Lacombe

On July 8, at approximately 12:30 p.m., the Wetaskiwin RCMP were dispatched to a report of an armed robbery in the 4600 block of 48 Avenue in Wetaskiwin.

Investigation revealed that a suspect pointed a can of bear spray and a firearm at the victim, who was hit several times before his wallet was stolen. 

The suspect was believed to be driving a tan or dusty coloured Chevrolet Tahoe.

Officers soon located the vehicle near a business on 56 Street. The vehicle was followed south on Highway 2A to Township Road 460 where a traffic stop was initiated.

Maple Leaf Foods is splitting its operations and moving the pork business into a new publicly traded company. 

In a statement on the company website, Curtis Frank, President and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods says as separate companies, Maple Leaf Foods and the new Pork Company will each have exciting prospects, a sharpened execution focus with its own dedicated management team.

Lacombe City Council approved the first phase of the Social Needs Assessment and Prioritization Report, outlining the social priorities of the community.  

Priorities include community action on mental health and addictions, support for families, community access, and healthy homes and neighbourhoods.  

Pop-up spray parks are back to help Central Albertans cool off this summer.   

Today (July 9) the Town of Ponoka is offering a pop-up spray park from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Lucas Heights Park.  

The pop-up spray park is expected to offset the demand at the Lions Centennial splash park.  

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced over $6 million for the Canadian beef industry yesterday.

Canada Beef will receive over $5.8 million for market development and promotion.

Canada Beef plays a key role in market development worldwide, with offices in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, and Hong Kong.

More drugs and firearms were seized from a Red Deer home after a recent bust.   

On June 26, Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) searched a home and vehicle with the help of Red Deer RCMP.   

A planned vehicle stop was conducted, and a suspect arrested, followed by the search of a home in the Pines neighbourhood.  

A Glendale Sciences and Technology School teacher has been awarded a Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).  

Lindsay Unland, the Science and Technology Lead Teacher was awarded a certificate of achievement for the work she does to make science and technology engaging and fun for all students.  

Thousands of Ticketmaster users may have had their data compromised in a security breach.

Ticketmaster says it discovered unauthorized activity on an isolated cloud database hosted by a third-party data services provider between April 2 and May 18.

The company learned a few days later that some personal information of customers may have been affected, possibly including email, phone number, or encrypted credit card information.

Growers and agronomists looking for help in making sclerotinia spray decisions this summer will have access to a new online tool from the Canola Council of Canada. Available at , the sclerotinia risk assessment tool offers both a recommendation about whether or not to spray a canola crop (at 20-50 per cent flower) based on several inputs from the user, along with an opportunity to assess the spray decision by rating sclerotinia severity at maturity (30-60 per cent seed colour change).

On June 24, the Maskwacis RCMP received a report of found human remains in Maskwacis.

The remains were taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and were confirmed to belong to a missing 17-year-old from 2022. 

The investigation is still ongoing.