Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Where does our democracy stand?

By Lisa Goudy

Despite being a democracy, a recent report card indicates Canadians have low participation and trust in our politics.

Samara, a public interest group in Toronto, released its first-ever report card on Canada’s democracy earlier this week and gave Canada a C. The report was based on a national public opinion online survey of 2,406 Canadians as well as information from Elections Canada and the House of Commons.

The report noted that particularly young people are deterred from politics because of the political process and many Canadians are not participating in politics as much as they could.

How many of you have I lost so far? How many of you are skimming over this column because it relates to politics?

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Train talk

Council defeats motion to contact CN Rail about idling trains

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald
Train tracks are seen by Athabasca Street West.

By Lisa Goudy

Coun. Don Mitchell was the only councillor in favour of forwarding a letter to CN Rail.


This letter, as recommended by the environment advisory committee, would have included a request for CN Rail to park idling train cars outside the downtown and residential areas of Moose Jaw. This was because of a resident’s concern with air pollution.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Sensitivity to newcomers

Cultural advisory committee proposes draft letter

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald
Council meets on March 23, 2015 at city hall.

By Lisa Goudy


Mayor Deb Higgins believes in the importance of making newcomers feel welcome in the city.

That said, she didn’t support a motion to forward a draft letter regarding disrespect and verbal abuse in the workplace to her office for review and rewording before sending it to the Moose Jaw and District Chamber of Commerce for distribution, as the cultural diversity committee recommended.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Green compost option shut down

Councillors defeat motion to explore drop-off of green compost material

Coun. Don Mitchell speaks at the March 23, 2015 council meeting.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

Members of the environment advisory committee would like to explore the possibility of the drop-off of green compost material.

Coun. Don Mitchell made the committee’s recommended motion for city administration to explore the option of having the drop-off of green compost material at a central location for composting, such as at the bulk recycling location.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: A $750,000-goal

Family First Radiothon set for May 7 and 8

By Lisa Goudy

Kelly McElree can’t wait for the health foundation’s upcoming radiothon.

“It’s an amazing time for the Moose Jaw Health Foundation. The radiothon is right in the middle of our Capital Equipment Campaign,” said McElree, executive director of the Moose Jaw Health Foundation (MJHF).

“The radiothon is another opportunity for people to contribute to this once-in-a-generation opportunity to help equip our future hospital.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: More carryover for city projects

Council reallocates additional carryover for various capital projects

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

The CPR dam on the Moose Jaw 

River is seen on March 23, 2015.

By Lisa Goudy

Construction delays and weather played a part in less work completed on city projects.

As a result of those factors, more money is being carried over to work on those projects.

This includes additional carryover of $1.03 million for the CPR dam project, $1.09 million for the East Feeder Water Line project and $284,479 for trunk sewer improvements.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Capturing sounds of life on earth

Sask.-born singer/songwriter Mary Caroline plays Moose Jaw

Singer/songwriter Mary Caroline performs
at Common Cafe on March 18, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

Living in a remote cabin off the grid is when inspiration tends to strike Mary Caroline.

“It’s so remote you have to bring a jerry-can of gas just to get back into Yellowknife,” she said. 

“When I’m out there, I’m very much there and lots of elders pass through and very interesting people. I have a lot a lot of time in solitude and nature out there. So those sorts of things and that lifestyle have definitely influenced a lot of my songs.”

Caroline has been writing songs since she was 16 years old. Now 32, Caroline is on tour promoting her third album, Life on Earth, but it is her first studio album.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Ramping up excitement for words

Festival of Words has 21 confirmed guests

By Lisa Goudy

Sarah Simison is excited about the line-up for this year’s Saskatchewan Festival of Words.

 “This’ll be my sixth festival. After being here that long, you get to realize that it’s all about the people,” said Simison, operations co-ordinator with the Festival of Words. “I realized when I started working here there were a few authors, looking at the line-up, that I’d be excited about, but by the end of the festival what I always thought was the most exciting is meeting all the new people.”

