The shovels are in the ground, marking the beginning of constructing of another fire station in Regina. This time, in one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods, The Greens on Gardiner.

City and fire officials say Fire Station 8 is needed to keep up with the area’s rapid growth and increasing call volume.

“In this area, we see little hotspots for incidents, and we are seeing some frequency of calls out here,” said Chief Layne Jackson. “A main concern for us is really the amount of time it takes and the geographic side of it.”

The new fire hall will be built at the corner of Chuka Boulevard and Primrose Green Drive, roughly seven minutes away from Station 5. Officials say it will help cut response times and expand emergency coverage across the east side.

“The travel times from that station to here are quite significant now,” said Jackson. “So we know fires will start small, but if we don’t intervene, they grow quite large. Once this station comes online, we’re going to redesign our fire station districts. And of course, it’s gonna it’s going to take over.”

Planning for the new hall dates back to 2021 as part of Regina’s Fire Master Plan. Station 8 will serve The Greens, along with The Creeks and Aurora, and will be located right across from École Wascana Plains.

It will be right across from Ecole Wascana Plains, making potential field trips an easy option.

“I’m sure that our firefighters are very excited to have tour after tour coming by to visit and I think the school is as well. I think it’s a great partnership with the community.” said Mayor Chad Bachynski.

“We have a strong public education program, and we’re in the schools all the time,” said Jackson. “The firefighters are in the schools teaching fire and life safety to the children to help them grow up and be safe, prevent emergencies and prevent accidents. It’s just phenomenal that we’re close by and that we can be a reassuring presence in the neighborhood, both for the school and the rest of the neighborhood.”

Station 8 will be Regina’s first new fire hall since 2010. Construction is set to ramp up next month, with completion expected in early 2027.

Two would-be thieves are in custody after the attempted theft of a vehicle was cut short on account of an empty gas tank.

In a news release published Saturday, Saskatchewan RCMP recounted an incident near Wadena late last week.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 5, a truck was stolen south of Wadena. RCMP officers in the area were able to find the vehicle with the help of the public. At some point during the search, the suspect’s vehicle ran out of gas.

Two people exited the vehicle and were arrested at the scene. A search of the vehicle by a police dog led to officers discovering a gun and suspected drugs.

The driver, a 36-year-old man from Yellowquill First Nation, was charged with six counts, including flight from police, resisting arrest, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

The passenger, a 23-year-old woman also from Yellowquill First Nation, was charged with possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.

Both of the accused appeared in court in Wadena on Nov. 6.

Regina police have now charged two youths and an adult for their alleged roles in the city’s tenth homicide of the year.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on Nov. 1, officers were dispatched to a home on the 1000 block of 12th Avenue. Police discovered a 19-year-old man who had been shot.

Paramedics declared the man dead at the scene. The identity of the victim will not be released at the request of his family, according to police.

Following eight days of investigation, Regina police announced three arrests in relation to the killing on Sunday.

Trevor Whitequill, 44, faces one charge of accessory after the fact to murder.

A 17-year-old woman faces three charges. They include accessory after the fact to murder, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized and possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order.

In an update Sunday evening, Regina police announced that a 16-year-old male suspect was also taken into custody. He faces three charges, including second-degree murder, possessing a firearm contrary to a prohibition order and failing to comply with the conditions of an undertaking.

Both the 17 and 16-year-old cannot be identified due to the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

All three of the accused are scheduled to appear in provincial court Monday morning in Regina.

In its update on Sunday, the police service noted the homicide investigation is still ongoing.

An industry expert says Canada’s new Climate Competitiveness Strategy, outlined in the federal budget leaves more questions than answers about the country’s direction on climate-related policies.

Outlined on Tuesday by the federal government, the strategy is promising to make the country’s economy stronger and more competitive by fighting climate change, lowering emissions and investing in clean energy.

But for Caroline Brouillette, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, the strategy is not competitive.

“When we look at what Canada was doing prior, (this strategy) actually brings us back and deprives us of key tools and policies that impact our capacity to fight climate change in this country and to respond to a global economy that is rapidly transforming towards the adoption of renewable energy and electric-based technology,” Brouillette told CTV News Channel on Sunday.

The strategy promises to strengthen industrial carbon pricing, issue regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, elevate clean economy investment through tax credits, support critical minerals projects, utilize capital for the transition to net-zero and develop new ways to track progress.

However, Brouillette said the strategy is unclear on how these initiatives will be achieved.

“The strategy doesn’t even give us our destination,” she said.

“When we plan for climate change policies, emissions reduction targets are not just numbers. They are a direction for the economy. They are a direction for private sector investment, and so, the government introduced a lot of uncertainty by removing existing policies.”

“I think the government has to recommit to our existing targets.”

With the annual United Nations climate change talks, the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP 30), beginning in Brazil Monday, Brouillette says she is concerned about what Canada will present.

“I am very worried about Canada’s participation, given that the recent signals that we have gotten from Prime Minister Carney and his government have only been about moving back on existing policy,” she said.

