Strathmore

Now that the holiday season is over, many people are looking for a spot to get rid of their Christmas trees.

The City of Chestermere is encouraging residents to leave their trees at a drop-off bin near the John Peake Park boat launch spot until January 17.

"Please remove any tinsel, lights, and decorations, and remove trees from tree bags," wrote the city in a Facebook post.

According to the city, the trees will be recycled into mulch and used in parks around the area.

Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan’s annual general meeting or AGM is on January 8th. It is an online AGM both recapping the 2024 year as well as looking ahead to the 2025 growing year. Anyone interested is invited to join and learn about the inner workings of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan and will be introduced to a new organization created in partnership called Canadian Food Focus. Clinton Monchuk, program director with Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan, is excited for this new organization to help bring food awareness to more urban centers. 

Do you know someone in the community who's dedicated to helping seniors?

Nominations are now open for the 2024-25 Minister's Seniors Service Awards to recognize those who display kindness, compassion, and dedication to seniors.

"For 26 years, the Minister’s Seniors Service Awards have recognized and celebrated outstanding individuals and organizations for their service to Alberta’s seniors," wrote the provincial government in a news release. 

Valley Medical Clinic has closed its walk-in services until further notice.

The closure was announced on Tuesday (Dec. 31) on the clinic's Facebook page. 

Valley Medical had also closed on December 25 and 26 along with January 2, with limited hours available on January 3.

However, it's not sure when the clinic will be returning to its regular hours.

StrathmoreNow reached out to the organization for comment but did not receive an answer.

Grab your skates because the Strathmore Outdoor Rink is officially open to the public.

The town recently mentioned that crews were busy building ice but warmer temperatures delayed the start date of the rink.

According to the town, the spot was officially unveiled to residents on December 28, 2024.

The town says the rink was built in 2015 and is a year round facility that's free for residents to access.

Candidate nominations for the 2025 Municipal Election in Wheatland County are now available.

The election will be hosted on October 20 with voting being held from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

"Candidates are responsible for understanding all legislation concerning elections, including nomination, eligibility, campaigning restrictions, campaign finance and disclosure, election offences and prohibitions at voting stations," wrote the county on its website.

The Junior B Agra Risk Wheatland Kings ended 2024 with the most wins in franchise history.

The Kings are currently 19-5-1 with a total of 39 points, only four behind the division leading Carstar Okotoks Bisons.

The team has 13 games left in the season and so far forward Charlie Goll is leading the club with 26 points followed closely behind by forward Cole Tweit with 25.

Rookie goalie Derrick Ford is 10-3 on the season with a 2.00 GAA and Rhett Harten is 9-2-1 with a GAA of 2.31 in his third season with the Kings.

Happening Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. is a bottle drive for animals in the Rescued Paws of Alpine View Pet Spa.

The bottle drive is taking place at the Langdon Firehouse.

While you are there you can also take a look at some cute furry friends up for adoption.

Police in Brooks are looking for suspects involved in a theft at the Royal Helium Recovery Production facility on Christmas Eve.

According to RCMP, unknown suspects stole several large and expensive pieces of equipment by cutting a hole into the building.

"These items are extremely unique and have limited value outside of their intended use," wrote the RCMP in a news release.

 Police are now asking the public for help in locating the stolen items, which are described as:

Happy Birthday, Celsius!

Environment Canada's use of Celsius turns 50 years old in 2025. 

It was the catalyst of a lengthy national metric conversion that abruptly ended a decade after it began.

The result is seen and felt every day. Canadians wear clothes measured in inches and buy gas by the litre. They drink from millilitre beer cans and step on bathroom scales in pounds. They eat cereal by the gram and sub sandwiches by the foot. 

Give someone an inch, and they'll take a kilometre.