After 12-year engagement, Airdrie man sets wedding date following $1M lottery win

An Airdrie man says he and his partner are finally ready to get married after a $1-million LOTTO MAX win earlier this month.

"We’ve been engaged for 12 years, and now we can actually plan a wedding," said Jack Puglas, who matched one of the MAXMILLIONS prizes on the May 6 draw.

Puglas said he was making coffee when he scanned his ticket with the Lotto Spot app and couldn’t believe what he saw.

"I scanned it a few times before I went to wake my fiancé up," he said. "She scanned it on her phone too and then we went to the [Circle K] to see if it was real!"

Residents across the Prairies flee, others on edge due to wildfire threats

From Alberta to Manitoba, residents across the Prairies are out of their homes, while others remain on edge as wildfires inch closer to their communities.

The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Saskatchewan has imposed an evacuation order for more than 1,800 residents of Pelican Narrows, 412 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

They are to flee to PAGC Urban Services, also known as the Margo Fournier Centre, in Prince Albert.

Levy charged to Alberta oil companies too low to cover orphan well costs: report

A new report is warning the annual levy charged to Alberta oil companies to fund the cleanup of orphaned oil and gas wells remains too low to keep up with the rate of surrendering.

The report, written by former University of Calgary Public Interest Law Clinic lawyer Drew Yewchuk, says this year's levy rate combined with low rates in previous years is leading to an estimated funding shortfall of $1.2 billion.

Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture to hold Alberta forum

The Americas Agriculture and Food Security Forum will be held at Olds College and run parallel to the G7 meeting in Kananaskis.

The agenda for this year’s G7 Leader’s Summit contains no discussions of agriculture or food security, but one organization is aiming to make up for what the G7 lacks at an event of it own.

2025 Semi-finalists selected for the CCA's CYL program

The Canadian Cattle Association's (CCA) Canadian Cattle Young Leaders (CYL) program is extremely popular. 

The CCA program was developed in 2010 as a succession tool for the industry; since then, the program has had over 200 graduates.

The CYL program is geared towards people 18 to 35 from across Canada involved in various aspects of the beef supply chain.

Cailey Church, the CCA's Youth Leadership Co-ordinator says the program pairs the participant with a mentor in their specific area of interest for nine months.

In throne speech, King Charles celebrates a Canada still 'strong and free'

Seated in a brand-new throne and surrounded by dignitaries, King Charles opened Parliament Tuesday with a show of royal tradition — the first throne speech delivered by a reigning monarch in Canada in nearly half a century.

Reading from the speech — which is drafted by the federal government and lays out its policy priorities — the King proclaimed the "True North is indeed strong and free" and reaffirmed Canada's sovereignty while underscoring the "unprecedented" challenges the nation faces.

The PBFC is back up and running

The Picture Butte Feeder Co-op (PBFC) in Alberta is fully operational again.

The Feeder Associations of Alberta note that this has been an exceptionally trying time for the PBFC's members, whose operations were put on hold through no fault of their own. 

Earlier this year, the province suspended the group's access to the Feeder Association Loan Guarantee Program (FALGP) following an investigation and concerns relating to financial mismanagement and regulatory issues.

Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt named to Alberta First cabinet committee

Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt has been appointed to Alberta's "Alberta First" cabinet policy committee, one of four cabinet policy committees named by Premier Danielle Smith on Monday.

Pitt, named in the Alberta First committee list with Premier Danielle Smith and other ministers, was among those appointed to the committee. The committee is chaired by Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken.

Seeding delays reported in Alberta

Farmers have been experiencing some rain delays, but seeding is still ahead of the five-year average of 59 per cent complete.

Alberta's latest crop report shows provincially 73 per cent of the 2025 crop is now in the ground. 

The South is furthest ahead at 87 per cent seeded, followed by the Central, North West, and North East regions. The Peace Region is now at  61 per cent seeded up from 27 per cent last week.

Supply management worth keeping: professor

An agricultural ecologist makes the case for building the supply managed model rather than losing it in trade talks.

A Canadian agricultural ecologist says the supply management model is one worth building on, not destroying.

Claude Caldwell, professor emeritus at Dalhousie University and a former federal researcher, said regional and rural-urban divides have developed that send mixed messages to politicians and negotiators, and he worries about upcoming trade negotiations.

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