FortSask

It's looking like we will be ringing in the New Year on the right foot. 

After weeks of sporadic weather that has seen temperatures dip as low as -45 C, it appears we are in for a stretch of tolerable weather to start off the New Year. 

Eric Van Lochem with Environment Canada says things will be a bit chilly to start. 

"Starting off on Saturday you're probably looking at a morning low around -15 C to -20 C or so," said Van Lochem. "Warming up to around -5 C to -10 C by afternoon and then we start a general warming trend going into Sunday." 

A fog advisory has been put in place for the region. 

Travel in the following areas will be hazardous for the remainder of Thursday (Dec. 29) night as patches of fog are causing near-zero visibility: 

• Fort Saskatchewan
• Gibbons
• Bon Accord
• Bruderheim
• Redwater

It's expected that things will start to clear up on Friday morning. 

If you do plan to travel in these areas, please take precautions. 

Sunwing Vacations Inc. is sending out dozens of recovery flights this week to bring home thousands of passengers stranded in Mexico after winter storms disrupted its operations. 

"We continue to navigate unprecedented operational challenges, resulting in a number of ongoing flight delays," said airline president Len Corrado in a statement. 

"We deeply apologize for the impact to our customers’ travel plans over the holiday season."

The airline said Thursday that it has 40 recovery flights planned this week with 24 expected to be completed by the end of the day.

Two British Columbia residents have been arrested by Fort Saskatchewan RCMP after getting caught stealing mail.

According to the RCMP, in the early hours of Dec. 17, police responded to a call of a pair of people breaking into mailboxes.

Police say that a man and woman were seen fleeing the scene in a vehicle but were eventually caught. 

Richard Kubik and Marion Sevilla, both residents of Sooke, British Columbia, have been charged with the following:

2022 brought some moisture benefits for farmers, while also introducing a whole host of other benefits and issues across the prairies.

In Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, many areas either saw too much rain, continued with drought, or managed to get right into the middle sweet spot.

The year has been one which had governments on the edge of their seats to see how crops and farmers would fare.

Manitoba Agriculture Minister Darren Johnson said that more moisture helped some farmers while hindering others.

Mayor Gale Katchur spoke about the criticism being received over the new shopping center.

The center, which will be built across the highway from Home Depot, is expected to be constructed over the next four to five years.

Some residents have taken to social media to voice their displeasure. 

"This will ruin the nice path that connects to all of the other paths. The paths and green spaces in Fort Sask are a big reason why a lot of people love this city," wrote Morgan Audrey Taylor in a Facebook comment.

A snow route parking ban goes into effect on Wednesday (Jan. 4) at 6 a.m. on all collector roads in Sherwood Park.

The ban applies to roads marked with permanent snow route signs. Vehicles must be removed to allow for safe snow removal.

If a vehicle isn't moved, police officers can issue a $250 ticket and tow the vehicle. 

Parking is permitted after the snow has been removed. 

However, school drop zones are being cleared overnight on Thursday (Dec. 29). No parking restrictions will be in place for the drop zones.

It was a pretty good Christmas weekend in the Fort. 

During a time when house fires are at one of their higher risks, the Fort Saskatchewan fire department didn't have to respond to many major calls. 

"Over the Christmas period, between 7 a.m. on December 23 to 7 a.m. on December 27, the Fort Saskatchewan Fire Department responded to nine calls for service," said Jeffrey Fox with the department. "These calls ranged from medical assistance calls to alarm calls." 

There were two calls that did come in regarding structure fires over that time period. 

Bradley Robert Cochet.

If you've been wanting to show off your strength, you're in luck. 

The first-ever Battle in the Fort strongman competition will be taking place in Fort Saskatchewan on April 22. 

Resident Garry MacDonald, who is a veteran of the sport, created the event. 

"I've been competing in strongman [competitions] for going on six years now and I fell in love with the sport," said MacDonald. "I noticed that in the past few years, especially with COVID, it was really hard for us to get a variety of competitions, and no one was really taking charge."