By Roger White

2017 Year In Review – August

Dec 28, 2017 | 1:00 PM

As we prepare to say goodbye to 2017, battlefordsNOW is taking a look at some of the top news items that made headlines and newsmakers over the past 12 months.

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Aug. 9, 2017 marked the one year anniversary of Colten Boushie’s shooting death at a farm near Biggar. The case is still winding its way through the courts and a trial date was set for early 2018. Gerald Stanley is facing a second-degree murder charge. The trial will run from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15, 2018 at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Battleford. 

The Battlefords North Stars announced a new coaching staff for 2017-18. Brandon Heck was introduced as next head coach and GM, while former North Star player and Battleford native Boyd Wakelin will serve as the next assistant coach. Heck spent the last four years coaching the bantam AAA Camrose Red Wings. The Stars were without a head coach and General Manager since Nate Bedford’s resignation after one year at the helm. Bedford guided the team to the 2017 Canalta Cup Championship. 

On Aug. 10, Brad Wall shook the provincial political scene after announcing he was stepping down as premier of the province after 10 years at the helm. Citing it was time for the province to have fresh blood and new ideas, Wall announced he would leave office in January 2018. The Sask. Party soon after started a leadership campaign for Wall’s replacement. 

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Premier Wall was not the only high profile politician to call it quits in August. Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Gerry Ritz announced he would step down after a political career that spanned three decades. Ritz, 66, said he contemplated his future for several months leading up to the decision. Ritz was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 when he was a member of the Reform Party. In all, he won seven different elections and from 2007-2015 and was Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Foods in former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.

Roughly 200 students learned last August they would have to find a new way to get to school in September. The Living Sky School Division increased the distance a student has to walk to school in order to be eligible for school bus services from 750 metres to one kilometre. The distance was based on a straight line from the student’s home to the school. Trevor Horton, transportation manager at Living Sky said the change would affect 120 students in North Battleford and 80 in the Town of Battleford.

roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @RJWtheReporter