Latest news with #SamMaciag
CBC
22-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
This weather has thrown gardeners for a loop. Here's how to save your plants
The May long weekend wasn't the warm, sunny kickoff to the planting season that gardeners hope for. Ashley Esakin from Gardening in Canada joined CBC Blue Sky host Sam Maciag to provide some reassurance that all is not lost.
CBC
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Smut is having a moment. These romance lovers suggest their top 5 reads for 2025
Saskatchewan musician Farideh had a revelatory moment in 2023 when she picked up a fantasy romance novel called Fourth Wing. At that time, she was searching for books that were light and breezy. "I want a book I read Tuesday that I forget by Thursday. I don't want to be changed, I don't want to be moved," she laughingly told CBC host Sam Maciag for an edition of This is Saskatchewan, exploring the popularity of the smut and romance genre. Reading Fourth Wing led Farideh to recommendations for other books in the romance genre that gave her the thrill she was seeking — books that light up the brain and rev the reader's pulse. Farideh ended up devouring 380 romance books last year, more than a book a day. She's the kind of voracious romance reader driving the sales at brick and mortar boutiques dedicated to racy books. That includes Slow Burn Books in Calgary, The Book Boudoir in Edmonton and Saskatoon's own Pages of Passion. Victoria Koops released her debut novel Who We Are in Real Life last year after a lifetime of consuming romance fiction. As a high school counsellor in Weyburn, Sask., she knows how heavy life can be, and said romance can provide people a much-needed emotional lift. "Our brains are constantly working, constantly processing, taking in new information, and our bodies feel bad and the impacts of it," she said. "And so we need places to play, places to escape to so that our brains can actually rest." In this week's episode, Maciag, Koop, Farideh and best-selling romance writer Jennifer L Armentrout break down the joys of romance fiction and share some of their favourite reads. Sam Maciag's picks Abby Jimenez - Just For The Summer. Penny Reid - Truth or Beard. Taylor Jenkins Reid - Forever Interrupted. Brynne Weaver - Leather and Lark. Emily Henry - Beach Read. Farideh's picks Demi Winters - Road of Bones. Thea Guanzon - The Hurricane Wars. Sara Hashem - The Jasad Heir. Elisha Kemp - Drowned by the Sea. CM Nascosta - Morning Glory at the Milking Farm (for the truly open-minded). Koops' picks
CBC
06-03-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Regina officer says distracted driving still a big concern
Distracted driving remains a major concern on Saskatchewan roads. Mike Seel from the Regina Police Service spoke about it with host Sam Maciag on Blue Sky.
CBC
06-03-2025
- CBC
Distracted driving still a major concern on Saskatchewan's roads, say experts, advocate
Distracted driving remains a major concern on Saskatchewan roads, with experts and advocates warning that even a few seconds of inattention can have deadly consequences. Driving instructors, police officers and other Saskatchewan residents spoke with host Sam Maciag on CBC Radio's Blue Sky Wednesday to share their experiences with distracted driving, and their thoughts on how to prevent it. Ron Buddecke, a driving instructor, said distractions come in three forms. Those are "a visual distraction, where you're actually taking your eyes off the road; a manual distraction, where you're taking your hands off the wheel; and then you can have a cognitive [distraction], where you're taking your mind off of what you're doing," Buddecke said. Texting while driving is particularly dangerous, because it involves all three types of distraction, he said. "Texting while driving makes the driver 23 times more likely to crash," he said. "Drivers talking on a cellphone, just talking, are four times more likely to have a car collision." Distractions aren't just limited to phones, he added, and can include "MP3 players that are going, passengers and pets," as well as "eating and drinking — I've seen that lots. And adjusting your radio is a distraction." He also noted that billboards, pedestrians and even GPS devices can take a driver's focus away from the road. For Sandra LaRose, a road safety educator and speaker, the dangers of distracted driving are personal. Her daughter, Kailynn, was killed in a crash. LaRose now advocates for safer driving habits. "I'm hyper-aware now … especially since I do a lot of highway driving," she said. "From the distance, cars coming towards me, I can tell when they're starting to veer into my lane or they're veering towards the ditch." LaRose said she often sees distracted drivers in the city, including people on phones. She urged people to think twice before making calls to drivers. "If you know they're on the road, don't call," she said. "There's nothing worth losing your life over — absolutely nothing. Everything can wait." Officer issued 1,500 cellphone tickets in 1 year Regina Police Service Const. Mike Seel, known as "Hawkeye" on social media for his work in traffic enforcement, said distracted driving remains a serious problem, despite some improvements. "There's that one year I personally wrote almost 1,500 cellphone tickets," he said. "In the last couple years, it's still around 500 or 600 that I've written a year, but that's a marked decrease, which is good to see." Seal said a combination of factors — including newer cars with hands-free technology, harsher penalties and public awareness — have contributed to the decrease. But distracted driving remains "literally just below impaired driving, and causing injuries and deaths for accidents in the province," he said, and he still catches distracted drivers on a regular basis. "I had a lady I pulled over, and it was the fourth time in 12 months that she's been on her cellphone," he said. LaRose says she hopes people understand that distracted driving is preventable. "We have not lived with cellphones for eternity, and we all managed," she said. "We managed without Google Maps, we managed without phones, we managed without texting. Your life is far more precious than your time."
