Okotoks

With polls suggesting U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration's use of punishing tariffs are a top-of-mind issue for Canadians ahead of the upcoming federal election, Trump has now offered his thoughts on which political party he would rather work with.

"I'd rather deal with a Liberal than a Conservative," Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham Tuesday.

During the interview he reiterated his call for Canada to become a U.S. state and his false claim that the U.S. subsidizes Canada by $200 billion a year.

Another funding commitment has been made towards a multi-million-dollar capital campaign by Cereals Canada. 

Cereals Canada says it is hoping to break ground this year on the construction of a new building in downtown Winnipeg. The organization says it is nearing the end of its lease in a building that is no longer able to meet its current and future goals. 

Their lease expires on March 31, 2027, and with this date now just over two years away, it says a new home is needed to continue to build on the vital work being done to advance the Canadian grains value chain.

Earlier this month, I was honoured with the awesome opportunity to attend the Town of Okotoks' Pink Tea Opening Reception!

It was a launch event for the "Women Are Persons!" exhibition at the Okotoks Municipal Centre.

The exhibition is all about the Famous Five, a group of women (Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and Irene Parlby) who advocated for the rights of women in the early 20th century, including their right to vote and run for office.

Property taxes in Nanton are going up, but it's not completely the Town's doing.

Nanton residents are going to be receiving a 6.3 per cent tax increase this year, which works out to be about $206 for an average household priced at $360,000.

Typically, though, property tax increases in Nanton are around 2 per cent.

So, why is there such a big property tax increase this year?

According to Nanton Mayor, Jennifer Handley, a large portion of the property taxes collected won't be going to the town, but to the Provincial government instead.

Foothills education support workers with CUPE Local 5040 have reached a tentative agreement with the Foothills School Division (FSD).

CUPE 5040 represents around 300 staff at FSD, who had been on strike since Feb. 24.

They were one of many education support workers groups to take job action this year, with over 6,600 Alberta education support workers on strike in the last several weeks, according to CUPE Alberta.

Representatives from the union branch at FSD met on Wednesday (March 19) afternoon for a "provincial mediator-organized bargaining meeting."

Students from Foothills County are going pedal to the metal in a science-based competition.

A group of students from Strathcona Tweedsmuir School (STS) are heading down to North Carolina in early April to build and race some Formula 1 race cars, as part of STEM Racing (formally known as F1 in Schools) National Championship.

STEM Racing is a global science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) based competition that will require students to design, manufacture, and race CO2-powered Formula 1 cars.

Lethbridge Polytechnic's soccer coach is retiring after more than a decade.

Vulcan-area resident, Sean Carey, first moved to Canada from England in 2001, where he and his wife settled in Camrose

Carey had previously played soccer when he was living in England, and when they moved to Camrose, he started chatting with the president of the soccer association there.

"And he just asked me if I wanted to Ref, and I said, 'Nope'," explained Carey. "And then he asked me if I'd like to coach, and I said, 'You know what, Yeah, I'll give that a try.'" 

A case of measles has been confirmed in Taber.

AHS confirmed the measles case, and they are letting people know the infected person had been in public, prompting them to alert the public to potential exposures, including on a flight from the Toronto Pearson International Airport to the Calgary International Airport.

The locations and times of the potential measles exposure include:

The High River Chamber of Commerce has issued a warning about another scam.

An email was sent out to members Wednesday morning from executive director Lisa Szabon-Smith warning about another email scam.

The email scammer is trying to sell off the High River Chamber of Commerce's distribution and membership list.

However, Szabon-Smith said it's a scam as they never have and never would sell their lists.

Here's a copy of the scam email.

Hi [Name],

The Brooks RCMP are asking for assistance locating a missing person.

They were last seen on Feb. 19 in Okotoks at the 7/11 near the Denny's.

It was believed they could have been traveling to the Calgary area, and the Brooks RCMP were concerned for their wellbeing, and they were wanting to speak with them.