FortSask

Hospitals all around the province are struggling with high volumes in their emergency departments. 

Due to these higher patient numbers, some people can wind up spending hours in a hospital waiting to see a doctor. 

So, how can people who might want to see a doctor for a less serious issue avoid the wait? 

Luckily, Alberta Health Services (AHS) does offer some assistance for those who want to check how busy the hospital is before they arrive. 

Before you head out to the hospital be sure to check the AHS wait-time estimator for emergency departments. 

If there is one thing that most Canadians can agree on, it's that winter roads are not fun, and Fort Saskatchewan is no exception. 

Over the past few weeks, crews have been hard at work clearing snow off of residential roads around the city and many folks in the community have been curious about the rules that come with that work. 

To properly clear off roads, the city has been asking residents to be vigilant of signs that indicate when their neighbourhood will be serviced and to move any vehicles off of the road. 

A newborn baby is among three people who died in a highway crash near Castlegar in southeast B.C. on Monday.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark says in a news release that police were called to a collision involving a car and a pickup truck on Highway 3a along the Kootenay River just before 4 p.m.

Clark says a 26-year-old man, a 25-year-old woman and an eight-day-old infant were killed in the passenger vehicle, while a two-year-old child survived and is expected to recover from their injuries.

The only person in the pickup was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

The Alberta Canola Conference kicked off yesterday in Lethbridge.

Producers taking part in the group's AGM heard the details of a spear-phishing attack that occurred in August.

Alberta Canola has implemented new ongoing cyber security training for staff and directors following a spear-phishing attack in August.

Director Ian Chitwood says payment for one invoice was diverted to a fraudulent account, the attack was discovered when the perpetrators tried a second attempt.

Searches for unmarked graves at the site of a former northern Ontario residential school have uncovered 171 “plausible burials," the Wauzhushk Onigum Nation said Tuesday, with other sites still to be investigated. 

Most of them were unmarked, except for five with grave markers, the First Nation said in a news release. 

Federal and provincial ministers were expected to meet with the First Nation Tuesday for discussions, including about resources to continue the investigation. 

Some more details have been released on how Fort Saskatchewan is going to use the results of the recent indoor recreation survey.

Residents are still receiving their access codes for the survey, which are being delivered through the mail. 

The survey asks how often you use Fort Saskatchewan's indoor recreational facilities, the reasons you participate in indoor recreation, and if you're satisfied with them.

Range Road 220 has been temporarily closed following a train fire.

Just after noon on Tuesday (Jan. 17), Strathcona County Firefighters responded to reports of a train on fire near Range Road 215 north of Wye Road.

When firefighters arrived, they noticed the train half a kilometre west of the road. 

"They made their way down and found a smouldering fire in an electrical compartment," said Strathcona County's deputy fire chief Devin Capcara.

Capcara added that Range Road 215 was closed briefly but has since reopened, but Range Road 220 remains closed.

As we enter the dead of winter, more and more people are noticing abandoned vehicles parked on roadways throughout the city. 

The City of Fort Saskatchewan is aware of these vehicles and follows provincial standards as well as a local bylaw to address them. 

"Municipal Enforcement receives numerous calls a year for abandoned vehicles," said Maryjo Webster with Fort Saskatchewan Municipal Enforcement. "A vehicle is considered 'abandoned' under the Traffic Safety Act after 72 hours of not moving." 

Yesterday, Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the six finalists for the Food Waste Reduction Challenge for the Novel Technologies Stream which features two grand prizes of up to $1 million.

The finalists are:
 - ALT TEX Inc. (Kitchener, Ontario)
 - Aruna Revolution Health Inc. (Trois-Rivières, Québec)
 -  Chinova Bioworks Inc. (Fredericton, New Brunswick)
 -  Clean Works Inc. (St. Catharines, Ontario)
 - Carbon Lock Tech (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
 - Genecis Bioindustries Inc. (Scarborough, Ontario)

Two sisters who have spent nearly 30 years in prison for what they say are wrongful murder convictions hugged and smudged before walking into a courthouse for a bail hearing Tuesday.

Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were convicted in 1994 of second-degree murder in the death of 70-year-old farmer Anthony Joseph Dolff, near Kamsack, Sask.