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Each year Yorkton This Week looks back on what have been the top-10 stories relating to our community in the past year.
The countdown begins here are we take a look at stories 10-to-six.

10 - Co-op Mergers
In the Dec. 5 edition it was reported changes were coming to two area Co-ops. Yorkton Co-op and Churchbridge Co-op are amalgamating into one. The combined Co-op will have 16 locations in 10 communities.
Bruce Thurston, general manager of Yorkton Co-op, said that the amalgamation is the only way for Co-ops in Saskatchewan to expand.
鈥淓verything is getting bigger, larger and tougher to compete against. Both boards felt that an amalgamation between the two retails would be a positive thing, making a larger retail, a bigger trading area, more efficiency and things like that.鈥�
All of the locations will stay open, and the staff will stay the same, said Thurston. The amalgamation would make a difference in efficiency of operation, as well as the buying power of a larger combined operation, as well as a healthier balance sheet.

9 - Bulls, bulls, and more bulls
In August the Yorkton Exhibition Association announced it was changing things up in terms of its main entertainment at the annual Grain Millers Harvest Showdown, out was the long-time rodeo, and in was a Professional Bull Roding (PBR) Canada event.
The Pro Division of PBR Canada regularly features Canada鈥檚 best bull riders along with top international athletes, squaring off against the rankest bucking bulls from the nation.
Jason Davidson, Director of Operations for PBR Canada, and event producer for the upcoming Yorkton rodeo said the event will bring PBR to a new area.
鈥淲e鈥檝e kind of leap frogged from Saskatoon to Winnipeg the last 12-15 years,鈥� he said in an Aug.15 YTW article. 鈥淭his is something we鈥檝e put together in the last eight months 鈥� We鈥檝e been pretty adamant this is what the city of Yorkton needed.鈥�
And Davidson鈥檚 word proved prophetic as the PBR event played to sold out crowds in November.
It has already been announced the PBR will be back in 2019 with tickets on sale and selling well.

8 鈥� Drags fold
It was in July when it was reported that the annual Kambuster Drag Races would be cancelled.
Frank Pohozoff had walked across the drag racing taxiway at the Yorkton Airport聽 earlier in the spring when he noticed something was wrong. As his team drove their cars and forklifts over the track, he noticed splits and cracks in the concrete. He described the taxiway as so damaged that cars would 鈥渇loat over it like an iceberg.鈥�
Pohozoff, Senior Executive with Kambusters, worked with his team to host the annual 鈥淭est and Tune鈥� drag race event at the Yorkton Municipal Airport in May. It was meant to be a preview of the 15th annual Prairie Thunder Drag Race Challenge, which is held in August every year. But due to shaky groundwork, the tune-up event might be the last taste of drag racing in Yorkton for a long time.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to step back,鈥� Pohozoff said. 鈥淲e decided to call it now instead of hoping [for a change].
鈥淚 hated saying it.鈥�
For over a decade, the Kambusters Drag Racing Association had hosted rubber-melting races at the Yorkton Airport. Hundreds of racers and fans have traveled across Saskatchewan to participate in and witness the August event.
The event has been put on a permanent hiatus.

7 鈥� Seats, seats and more seats
The Anne Portnuff Theatre, and the Yorkton Regional High School itself, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017. In those 50 years, countless performers and students have graced the stage. Countless people have sat in the seats to watch them, and now those seats are showing the results of 50 years of continuous use.
So a campaign was launched to raise funds to replace the seats.
The budget for the new seating is $300,000, and funding rolled in from various sources including in June 2017, the Revitalization Project received $100,000 through the Co-op Community Spaces initiative.
The funding campaign was successful and the seats were installed this past fall, and officially 鈥榦pened鈥� at a ceremony at the Anne Portnuff Theatre Dec. 17.

6 鈥� A decision is protested
The Colten Boushie verdict in North Battleford showed division within the province between First Nations and non-First Nations people, and protests began, highlighting the division between people in the community.
The protests included a Peace Walk hosted by the Yorkton Tribal Council in March, aiming to heal the wounds in the city caused by the verdict.
People walked down Broadway holding signs saying things like 鈥淧eace,鈥� 鈥淩espect,鈥� and 鈥淗ope.鈥�
Isabel O鈥橲oup, Tribal Chief for the Yorkton Tribal Council, explained that the goal of the walk was to bring people together, rebuild community and highlight the need for equality, especially within the justice system.
鈥淲e want some awareness. Let鈥檚 all work together. In the end ... We all live in the same country, we all want to be treated just fair and equal, that鈥檚 all. We don鈥檛 want to do it in a destructive, violent way. We want us all to get along,鈥� she said.

Next week in the first issue of Yorkton This Week of 2019, the top-five stories will be unveiled