While Saskatoon and Regina each mull over the possibility of two new liquor stores, the town of Hepburn could soon have its first.

Following Wednesday's referendum, unofficial results give the yes votes a 10 per cent lead out of 264 ballot cast.

Official results will be released Friday at 10 a.m.

Council will be informed and send word to the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.

Weather permitting you could be enjoying an ice cold drink on the patio this weekend.

Even though it's been a cool start to the week, the Freehouse is planning to open up their patio this weekend, if the forecast holds and the weather turns out to be pretty decent of course.

"This weekend it will be about 75 per cent open," explained general manager Craige Will.
As of Wednesday Will says about 80 per cent of the patio was covered in snow again, but it shouldn't be too difficult to clean it up.

As Saskatchewan's oil industry booms, so does the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference. 

Now in its 21st year, the conference is attracting roughly 2,000 people to the Queen City to talk about the industry in the Williston Basin, and innovations being discovered.

"We have a whole bunch of technical presentations in regards to what works in the basin, what's new and exciting that's happening, what technologies are being developed," explained Melinda Yurkowski, chair for this year's conference.

Consumers should have a wider selection of booze to choose from as the government continues to dip its toe into the waters of privatization.

On Tuesday the government announced that it has decided to add four "full-line" liquor stores in Regina and Saskatoon. The stores will offer a full range of alcohol products, much like the existing ones run by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, as well as related items like snacks and mixes. The decision to add stores stemmed from growing populations, which the province felt left some areas under served.

High-end real estate is seeing a real increase in the prairies.

Regina has the third-highest jump for a city at ten percent.  Since the beginning of the year, RE/MAX reports 55 homes have been sold in Regina worth more than $500,000.

"For years and years, anything over $350,000 was upper-end market.  It has gradually gone to $500,000 now," said Rob Nisbett, co-broker/owner of RE/MAX Crown real Estate in Regina.

Some people will be raising a glass to the news that Saskatoon is getting two new private liquor stores.

One will be a Saskatoon Co-op liquor store in the Blairmore neighbourhood opening this winter and the other a Sobeys liquor store planned for Stonebridge next summer.

"The population in Saskatoon has grown to the point where the market can bear two more stores. We will be making decisions going forward depending on population growth," said Donna Harpauer, minister responsible for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.

People who are anxious to golf in Regina may have to wait a few weeks more yet before they tee off on courses in the city.

The snow is going down quickly, but there are patches that remain on many courses, including at the Royal Regina Golf Club.

“Mother nature gets to decide, we just get to follow,” GM Archie Cameron said.

Cameron said they’re dealing with snowpack that’s probably the worst they’ve seen in 100 years.

“Our expectation is by the second week of May that we’ll be playing golf.”

Three corporate giants have joined forces to expand telecommunications and power services to northeastern Saskatchewan.

On April 26 in Saskatoon at the Cameo headquarters, SaskTel, SaskPower and Cameco announced a $29.6 million venture to bring high-speed bandwidth and improved power lines to all of Cameco's sites from La Ronge to Collins Bay.

Two local entrepreneurs have shown they have the stones to compete in the small business market after their company took top prize in a national competition.

Joel Howlett and Kale Wudrich, the owners of Prestige Paving Stones, are one of six companies to receive ADP Canada’s Small Business Grant.

The landscaping company received $10,000 and a year of payroll services courtesy of ADP, an international payroll provider.

“It’s exciting,” said Howlett. “It gives us a bit of freedom to grow more and go places we haven’t be able to go in the past.”

As the city of Martensville continues to grow, economic developers face the big challenge trying to compete with established commercial markets in Saskatoon.

"(Consumer leakage) it's sort of the reality in our community," said economic development manager Dillon Shewchuk.

"With our proximity to Saskatoon there's always going to be a certain amount of leakage in the community."