Battlefords News-Optimist

Welcome to my annual Box Office Year in Review column, where I look at the winners and losers of the year 2011.

A fire that broke out Saturday on Sweetgrass First Nation is under investigation by the RCMP. According to police, the fire started shortly before 4:30 p.m., with the residence already engulfed in flames as police arrived.

History and Commentary from a Prairie Perspective

The recent cold snap notwithstanding, this winter has been an unseasonably warm one for the Battlefords, with the community losing much of its snow over the last few weeks of above-zero weather.

Two people have been charged with drug offences following a search on a residence at Little Pine First Nation. North Battleford Provincial GIS unit and Cut Knife RCMP executed a search warrant Jan. 16 at a residence on the reserve.

The Battlefords Midget Stars played three games in four nights and earned a win against perhaps the most unlikely of the three opponents.

North Battleford council has given approval to a request by the Civil Air and Rescue Services Association for in-kind space at Cameron McIntosh Airport.

Two of the four youths accused in a string of vandalism and break and enters in Battleford received sentences of probation last week in North Battleford.

The Battlefords Indian and Métis Friendship Centre got some help in their efforts to keep their homeless shelter open this winter. The Parish of Notre Dame Catholic Women's League presented a cheque for $500 to the Friendship Centre Friday.

A new date has been chosen for the preliminary hearing for a former home care worker accused of assaulting a 20-year-old victim at a group home for those suffering severe intellectual and physical disabilities.