FortSask

Two of Fort Saskatchewan's finest hockey players share an interesting childhood history. 

At one point in time, both Olen Zellweger and Colton Dach were the same class together at Our Lady of Angels. 

The two NHL draft picks were taught by Nikki Brouwer at the time. She now teaches a grade two class at Holy Redeemer in Ardrossan. 

"I remember teaching them, I taught them grade six," said Brouwer. 

Their love of hockey was evident from a young age, but Brouwer says that didn't stop the pair from also being model students. 

There are tons of historical sites throughout Fort Saskatchewan. From the old courthouse to the CN Station, this city's history is sprinkled all throughout downtown.

Did you know that there are a few houses in downtown Fort Saskatchewan with some hints of local history?

Here are just a few of these houses, along with what made them so memorable.

Strathcona County RCMP worked alongside Edmonton Police (EPS) to track down a stolen truck.

Late last week, EPS contacted Strathcona County RCMP about a 2021 GMC Sierra that was stolen earlier that morning. The truck's GPS tracked the vehicle to Sherwood Park.

RCMP located the vehicle and followed it into a Superstore parking lot on Baseline Road. Two suspects were arrested with the assistance of police dogs.

The suspects, 41-year-old Jeffrey Lukala, and 31-year-old Jessica Gehman, both Edmonton residents, also had arrest warrants based out of the city.

It's been a bit over a week since Imperial Oil announced that they would move forward with a $720 million investment in Strathcona County. 

Imperial Oil's plan is to build Canada's largest renewable diesel facility at their current Strathcona location with production slated to start in 2025. 

The county is ecstatic about the development. 

G3 is renewing its support of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA).

The company is committing $50,000 to CASA in 2023, maintaining G3’s position as a top sponsor and Safety Champion of the BeGrainSafe program.

CASA’s BeGrainSafe program raises awareness of the risks of becoming trapped in grain, trains firefighters in rescue techniques, and makes available specialized grain rescue equipment to rural fire departments.

Canada is ready to help in the aftermath of a disastrous earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday, as authorities in those countries reported that more than 3,400 people had died and thousands more were injured.

Rescue workers and residents searched the rubble of toppled buildings for survivors and officials feared the death toll would keep climbing.

Wide-spread service issues are affecting Telus services in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Issues include dropped mobile calls and data, which also include users unable to dial 911 in case of emergencies. 

"We apologize, TELUS Services are currently experiencing a disruption, including impact to mobile devices, which may affect your ability to reach emergency (911) services," reads an online notification from Telus. 

"We recognize how this interruption may impact you, and we appreciate your patience as we work to restore services as quickly as possible."

Three Morinville cheer teams landed themselves first-place trophies over the weekend. 

Teams from Morinville Community High School (MCHS), G.H Primeau (GHP), and St. Kateri Academy (SKT) took part in Cheerfest in Athabasca. 

The MCHS Wolves were among the most successful of the bunch, taking home first-place finishes in four categories including: 

• 1st in All-Girl Advanced
• 1st in Game Day divisions
• 1st in both Cheerfest divisions 

Amanda Bulger helped coach the Wolves and is super proud of how they came together. 

The Gibbons fire department had a very busy 2022. 

In a recent Facebook post, the department revealed every single call they responded to over the year. 

"We had 325 calls total, and that includes town and county," said Eric Lowe, the Gibbons fire chief. "Which is a big year for us." 

The department saw a variety of different calls come in, including a fair amount of structure fires and vehicle collisions. 

Fire chief Todd Martens has given an update on the fire in downtown Fort Saskatchewan last week.

According to Martens, they received the call of the fire at 12:46 p.m. and arrived on the scene within five minutes.

Firefighters arrived to see heavy smoke and flames. They quickly determined that it was an abandoned house and that the extent of the damages was a complete write-off.

Due to the type of building, there were challenges in putting the fire out. An excavator was needed to gain access to hot spots on the roof.