Lacombe

You may have noticed a few extra people at your local gym over the month or so.

That's a common occurrence around this time of year, as people try to lose extra Christmas weight or follow through with their New Year's resolutions.

Ron Schafer is the Director of Physical Education at Burman University in Lacombe.

He says the Physical Education Centre usually sees a 20 per cent spike in usage during January.

"Our usage during the month of January, we took this a number of years ago, we had 2,500 usages during the month."

Sunny’s first visit of the new year was to Ms. Wiggins' Grade 5 class at the Penhold Elementary School.  

Before heading to Penhold, we packed the station vehicle with prizes from our sponsors and headed to Boston Pizza Lacombe to pick up some delicious pizzas.  

The Boys and Girls Club Wolf Creek  (BGC) is running a program right now called Mentoring Matters.  

Beth Reitz, the Executive Director of BGC explains what the program is all about.  

Clearwater County is advising of a temporary bridge closure on Chungo Road, crossing Blackstone River, on January 30 and 31.

The bridge is located 30 km northwest of Nordegg.

Dates of construction are weather and contractor-dependent and are subject to change.
 
Please follow all posted detour signs.

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There were some great moments and wins for the RDP Athletic teams over this past week.

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens Indoor Track team placed first and the Kings finished fourth at the ACAC Indoor Track Running Room Grand Prix #1.

The RDP Kings Basketball team split its series with the Medicine Hat College Rattlers. The Queens Basketball team picked up a pair of victories over the Rattlers.

The RDP Queens Hockey team dropped its games to the Lakeland College Rustlers. The Kings Hockey team was edged by the Concordia University Thunder.

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) released its 2024 Impact Report, showcasing the progress made in the 2023-24 academic year toward achieving the institution’s 2030 Strategic Plan: Productivity and Social Impact.   

The Bank of Canada delivered another interest rate cut on Wednesday, reducing its policy rate by a quarter-percentage point to three per cent. But looming U.S. tariffs are weighing on the central bank’s economic outlook.

The cut, the central bank's sixth consecutive one since June, comes as the bank said inflation is sitting around its two per cent target and the economy is picking up speed.

"There are signs economic activity is gaining momentum as past interest rate cuts work their way through the economy," Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said in prepared remarks.

The union representing RCMP members is calling on Canada and the U.S. to make it easier to buy new technology, boost staffing and improve collaboration to deal with security challenges at the Canada-U.S. border.

In a news release published Tuesday, the National Police Federation says it met with Canadian and U.S. police and public safety unions to talk about illegal migration, drug and firearms smuggling and human trafficking.

The union says that the discussions helped it draft a set of recommendations for the Canadian and U.S. governments.

Organizers are looking back on an extremely successful 2025 Curling Alberta Women's Championship which wrapped up over the weekend in Rimbey at the Peter Lougheed Community Centre.

Team Skrlik punched her ticket to the Scotties with an exciting 6-5 win over Team Kaufman in Sunday's final.

"I couldn't be more happy and excited about how everything turned out," said event co-chair Patrick Rurka, who is also the President of the Rimbey Curling Club. "The community came through with flying colours. The volunteers were absolutely exceptional."

Crews will be working along 43 Street between 54 Avenue and 55 Avenue from January 29 until February 12. 

Daily lane closures & detours will be in place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to allow for crews to safely replace electrical poles. 

Detours will be removed nightly to allow for regular traffic flow.

Utility services will be working overnight from 8:30 p.m. on January 29 to 5 a.m. on January 30 along 50 Avenue from 46 Street to 42 Street.