Estevan mercury, january 7, 2015

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Sports

City

Fire Service

Bruins split New Year start

Mayor looks back on 2014, ahead to 2015

Chief discusses future of Fire Rescue Service

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Babies of 2 1 0 4

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Wed., Jan. 7, 2015

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Issue 35

SERVING THE ENERGY CITY FOR 112 YEARS

www.estevanmercury.ca

Mailing No. 10769

City outlines new strategic plan By Jordan Baker editor@estevanmercury.ca

The City of Estevan wants everyone to know its vision for “Our Estevan.” The City has been developing a corporate strategic plan and at the regular council meeting on Jan. 5, the plan, dubbed Our Estevan, was laid out.

The plan has been designed to aid the City in planning over the next five years through 2019 and will be an all-encompassing document. It will provide guidance on all aspects of City management, from internal and external communications to electronic work orders and establishing quality control parameters for infrastructure projects. City Manager Amber Smale said one

aspect in particular is the focus on human resources. “People are often overlooked, but you can’t do anything without them,” she said. “They are your asset and you’ve got to treat them like they are your asset. I’m fully supportive of staff development and training and leadership. Without that, there’s no motivation.”

In the fall of 2013, the City retained the services of HJ Linnen Associates of Regina to co-ordinate the City’s corporate strategic planning process. That process included a preliminary planning and research phase prior to consultation with community leaders, city council, and City management and the unions as well as ⇢ A2 Strategic

SEIU voting on Cornerstone’s final offer By Norm Park normpark@estevanmercury.ca

Leading The Way In action at Affinity Place on Sunday, the Estevan Power Tech Panthers were led by Megan LeBlanc who scored twice en route to a 3-0 victory over the Moose Jaw Mavericks.

Faced with no other option than to take it to their membership for a vote, the Service Employees’ International Union (SEIU-West) fired a warning shot across the bow of the South East Cornerstone Public School Division this week. Barb Cape, president of SEIU-West, which represents about 300 employees in the local public school division, said their negotiating team was handed a final, take it or leave it situation by the public school division just before the Christmas break. With no other outstanding issue other than wages on the table, Cape said the members will be asked to either accept or reject a two per cent wage increase for the first year of a two-year contract offer and another two per cent hike in the second year. “They’ll vote next week on the offer, and it will take a day or two to gather and tabulate the results,” Cape said. Cornerstone is the only school division in the province that has reached this point in the negotiation process, she added. SEIU has prepared their opening presentations for the Chinook public division and Holy Family, the other local school division operated by the Roman Catholic system, is not yet in negotiations with either SEIU or the other service union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). That union recently closed a negotiated deal with Cornerstone that is close to what is being offered to their SEIU counterparts, according to Cornerstone spokeswoman, Lynn Little, the division’s director of education. ⇢ A2 Trying

Farm family event expanding for 50th anniversary bash The Farm Family of the Year dinner and awards event is bigger than ever this year in recognition of its 50th anniversary. Alf Tide, now entering his 10th year as the co-ordinator of the annual show and shine of the agriculture and ranching community, said the 50th anniversary dinner will be held at Affinity Place on March 12 this year, allowing it to temporarily expand to accommodate 500 or more people. The dinner will feature the musical

stylings of Brad Johner and the Johner Boys and a motivational address by Chris Koch, an Alberta-based farmer who works the fields even though he has no arms or legs. Koch was featured in a Mercury article last year while he was temporarily employed on a nearby southeast Saskatchewan farm. Koch, who has appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show and has been featured in other articles and broadcasts, brings the message that “If I can …” to his audiences.

2014 F-150

Brad Johner, a native of the EstevanMacoun-Midale area, is an award-winning country and western performer with five CDs and several Canadian Country Music awards behind his stylings. He was part of the Johner Brothers duo at the start of his career, being joined by brother Ken for several years before he launched his solo career. Now he’ll be on stage with his four sons who not only serve as a backup band, but also can form a musical group of their

own, which they have done several times when they haven’t been working with their father. Tide said the highlight of the night continues to be the presentation of the Farm Family of the Year Award, a regular feature of the dinner since 1985. The event is sponsored by the Estevan Chamber of Commerce and Estevan Exhibition Association. ⇢ A2 Top

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