It was a shocking grade for some of Saskatchewan's doctors, as the Conference Board of Canada released a new report on health, health care and wellness in each province Thursday.  Saskatchewan ranked in the lowest at a D, along with Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

"In general, I'm surprised D is our overall health care performance grade," said Dr. Clare Kozroski, President of the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA). 

In many ways the history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) goes hand in hand with the history of settlement on the prairies. On Thursday the mounties celebrated a milestone, marking 140 years since the creation of the Northwest Mounted Police (NWMP).

The NWMP force was officially formed by the Canadian government on May 23, 1873 for the purpose of policing the massive territory including Alberta and Saskatchewan. In fact the Mounties came west before most European settlers did. The force became known as the RCMP in 1920 after merging with the Dominion Police.

Some home owners are paying the price for an excessively snowy winter, seeing their monthly power bill rise dramatically.

A SaskPower customer recently passed along a bill that jumped from $11 dollars the previous month to $200.

Tyler Hopson with SaskPower says that kind of fluctuation is extremely rare. However variations can happen for a number of reasons, including if someone hasn't cleared a path to their meter and SaskPower workers can't get through to check the numbers.

What can be called a significant change to the blood donor guidelines for Canadian Blood Services (CBS) may not make much of a difference in the end.

On Wednesday, Health Canada approved a change reducing the deferral period for men who have sex with men (MSM) from indefinite to five years.  That means a man who has had sex with another man can donate blood if the encounter hasn't been in the last five years.

It’s been 17 years since Larry and Evelyn L’Heureux bought the Flying Goose Inn in LaFleche, and on Tuesday evening it burned down in just a few hours.

At around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, someone in the building noticed the smell of smoke wafting in the restaurant. After inspecting the kitchen, smoke was discovered on the smoker’s deck outside. The waitress on staff called 911, but it didn’t take long for the building to go up in flames.

A new survey shows that paramedics are the most trusted healthcare profession in the province.

"We did a survey of 800 residents of Saskatchewan," said Steven Skoworodko, a member of the board of directors for Saskatchewan Emergency Medical Association.

"We wanted to examine how trusted paramedics are and also what the acceptance would be of paramedics going into new and changing roles in health care in the province."

The results were very supportive.

"Close to 80 per cent of respondents trusted paramedics," said Skoworodko.

The federal New Democrats have their aim at the Senate, as they announced they will campaign in the next election to abolish the Upper House. However, constitutional expert and former Saskatchewan NDP premier Roy Romanow said although it’s possible to do so, it’s not likely to happen.

Saskatchewan Red Cross taking donations to aid Oklahoma tornado victims

The Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchewan is helping those in the Mid-West United States affected by devastating tornadoes. Cash donations are currently being accepted by phone, on the website, or by visiting an office.

 “There probably likely will be a high degree of interest in this response,” said provincial Red Cross development manager Richard Kies on the generosity of those in the province.

Yorkton police are looking for an unknown male suspect after a 16-year-old girl was assaulted this weekend.

On Saturday night a 16-year-old female was picked up by a stranger on Highway 52 outside of Yorkton. He allegedly propositioned her to perform sexual acts and when she refused he assaulted her and abandoned her on the side of the road two kilometres west of Willowbrook on the same highway.
 

It’s still difficult to predict exactly when and where a tornado will strike in Saskatchewan.

Dan Kulak with Environment Canada said there’s a relatively small window in terms of letting the public know.

“A tornado watch is usually about a two hour heads up and tornado warnings, very rarely will you get more than 10 minutes of warning,” he said.