There are 21 confirmed presenters, including a musician for the Saturday night concert, for the 2015 festival, which is set for July 16 to 19. Most of the line-up was finalized by December and now the next steps are getting into the “deeper details of planning” the festival, she said.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Don’t underestimate Mother Nature

By Lisa Goudy

Today is the first day of spring and after walking in Wakamow Valley this week, it’s clear spring has arrived. It was also clear how powerful Mother Nature can be.

It began on Wednesday morning when I headed out to the valley to cover the flooding. From the onset it was obvious why we should all remain careful.

Water covered the valley, remaining at a standstill. Huge chunks of ice were stacked up against each other on the Moose Jaw River. A car sat in the middle of the water and the Kiwanis River Park campground was filled with water.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Citizen input crucial for cast iron

Still time to provide input on replacement program funding

City manager Matt Noble stands next to
a cast iron water main on display at city 
hall, seen here on March 19, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

In two days, 205 residents have provided feedback online for the cast iron water main replacement program.

That’s in addition to the more than 150 people who took home a paper copy to fill out and bring back to city hall for feedback.

“There’s a lot of interest. It’s good information,” said Matt Noble, city manager, adding that 600 people have looked at the information online.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: FULL STORY: The remnants of flooding

Ice chunks scattered through Wakamow Valley

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Wakamow Valley is pictured on March 19, 2015.

By Lisa Goudy

“It was wild,” he said. “(Thursday) morning there was no flow in there at all and then all of a sudden, it got loose. It was underneath the bridge. The bridge was just rocking from the ice.”

He watched on the as a garbage can spun around and finally went under the bridge. He saw a picnic table floating in the water.

“I was there when the ice started breaking and pretty much left when it was done,” said Hofer, who said it took an hour and a half.

Now the biggest relics of the ice jam on the Moose Jaw River and flooding in Wakamow Valley are the huge ice chunks scattered in the valley.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Relics of the flood

Ice chunks cover a section of the road
in Wakamow Valley on March 19, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

The biggest remnants of the ice jam and flooding are chunks of ice scattered in Wakamow Valley.

“I always look on the positive side. There’s no major structural damage. We’ve lost a picnic table down there. It’s amazing what the ice can do to these things, but nobody was hurt,” said Margaret Moran, CEO of Wakamow Valley Authority.     

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: From the sidelines of the flood

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald
Ice chunks are seen on the Moose Jaw River on March 18, 2015.

By Lisa Goudy

Dale and Evelyn Mitchell have lived in Moose Jaw for seven years.

Having a cabin out at Buffalo Pound, they are used to the risk for flooding.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Flooding strikes Moose Jaw

Wakamow Valley submersed in water from ice jams on river 

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald
Wakamow Valley is seen in its flooded state on March
18, 2015. Moose Jaw firefighter Koel Nerland rescued a
woman from this vehicle on the evening of March 17, 2015.

By Lisa Goudy

Koel Nerland can still feel the chill of the water up to his hips from rescuing a woman from a car when flooding hit.

"I just waded out there in my regular gear. I was frozen to death,” said Nerland, a firefighter with the Moose Jaw Fire Department (MJFD), on Wednesday morning.

“I grabbed her out of the car and two huge icebergs came up and pushed me up against a wire and I almost lost her there in the water.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Flood hits Wakamow Valley

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald
Wakamow Valley is pictured from a viewpoint near
the International Bible College on March 18, 2015.

By Lisa Goudy

With ice jams filling the river and water sitting in the valley, Margaret Moran said as of Wednesday morning, the flood conditions are stable.

"The dam is holding in place so that means that there’s still a big chance if there’s more flow coming for the water to rise, but right now it looks stable," said Moran, the CEO of Wakamow Valley Authority. 

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Another detour coming to Manitoba Street

Next closure expected to last about 10 days

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald
The intersection of Manitoba Street East and
Second Avenue Northeast is seen on Tuesday.

