Strathmore

A Strathmore field is turning yellow as the sunflowers come into full bloom.

The Western District Historical Society is inviting visitors to view the sunflower field at Legacy Farm on Wednesday (Sept 3) from 5 to 8 p.m.

Guests are encouraged to bring their own cameras for a personal photography session. Those who donate will be entered to win an original piece of photo art. 

The society also announced the return of the long-awaited Sunflower Harvest Night, with a specific date to be announced soon. 

The province’s Rat Control Program has helped make it one of the few rat-free zones in the world

Alberta is marking 75 years of rat-free status.

An aggressive control program had made it the largest inhabited area in the world that is free of true rats.

There is no resident population of rats, and the rodents are not allowed to establish themselves.

The Strathmore Spartans had a tight game against the Drumheller Titans over the weekend.

The game took place up north on Friday (Aug. 29), ending in a 35-34 victory for the Spartans.

According to head coach Danny Warrack, the game became more tense as it progressed.

"We were up 14 points and they cut the lead to eight. In the last minute and a half, we kicked a punt through the end zone, giving us an extra point," said Warrack. "Sure enough, they stormed down the field and scored again. They kicked off, but couldn't get it in the end zone."

We asked our readers how they plan to spend the last weeks of summer.

We posted a poll on our homepage asking people to let us know how their end-of-summer plans.

A total of 43 voters responded, with 22 votes (51.16 per cent) saying they'll be soaking up the sun and relaxing.

In second place with 10 votes (23.26 per cent) were residents hoping to crack a cold one and call it patio season. Behind that, with seven votes (16.28 per cent) were residents taking a last-minute visit to the lake.

It's been 120 years since Alberta first became a province.

To celebrate Alberta Day (Sept. 1), the Town of Strathmore put on an afternoon of activities at Kinsmen Park, free for all residents to enjoy.

There were plenty of attractions at the event, including live music, train rides, bounce castles, a petting zoo, and more.

A revolutionary piece of agricultural technology is making waves in the fields of southern Saskatchewan. The NEXAT, a multi-functional farming system manufactured in Germany, has arrived at Chute Farms Joint Venture at Moose Jaw.

Rhett Chute says NEXAT reached out to them earlier in the summer to see if they would be interested in trying the prototype, and they were able to reach an agreement.

The federal finance minister said Tuesday he wants to address service delays at the Canada Revenue Agency within 100 days, even as Ottawa plans spending cuts across the public service.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne set the timeline in a letter to Liberal MP Karina Gould, chair of the House of Commons finance committee, which was posted to his X account Tuesday morning.

In that letter, he said it's "increasingly apparent" the CRA is not meeting Canadians' standards.

The federal NDP officially launched the race to find its next leader on Tuesday, leaving seven months for interested candidates to mount a campaign.

The next NDP leader will be elected at a national convention in Winnipeg in March.

In a news release, the party says there has been strong interest in the leadership contest since Aug. 20, when the application packages were made available.

Police in Calgary say a woman has been charged after a south-end neighbourhood was essentially shut down over an explosive substance left out in the elements.

The 59-year-old woman faces one count of criminal negligence and is slated to appear in court next month.

It comes after a two-day saga in the Manchester neighbourhood, where residents were subjected to evacuations and a series of loud bangs as officers tried to destroy a package of picric acid.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is rewriting a ministerial order directing school divisions to ban books containing sexually explicit content to ensure classic books stay on library shelves.

Smith says the order is being changed to only target books that contain images of sexual content.

The initial order covered books with images, illustrations, audio and written passages with sexually explicit content.