STACKHOUSE SOAPBOX (Yorkton This Week Feb 15)

Yorkton was in the spotlight on the CTV news program W5 on Saturday night as Lloyd Robertson came to our city to profile the Kim Walker murder case.  The whole thing is unbelievably sad.  To me, if James Hayward was 'the biggest drug dealer in Yorkton', then he shouldn't have been on the street.  That's mistake number one.  It's amazing to me how a guy can have three criminal charges on file and still live with the rest of the general public.  How many chances do you need?  The second mistake was that Hayward underestimated how badly Kim wanted to make sure his daughter didn't continue to die before his eyes.  The third mistake is that the Walkers maybe should've given police a little more time after Jadah came out of the Pine Unit to make a case against Hayward.  Investigations are not built on the back of a napkin in record time, yet Yorkton City RCMP were putting something together pretty darn quick.  I knew Cathy Shepherd from my time working in radio and, in my opinion, you won't find a more caring person.  I believed every word she said during the one hour special.  Further to that, it wouldn't have surprised me if the real motive behind searching the Hayward house in relation to a break and enter was actually a way to circumvent our ridiculously crazy politically correct laws (that protect the perpetrators over the victims) to, later, get a warrant to search the house for drugs.  But, that is only my speculation.  In the end, the system failed the Haywards in that James is gone and didn't get put into prison to be rehabilitated.  It failed the Walkers because now Kim is in jail for taking the law into his own hands.  It failed the Yorkton City RCMP because their hands were, legally, tied and they become the easy target to point fingers at.  Sad, sad, sad.

Prairie folks maybe should reflect on their respect for law enforcement after reviewing an article by the CBC last week that shows eight of the ten worst cop shootings in Canadian history came from either Alberta or Saskatchewan.  Yikes.

The passing of Whitney Houston is tragic.  I remember having a huge crush on her years ago when her face was plastered all over the entertainment television shows during her heyday.  She was a beautiful woman.  And, then along came Bobby Brown and the rest, unfortunately, is history.  There is a very valuable lesson seldom taught here.  People like Amy Winehouse, Jani Lane, and Houston were all music stars who died, presumably, because of their dependance on chemical substances.  With fame and fortune also comes great temptation to live an 'off the rails' lifestyle.  Partying can be a lot of fun, no doubt about it.  But, there is a line and you don't have to cross it just to impress those around you.  Once it's crossed, it's incredibly difficult to get back where you should be.

Dave Zinczenko of Men's Health Magazine claims that for every pound you lose, you alleviate pressure on your knees by four pounds.

Heard a great quote last week:  "Opportunities multiply as their are seized."

Major League Baseball training camps are starting up and the Pittsburgh Pirates are already showing why they are the numbskull organization they've become famous for.  They are about to take AJ Burnett off the hands of the New York Yankees and also pay close to half of the remaining salary owed to him.  Burnett has had an ERA of over 5.00 each of the last two years.  There is a reason why the Yankees, who win their division almost every year, are getting rid of Burnett and a reason why the Pirates, who finish close to last every year, are taking him.  It just goes to show you can always find a sucker if you look hard enough.  Last year's sucker was Anaheim, taking the monumental contract of the underachieving Vernon Wells from Toronto.

When CFL free agency begins today, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and their fans have to come to terms with the fact Andy Fantuz will be playing elsewhere.  If he hasn't signed by now, he's not going to.  Full credit to the Riders for opening the wallet to try and get it done, but his asking price to stay here appears to be beyond stupid.  I wish he'd speak up and be honest about it so the Riders can take the money they've set aside for him and start to allocate for other free agents.  The $200 000 Fantuz, apparently, doesn't want should be used to fill four other holes on this football team.  Should Fantuz re-sign, I question his motives.  It means he used Saskatchewan as leverage against other teams and if nobody else steps up, then he's going to return simply for the paycheque and not for the logo on the side of the helmet. 

Congratulations to Greg Litvanyi.  Nice person mentions to Jamie Fiesel, Martin Smith, Jill Kirk, and Gaylene Putland.