Lacombe

The Crown will not appeal the acquittals of five former world junior hockey players after their high-profile sexual assault trial, one of the defence lawyers in the case said Thursday.

Daniel Brown, who represented Alex Formenton, said he has been informed of the prosecutors' decision. The Ministry of the Attorney General did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Formenton, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote were all acquitted of sexual assault, and McLeod of a separate charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

Air Canada says it expects to be operating close to its full network schedule by Friday. 

The airline says it is continuing to ramp up its operations in a press release Thursday. 

This comes after the airline reached a tentative deal with the union representing its flight attendants on Tuesday to end a strike that began on Saturday. 

The strike disrupted the airline's operations, resulting in the cancellation of flights. 

Mark Nasr, Air Canada's chief operations officer, said in the release that the airline is restoring operations ahead of its plan. 

Red Deer Polytechnic has announced the winning design in its annual Orange Shirt Day contest.

During a staff gathering, Indigenous Initiatives presented RDP visual arts alumna (2014) Alexandria King with a gift basket and a printed shirt featuring her design.

The T-shirts will launch the first week of September and be sold at The Lift, thanks to the Students’ Association. Proceeds will go toward Indigenous student funds and initiatives.

King thanked the committee, the president’s office and sponsors for the opportunity to take part in the important initiative.

An Alberta taxpayers advocate is applauding the provincial government's latest expense disclosure policy.

Premier Danielle Smith's government says it's reverting to its previous rules after critics from across the political spectrum accused it of dodging responsibility.

It's also promising to re-post eight years' worth of expense receipts that were deleted from its website.

Starting September 1, Red Deer residents will see changes to admission fees at local recreation facilities, rental rates, and cemetery services.

The adjustments were approved during the 2024–25 budget deliberations, when City Council determined that increases were necessary to help cover the growing costs of operations.

“Our ongoing priority is to ensure broad access to recreation opportunities, even as we address rising costs, staffing limitations, and increased maintenance demands,” said Bre Fitzpatrick, Acting Recreation Superintendent.

Chinook’s Edge School Division is starting the 2025–26 school year with an influx of fresh talent, welcoming 51 new teachers to schools across the division.

The new hires include teachers just beginning their careers, educators new to Chinook’s Edge, and those who joined the division partway through the last school year.

Superintendent Ryan Sawula said the boost in staffing follows a wave of retirements at the end of the 2024–25 year.

Lacombe Pride is gearing up for its third annual Pride Weekend on Friday and Saturday (August 22/23), bringing two full days of celebration, performances, and community connection.

The festivities begin tomorrow morning at the Michener House Museum with a flag-raising ceremony from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., held in partnership with the Lacombe Museums.

This marks the third year for the event and will feature special guests, including MLAs Janis Irwin and Brooks Arcand-Paul.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is meeting in Saskatoon today with Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald and Cody Blois, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, along with representatives from the canola sector. The focus: responding to China’s steep tariffs on Canadian canola products.

Last week, China announced a 75.8% tariff on Canadian canola seed, adding to the 100% tariffs placed in March on canola meal and oil. 

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is set to meet today with federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald, along with industry groups, to discuss the steep Chinese tariff on Canadian canola seed. 

Kody Blois, the parliamentary secretary for Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison are also to attend the meeting in Saskatoon.

A press conference is scheduled following the discussion. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is set to have her first official meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington today amid ongoing tensions in the bilateral relationship.

Anand and Rubio have previously spoken by phone, including in June ahead of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc cycled through Washington in July looking for a tariff offramp but instead U.S. President Donald Trump boosted duties on Canada to 35 per cent.