By Lisa Goudy

Drivers will have to detour one more time at the Manitoba Street East intersection.

“We have four more holes to dig. Then it’s done. We have to do some connections,” said Colin Prang, manager of engineering with the city.

The closure stems from the continued work on the first phase of the East Water Feeder Line project that replaced 650 meters of the 4.2-kilometer line at First Avenue Southeast and Manitoba Street at a cost of $2.94 million.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: When wine and food meet

Winery dinner to feature Chilean winemaker

Javier Paredes of Torreon de Paredes Winery
in Rengo, Chile pours some of his wine for the
public on an earlier trip to Moose Jaw.
Submitted photo

By Lisa Goudy

When it comes to drinking wine, choosing the wine is just as important as the food it’s paired with.

“Food without wine is like dance without music,” said Doug Reichel, wine marketer with Doug Reichel Wine Marketing Inc in Moose Jaw. “Wine is meant to be enjoyed in the context of food and has traditionally been that way, more so with beer and spirits. Beer and spirits tend to be more singular, solo drinks. Wine has always been intended as something to be shared.”

A few years ago, he began working with Temple Gardens Mineral Spa for food and wine experiences with five different wines and five corresponding courses to go with each wine.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Feeling the waters' flow

CPR Dam flooded out by early water flows

The CPR dam is pictured on March 16, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

Spring is on its way, but the water came to the CPR dam four days earlier than expected.

As a result, the dam was flooded out last week. Colin Prang, manager of engineering with the City of Moose Jaw, said the dam could handle a flow of 10 cubic meters per second. On Tuesday, water was flowing at 19. Two days prior, water was flowing at 0.3 cubic meters per second two days before.

“It came pretty fast,” said Prang, adding that the water started to flow around 3 a.m. last Tuesday. 

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: "We're still flying"

By Lisa Goudy

It’s been more than 10 years since Joss Whedon’s Firefly was on the air, but the fan base is still strong.

And this week, it popped up in the news again.

I have watched and loved every single episode of Firefly ever since I bought it on DVD, as well as the movie that followed the show, Serenity (2005).Firefly, sadly, was cancelled after 11 of 14 produced episodes were aired. All 14 episodes are featured on the DVD.

Firefly is an American space western science fiction drama set in the year 2517 and follows the adventures of the nine-person renegade crew of a Firefly-class spaceship called Serenity.

Some of the crewmembers fought on the losing side of a civil war and now make a living on the fringes of the world. There are two surviving superpowers – the United States and China – that joined together to create the central federal government, the Alliance.

Firefly stars Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk are planning a web series, Con Man with the tagline “Because Convention Man doesn’t sound as cool.” They have launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to finance the series so the pair can keep creative control over the series. They are hoping to raise $425,000 for the first three episodes.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: More is sometimes less

February building permits increase, but decrease in value over 2014

By Lisa Goudy

Alterations, repairs and addition to a shop have a building permit value of $850,000.

It is the largest building permit the City of Moose Jaw issued in February. In total, the city issued 20 building permits last month with a value of $3.17 million. In February 2014, the city issued 17 permits worth $3.69 million.

Of the 20 permits issued last month, eight were for commercial and industrial purposes with a total value of approximately $2 million.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Riding a new mower into town

Councillors approve riding mower purchase for parks and rec

By Lisa Goudy

Councillors gave the OK for the purchase of a 60-inch riding mower for the parks and recreation department.

“This item was initially approved in 2011. It was tendered in 2012. The tenders came in over budget and none of the tenders met specifications required,” said Jody Hauta, director of parks and recreation. “In 2013, city council approved an increase in the budget.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Charting South Hill’s future

South Hill Local Area Plan presented to councillors

By Lisa Goudy

Crystal Froese has lived in South Hill since she was a child.

Despite moving to places such as Nova Scotia, she has always come back to live in the South Hill neighbourhood.

“There’s a lot of sense of pride within South Hill,” she said.

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