HighRiver

A few local hockey players are looking to earn a spot on the Team Alberta U16 roster this fall.  

The Alberta Cup Hockey Tournament was held in Red Deer on April 24.  

Team Alberta Red took gold with local players Hudson Pineda on defence, and Nolan Ilsley and Max Mullen as forwards.   

The Liberal government is poised to table landmark legislation to break down internal trade barriers and increase labour mobility within Canada.

The government has put a bill on the House of Commons notice paper that could potentially be tabled as early as today.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to break down internal trade barriers by Canada Day to create one economy — although the time left on the parliamentary calendar suggests the legislation will not gain Royal Assent by the time the House rises for the summer.

In 2023, as Canada suffered through its worst-ever wildfire season, the federal government was looking at creating a national disaster response agency.

Two years later, the country is again facing another summer of wildfires. There is still no sign of such an agency, though governments are tapping the private sector to help with evacuations.

Ali Asgary, a York University professor of disaster and emergency management, said the work to establish a national agency is "unfortunately … not going as fast as our crises are going."

Southbound traffic experienced delays north of Okotoks on Thursday (June 5) evening due to a vehicle breakdown.

The incident occurred on Highway 2A, just south of the overpass.

The vehicle broke down in the left shoulder and was partially blocking the left lane, forcing drivers to navigate around it.

The scene has now been cleared, and traffic flow has resumed.

Alberta's government has ditched a new fee schedule for breweries that would have seen the province's oldest beer maker pay significantly more in taxes.

The schedule, introduced in February after Alberta tabled its budget, substantially lowered the production threshold breweries needed to meet before they paid the highest fee to the government, while also adjusting the production limits and fees building up to the cap.

The 2025 Okotoks Film Festival (OFF) kicked off on Wednesday, June 5, and the house was packed.

Attendees flocked to Okotoks Cinemas on the event's opening night, with tickets selling out for the first time in OFF history.

The night began with a screening of the short film Finding French 50, followed by the made-in-Alberta feature The Ties That Bind, a harrowing political period piece set in small-town Alberta during the Great Depression.

The Taber Police Service received a call this morning (June 5) about an intact grenade.

This morning, the Taber Interpretive Centre Museum called the police because staff at the museum found an old intact grenade.

The Taber Police took to Facebook early this afternoon to let the public know the museum and the Aquafum Centre were closed out of caution.

Police will remain on scene until bomb disposal experts can deal with the grenade.

A local youth activist is hoping to share the voices of youth from across the globe at the upcoming G7 Summit in Kananaskis.   

Grade 11 student Nolan Asplund took to social media in the spring to gather input from youth locally and internationally on a range of topics and issues they want world leaders to address.  

Okotokians will be able to watch a Soap Box Derby this weekend.

For the 35th year, the Rotary Club of Okotoks is putting on their Annual Rotary Club of Okotoks Soap Box Derby this Saturday, June 7.

According to the Rotary Club of Okotoks President, Jeff Foss, there will be over 100 kids between the ages of 8 and 14 competing to see who has the fastest cart.

"Each kid will have an opportunity to race in each of the four lanes," Foss explains. "And then the final heat will determine the winners of each heat."

Canada Post will soon issue its fourth set of stamps honouring Indigenous leaders in Canada.

This is part of a multi-year series that honours the lives and legacies of Indigenous leaders by immortalizing them on a stamp.

One of those they are honouring is Bruce Starlight from Tsúut'ínà Nation.

Starlight is an Elder and Knowledge Keeper who has spent over 50 years working to save his language and culture from extinction.

He was born in Tsúut'ínà Nation in 1947 and has served as a language commissioner for his community.