“Whether Canada is still committed, not only to climate action, but to the international cooperation that is so necessary in this moment when we’re facing geopolitical pressures is going to be crucial.”

Brouillette says it’s important for the upcoming talks tackle climate multilateralism and deliver tangible action and results for workers, communities and Indigenous nations.

“We need to connect this negotiation process with the day-to-day lives of people who are facing real economy pressures and a different reality on the ground,” she said.

More than 10,000 demonstrators descended on Montreal’s Bell Centre on Sunday to demand the suspension of a new law that changes how doctors in the province are paid.

Organized by a quartet of medical federations, the protest took aim at legislation known as Bill 2 that Premier Francois Legault forced through the national assembly late last month.

“This is a united message from the four medical federations, from all the experts in Quebec, telling Francois Legault and (Health Minister) Christian Dube to put Bill 2 on hold,” said Dr. Marc-Andre Amyot, president of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec, shortly before the event kicked off.

“Imposing measures as they are currently doing will lead to disasters and abuses, and these disasters have already begun: 550 doctors have already announced that they are leaving Quebec.”

Passed on Oct. 25, the law ties part of physicians’ remuneration to performance targets and threatens steep fines for those who use pressure tactics to boycott the changes.

Doctors argue it muzzles them and could drive physicians out of Quebec, with medical associations opting to challenge it in court.

“This new law won’t help anything in our health system. It won’t help our patients, and it won’t make any sense for us,” said Juliet Kemp, an emergency physician in the Laurentians region who attended the downtown rally.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to keep our medical clinics open,” added Marie-Eve Landry, a family physician who joined the event. “We want to work as a team, but right now my clinic is short a social worker and a clinical nurse. I want to delegate, but I have no one to delegate to.”

Doctors, medical students and their families streamed in from across the province Sunday, with 17 buses bringing demonstrators from as far afield as Rimouski and Trois-Rivieres. More than 12,500 people crowded into the Montreal Canadiens’ arena, according to the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec.

It launched with a band named The Doc Show -- a dozen physicians singing and riffing on electric guitars and a saxophone -- and featured the heads of associations representing nearly 30,000 family doctors, resident physicians, medical specialists and medical students. A doctor mascot bobbed through the crowd for selfies amid the roving arena lights and signs reading, “I love my doctor” and Between songs and speakers, videos played of doctors and students from across the province offering their take on the bill, with descriptions ranging from “deplorable” and “cruel” to “shocking” and “fast-food” care -- a reference to the portion of physicians’ pay now tied to the number of patients they serve. Opponents argue that change incentivizes quantity over quality.

In response to the discontent, Health Minister Dube announced Tuesday he was suspending a pair of provisions in the bill.

The new law has caused turmoil in the ranks of the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec as well as the medical profession.

One of Legault’s ministers, Lionel Carmant, quit the caucus after expressing doubts about the bill.

Another legislator, Isabelle Poulet, said last week -- a day after being expelled from the CAQ caucus -- that she was “profoundly disappointed” by how the party has handled the law.

The legislation links 10 per cent of physicians’ pay to performance benchmarks such as appointment and surgery numbers, with the intent of encouraging physicians to see more patients. Legault says it will benefit the 1.5 million Quebecers who don’t have a family doctor.

According to the legislation, physicians could face fines of up to $20,000 a day if they take “concerted actions” to boycott the bill, such as refusing to teach students. Doctors say the penalties are unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, Legault said he wants to restart talks with the province’s doctors about the terms of the bill.

Sitting in the front row of the rally, former premier Lucien Bouchard -- a negotiator for the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec -- told The Canadian Press that Legault’s “government must understand that doctors won’t accept this law.”

Araz Kouyoumdjian, a resident completing a sub-specialization in general surgery, denounced its impact on patients.

“Ultimately, it’s not us who will suffer the most, but our population, and we really don’t want that.”

Sunday’s protest came on the heels of a rally in Quebec City last weekend.

The head of the BBC and the British broadcaster’s top news executive both resigned Sunday after criticism of the way the organization edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The BBC said Director-General Tim Davie and news CEO Deborah Turness had both decided to leave the corporation.

Britain’s publicly funded national broadcaster has been criticized for editing a speech Trump made on Jan. 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington.

Critics said that the way the speech was edited for a BBC documentary last year was misleading and cut out a section where Trump said that he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

A clip of the BBC “Panorama” episode shared by The Daily Telegraph appears to show different parts of Trump’s speech edited into one quote. In the episode, Trump is shown saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

According to video and a transcript from Trump’s comments that day, he said: “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.

“Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated.

“I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

Nearly an hour later, Trump used the phrase “we fight like hell” toward the end of his speech, but without referencing the Capitol.

“We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump said then.

In a letter to staff, Davie said quitting the job after five years “is entirely my decision.”

“Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility,” Davie said.

He said that he was “working through exact timings with the Board to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months.”

Turness said that the controversy about the Trump documentary “has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC -- an institution that I love. As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me.”

