Lacombe

More than 25 school council members from several schools in Sylvan Lake gathered recently to participate in a Blanket Exercise, facilitated by Carolynne Muncer, Indigenous Coordinator for Chinook’s Edge School Division and knowledge keeper Clare Butterfly. The March 27 gathering was the first time multiple school councils gathered for this purpose.

Albertans now have a simpler way to report non-emergency crimes and concerns to the RCMP with the launch of a new province-wide phone number:

310-RCMP (7267)

No area code required. No long-distance charges. Available anywhere in Alberta.

This new number makes it easier for residents to report non-urgent matters without needing to know which local detachment to call, helping streamline police services and reduce unnecessary calls to 911.

What is a non-emergency?

A non-emergency is any situation that:

Red Deer Rebels athletic therapist Terence Robertson has earned a prestigious national appointment, being named to the Team Canada staff for the upcoming 2025 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship.

The international tournament will take place from April 23 to May 3 in Frisco and Allen, Texas. Robertson will serve as part of Canada’s support staff, helping prepare and care for the country’s top young hockey talent.

Albertans are being encouraged to support one another during a time of financial uncertainty, with a new provincial campaign focusing on the province’s agriculture producers and processors.

The Government of Alberta has launched the Buy Local campaign to promote homegrown goods across the province.

The initiative is being led by Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says hiring lawyers to funnel requests from the auditor general isn't meant to obstruct an investigation into multimillion-dollar health contracts -- it's about helping get to the truth.

The government has instructed public servants to contact a lawyer to co-ordinate if auditor general Doug Wylie requests an interview as part of his probe.

The Opposition NDP’s leader in the legislature, Christina Gray, said Monday the policy suggests a coverup is afoot, and challenged the premier to lift what the NDP calls a "gag order."

Logan Hooley is the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) candidate for the Ponoka-Didsbury riding.

CentralAlbertaOnline.com reached out for an interview with Hooley but did not receive a response at the time of publication.  

This is one installment of our Meet the Candidate series.

Manitoba Pork celebrated its 60th anniversary during its annual meeting and industry banquet Thursday in Winnipeg. Producers, processors and various stakeholders gathered at the Fairmont for the day full of meetings which was capped by an evening gala. There are currently 188 registered producers in the province, representing 608 farms and 22,000 full-time equivalent jobs. 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising that a government led by him would use the notwithstanding clause to override Charter rights to implement his tough-on-crime agenda — something no prime minister has ever done.

Poilievre was campaigning in Montreal on Monday, where he announced he would pass a law to allow judges to impose consecutive life sentences in cases of multiple murders. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2022 that imposing consecutive life sentences violates an offender's Charter rights.

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) has been designated a recovery-friendly campus, joining a growing number of Alberta post-secondary institutions committed to supporting students and staff in recovery from substance use and addictive behaviours.

The announcement came during a ceremony on RDP’s main campus on April 9, where the school signed the Recovery Friendly Campus pledge — part of a provincewide initiative led by Recovery on Campus Alberta.