Happy Halloween
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY FOR 112 YEARS
Issue 26
Wed., Oct. 29, 2014
Mercury
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769
Rabid horse found in RM By Jordan Baker editor@estevanmercury.ca
Last week there was a report of a horse in the RM of Estevan that had been positively identified as rabid. The horse was found to be infected with rabies over the weekend of Oct. 18 and 19, and was put down at the beginning of last week. Dr. Clarence Bischop, Saskatchewan’s rabies risk assessment veterinarian who is in charge of the investigation into the case, said they don’t know exactly how the horse was infected but said it may have been bitten by a skunk. “This horse was on another property where a rabid skunk was found back in the beginning of September. Whether the skunk that was found there is the culprit or one of that skunk’s brothers or sisters or whether it occurred after it went back home, we don’t really know,” said Bischop, who noted disposal of the rabid horse was between the owner and their veterinarian. He declined to disclose in which field the infected horse resided and who owned the horse. Rabies is a disease of the nervous system caused by a virus that affects humans and animals and is
spread through saliva. In Saskatchewan, it is most often diagnosed in skunks, and it ultimately causes death. There is no cure for those infected with rabies. Between January and August this year there have been seven rabies cases reported. Four of those involved bats and three cases were found in skunks. There was one case involving a horse in both 2012 and 2011. Ve t e r i n a r y c l i n i c s around the province obtain and submit samples in suspected rabies cases. Bischop’s job is to be the gatekeeper and assist with distribution of test results. He also handles any animal restrictions that need to take place when there has been positive contact with rabies, and that includes quarantines. Public health will step in to deal with any human exposure with the virus, though there hasn’t been any reported contact with humans in this case. Bischop said in most cases, it takes about three to six weeks for symptoms to manifest themselves in an infected animal. For an animal as large as a cow, or in this case a horse, it generally takes about two months. Though domestic animals with rabies pose a particular risk to humans, Bischop ⇢A2 Rare
Scary Inflatables The frightening Frankenstein’s monster and his scary black cat were just a couple of impressive inflatable outdoor Halloween decorations sported by Estevan homeowners this past week as children and adults alike prepared for the Friday fun.
One incumbent loses seat in RM of Estevan With ballots cast in rural municipalities across Saskatchewan last week, there will be a mix of new faces and incumbents serving the RMs in the southeast. The RM of Estevan saw two incumbents maintain their seats, while the representation from Div. 6 will have a new face. Bryan Tucker defeated Terry Keating 32 votes to 21, as Tucker upset the incumbent of Div. 6. Maintaining their seats were Donald Hilstrom in Div. 2, who was re-elected while defeating Barry Schulte 80 to 43, while Doug Blue keeps his seat in Div. 4, defeating John Kish 39 to 10. The RM of Coalfields saw all three of the open divisions contested with the most votes coming out of Div. 6, where Terry Sernick defeated Paul Deren 53 to 26. Div. 4 also saw a newly elected representative as incumbent Joseph Deyell
lost a tight race to Brian Hall by a count of 22 to 18. In Div. 2, Brett Mackenzie kept his seat after collecing 10 votes and defeating newcomer Richard Tessier, who received five votes. In the RM of Cymri, Division 4 saw the only contest and saw the newly elected Marnell Eagles defeat incumbent Dianna Eagles by a vote count of 16 to 13. Henry Wiebe, Div. 2, and Bill Scott, Div. 6, were both acclaimed. In the RM of Benson, Stanley Zimmerman, Div. 2, Malcolm Herman, Div. 4, and Dwight Monteyne, Div. 6, were all acclaimed in their respective seats. The RM of Browning also had no challengers to the incumbents, so Ben Kautz in Div. 4 and Dennis Christensen in Div. 6 were both acclaimed. With nobody running for Div. 2, that seat remains vacant. Another call for nominations has been put out by the RM.
Keess taking STF executive board to court Former ECS educator Colin Keess is challenging the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation executive team to a showdown in the court room. Keess, who was recently re-elected president of the STF — the group that represents most of Saskatchewan’s teachers— was ousted from that role in August of this year by the STF executive body. Citing only that Keess had “breached confidence, and breached the principles of executive conduct,” a charge he denies. The executive members stripped Keess of his executive powers, installing vicepresident Randy Cline into the primary role. In an interview with The Mercury this summer, Keess said the so-called breaches of conduct or confidence had nothing to do with any actions outside his role as president.
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Colin Keess He is now stating that board’s Aug. 1 motion that his planned evaluation of effectively stripped him of the job(s), being performed his authority. by STF’s executive director, Keess and his legal Gwen Dueck, triggered the representative have filed an reaction by the executive affidavit with the Court of committee. Queen’s Bench saying the Keess told the Saska- STF executive acted outside toon Star-Phoenix he had of its jurisdiction when it drafted a letter reprimand- carried out that action and ing Dueck that he had in- denied him an opportunity tended to deliver to her, but to speak to the issues. that was cut short by the The STF has not issued
any further statement, other than to note their responses related to the specifics of the alleged breaches will be filed with the court on Nov. 10 when the case is expected to be heard. In filing his case on Oct. 10, Keess maintained the STF president can only be removed by the body that elected him, the federation’s provincial council, not the executive board. He also claims due process was not followed since he was denied a hearing prior to the sanctions being imposed, and he was also denied access to counsel at a requested meeting after the sanctions were in place. He said he was also penalized for requesting due process to be placed on the agenda at a board meeting following the sanctions. Keess, through his lawyer, said he had attempted to deal with the matter outside the court but the
(Keess) “breached confidence, and breached the principles of executive conduct.”
- STF Executive Board
executive was not willing to co-operate on that matter, which left him with this alternative. The application was set to be heard this week with an adjournment likely to be imposed to the end of November. Keess was serving his second term as the STF’s elected president when the issue of the alleged breach of confidence and principles arose. The activities at the executive level coincided with two failed attempts by assigned negotiators to sign a new collective contract agreement with teachers who voted against proposed
plans by margins of over 70 per cent on the first offering and over 62 per cent on the second round. At the time, Keess and others were citing a significant disconnect between the membership and the executive body and negotiators. No new negotiations have taken place since. Keess had faced a disciplinary hearing of the STF several years ago while engaged as a principal and educator at the Estevan Comprehensive School. None of the issues that he faced then, however, appear to have any relationship with this latest confrontation with the federation’s executive body.
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2014-09-19 10:18 AM