FortSask

Harbour Pool opened its doors on December 17, 1982, and on Saturday the pool celebrated its 40th anniversary.

This party featured a variety of goodies and snacks, a visit from the city's mascot Auggie, and a free swim.

City councilor Patrick Noyen served as deputy mayor, giving a speech where he told the story of when he was a young boy in the early 1990s, he gained his passion for swimming at Harbour Pool.

A lone gunman opened fire and killed five people at a Toronto-area condo building on Sunday evening before he himself was shot by police, the regional force's chief said. 

Jim MacSween, head of the York Regional Police Force, offered few details in the hours immediately following the shooting in Vaughan, Ont. But in a hastily called news conference outside the building, he said police immediately realized a complex situation was unfolding. 

"Once the officers arrived they were met with a horrendous scene," he said. "Numerous victims were deceased."

After several months on the run, four cows from a herd of runaway cattle were captured on Saturday night in St-Sévère, Que. 

The regional chapter of the Union des producteurs agricoles says the cows were transported back to their original farm on Sunday morning. 

Specialists examined the cows after their capture and confirmed the animals were in good shape. 

The union says weather conditions over the last few days prevented the entire herd from being captured, so another operation will take place soon to catch seven or eight animals that remain at large. 

The Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital will be temporarily closing down its labour and delivery unit on Sunday (Dec. 18). 

According to Alberta Health Services (AHS), the reason is staff shortage and a lack of shift coverage.

"Women’s health services are expected to resume at 7 a.m. on Dec. 29," AHS said in a statement.

Pregnant women who were planning to deliver at the hospital will now have to adjust their birth plan to deliver at the Sturgeon Community Hospital.

Plans are in place to help any labouring patient get to the Sturgeon if needed.

Owners of loud vehicles might want to start finding ways to quiet down in Fort Saskatchewan. 

At Tuesday's (Dec. 13) city council meeting a number of amendments to Fort Saskatchewan's traffic bylaw were approved and immediately went into effect. 

Among those changes was a cap on vehicle noise. 

This change added a bylaw that allows law enforcement to administer decibel readings of an idle vehicle and a vehicle traveling faster than idle. The limit for an idle vehicle has been set at 92 dBA while a moving vehicle must be at 96 dBA or below. 

Traffic delays caused many residents to miss this year's Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train stop in Josephburg on Dec. 9.

Strathcona County, the organizers of the Josephburg stop, are starting to come up with ideas to prevent something like this from happening again.

"Our biggest priority is safety," said Eiblis Doherty, economic development officer of tourism for Strathcona County. "There's a lot of cars that attempt to come into Josephburg in a very short time frame."

"There's always been traffic delays and parking issues for the event."

Have you been downtown lately? 

Since November, a Fort Saskatchewan downtown action plan has had local businesses staying open until 7 p.m. on Thursdays to help people get to know them ahead of Christmas. 

One of those businesses, Caught In The Cookie Jar, opened up in the city about five years ago and moved into a bigger location in the downtown core just two years ago. 

It's beginning to look a lot like PIZZA!

Congrats to Ms. Foster's Grade 1 class at SouthPointe School! They are the MIX 107 Classroom of the Month for December!

2022 was a busy year for the CCHA.

The Canadian Crop Hail Association says with increasing input costs, inflation and stronger crop prices farmers bought a record-setting $10 billion in insurance coverage.

Insurance payments to prairie producers topped $265 million with producer premiums totaling more than $375 million. 

The CCHA reports Alberta was the hardest hit with an industry loss ratio of 98 percent, compared to 2021’s 97 percent. 

Saskatchewan had a 68 percent loss ratio, compared to 133 percent in 2021.  

Multiple vehicles were involved in a crash on Highway 16. 

Alberta 511 reported the collision just after 8 a.m. on Friday morning (Dec. 16). 

It occurred in the eastbound lanes of Highway 16 where the road intersects with Highway 834. 

At about 9:30 a.m. the road was reported to have been cleared with no more delays in place. 

At this time, the nature of how the crash happened and the extent of the injuries are unknown. 

More to come...