Lacombe

Some topics during the Jan.16 Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) Board of Trustees regular meeting included the Rimbey Elementary School and BGC lease agreement, literacy and numeracy intervention funding, and the dual credit program.   

Here are the meeting highlights:  

January 31 Stakeholder Summit  

Organizers of an Innisfail Middle School (IMS) ski program, say volunteers are the key to the program's success

“I want to sincerely thank each parent, staff member, our volunteer ski instructors, and the individual people who open the Innisfail Ski Hill for us and support each student who arrives there,” says Erin Holt, IMS teacher and ski program organizer. “Without these individuals we could not do what we do. Our program has grown because of the combined efforts of so many.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to delay imposing tariffs on Canadian goods while the issue is reviewed further.

"Alberta is pleased to see that today President Donald Trump has decided to refrain from imposing tariffs on Canadian goods at this time as they study the issue further," Smith said in a statement.

She said the decision acknowledges the issue's complexity and potential impact on workers and businesses in both countries.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says Donald Trump's suggestion that he will impose sweeping tariffs on Canada on Feb. 1 is "nothing new," and insists Canada has plans ready for several possible scenarios.

LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly stepped out of a cabinet meeting in Montebello, Que. to deliver a statement to reassure Canadians after the newly installed U.S. president signed a stack of unrelated executive orders Monday evening.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested his administration could move ahead with with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canadian imports on Feb. 1. 

He delivered the deadline on Monday evening at the White House as he signed a stack of unrelated executive orders. 

"We are thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada because they are allowing vast number of people, Canada is a very bad abuser also, vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in," he told reporters Monday night.

511 Alberta is reporting that sections of Highway 12 east of Lacombe are partly ice-covered this morning.

Other conditions include:

• shoulder ice/snow
• drifting snow
• icy sections
• bare wheel paths
• packed snow and ice

Visibility is fair.

Highway 2 is bare and dry with good visibility.

Click here for current road conditions.

Cow Patti Theatre broke its own attendance record with Norm Foster’s The Long Weekend which attracted over 5,000 audience members to kick off the 2025 theatre season.

The cast included Brian Young, Viviana Zarillo, and Matthew Olver, all of Ontario and home-grown talent AnnaMarie Lea of Alberta.

Thirty-five per cent of the audience were first-time patrons.

Over $17,000 was raised for the Benefit Program which supports:

A new poll suggests more than a third of Canadians say they have no choice but to seek health information online because they don’t have access to a doctor, further highlighting challenges posed by an ongoing physician shortage. 

The online survey by the Canadian Medical Association and Abacus Data conducted last November found that 37 per cent of respondents used medical advice they found online because they couldn’t access a doctor or a medical professional for help. 

The Sylvan Lake Fire Department responded to a structure fire on Lakeshore Drive & 44 Street Monday night around 8:45 p.m.

RCMP say emergency crews responded to a residential unit filled with smoke.

The cause of the smoke remains under investigation.

There were no damages beyond smoke noted to the structure. No one was present at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.

Expansion of technology in recent years has played a critical role in the success of the small local farm and the Ag industry as a whole.  

Manitoba Agriculture Minister, Ron Kostyshyn, says our province's economy relies on that progress and noted the opportunities for growth, innovation, and sustainability in the industry.