RCMP say two 19-year-old men are facing multiple weapons charges after they were discovered crossing into and out of the United States illegally south of Val Marie, Sask., allegedly smuggling guns.

According to an RCMP news release, the border enforcement team was notified by RCMP border patrol that a person had crossed illegally into Saskatchewan from Montana in a remote area south of the community of Val Marie. The person then re-entered the U.S. illegally in the same location soon after and drove away in a truck that was then stopped by United States Border Patrol (USBP) resulting in the arrest of the two suspects, a 19-year-old man from Saskatoon and another 19-year-old man from Calgary, Alta.

While the arrest was ongoing RCMP say investigators then searched the rural area where the two men allegedly crossed back and forth from the U.S. and found a box containing a pistol that is illegal in Canada, the release said.

According to the release, further investigation determined the two men initially entered the U.S legally at a designated border crossing in early January. The men are not facing charges in the U.S at this time and were returned to Canada on Jan. 7, RCMP said.

Further investigation then led to a residence on 9th Avenue North in Saskatoon that police searched on Jan. 8. During the search, RCMP said officers found multiple quantities of chemicals/compounds that required the assistance of an explosives disposal unit.

According to the release, the materials seized were sent to Health Canada for further analysis. Officers also found four guns, two that are illegal in Canada, and around 500 rounds of ammunition while searching the residence.

As a result, 19-year-old Arya Payendefar from Saskatoon and 19-year-old Nathaniel Rose from Calgary were both charged with one count of smuggle into Canada, clandestinely, a firearm, the importation of which is prohibited, controlled or regulated, one count of unauthorized import of a firearm into Canada, one count of possession of prohibited devices without a licence and one count of possession of a firearm without a licence.

RCMP said with the investigation still underway more charges may be laid in the coming weeks. Both suspects will appear in Swift Current Provincial Court next on Feb. 12.

“This is an excellent example of how collaboration and pro-active action can quickly develop into a significant investigation involving many agencies and span across borders and communities. It highlights how vital policing relationships are in disrupting criminal activity and keeping the public safe on both sides of the Canadian-U.S. border,” superintendent Andrew Farquhar with RCMP Federal Policing, Northwest Region in Saskatchewan said in the release.

Val Marie, Sask. is about 350 kilometres southwest of Regina.

The woman charged in the death of a three-month-old boy made her first appearance at Regina provincial court Monday.

She faces manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death charges in relation to a fatal incident in August of 2023.

According to Regina Police Service, Officers were called to a home in the 1900 block of Halifax Street for a report of a child not breathing just before 6 a.m. on Aug. 16, 2023.

When officers arrived, they found a three-month old boy unresponsive on the floor. Officers administered first aid until EMS arrived.

However, the baby was pronounced dead at the scene soon after.

Following a lengthy investigation, the accused was arrested Saturday.

The woman is not being named to protect the identity of the baby.

In court Monday, the Crown requested the woman not be released and was kept in remand.

The accused will have a bail hearing Thursday to determine whether she will be released or not.

Saskatchewan RCMP are reporting a major seizure of illegal cannabis made during proactive patrols in the province’s southwest.

On Jan. 9, members of the RCMP’s Roving Traffic Unit were making proactive patrols near Swift Current on Highway 1.

At around 11 a.m., officers conducted a traffic stop of a large cargo van. During the investigation, officers found and seized approximately 1,551 pounds of illicit cannabis and a sum of cash from inside the van.

An adult man, who told police he was travelling from B.C. to Quebec, was arrested at the scene.

The accused, from Port Moody, B.C. was charged with possession of property obtained by crime less than $5,000 and possession for the purpose of distributing.

He is scheduled to appear in Swift Current provincial court on Apr. 16.

RCMP noted that Saskatchewan Highway Patrol and the Provincial Protective Services Branch assisted in the investigation.

A teen girl who allegedly set her classmate on fire is set to make a plea at Saskatoon Provincial Court next month.

On Sept. 5, a 15-year-old girl was doused in a flammable substance and lit on fire at Evan Hardy Collegiate.

A 14-year-old girl has been charged with attempted murder, arson and aggravated assault.

