Thomson departure

‘blow’to NDP

 Saskatchewan Finance Minister Andrew Thomson is congratulated by Premier Lorne Calvert after delivering his budget to a crowded legislature in March 2007.

REGINA - Premier Lorne Calvert said Friday his NDP government will likely get a makeover to prepare for a provincial election after the legislative session ends next week.

  But with the decision of several high-profile members of the government not to seek re-election -- notably Finance Minister Andrew Thomson -- the NDP faces a tough battle as it trails far behind the Opposition Saskatchewan Party in polls, say observers and opponents of the NDP.

  Accompanied by Calvert at a press conference at the legislature, Thomson officially became the latest government member to bow out of the next election, with the potential of more to come in the coming days.

  The Saskatchewan Party called Thomson's loss "a huge blow" for the NDP. Calvert acknowledged there would be "a real impact" with the departure of the Regina South MLA, who at 39 is one of the government's youngest and most noted cabinet ministers.

  But Calvert said he was confident in new candidates coming forward and the political veterans staying on.

  "This is going to be a tough election, there's no doubt about that," Calvert told reporters.

  "We need to effectively seek re-election, effectively do the political work, but we're the government and we need to continue to provide good government to the people of Saskatchewan up and to and after the election. So I need to get the balance in the cabinet room, in the caucus, both to develop a platform and do the political work and to maintain good quality government."

  Other NDP MLAs who have announced they will not run again are Joanne Crofford and Doreen Hamilton in Regina, Prince Albert's Myron Kowalsky and Saskatoon's Peter Prebble and Eric Cline, who remains in cabinet as industry and resources minister.

Woman accused of trying to kill children

 ROSTHERN - A 28-year-old woman from near Rosthern is accused of trying to kill her children.

  The woman appeared in Rosthern provincial court on Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and administering a noxious substance, says RCMP Sgt. Brad Kaeding. "Nobody called us and said, 'I think this woman is trying to kill these children.' It wasn't as direct as that, but we did get information back in the middle of February that led us to this investigation," he said.

  The woman will not be named to protect the identity of her children. The charges stem from events believed to have taken place between Feb. 12 and 18 at the woman's home outside of Rosthern. The woman's three daughters, aged seven, two and 10 months, are the alleged victims.

  "Because the circumstances were the same for all three charges and all three victims, they would use a single charge to encompass all the circumstances that lead up to that charge. The evidence will be presented that three children were involved for each of the charges," said Kaeding.

  The young girls, apprehended by the Department of Community Resources soon after the police investigation began, remain in government care. They are in good physical condition, according to police.

  After Wednesday's court appearance, the woman was released from custody with the condition that she have no unsupervised contact with her children. She returns to Rosthern court on May 23.

Suspect in liquor store robbery arrested

SASKATOON - A private liquor store located on the 1700 block of Idylwyld Drive was robbed early Friday morning.

  At approximaely 12:35 a.m., four individuals entered the store, sprayed a clerk with a substance believed to be bear spray, and fled the scene with several bottles of liquor. With the help of a police dog, police officers later apprehended a 20-year-old male.

  The culprit faces charges of robbery with violence as well as numerous breach of conditions charges. Some of the stolen liquor was recovered, as well as a stolen vehicle believed to have been used in the robbery.

Police crack down on graffiti

SASKATOON – The Saskatoon Police Anti Graffiti Unit is cracking down on Graffiti in Saskatoon.

  Headed by Constable Lee Jones, the Anti Graffiti Unit(AGU) is only the second of its kind in Canada and was established in 2006.  The first was Vancouver Police Department’s in 2003.

  Earlier this month a 20 year old Saskatoon man was arrested after he was caught in the act of placing graffiti onto Cardinal Leger School.  He was charged with one count of Mischief under $5000 and one count of Breach of Probation.

  Police had already arrested two men on Mischief offenses relating to property damange by graffiti.  The two men were arrested based on evidence obtained during the execution of a Search Warrant at a residence in the 3300 block of 14th Street East on Friday April 27.

