FortSask

The Government of Alberta just released statements in support of those who have evacuated livestock and are looking for space.

Grazing disposition holders can accept livestock from other producers on their lease land to shelter displaced livestock without application prior to. This must be reported to the local rangeland agrologist within seven days. Here is the statement from GoA:

Under the provincial state of emergency, grazing disposition holders with grazing capacity can accept livestock from other producers subject to the following conditions:

Elk Island National Park (EINP) is excited to see visitors during what they expect to be a busy long weekend. 

The park opened up on Friday (May 19) and is asking anyone thinking about coming to the park for the weekend to make their reservations as soon as they can. 

"We're definitely anticipating a lot of visitation for this weekend especially if the weather holds out," said Erin Davidson, a visitor services team lead at EINP. "In terms of campgrounds, we are almost completely booked." 

"We have a very limited number of walk-on sites that are non-reservable." 

It's shaping up to be quite a long weekend. 

Though there will be lingering wildfire smoke for the region over the weekend, it is looking to be very nice otherwise. 

"It will be a continuation of the hot and dry conditions we've had for the last little while," said Eric van Lochem with Environment Canada. 

The average temperature for this time of year hovers around the 18 C mark, but people should be expecting much hotter weather over the next few days. 

The WestJet Group says it's ramping up operations as quickly as possible after reaching a last-minute deal with the airline's pilots to avert a strike.

However, it warns that the full resumption of operations will take time and encouraged travellers to continue to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.

WestJet and the Air Line Pilots Association announced a tentative agreement to avoid the job action early Friday morning.

A Gibbons councillor who received a letter of reprimand has issued a statement on the matter. 

On May 10, Gibbons town council said Amber Harris allegedly broke several sections of the code of conduct relating to the use of her town credit card. 

The alleged misuse involved Harris paying for personal car insurance with the card as well as making four separate March withdrawals that totaled up to just over $2,000. 

Strathcona County RCMP was on the scene of a police incident in Sherwood Park this morning. 

Police have reported that they were executing an arrest at a residence located on Groveland Road. 

Mounties did ask the public to avoid the area while they conducted this arrest and for local residents to follow the direction of officers on scene. 

There was no threat to the public during the incident. 

More to come...

Bad news for those looking to have a fire over the long weekend.

In Fort Saskatchewan, fire chief Todd Martens says residents can expect the municipal fire ban to stay in place.

"We still currently have very hot and dry conditions across the province," said Martens. "With the wildfires, a lot of municipalities are stretched thin." 

"[This fire ban] currently means no fire pits, no fire permits, no burning on public lands. All those types of things are still banned."

Martens is urging safety first and foremost this weekend.

Talks between WestJet and the pilots' union continue amid the countdown toward a Friday strike deadline, with the airline saying it has started to cancel flights ahead of the anticipated work stoppage.

Some 1,800 pilots at the carrier and its Swoop subsidiary are poised to walk off the job as of 3 a.m. eastern daylight time after the Air Line Pilots Association issued a strike notice Monday.

The Fort Saskatchewan and Lamont Regional Chamber of Commerce held a candidate forum for MLA candidates for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville. 

All five candidates met on Wednesday (May 17) evening at the Dow Centennial Centre, with Ian McCormack serving as the moderator of the event. Hundreds of residents were in attendance.

The panel featured opening statements from each candidate before a Q&A session, which led to their closing arguments.

Strathcona County RCMP is asking the public for more information on a Sherwood Park road rage incident that resulted in a serious assault. 

Police say the incident occurred on May 9 at about 5:15 p.m. when a black GMC Sierra and a white Toyota Tacoma were travelling on Broadmoor Boulevard between Highway 16 and Prairie Drive. 

Both vehicles reportedly stopped on the side of the road on Portage Lane and an altercation took place.