HighRiver

There’s never been a better time to celebrate Canada’s beauty and support the businesses that make it the greatest country in the world.

Golden West introduces the See MORE Canada Auction, which will boost local tourism while helping Canadians rediscover the wonders in their backyard.

From lakeside retreats to city weekend getaways, individual adventures, this online auction is the ticket to unforgettable experiences at unbeatable prices.

But this is more than just an auction.

The two community gardens in High River are already going strong this spring.

There are actually four community gardens, but the ones at Sheppard Family Park and the Crossing Church (formerly known as the Full Gospel Church) are run independently of the ones at McLaughlin Meadows and Riverside.

Judy Evans, president of the High River Garden Society, says they run the McLaughlin Meadows Garden and the one at Riverside Drive in the northwest.

The plots are free through the Town of High River, but there is a long waiting list.

We're less than a week away from the Spray Park in northwest High River opening.

Mind you, it still needs to be 18° Celsius or hotter for it to open.

However, if Mother Nature cooperates, it will open this Friday, May 23.

The Town of High River evaluates the temperature three times daily at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Between May 23 and June 29, the park will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday to Sunday but closed Monday to Wednesday.

Then from June 30 to September 1, it will open daily from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m.

The sexual assault case of five hockey players faced another major upheaval Friday, abruptly converting from a jury to a judge alone in order to avoid a mistrial that would have rebooted the proceedings for a second time in less than a month.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia ruled to discharge the jury Friday over concerns about possible jury bias. The move came after a juror sent a note to the Carroccia indicating some members of the panel felt two of the defence lawyers were laughing at them as they came into court each day.

Alberta’s government has made 11th-hour changes to controversial proposed legislation, declaring that no separation referendum question could threaten First Nations' existing treaty rights.

Premier Danielle Smith’s government is working to considerably lower the threshold to allow for citizen-initiated referendums, including whether the province should separate from Canada.

Her government's proposed bill has yet to become law, but it's faced backlash from Indigenous leaders since its introduction in the house more than two weeks ago.

When a church in Toronto's west end was converted into affordable housing nearly 15 years ago, the group behind the project was already thinking ahead. 

Andrea Adams, the executive director of the non-profit developer St. Clare's, said she was "daydreaming" about what could be built on the yard next to the 20-unit building on Ossington Avenue. 

She was eventually introduced to Assembly Corp., a company that builds mass timber modular housing, around the same time that the city was looking for proposals for "shovel ready" affordable housing projects. 

Some outdoorsy Canadians are planning to build their tents with elbows up this summer as the season unofficially kicks off this long weekend.

Sally Turner says she and her husband plan to do their camping, canoeing and biking this year in Canadian national parks, including at Jasper National Park this weekend, because of the U.S. trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to make Canada a 51st state.

"I have, in the past, camped in the United States, but that's not going to happen in the near future," Turner said while shopping for camping gear in Edmonton.

Several Okotoks town facilities will be closed for Victoria Day on Monday.

Closures include the Municipal Centre, Operations Centre, Eco Centre, Family Resource Centre, Okotoks Art Gallery and the Okotoks Museum and Archives.

The offices at the RCMP/Municipal Enforcement building and Fire Station No. 1 will also be closed on Monday, but emergency services will still be available.

Severe thunderstorms need rising air, and to get that you need heat, or rather, you need a large difference in temperature between two areas.

Many people associate thunderstorms with a very hot day, but just having one of those does not mean that there is a large difference in temperature.

To get thunderstorms on a hot day, you need to have cool air aloft.

Initiatives in Saskatchewan and Alberta recognize some of the country’s most extensive and unique remaining prairie ecosystems.

There’s a new focus on protecting biodiversity in native prairie grasslands in southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta.

It’s coming in the form of new “key biodiversity area” designations, denoting they’re home to species at risk in this rapidly vanishing landscape.