FortSask

With a provincial election right around the corner, will Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville's current MLA be on the ballot? 

Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk has been the MLA in the district since 2019 and has had her fair share of ups and downs in the position. 

Armstrong-Homeniuk started her first term by successfully flipping the district toward the UCP after four years under the NDP. The 2019 election saw her gather 53.3% of the vote to defeat incumbent Jessica Littlewood. 

The 2023 Canada Winter Games came to a close over the weekend.

The games featured athletes from across the country, including a large group from our region, competing on the national stage in P.E.I.

Yet, there was just one person representing Fort Saskatchewan. 

Clyde Hammer spent the games as one of the two figure skating coaches for Team Alberta. 

Hammer has been around the sport his whole life. 

"I started in Canskate like I think most kids do and I was in hockey skates," said Hammer. "I actually wanted to become a hockey player." 

The Sturgeon Spirits senior women's basketball team capped off their season with a championship. 

On Saturday (Mar. 4) the team played in a razor-thin final against the Bev Facey Falcons. 

It was a tight game that saw each team trade leads all the way up until the fourth quarter, where the Spirits were able to open up a 10-point lead of their own. 

The Spirits powered themselves to a 67-59 championship victory. 

Avery B. (#5) led the way for the Spirits, scoring 21 points, while Sadie S. (#3) picked up 12 points. 

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The St. Andre Bessette Cardinals senior girls team took home gold in the division four city finals.

Their gold-winning game was a 57-45 win against Maurice-Lavallée at Sturgeon Composite High School on Saturday (Mar. 4) morning.

Head coach Brooklyne Chase said that she's proud of her girls this season.

"We came out really strong," said Chase. "It got close a little bit throughout. At one point we were only up by two."

Leslie Katerenchuk sealed the win with four points from the foul line at the end of the game. 

The Canadian lunar rover could soon help reveal the moon's dark side. 

The country’s first moon rover is set to put the Canadian Space Agency at the forefront of space exploration, helping in the global search for frozen water on the celestial body.

Tidally locked to the Earth, the moon doesn’t spin on its axis but only orbits the planet, leaving the far side permanently dark, cold and unexplored.

The United Nations is bracing for a further increase in the number of refugees this year, as last month's earthquake in Turkey and Syria adds to a series of crises that has the world looking to Canada for more help.

"The need around the world is enormous," said Kelly Clements, the UN's deputy high commissioner for refugees, on a visit to Canada this week.

"It's the beginning of what we anticipate will be another very difficult year."

Two Fort Saskatchewan residents narrowly avoided a fatal avalanche that took three lives on Wednesday (Mar. 1). 

A group of nine people and one instructor were caught in an avalanche while heli-skiing near Panorama Mountain Resort in British Columbia. Four were seriously injured, three made it out unharmed, and another three died.

Fort Saskatchewan resident Hannah Stolz and her father Rick were supposed to be on that trip, as part of Hannah's 23rd birthday.

"We thought it would be a nice birthday treat if we planned [the trip] around that," said Hannah.

CP's vice president of sales and marketing for grain and fertilizer Joan Hardy says CP continues to move very strong levels of grain for its customers. 

"In February, we moved over 2 million metric tons of Canadian grain and grain products. The second-highest February in our history, very nearly meeting the record that we set in February of 2021. We were within one train load of breaking that February 2021 record."

She notes total grain movement for February 2023 was 2.045 million metric tonnes, compared to 2.058 million metric tonnes in February of 2021.

Reactions continue to pour in regarding the recently announced 2023 Alberta budget. 

Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) are among the many provincial school divisions that are sharing their thoughts on the money being put into education. 

"There has been an increase of 5.2 [per cent] overall for K-to-12 education in the province," said Trina Boymook, the EIPS board chair. "We're certainly cautiously optimistic about the new education budget but we will know better once we get the funding manual in the coming weeks."