Shes also been charged with unlawfully causing bodily harm, related to a teacher who was injured while attempting to put out the flames.

The girl, whose name cannot be published under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is scheduled to make a plea on Feb. 13 — about five months since the incident occurred.

Crown Prosecutor Ainsley Furlonger said she wants to see things progress.

I did inquire with the case managers office, just to get a sense of time to trial, Furlonger told the court.

She said the earliest trial dates available, right now, would be in July.

Furlongers comments come as court delays have been in the spotlight in Saskatoon.

Last month, a judge stayed Taylor Kennedys charge of impaired driving causing death because Kennedy was not tried within a reasonable time.

Weeks later, in the first-degree murder trial for Summer-Sky Henry and Cheyann Peeteetuce, the judge sharply criticized the time it took to get to trial.

We are not ending up like the recent Kennedy trial, Danyliuk said, on Jan. 6.

The teen appeared virtually, from jail, as the lawyers set new court dates. The student has new counsel, after her original lawyer moved from Saskatoon.

Fola Adelugba, from Legal Aid, will now be representing the girl.  

The Regina Ski Club is ensuring everyone has a chance to hit the slopes this winter.

We offer various services that include sit skis or blind skiing assist guiding, cognitive items, said guide Brent Waldo. It’s for people that dont normally get a chance to get outside and enjoy an activity like this.

The Alpine Adapted Ski program has more than a dozen athletes with various disabilities. From spinal injuries to visual impairments or even amputations.

Skylar Derin lives with cerebral palsy.

In her daily life, she requires a wheelchair to be mobile. But because of a sit ski, she has been skiing for 13 years.

It gives me so much freedom instead of just sitting in a wheelchair all the time, Derin told CTV News.

With the assistance of her guide, Joel Makan, she’s able to use a chairlift and slide down the hill.

She has a handlebar to control the sit ski,” Makan explained. “If she turns it left, the ski goes left. The same to go right.

And if she wants to break, she pulls back on the bar, he added.

Emilie Lemoine is blind.

Through her guide, Daniel Petit, she says she’s been skiing for a decade.

She can’t see anything, but she is able to feel the trail much better than I do, Petit said.

Lemoine relies heavily on Petit while on the hill as he guides her down the slope.

I have a microphone so I can talk to her, Petit said. I have to verbalize everything I see that she cannot. Whether that is somebody following or trees.

Petit, Makan and Waldo all say being a guide is an opportunity to give back to a sport they enjoy dearly.

Forty years ago, I started to ski. Somebody had to show it to me, Petit said. It’s nice being able to give my time and give back.

It gives people the ability to be independent, Makan said. And [for them] to get outside and slide on the snow and make relationships with different people they normally wouldn’t on a regular basis.

It’s a chance for us to be with families, Waldo added. But it’s given me a new lease on skiing. [Guiding] allowed me to come back into skiing in a big time and in a big way.

The Alpine Adaptive Ski program trains every second Saturday at Mission Ridge Wintersport Park.

The club says they are always welcoming new athletes and guides for anyone who wants to try.

In March, they hold their year-end races as a way to fundraise for new equipment.

Three tow-truck related shootings  in Toronto last week have pushed police to launch a new task force aimed at addressing what investigators are calling a “troubling” increase in gun violence within the industry.

Police say that 70 per cent of all reported shootings so far in 2025 are linked to a “small group of bad actors” towing in the city.

Police have attributed the violence, which also includes incidents of arson, to an ongoing turf war in the sector.

Last week, at least three tow truck-related shootings were reported in Scarborough, sending a total of four people to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police haven’t yet determined if the incidents are connected, and no suspect descriptions have been released.

On Monday, Toronto police announced the launch of “Project Dodger” to address the rash of violence.

“Project Dodgers primary goal is to improve safety for tow truck operators and the public. To achieve this, both plainclothes and uniformed officers will be deployed in critical areas across the city to deter violence and ensure compliance with industry regulations,” police said in a news release.

Territorial disputes within Toronto’s tow truck industry have been a problem for the city for years now and in 2024 police launched a separate initiative dubbed “Project Beacon ” in an attempt to reign in violence.

