Okotoks

The closure of a Diamond Valley road has been extended indefinitely.

On Monday, July 7, the Town posted to social media saying the closure of DUnham Road has been extended due to unforeseen construction challenges.

Former High River Town Councillor Carol MacMillan is running to be the town's next mayor.

MacMillan is a one-time former Town Councillor and has stayed very involved with the ongoings at Town Hall and within the town itself.

She said she's been listening to what a lot of locals would like to see happen in town, and she wants them to know that they've been heard.

Some telecommunications repair work will cause a lane to be closed in Okotoks for a few days.

The telecommunications box repair work will take place at 142 Milligan Drive, and while the work is happening, one of the lanes will be closed.

One of the lanes, though, will remain open while the work is being completed.

Bruce Burnett, Director of Weather and Markets with Glacier Farm Media says that's mainly driven by various factors affecting the broader oilseed market.

Rainfall across the prairies and even provincially has been quite variable this year.

Some areas have seen some pretty wicked storms bringing heavy rain, high winds and hail.

The Canadian Crop Hail Association says storm activity across the prairies in the last two weeks of June resulted in farmers filing well over 2000 hail claims.

According to the report mid-June thunderstorms dropped pea- to toonie-sized hail across Western Canada.  

The Okotoks Food Bank has recently received a few large donations from local organizations to kick off the summer.  

On Monday (July 7), the Gleichen RCMP received a weapons complaint, leading to the arrest of one individual.  

It was reported that the suspect was waving a knife at people on Main Street in Gleichen.   

The police arrived, they located and arrested a male, who was in possession of a large kitchen knife.    

World wheat stocks could climb to 271 million tonnes by the end of 2025-26, up from 264 million tonnes at the end of 2024-25

There will be plenty of wheat in the world in 2025-26, say analysts.

“As we enter mid-year Northern Hemisphere harvest, a larger-than-expected crop is expected to limit the upside in global wheat prices,” Dennis Voznesenski, agricultural economist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in his recent Agri Commodity Weekly Alert.

Pool B at the Calgary Stampede kicked off on Monday with some impressive performances from some Albertans.

Three Albertans are in Ladies Barrel Racing, two Albertans are in Bull Riding, and two outstanding performances were had by Albertans in Saddle Bronc.

In Saddle Bronc, former Champion Zeke Thurston had an impressive ride, as did fellow Albertan Kolby Wanchuck.

Here are the Albertan and Canadian highlights from Day One in Pool B.

Saddle Bronc:

Calgary's Chanse Vigen continues to dominate at the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races.

Jamie Laboucane is right on his heels, sitting in second in the aggregate.

Neither has won the coveted Rangeland Derby.

On a night with better track conditions than Sunday, some fast times were posted, and penalties were kept to a minimum.

Defending champ, Jason Glass from High River, came in 8th on the night and is now sitting in 12th in the aggregate.