  Graffiti is a seemingly minor crime that can have serious repercussions for a crime, says Cst. Jones.  “Graffiti is more than just words or symbols sprayed. Graffiti is an act of vandalism that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove or cover every year. Every dollar spent on graffiti removal is a dollar that could be used on other badly needed programs.”

  In addition to the financial cost, graffiti can lead to other crimes in the area.  The Broken Window Theory espouses that if a broken window in a building is left un-repaired the other windows will also be broken.  The link with graffiti is clear.

  “If not immediately removed, graffiti sends out a message that "nobody cares" about the area. It also causes the area to look unsafe and makes people concerned about their personal safety. This creates an open invitation for more littering, loitering and other graffiti. Unfortunately, it may also lead to an increase in other crimes and acts of violence,” says Cst Jones.

Woman appears in court, charged in connection with cab stabbing

SASKATOON - A 24-year-old woman remains in custody after appearing in court Thursday charged in connection with the stabbing of a Saskatoon cab driver earlier this week.

  Keshaye Wutunee is facing a number of charges including aggravated assault and breach of an undertaking, in the stabbing of 63-year-old Radio cab driver Edward Ens.

  Ens suffered injuries to his upper body from the stabbing, which occurred early Tuesday morning. Two female passengers he was carrying fled at Avenue O and 21st Street, and Ens then drove himself to the hospital.

  Ens' wife said her husband is recovering at home and doing fine.

  Wutunee, who was arrested on outstanding warrants for theft under $5,000 and possession of stolen property, has a bail hearing set for May 23.

  Police continue to look for a female passenger in connection with the stabbing.

  The Tuesday incident was not the first assault on a cab driver this year. In mid-January, a 38-year-old cab driver was stabbed, and later that month a cab driver was robbed by a women with a knife. Both drivers suffered injuries from the incidents, which occurred on the west side of Saskatoon.

Pope assails age ’full of hedonism’ as he canonizes first Brazilian saint

Pope Benedict XVI looks at priests praying during a canonization mass for Brazilian Franciscan monk Antonio Galvao in Sao Paulo, Friday.

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Pope Benedict castigated popular culture for promoting sexual immorality Friday as he canonized Brazil’s first native-born saint before hundreds of thousands of faithful and a sea of flags in the world’s largest Roman Catholic country.
  Holding up Friar Antonio de Sant’Anna Galvao as a model of rectitude and humility "in an age so full of hedonism," Benedict said the world needs clear souls and pure minds, adding: "It is necessary to oppose those elements of the media that ridicule the sanctity of marriage and virginity before marriage."
  Benedict didn’t elaborate, but his message for Brazilian Catholics reflected his uneasiness with the impact of popular culture on young people.
  Brazilian news media said the crowd reached about one million, as church officials had hoped for, although there were large empty spaces on the airfield in South America’s largest city.

  Benedict pronounced the sainthood of Galvao, a Franciscan monk credited by the church with 5,000 miracle cures, while he sat on a throne of Brazilian hardwood, surrounded by Latin American bishops and choirs of hundreds.

  Galvao is the first native-born saint from Brazil, home to more than 120 million of the planet’s 1.1 billion Catholics, and the 10th to be canonized by Benedict.
  His canonization continues a push for saints in Latin America and elsewhere in the developing world that began under John Paul II, who sought role models as part of the church’s worldwide reach. John Paul canonized more saints than all of his predecessors combined.
  Galvao, who died in 1822, began a tradition among Brazilian Catholics of handing out tiny rice-paper pills, inscribed with a Latin prayer, to people seeking cures for everything from cancer to kidney stones.
  Benedict’s trip has so far focused on reinforcing church doctrine on abortion, sexual morality and euthanasia. At a rally Thursday night, he instructed young Catholics to avoid premarital sex, remain faithful once they are married and to promote life from "its beginning to natural end."

  The latter was - at least in part - a reference to abortion, the issue that has dominated Benedict’s first papal visit to Latin America.

The Pope also warned against drug use, violence, corruption and the temptations of wealth and power.