Any media outlet worth it's salt is pumping out at least one "list" this time of year. These include "top 10" for anything from worst celebrity gaffs to the year's top newsmakers.
What follows is our top 10 list of what we predict to see from our newsroom vantage point in 2011.
1. The CUPlex will continue to dominate headlines, with cost overruns and tendering intricacies ensuring the long awaited complex continues to move ahead at a snail's pace. Raise the Roof will muscle ahead with fundraising and some day we will all take a New Year's Eve skinnydip in the pool. Well maybe not, but citizens of the Battlefords are anxious to see the components begin to emerge.
2. The construction of a huge power generating plant near Brada will continue to have an impact on the economy and culture of the Battlefords. The influx of construction workers is expected to ramp up to new heights, along with rental rates for houses and apartments, in the coming months.
3. North Battleford's downtown will continue to frustrate residents and city council, with the pigeon hotel as a headliner for "where to start?"
4. MLA Len Taylor will continue to lobby for replacement of Saskatchewan Hospital and yet another study and strategic plan will result.
5. A federal election will be called in early spring, likely as a result of a non-confidence vote during budget proceedings. Battlefords-Lloydminster Gerry Ritz will promptly disappear from the landscape, but will be elected by a whopping margin.
6. Battleford town council will spend many hours discussing ATV problems, but any solutions they come up with will be ignored by ATV enthusiasts. But Mayor Chris Odishaw will continue in his belief the Battlefords is a great place to live, work and play.
7. Construction will begin on twinning of Highway 4 and Battlefords residents will think fondly of the good old days of bridge construction and reconstruction.
8. Once the tourists return, the wind tower at Fort Battleford will again be activated to illustrate the Fort's "green" impact. Generating power during the rest of the year, while feeding the grid, would be counterproductive from a public relations standpoint.
9. Dwain Lingenfelter will call to express his point of view on anything and everything at least once a week until next fall's provincial election.
10. The Saskatchewan Roughriders will get a new head coach (100 per cent probability on that one) and will again thrill fans with an up and down season. Will they win the Grey Cup? We're not sticking our necks out on that one.
Happy New Year, everyone. May all your predictions have a 50/50 chance of being right or wrong.