According to police, there were 63 shootings last year tied to the tow truck industry, totalling nearly 15 per cent of all firearm discharges . There were 184 charges laid as a result of “Project Beacon. Six individuals were identified as suspects in connection with a homicide and 13 separate shootings.

In announcing those arrests, police said at least three of the suspects were under the age of 18 and that youths were being specifically targeted to commit tow truck-related crimes in the city, noting that the consequences faced by them would be “significantly different” if they were adults.

At a provincial level , the Ontario government passed legislation in 2021 to put towing under its watch after groups raised concerns about patchwork regulation and the infiltration of organized crime into parts of the industry.

As of last summer, tow truck drivers in Ontario need a provincial certificate to operate.

It’s unclear where exactly in the city the officers involved in “Project Dodger” will be deployed to.

At least 100 men who were mining illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa have died after being trapped deep underground for months while police tried to get them out, a group representing the miners said Monday.

Sabelo Mnguni, a spokesman for the Mining Affected Communities United in Action Group told The Associated Press that a cellphone sent to the surface with some rescued miners on Friday had two videos on it showing dozens of bodies underground wrapped in plastic.

Mnguni said a minimum of 100 men had died in the mine in North West province where police first launched an operation in November to force the miners out. They were suspected to have died of starvation or dehydration, Mnguni said. He said 18 bodies have been brought out since Friday.

Nine of those bodies were recovered in a community-led operation on Friday, he said. Another nine were brought out in an official operation by authorities on Monday, when 26 survivors were also rescued, Mnguni said.

Police spokesperson Brig. Sebata Mokgwabone said they were still verifying information on how many bodies had been recovered and how many survivors brought out after starting a new rescue operation on Monday.

Illegal mining is common in parts of South Africa where companies close down mines that are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to illegally enter them to try and find leftover deposits.

The videos sent up to the surface on the cellphone and released publicly by Mngunis group show dozens of what appear to be dead bodies wrapped in plastic lying in darkened tunnels underground. Emaciated men were seen sitting near them.

The mine has been the scene of a standoff between police and miners since authorities first attempted to force the miners out and seal the mine two months ago. Police said the miners were refusing to come out for fear of arrest, but Mnguni said they had been left trapped underground after police removed the ropes they used to climb out of the mine.

Police also cut off the miners food supplies in an attempt to force them out. Large groups of illegal miners often go underground for months to maximize their profits, taking food, water, generators and other equipment with them, but also relying on others in their group at the surface to send down more supplies.

Police have said they are uncertain exactly how many illegal miners remain underground at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine near the northern town of Stilfontein, but its likely to be hundreds.

Mnguni said that at least 500 miners remained underground in different places in the mine, which is one of the deepest in South Africa at 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep and has multiple shafts, many levels and is a maze of tunnels, he said. He said a preliminary autopsy report on a body that was previously brought out of the mine showed the man had died of starvation.

🎉 Update Completed Successfully! 🎉

We are thrilled to announce that our scheduled network update has been completed without any issues! 🚀 All our broadcast stations, streams, and websites are now fully operational and running better than ever.

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The EVO Radio & EVO Media Corporation Team

We’re committed to providing our audience with a listening experience like no other! To maintain this standard, we’re excited to announce a major update to our Broadcast Network.

What’s New?

This update will bring:

• A Better Audio Player: Improved performance on our websites to resolve issues with streams cutting off.
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• Upgraded Security & Quality: Improved protection and overall broadcast quality.

Downtime Details:

• Expected Downtime: 1 hour (we’ve allocated up to 4 hours for any unforeseen circumstances).
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    • 101 The Rockhound – https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/
    • Classic 88.7 The Goat – https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/
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    • DJ Spinderella – https://djspinderella.evomcorp.com/
  • Third-Party Apps: Any apps relying on our live broadcasts will also be affected.

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During the downtime, our team will work diligently to complete the update and monitor the network to ensure peak performance. We’re committed to enhancing your listening experience to the highest standards.

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We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding as we work to improve our services.

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