Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Nailing down Natatorium reinforcements

Council approves immediate repair of structural shoring

The Phyllis Dewar Outdoor Pool opened for the
season on June 9, 2014. At that evening's council
meeting, city council voted in favour of repairing the
structural shoring in the Natatorium at a cost of
$27,127 with a budget of $30,000 as soon as possible.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy


Monday marked the opening of the outdoor pool and news of its leakage.

“The outdoor pool is losing water and it’s happening at an unacceptable rate at the present time. We’ve had this issue in the past and we have been able to provide the service,” said Jody Hauta, director of parks and recreation. “At one point in the past, it took a couple of years to determine the exact cause of the leakage. We are currently troubleshooting the issues to determine the cause.”

However, some work will be done soon on the Natatorium.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Then vs. now

By Lisa Goudy

It’s been 70 years since D-Day.

On June 6, 1944, almost 150,000 troops invaded onto the beach of Normandy. Of those, 14,000 were Canadians. A lot of people died.

I was reminded of this when I stumbled across an article on The Globe and Mail website called “Then and now in pictures: 70 years later, Normandy’s beaches retain memory of D-Day invasion.”

Reuters’ photographer Chris Helgren found archive pictures taken during the invasion and returned to the same locations. Looking through the photos, there are immediate differences. The area has become a tourist location. The beaches are filled with tourists.

And yet, there is a striking resemblance. The lines of the buildings are the same as are other parts of the landscape. It’s unmistakable.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Author/illustrator Ruth Ohi to show and tell at Festival of Words

By Lisa Goudy


Ruth Ohi loves to see her characters brought to life on the page.

“When I’m coming up with an idea, I see the storyboard, the pages, what I would like to see in the picture book in my head and I can see the character alive in my head. So it is satisfying to illustrate my own stories,” she said.

“All my author illustrated books, they’re emotional reactions to something that I’ve experienced or seen or read in a newspaper. I write and draw from that and ask myself, ‘What if?’ and that’s usually my starting point for a story.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Learning about transformation within hostility

By Lisa Goudy


Hostility is quite prevalent in this world.

“Hostility, that term means that there’s very often perhaps a hesitance to see spiritual components within the pragmatics of a western-minded civilization,” said Rev. Dr. Alistair Petrie, long-term pastor and the executive director of Partnership Ministries. “There is always going to be the blend of the spiritual and the physical of the pragmatics.”

Hostility and its existence is all the more reason to learn about global issues and obstacles for various cities as well as relevance of the Gospel, said Petrie.

On Friday and Saturday, he will speak in Moose Jaw at the Restore Our Land conference at Victory Church, hosted by Greg and Maureen Simpson. The conference is at 7 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

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X-Men: Days of Future Past shines on many levels

Image source: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/05/22/bryan-singer-its-ludicrous-to-compare-foxs-x-men-and-marvels-avengers/

By Lisa Goudy


It is hard to find anything wrong with X-Men: Days of Future Past.

The plot is complicated, but it’s explained and shown in an easy-to-understand manner.

The characters are interesting and have a lot of depth as they grow and evolve during the film.

The effects are fantastic to watch and only add to a great story with twists and turns along the way.

There is action, drama, intrigue and humour in the film that unites old with new.

Even if anyone had an issue with any of the previous X-Men films, X-Men: Days of Future Past makes them all be forgotten. It is more than satisfactory. It is one of the best superhero films ever made. It serves as a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: First Class (2011).

X-Men: Days of Future Past opens in the year 2023 in a post-apocalyptic world where the death-mongering robots, Sentinels, dominate the world. Mutants and humans are on the brink of doom as the Sentinels kill mutants and any humans who help them.

In an attempt to change the fate of the world, professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) enlist the help of Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to 1973 to stop young Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage).
That event eventually leads to the apocalyptic future.

To stop the future from coming to fruition, Wolverine must find the younger Charles (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender), who have become alienated after the traumatic events that occurred in X-Men: First Class.

As it is with all films involving time travel, and especially in this one, because it doesn’t just stay in the past but also jumps to the future during the film, there is the high possibility of making a convoluted mess.

Director Bryan Singer and screenplay writer Simon Kinberg also introduced a plethora of characters, some of which had very small roles.

However, what the creative team has instead created is a compelling and mind-blowing movie filled with characters, plots and scenes that make it a memorable film.

Cutting back to the dystopian future at several points isn’t jarring, but fitting in the way that it’s used.
The story doesn’t become confusing at any point in time.

While certain mutants were pushed to the side, Singer and Kinberg have kept the most interesting ones at the focal point of the film.

For instance, the brief appearance of Quicksilver (Evan Peters) is one of the best scenes in the movie. That scene, as well as others, is visually appealing with stunning choreography.

Other familiar characters, many of which are given new layers, are part of the driving force of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Young Charles is in a point in his life where he has lost hope, which is a contrast to how his character is generally seen, which is as a teacher and a leader.

Seeing this role reversal, especially as it relates to Wolverine, is fresh and incredibly well acted.
Young Magneto is angry, bitter and constantly unstable.

Mystique, who has always remained a mysterious character, is given new levels of depth in the movie. None of the characters are good or evil. Nothing is black and white. That makes it all the more interesting.

The acting is superb. All the cast did an outstanding job of portraying the characters and the casting is perfect.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a fantastic film on every level. It is guaranteed to satisfy the likes of any X-Men fan. It sets a new standard that’s going to be hard to top. 

*** This review also appeared in the June 4, 2014 issue of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald's weekly paper, FYi

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Clearing the waters for employment at the SSILC

Tina Ludwar, employment services manager at
the South Saskatchewan Independent Living
Centre (SSILC), works in her office this week.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy


The South Saskatchewan Independent Living Centre (SSILC) helps the invisible become visible.

“People that come in here are good people and sometimes I think they get overlooked because they blend in. They’re on social assistance. They have poor self-esteem and they, I guess, in a sense become invisible,” said Tina Ludwar, employment services manager at the SSILC in Moose Jaw.

“We are here to show them and to support them and to tell them you are not invisible. You are a valuable member of this community.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Fewer building permits, lower value in May 2014

By Lisa Goudy


There were 12 fewer permits worth approximately $410,000 less in May 2014 compared to May 2013.

The city issued 49 building permits last month with a value of $6.38 million. In May 2013, the city issued 61 permits worth $6.79 million.

Among last month’s permits included nine commercial and industrial permits with a total value of $1.42 million.

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