BREAKING NEWS: Pope Francis dies at age 88

La Ronge

federal election
Freeland makes campaign stop in La Ronge to drum up support for Belanger
Chrystia Freeland, a high-ranking Liberal MP from Ontario, was in La Ronge on Thursday to help energize Buckley Belanger's campaign in the Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River riding."It is really important for the Liberal Party, it's really important for me personally, for us to elect some Liberal MPs in Sa...
Apr 18, 2025
Read More
Entertainment
Local artist Nige B to release new hip hop album on Friday
A local rapper from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band is set to drop a new album this weekend.Nigel Bell, who performs under the stage name Nige B, is set to release another project on Friday called Reshape // Refashion. The album is his fifth in as many years, after he released Circa 1990 in 2021, In Retrospect in 2022, U ...
Apr 17, 2025
Read More
Crime
Man charged in firearm-pointing incident in Grandmother's Bay
A 39-year old man who allegedly pointed a firearm at individuals in Grandmother's Bay has been arrested and charged.Gilbert John Eric McLeod, who is from Grandmother's Bay, is facing various weapons-related charges, including carrying a concealed weapon and pointing a firearm. On April 15, around 8:45 a.m., Stanley Mis...
Apr 17, 2025
Read More
drama
Peanut Productions set to perform murder-mystery for local audiences
The cast and crew of Peanut Productions are putting rehearsals into overdrive as they prepare to show audiences their latest play, If It's Monday, This Must Be Murder! The play, which will run April 30 to May 3 at Air Ronge's Elks Hall, is a murder-mystery/comedy by Pat Cook that involves a murder at a country club and...
Apr 17, 2025
Read More
municipalities
Hordyski, La Ronge councillors attend annual SUMA convention
La Ronge Mayor Joe Hordyski learned a lot at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Assocation's annual Convention and Tradeshow in Saskatoon this week. He attended the convention alongside fellow councillors (except for Terry Hunt), chief administrative officer Lyle Hannan, and a couple of other management employees. &...
Apr 16, 2025
Read More
candidates
Lemaigre sets eyes on Ottawa as federal election approaches
Former Saskatchewan Party MLA Jim Lemaigre is now looking to voters in the federal Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River riding to elect him as their MP. He's running as a candidate for the Conservative Party in the upcoming federal election on April 28. Lemaigre previously served as an MLA from February 2022 to O...
Apr 16, 2025
Read More

Saskatchewan

Tick season
Spring means ticks are out. Here are some tips on how to avoid getting bitten
With the spring season comes more people looking to spend time outdoors and the Saskatchewan Health Authority says it's a good time to be on the lookout for ticks.David Torr, SHA medical officer, said there's "quite a number" of ticks already out and about in the province.Torr says Lyme disease is the biggest...
34m ago
Read More
Crime
RCMP searching for truck after firearm pointed at rural homeowner
Battlefords RCMP are actively searching for a white pickup truck and its driver after they pointed a firearm at a homeowner on Easter Sunday. Police said the incident happened at around 11 a.m. in the RM of Roundhill, near Range Road 3143 north of Highway 750. Reports say an early 1990s Mazda B Series truck with runnin...
22h ago
Read More
WILDLIFE
Return of bald eagles to Saskatchewan signals healthy ecosystem
The skies over Saskatchewan are once again dotted with the sweeping silhouettes of bald eagles, as spring and summer draw the birds back to the province from America - an encouraging sign that local ecosystems are thriving."What drives a lot of birds to migrate back in the summer is that food is really, really ple...
Apr 19, 2025
Read More
Healthy youth
Indigenous youth conference promotes empowerment and support
Reflecting back on his younger brother's death three years ago, Dakota Favel recalled a feeling of helplessness after learning the person responsible for the murder was a 13-year-old boy.The award winning Saskatchewan singer/songwriter was among the motivational speakers during the third annual Sturgeon Lake Central Sc...
Apr 17, 2025
Read More
Crime
Two arrested after trying to shoot police during traffic stop
A man and a woman are in police custody after one of them tried to shoot an officer during a traffic stop. It happened on Tuesday morning when Battlefords RCMP first received a report of a man with a firearm on Mosquito, Grizzly Bear's Head, Lean Man First Nation. Investigation found that the man had damaged an SUV par...
Apr 17, 2025
Read More
Long weekend outlook
Cool start to Easter weekend, but warmer weather is on the way
The long weekend is entering on a chilly note. Temperatures over the next couple of days will remain below normal, and we could continue to see some light snow or rain with it. Stephen Berg of Environment and Climate Change Canada said the North Battleford, Prince Albert, and northeast areas should all be in the low-to...
Apr 17, 2025
Read More

