In the interest of public safety, the Dryden Police Service is issuing a warning about a violent offender who is now residing in Dryden.

Edward Hamel, age 37, was released from Saskatchewan’s Regional Pyschiatric Centre where he served three years for two counts of uttering threats to cause death /harm to a police officer and a correctional officer.

Hamel — who is Caucasian, 5’6” (168 cm), 207 lbs with shaved brown hair and a goatee — is considered by police to be a violent offender who has a history of violent offences and poses a risk of significant harm to the community.

The Dryden Police Service is issuing this information and warning after careful deliberation of all related issues, including privacy concerns, in the belief that it is clearly in the public interest to inform the members of the community about Hamel.

Members of the public are advised that the intent of this process is to enable citizens to take suitable precautionary measures. Releasing this information in not intended to encourage people to engage in any form of vigilante action.

It may be a case of bureaucracy moving slower than the speed of business.

British Columbia-based based wooden utensil manufacturer Aspenware, the new anchor tenant for the City of Dryden’s Norwill Subdivision, told a regional newspaper this past week that plans to build a 50,000 square foot facility in Dryden in the fall of 2010 are being pushed back pending provincial government approval for loan guarantees and fibre supply.

The City of Dryden has made site preparation for the North Dryden industrial development a top priority in 2010.

In September of 2009, The City of Dryden received close to $3 million in provincial and Fednor funds to assist in the development of their Norwill and Centennial Business Park projects, just north of the Trans-Canada.