as well,” said Krickan.
“I think rural care and keeping patients in the community is one of the things I really found value in when I was doing my training and if we can start keeping more and more things here in Estevan then the community will benefit and so will the services at the hospital.” He added Estevan is a great balance of being a smaller Prairie town with a good mix of services and being closer to bigger centres, so the community is a perfect fit for his young family. Krickan will begin his new position at St. Joseph’s Hospital on Aug. 1. Greg Hoffort, executive director at St. Joseph’s Hospital, said Krickan is a welcome addition to the local medical staff and his ability to do caesarean sections is essential to running the city’s obstetrics program. “There’s often a need
for a C-section so now with the two physicians in town that can perform that service, we’re fully covered and very excited about that,” said Hoffort. “Up until this point for the last several years, we’ve had typically one physician that could perform those functions and now with two, it just takes it to a new level and full coverage is what we’re looking for a we’re thrilled to have achieved it.” After one of the previous physicians at St. Joseph’s Hospital left last fall Hoffort said he heard loud and clear from the community that the vacancy was one that needed to be filled. “We have a fully functioning obstetrics program and a key part of that for us is to have the physicians that can handle the care requirements of that and one of them is the high-risk pregnancies and maternity cases,” he said.
St. Joseph’s Hospital just hired new physician Dr. Edward Krickan, who’ll round out the local obstetrics program in Estevan. Pictured from left are manager for medical and intensive care Cheryl Harrison, Krickan and executive director for St. Joseph’s Hospital Greg Hoffort.
Nathan Jesse steps down as leisure services manager By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The City of Estevan is looking for someone to fill one of its most high-profile managerial positions. Nathan Jesse stepped down from the job early in the month. His last day will be on Friday. The decision is personal, he said in an interview with the Mercury. Jesse’s girlfriend is in Vancouver, and he is moving to be with her. “It … had nothing to
do with my current role here,” said Jesse. “It was actually a very tough decision for me.” He has already been hired as an operations manager with the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) athletics and recreation department – a job that will see him supervise around 75 staff members. “It’s a little bit of a different role,” said Jesse. “I would say it’s a step forward in a big organization. The department is fairly big. They have quite
a few athletic and recreational complexes there that I will be working in and managing.” Jesse has also worked in Vancouver in the past. In 2009 and 2010, he was part of the host committee for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He said his past experience in the city played a role in his decision to move to Vancouver and take the job at UBC. “A few friends and colleagues are still in Vancouver, so there’s a chance to reconnect with them,”
said Jesse. Jesse, who is originally from Estevan, returned to the Energy City following the 2010 Winter Olympics, to work as the aquatics and program manager for leisure services. He was promoted to the role of leisure services manager early in 2013. When he was hired to work for the city, Affinity Place was still under construction. The completion of the events centre, and the events it has hosted, rate at the top of his list of
highlights from the past seven years. “It was one of the reasons I came back to Estevan because I knew the building was set to open, and I wanted to be involved with that,” said Jesse. “I feel that over the last seven years, we’ve done a pretty good job with this brand new building, and treated the community to some great events, and lots of good hockey and ice sports as well.” There were a lot of
kinks to work out with the building, but the city has done a good job with the venue, considering the size of the community and the size of the city’s workforce. He’s also proud of the city’s efforts to host the Saskatchewan Summer Games and the Western Canada Cup junior A hockey tournament last year. Jesse also applauded the core staff he has worked with for the last few years at leisure services. CITY ⇢A2
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