HighRiver

On Thursday, June 26, Holy Trinity Academy's Class of 2025 crossed the stage at their commencement.

The annual ceremony is held at St. James Parish, across the street from the high school.

Several speakers addressed students, parents, and loved ones, including valedictorian Brianna Hill, salutatorian Claire Wagner, Foothills MP John Barlow, Otipemisiwak Metis Government Citizens’ Representative Lisa San Filippo, and representatives from the Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools board.

Students had their final day of classes the day before, on June 25.

Two people, including a nine-year-old girl, are dead following an early morning house fire east of the Calgary airport.

The second victim, a man in his 50s, was found deceased inside the home, while the girl was sent to hospital but did not survive.

Fire spokeswoman Carole Henke says emergency crews called to the Taradale neighbourhood were met by roaring flames bursting from a two-storey home, threatening other nearby structures.

A portable air monitoring station is possibly coming to the Town of Claresholm.  

During the June 23 regular meeting, Cynthia Wannamaker, a Claresholm representative for the Calgary Region Airshed Zone (CRAZ) requested that council allow a Portable Air Monitoring Laboratory (PAML) to be placed in the town for one year.  

The Town of High River has a full lineup of events planned for Canada Day.

Festivities begin at 1 p.m. in George Lane Park, featuring a variety of family-friendly activities.

Highlights include a Show and Shine, a Canada Day Market hosted by Inclusion Foothills, carnival-style games, food trucks, and a Canada Day cake cutting at 2 p.m.

Daytime activities will wrap up at 4 p.m.

The celebration continues in the evening at Emerson Lake from 7 to 11 p.m.

M.D. of Willow Creek landowners who are interested in improving their land's health, resilience, and beauty by planting trees are in luck.

Through Willow Creek's micro forest and shelterbelt program, landowners in Willow Creek are able to get free tree planting services.

Shakti by Telus is a Canadian reforestation company that specializes in project development, tree planting, sourcing, seed collection, and site preparation, and they are offering tree planting services that are customized to the property and the landowner's vision for Willow Creek landowners.

A new Principal for Stavely School was announced by the Livingstone Range School Division last week.

Julaine Guitton moves into the position beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Lethbridge, has a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Alberta and is currently chasing a Master of Education from the University of Alberta.

Guitton has a lot of experience in the education field with more than 20 years teaching all grade levels throughout the division.

Canada's elections commissioner said Wednesday she has no evidence to suggest the federal election result in April was affected by foreign interference, disinformation or voter intimidation — even though the volume of complaints about the campaign shot way up.

In a preliminary report, Commissioner Caroline Simard said her office received more than 16,000 complaints about the spring campaign that ended on April 28 — seven times the number of complaints received in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Sen. Patrick Brazeau is said to be recovering after collapsing on the Senate floor on Wednesday in the midst of debate on the federal government's major projects bill.

Brazeau, 50, rose to speak shortly after 4 p.m. before falling over sideways onto the floor.

A Senate spokesman says Brazeau appears to be recovering following an examination by paramedics.

Warning: The following video contains mild foul language and a medical event.

The Town of Claresholm is urging all pet owners to follow responsible pet ownership practices.  

The town has received ongoing concerns about dogs running loose, off-leash dogs in public areas, aggressive behaviour and excessive barking.  

A key member of Alberta's new panel fighting federal overreach says Canada's immigration system needs fixing, but couldn't comment on the panel considering an idea to cut supports for some newcomers.

Business Council of Alberta president Adam Legge says questions about potentially excluding certain immigrants from services like health care should be addressed to Premier Danielle Smith.

Barring services to some newcomers is a solution being put forward on immigration on the panel's website.