HighRiver

An Okotoks restaurant is getting national attention for its mid-day fare.

The Heartland Café has been named one of Canada’s 100 best brunch and lunch spots by OpenTable.

The list was compiled using diner reviews and demand metrics from the platform’s users.

It's one of 14 Alberta restaurants on the list, with others including favourites from Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, Canmore, and Beaumont.

The Town of Nanton’s Quality of Life Survey results are in to guide the 2025 Strategic Plan.   

The goal of the survey was to gather insight into how residents feel about community services, safety, economic development, and recreation within Nanton.  

Of the 211 responses, over 72 per cent rated the quality of life in Nanton as good or excellent.  

What would it take to run in the federal election?

That was one of the questions Julie Barker, a mom from Nanton, needed to answer for her son.

"It started with a question from my 10-year-old son, and he had some questions I didn't have all the answers for, so I said, 'Well, let's go to your computer. Let's look up Elections Canada and start looking for some answers."

After looking at the page, which Barker found very easy to navigate, she says her son just asked her point blank if she could be the M.P.

The second annual Canadian Wild Pig Summit is set to take place on April 29th. This virtual event will feature a morning of presentations focusing on wild pig monitoring programs and recommendations from Indigenous communities regarding the Canadian Invasive Wild Pig Strategy.

Organized by Manitoba Pork, Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, and Animal Health Canada, the summit aims to address the growing wild pig population in Western Canada. These animals pose significant dangers to people and livestock and cause considerable environmental damage.

The Town of Okotoks is seeking residents' feedback to help shape tourism in the community.  

A new five-year Tourism Strategy and Action Plan is in the works to guide sustainable tourism management.  

Public feedback will ensure the strategy reflects the character, values, and voices of local businesses.   

The Western Dairy Expo begins today in Saskatoon, bringing together dairy producers from across Western Canada to showcase the best of the best in the dairy industry. 

The event runs through Saturday at Prairieland and is also being live-streamed.

The Expo starts at 2 pm today with junior events, featuring showmanship and a junior show where kids under 21 will present heifers.

Donald Bolen, the archbishop of Regina, is travelling to Vatican City for Saturday’s funeral of Pope Francis – a journey, he says, is to honour a pontiff who mirrored his vision and his compassion.

"When (Francis) put out a book called 'The Name of God is Mercy,' I smiled. Because my episcopal motto is 'mercy within mercy within mercy' — very much that same understanding,” Bolen said in an interview.

"I had enormous respect for Pope Francis through his pontificate.”

Signs say Manitoba’s wild pigs aren’t headed for a population boom, says Wayne Lees, co-ordinator for Squeal on Pigs Manitoba.

“We’ve always heard that, you know, these pigs are going to explode in population,” Lees said. “Our field experience didn’t really support that, so we wanted to start challenging some of these assumptions.”

WHY IT MATTERS: A study from Squeal on Pigs Manitoba appears to show a slower population growth of wild pigs in Manitoba than originally expected.

Pierre Poilievre is defending the Conservative campaign platform's heavy reliance on economic growth in a period of deep uncertainty, while the NDP and Liberals spar over cost-cutting.

The Conservative leader was campaigning in Hamilton, Ont., on Wednesday, with just days to go before the federal vote on Monday and a day after he released the party's costed campaign platform.

The Town of Okotoks has received $5,071,448 from the provincial government’s Local Growth and Sustainability Grant (LGSG).  

The funding will be allocated for the River’s Edge Development Project to manage infrastructure demands while supporting future community growth.   

Construction is expected to begin in September.