Lacombe

The Town of Blackfalds is preparing for a big day of fun coming up this Monday, February 19th, for Family Day.

The events will run from 12 noon to 3:00 pm mainly at The Eagle Builders Centre. Events are open to everyone.

Here is a list of some of the activities planned for this day:

Free Family Skate

Bring your own skates to Arena 1

No hockey sticks allowed, no strollers permitted on the ice

Helmets are recommended

Blackfalds Youth Crew Family Bingo

Canadian Pacific Kansas City recently released its fourth-quarter report showing Canadian grain volumes are down 15 percent on a year-over-year basis. driven by the weak harvest.

The Assistant Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Bulk, Elizabeth Hucker, says their Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John Brooks noted that a key factor in the drop is the weak harvest in 2023-2024.

She notes that was especially true for the CPKC draw area in Southern Alberta and Southern Saskatchewan.

RCMP say a woman, her three young children and a teen relative were found dead Sunday at different locations in southern Manitoba. The woman's partner, 29-year-old Ryan Howard Manoakeesick of Carman, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder.

Here is a timeline of the police response to the killings. All times are local:

7:30 a.m.

Officers are called to a report of a hit and run on Highway 3, south of Carman, where they find the body of a 30-year-old woman in a ditch.

10 a.m.

An Alberta power generator has been fined for running a plant for months without regulatory approval.

The Alberta Utilities Commission has fined Avex Energy nearly a quarter-million dollars for running a natural gas-fired generator while bypassing regulatory tests for safe and unobtrusive operation. 

"They have not been approved to operate," said commission spokesman Geoff Scotton.

Manitoba Liberal MP Ben Carr, making a key announcement Friday that will help grow Canada's pulse industry.

Carr on behalf of Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced a federal investment of $11,017,979 million to support the new Pulse Cluster under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership funding.

The Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce Task Force on Homelessness is seeking public feedback on the interim "What We Heard" report.  

The report highlights the task force’s findings collected over eight months from sources such as interviews, facility tours, and community conversations.  

The task force found six overarching themes through their research, including:  

On Saturday afternoon, between 12 noon and 1:30 pm,  a white trailer containing clothing and accessories for the Trenville RP Elks Gowns for Grads program was stolen in Elnora.

The trailer was holding the entire contents of the 2024 program including over 500 dresses, 100 suits, 10 dress racks, mirrors, shoes and many accessories. The dresses are stored in red and blue coloured tote boxes. There are 15 boxes on the trailer.

Disregarded policies and a failure of management led to the development of the inordinately costly and much-maligned ArriveCan app, an investigation by Canada's auditor general has found. 

The federal government launched the app in April 2020 as a way to track health and contact information for people entering Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to digitize customs and immigration declarations.

The auditor found the government's reliance on sole-sourced external contractors drove up the price of the app, and those costs weren't properly tracked.

The Red Deer Outreach Centre’s eighth annual Lip Sync Battle raised a record $210,296 to support programs and services. 

The battle is the Outreach Centre’s main fundraiser, with donations coming from sponsorships, contestant fundraising, ticket sales, and a silent auction raffle. 

Competitors collected pledges and then took the stage to lip sync their hearts out, battling for a first-place trophy, and bragging rights. 

Dr. Brian Isaac secured the most donations, with more than $44,000. 

It was a great start to the 2024 Vanberg Cup Playoffs for the defending champions, Lacombe AA Generals.

Lacombe now leads Wetaskiwin 2-0 after two games in the first round of the North Central Hockey League (NCHL).

Friday night, The Generals were on the road in front of a big crowd of over 1200 Longhorn fans. Goals from Jamie Johnson, Tyrell Bourk, Thomas Beretta, and Kade Garrity quieted the home crowd with a 5-3 win.