“In public life leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down,” she said in a note to staff. “While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”

Trump posted a link to a Daily Telegraph story about the speech-editing on his Truth Social network, thanking the newspaper “for exposing these Corrupt ‘Journalists.’ These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election.” He called that “a terrible thing for Democracy!”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted on X, posting a screen grab of an article headlined “Trump goes to war with `fake news’ BBC” beside another about Davie’s resignation, with the words “shot” and “chaser.”

Pressure on the broadcaster’s top executives has been growing since the right-leaning Telegraph published parts of a dossier compiled by Michael Prescott, who had been hired to advise the BBC on standards and guidelines.

As well as the Trump edit, it criticized the BBC’s coverage of transgender issues and raised concerns of anti-Israel bias in the BBC’s Arabic service.

The 103-year-old BBC faces greater scrutiny than other broadcasters -- and criticism from its commercial rivals -- because of its status as a national institution funded through an annual license fee of 174.50 pounds ($230) paid by all households with a television.

The BBC airs vast reams of entertainment and sports programming across multiple television and radio stations and online platforms -- but it’s the BBC’s news output that is most often under scrutiny.

The broadcaster is bound by the terms of its charter to be impartial in its output, and critics are quick to point out when they think it has failed. It’s frequently a political football, with conservatives seeing a leftist slant in its news output and some liberals accusing it of having a conservative bias.

It has also been criticized from all angles over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. In February, the BBC removed a documentary about Gaza from its streaming service after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of an official in the Hamas-led government.

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said that the BBC was full of “institutional bias,” and “the new leadership must now deliver genuine reform of the culture of the BBC, top to bottom.”

Lisa Nandy, the minister in charge of media in Britain’s center-left Labour government, thanked Davie for his work and said that the government would help the BBC secure “its role at the heart of national life for decades to come.

“Now more than ever, the need for trusted news and high quality programming is essential to our democratic and cultural life, and our place in the world,” Nandy said.

Saskatchewan RCMP have charged a youth with first degree murder in connection to a man’s death in Whitewood, Sask. on Thursday.

Officers received a report of an injured man at a residence in the community around 4 p.m., according to a release from the RCMP.

Broadview RCMP found the man inside the home. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The RCMP’s Regina General Investigation Section and Major Crimes officers took over the investigation since the man’s death was considered suspicious.

RCMP said a male youth was arrested by police at the residence and has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.

The investigation continues with help from the RCMP Forensic Identification Section, Broadview RCMP, and the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.

RCMP said both the youth and the man are from the Broadview detachment area but cannot provide more information, since the youth is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Whitewood, Sask. is located about 175 kilometres east of Regina.

Moose Jaw police have charged two men with drug-related offences following a traffic stop earlier this week.

The suspects, aged 38 and 26, were stopped on Nov. 5 on the 400 block of Athabasca Street East as part of an impaired driving investigation. The 38-year-old was arrested on the impaired driving charge.

A search of the vehicle and its occupants uncovered 61.2 grams of fentanyl, 2.4 grams of methamphetamine, about $1,800 in cash, a knife, and other drug paraphernalia.

Both men face one count each of possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine, as well as possession of property obtained by crime.

They made their first court appearances in Moose Jaw Provincial Court on Nov. 6.

🎉 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.

What’s New?

Here’s what you can expect from this update:
✅ Improved Audio Player – No more interruptions or cutting off! Enjoy seamless streaming on our websites.
✅ Enhanced Stream Stability – Our radio streams are now more reliable than ever.
✅ Upgraded Security & Quality – Improved protection and enhanced broadcast quality for an unmatched listening experience.

Fully Operational Services:

🎵 Stations:

• Z103.5 – https://z1035.evoradio.ca/
• 979 The Cowboy – https://979thecowboy.evoradio.ca/
• 101 The Rockhound – https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/
• Classic 88.7 The Goat – https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/

🌐 Websites:

• EVO Radio Advertiser Access – https://advertiseraccess.evoradio.ca/
• EVO Media Corporation – https://evomcorp.com/
• DJ Spinderella – https://djspinderella.evomcorp.com/

Experiencing Issues?

While everything is running smoothly on our end, we’re here to help if you encounter any issues. If you’re having trouble with our broadcasts or websites, please report the issue to us immediately so we can address it.

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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:
  • Live Broadcasts & Website Access for these stations:
    • Z103.5 – https://z1035.evoradio.ca/
    • 979 The Cowboy – https://979thecowboy.evoradio.ca/
    • 101 The Rockhound – https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/
    • Classic 88.7 The Goat – https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/
  • Websites:
    • EVO Radio Advertiser Access – https://advertiseraccess.evoradio.ca/
    • EVO Media Corporation – https://evomcorp.com/
    • 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.

Stay Updated:
Follow us on Facebook or check our websites for real-time updates:

• EVO Media Corporation: https://www.facebook.com/EVOMediaCorporation/
• Z103.5: https://www.facebook.com/YourPartyStationZ103.5
• 979 The Cowboy: https://www.facebook.com/979thecowboy/
• 101 The Rockhound: https://www.facebook.com/101TheRockhound/
• Classic 88.7 The Goat: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093402861183

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

Thank you for your continued support,

The EVO Radio & EVO Media Corporation Team