I always have kind of a mixed reaction to the Christmas and New Year鈥檚 period.
On the one hand, I welcome the chance to finally get some days off to decompress. On the other hand, it is also a colossally boring time.
That鈥檚 because everyone else in the news business has the same idea. They鈥檙e all taking time off, mainly because the people on their beats are also at home, taking time off and not making any news.聽
So on all my holiday days off, I would have to put up with these 鈥測ear-in-review鈥� reruns on the radio and 鈥測ear-in-review鈥� stories in the newspapers. And they are always so boring.
A good example: Canadian news editors announcing their selection of their Top News Story of the Year. For 2015, they picked the Syrian refugee crisis as Canada鈥檚 top story.
That鈥檚 fine, but it seemed like the media circus that was the Mike Duffy trial was an even bigger deal when it happened, same for the Canadian election.
The refugee crisis struck me more as 鈥淕ermany鈥檚 top news story of the year鈥� than Canada鈥檚, because Germany had a much harder time dealing with the impacts at its borders. Then again, maybe this really was Canada鈥檚 top story because it was the issue that helped Justin Trudeau topple Stephen Harper to become prime minister.
Anyway, it goes to show you how subjective it is to pick a news story of the year.
At the News-Optimist we did an online poll to get opinions about what residents thought was our top News Story of the Year in the Battlefords.
We narrowed it down to six different possibilities for what the top story would be. Of course, stuff got left out. I鈥檓 sure there were people who thought the federal election should have been the top story.
Maybe it should have been. The problem was that it was a sleepy race in Battlefords-Lloydminster. Gerry Ritz won with 62 per cent of the vote.聽聽
Also, I鈥檓 sure the 鈥淰ictims of Crime鈥� will complain and say the usual mayhem in North Battleford is the top news story. You can鈥檛 please everyone.
In any event, we took six stories in the Battlefords from 2015 and put up a poll on our website about what people thought the top story was in our area.
The results surprised me. It turns out there really isn鈥檛 a consensus out there as to what the top story was.
In the early going, the leading vote-getter was the 鈥渂uildings lost in downtown NB鈥� because of the fire at the Bargain Shop and the demolition of the infamous 11th Ave.-102nd Street 鈥淧igeon Hotel鈥�.
Certainly the Bargain Shop fire was a spectacular one that caused a lot of disruption, coming right before the International Street Performer Festival was to set up on that street. 聽聽
But as the week went on the story about 鈥渟od turning at Saskatchewan Hospital鈥� moved in front. As I thought about it, this really was among the biggest stories in 2015 in this area.
Certainly, it was a day long awaited by everyone in the local mental health care community. Not only was there the sod-turning announcement in which seven provincial cabinet ministers showed up, but there was also the confirmation this year that it would be a P3. A big political debate raged on about that aspect of the project, as well.
These were certainly major stories. But if you were to have asked me where my vote would have gone for top news story in the Battlefords in 2015, I would have chosen 鈥淏attlefords aids in efforts during Northern wildfires.鈥�
Here is why. The Northern wildfire situation was the biggest and most frightening story in all of Saskatchewan in 2015. It could have ended up been a major disaster for the province and could have completely destroyed the town of La Ronge, but because of efforts of lots of people, including the military, the communities were saved.
On a personal level, this story took up a large chunk of my time on the job. Day after day, I was on the conference calls the province had set up to update media on the ever-changing wildfire situation.
This was certainly a more important story for communities closest to the crisis, such as La Ronge and Prince Albert. But it became a Battlefords story for a couple of reasons.
First, fire departments in North Battleford and Battleford teamed up to send five personnel each, as well as equipment, to La Ronge where they took part directly in combating the fires that were bearing down on that northern community. 聽聽聽
The other reason was that North Battleford was an evacuation centre during the crisis. Hotels in the Battlefords took in between 300 and 400 evacuees from the La Loche and Turner Lake area, whose residents were evacuated due to the thick smoke that impacted those areas. Emergency Social Services and the Canadian Red Cross were involved in those efforts.
The City鈥檚 Leisure Services department also co-ordinated activities to keep the evacuees occupied while they were here.
I had an opportunity to cover one event put on at the field house 鈥� a family outing in which Cameco brought in the Disney princesses to provide some cheer for the kids. For me it was memorable because I had been on the conference call earlier that day in which it was announced that several evacuation orders had been lifted. The folks staying in the Battlefords were about to go home. 聽
The Battlefords ended up being part of the biggest story for the whole province in 2015, the wildfire response. This was my pick for top story of 2015, ahead of Saskatchewan Hospital and the downtown fire.
But then again, if you were working or involved with Saskatchewan Hospital this year, or if you worked downtown near where the Bargain Shop stood, you may have a different perspective. As I said, it鈥檚 all subjective.