Local Sports

Pen to paper
Ice Wolves' Silzer, Boucher commit to post-secondary programs
A pair of La Ronge Ice Wolves have committed to post-secondary programs for next season. On Tuesday, the team announced that forward Brett Boucher will head south for 2025-26, playing NCAA Division III hockey for the Albertus Magnus College Falcons in New Haven, Connecticut. A day later, on Wednesday, the Wolves announ...
Apr 17, 2025
Read More
undefeated season
Debden Roadrunners claim fourth straight National Broomball Championship
In 2022, the Debden Roadrunners showed up to the National Broomball Championships as 'just another team from Saskatchewan'. In 2023, even as defending champions, the Roadrunners still weren't getting the respect they thought they deserved. When they won for a third straight year in 2024, teams were starting to pay atte...
Apr 10, 2025
Read More
Melfort connection
Ferland says his 'ultimate goal' is leading the Riders to the Grey Cup
The deal with the University of Saskatchewan wasn't the only one the Saskatchewan Roughriders sealed this week - offensive lineman Logan Ferland was extended for the next two seasons.Ferland met with the media in Saskatoon on Tuesday and was grateful for the opportunity to sign the extension."When I initially sign...
Apr 02, 2025
Read More
CFL
Rider training camp returns to Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon next month
The Saskatchewan Roughriders' training camp is set to return to Griffiths Stadium in May, and there are no changes on the horizon after the CFL club and University of Saskatchewan inked a three-year deal to keep the camp in Saskatoon.The new agreement means the Green and White will be holding its training camps in Sask...
Apr 01, 2025
Read More
Ferland signs extension
Melfort's Logan Ferland signs two-year extension with Saskatchewan Roughriders
The CFL's West Division Most Outstanding Lineman and Melfort native Logan Ferland will be with the Green and White through 2027. The former Melfort Comet and Regina Thunder offensive lineman inked a two-year contract extension, the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced in a news release on Monday. Ferland was the glue tha...
Mar 31, 2025
Read More
League Fine
Roughriders fined for going over 2024 CFL salary cap by $40k
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were one of four CFL clubs to receive fines for exceeding the league's salary cap.The CFL said the Riders, B.C. Lions, Toronto Argonauts and Ottawa Redblacks all exceeded the league's salary cap of $5.525 million in 2024. Saskatchewan was over the cap by $40,121, and will face a fine as a r...
Mar 28, 2025
Read More

Canada

None of Canada's five cardinals likely to be next pope, Vatican experts say
MONTREAL - A Canadian cardinal was a top contender the last time a new pope was elected, but observers say that's unlikely to be the case this time around. Canada's five cardinals all have marks against them, ranging from advanced age to inexperience to allegations of sexual misconduct, according to Vatican experts. &q...
1h ago
Read More
Mourning the death of Pope Francis
Pope Francis's memory looms large for Canadians attending Easter Monday mass
Pope Francis is being remembered by Canadian Catholics as a progressive leader whose approach to the papacy helped usher in a new era of Indigenous relations and make the church more responsive to its rank and file.Catholics, many of whom had already planned to gather for mass on Easter Monday, awoke to news that the p...
1h ago
Read More
'Humility, compassion and care for others': How Canadians are remembering Pope Francis
Canadians are reacting to Pope Francis's death on Easter Monday, which came more than two months after he was hospitalized for a respiratory infection. Here's what some notable Canadians have to say. "Pope Francis was a voice of moral clarity, spiritual courage, and boundless compassion. He was in many respects th...
3h ago
Read More
Some emergency departments installing AI weapons detection amid rising violence
TORONTO - London Health Sciences Centre is the latest Canadian hospital to install a weapons detection system in its emergency department as health-care workers across the country continue to grapple with increasing violence. The southwestern Ontario health-care network started using one of the artificial intelligence-...
4h ago
Read More
Pope Francis apologized for residential schools on historic Canadian visit
On a warm July day in 2022, thousands of dignitaries, Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors travelled from across Canada to powwow grounds in central Alberta. For some, the journey took days. For others, decades. They had all come to hear Pope Francis apologize for the Catholic Church's role in residentia...
8h ago
Read More
Canadians remember Pope Francis for historic apology for residential schools
TORONTO - Pope Francis will be remembered by Canadian Catholics as a progressive leader whose approach to the papacy helped usher in a new era of Indigenous relations and make the church more responsive to its rank and file. The Vatican says the pontiff died Monday at age 88. Francis was the global leader of Canada's m...
8h ago
Read More

World

Gunman who killed 23 in a racist attack at a Walmart in El Paso pleads guilty to capital murder
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at a Walmart in El Paso - one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history - pleaded guilty Monday to capital murder in a state district court. Patrick Crusius was automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole in the massacre near...
1h ago
Read More
'The runners are coming': Boston Marathon helps celebrate 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War
BOSTON (AP) - Paul Revere rode down Boylston Street to the Boston Marathon finish line - or almost there, as it turned out - proclaiming "the runners are coming" on Monday morning as the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon helped celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War. Reenac...
2h ago
Read More
Canonization of the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, postponed after the death of Pope Francis
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The canonization of the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, has been postponed due to the death Monday of Pope Francis, the Vatican announced. Acutis was to be canonized next Sunday, on the occasion of the Jubilee celebration for adolescents. The canonization Mass was to be held at St. Peter's Squ...
6h ago
Read More
Pope Francis reached out to migrants and the LGBTQ+ community, but also drew unusual opposition
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Some takeaways about the life of Pope Francis, who died Monday: Background Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born Dec. 17, 1936, to Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the eldest of five children. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1969 and led the religious order in Argentina during the country'...
6h ago
Read More
'Who am I to judge?' Pope Francis had an informal, lighthearted speaking style
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis, who died on Monday, had an informal, lighthearted speaking style, and sometimes he even created words in a combination of his native Spanish with the Italian that he spoke as pope. Some of his memorable quotes: A simple, initial greeting "Brothers and sisters, good evening!" ...
7h ago
Read More
Francis changed church policy on the death penalty and nuclear weapons but upheld it on abortion
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church's teaching in areas such as the death penalty and nuclear weapons, upheld it in others such as abortion, and made inroads with Muslims and believers who long felt marginalized. Where Francis, who died on Monday, stood on key issues: Abortion Francis upheld ch...
7h ago
Read More