Okotoks

Diamond Valley Fire Rescue responded to a vehicle fire on Wednesday (June 11), which caused a road to be closed for a couple of hours.

At approximately 4:42 p.m., the Diamond Valley Fire Rescue were dispatched to a vehicle fire on George Street between Sunset Boulevard and McLeod Crescent/Regent Road on the Turner Valley side of town.

Once the crews arrived, they saw a construction trailer that was fully engulfed in flames, and the radiating heat was threatening a neighbouring home.

Protests during the upcoming G7 leaders summit in Kananaskis, Alta., may be starkly different than demonstrations happening this week against immigration crackdowns in the United States.

A University of Toronto research group that has been monitoring the meetings of world leaders since 1998 says its analysis shows Canadian protests are more peaceful and smaller.

But similar to the recent demonstrations in Los Angeles, they're likely to be against the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more surgeries are being performed than before the pandemic — but wait times have still grown longer. 

The report released Thursday looked at wait times for hip and knee replacements, cataract procedures, cancer surgeries, MRIs and CT scans in 2019 and in 2024.

The 35th Annual Okotoks Rotary Club Soapbox Derby happened this past weekend, and over 100 kids took part.

The Derby took place on Saturday, June 7, on Crystal Ridge Drive in Okotoks, and according to the Rotary Club of Okotoks President, Jeff Foss, it took the overall winner just over half a minute to get down the hill.

"We had a lovely day, and we had, I think it was 104 kids go down the hill," Foss explained. "And it was a good day, a lot of smiling faces."

There were 24 heats, each with 4 racers, competing to see who was the fastest this year.

High River residents are going to have a new buddy to help them with water conservation this summer.

The Town of High River is launching a community-wide initiative that will help people be mindful about water usage, both indoors and outdoors. 

To help combat increasingly hot and dry summers and conserve water, the Town of High River has introduced LawNathan, which has become the face of the Town's mascot for their 2025 Water-Wise with LawNathan campaign.

The LawNathan mascot is also a reminder that lawns don't need to just be green, as brown lawns are okay.

Trail hikers who go to K-Country may have to find a different place to go hiking for the time being.

A close encounter and multiple sightings of a grizzly bear near the trailhead of Burstall Pass Trail has caused the trail to be closed until further notice.

On top of Burstall Pass Trail being closed, the Burstall Pass Day Use, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Hogarth Lakes Trail, and French Creek are all affected by grizzly sightings.

Even though there is an advisory in place for this area, hikers can encounter bears anywhere in the Kananaskis Region at any time.

A local arcade is going to have some of their machines at the Calgary Stampede this year.

Retro Oasis Escape Rooms and Arcade will be participating in the 8-Bit Roundup that will be happening in the downstairs of the Big Four Roadhouse.

According to Oasis Escape Rooms and Arcade owner, Steve Smith, they have partnered with three other businesses to bring roughly 40 pinball machines and 40 arcade machines to the Stampede.

Local firefighters scaled the 1,370 stairs in Brookfield Place for the Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge on June 8, raising funds and awareness for cancer care.  

The climb is in support of Wellspring Alberta, a not-for-profit organization that provides programs and services to firefighters and all citizens battling or living with cancer.      

The Medieval Faire is coming back to the High River Ag grounds during the Canada Day long weekend.

Local organizers, brothers Ryan and Warren Neilson, are really jacking up the event this year.  Warren said it'll be way bigger and better than last year.

"The turnout last year was so spectacular that we wanted to really ramp it up this year, so we booked the indoor as well and really went for just trying to double the size and really bring in a lot more entertainment and whatnot for the spectators."

Orvella Small, the long-time executive director of Inclusion Foothills, is officially retiring.

After founding the non-profit organization more than 25 years ago, she said it's time to hand over the reins.

After what was a very hard decision to make, she explained how she decided it was time.