Lacombe

Central Alberta farmers are planning for possible drought conditions this growing season.   

Dr. Hiroshi Kubota, Research Scientist for the Lacombe Research and Development Centre explained that farmers in the Central Alberta region should be preparing for drought conditions, and ensure they have a mitigation plan.   

After carefully considering feedback received from the community at the public hearing, County Council gave second and third reading (final adoption) to Bylaws 1406/24 and 1407/24. These bylaw changes allow a second dwelling on Agricultural ‘A’ District parcels 10 acres or larger.

Fortis Alberta is reporting that they are working on an unplanned power outage in The Town of Innisfail.

The outage started just after 9:00 am, Wednesday morning in an area south of the Innisfail Health Centre and west of Highway 2A.

Fortis says that they are working on it right now, and the estimated time of restoration will be around 1:00 pm.

The Red Deer Rebels are on the brink of getting swept in the Eastern Conference Semifinal against the Saskatoon Blades. 

The Rebels had to rely on their third-string goalie, Taylor Tabashniuk, after both Chase Wutzke and Rhett Stoesser were reported as injured. The 17-year-old netminder would end up stopping 31 of 38 shots in a game that was back and forth for both teams.

Innisfail RCMP would like to advise the public of poor road conditions on Highway 2, starting North of Innisfail and spreading to the South of Bowden.

The roads are covered in ice and snow, resulting in multiple collisions and vehicles driving off the road. No injuries have been reported so far.

We have received many calls into the Central Alberta Online newsroom as well saying a lot of the secondary highways are also extremely icy and blowing snow is limiting visibility.

The City of Lacombe has announced stage one of sewer system repairs scheduled for April/May 2024.

Three men accused by the Crown of helping lead and coordinate the COVID-19 protest blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 have been found guilty of mischief. 

Jurors deliberated for three hours Tuesday night before finding Alex Van Herk, Marco Van Huigenbos, and Gerhard (George) Janzen guilty of one count each of mischief over $5,000. 

Gasps of surprise were heard in a courtroom packed with supporters of the trio when the verdict was announced. 

The 2024 federal budget will provide "generational fairness" to younger Canadians by raising taxes on those who have already capitalized on Canada's economic strengths, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday as she tabled the document in the House of Commons.

The budget comes as the Liberals have watched their once-healthy voting base among young people evaporate in favour of the Conservatives, largely as younger Canadians feel like the economic decks are stacked against them.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced the 2024 federal budget on Tuesday. Some key highlights:

Housing

In hopes of building nearly 3.9 million new homes across Canada by 2031, the government plans to:

— increase the capital cost allowance rate for apartments from four to 10 per cent, allowing builders larger tax writeoffs;

— extend the mortgage amortization period to 30 years for first-time homebuyers purchasing new builds;

Red Deer City Council passed the first reading of the proposed changes to the Vehicle for Hire bylaw during the Monday regular council meeting.   

While council was discussing the bylaw, Red Deer taxi drivers gathered outside of city hall showing their opposition to the changes.   

The current bylaw was implemented in 2021, following the introduction of Transportation Network Companies (TNC) and rideshare companies in Red Deer.