FortSask

Not everyone is thrilled with the announcement that a 20-acre, $270 million shopping center will be built just north of Highway 21. 

Reactions from residents voice many concerns, with most being unhappy about the location. 

"With all of the empty spots in town for lease why would you not want to fill those first before building another giant monstrosity that is going to probably sit half empty," said Miranda Garritsen 

Others think that downtown should be getting more support. 

Sturgeon County residents should expect to pay more taxes starting next year. 

The county council approved a more than $76 million multi-year budget on Tuesday (Dec. 13) that included a 3.9 per cent tax rate increase. 

Mayor Alanna Hnatiw says the tax hike was caused by factors largely out of their control. 

"This year, we faced several budget challenges that meant supporting our current service levels required a tax increase," said Hnatiw. "[With the] increase in fuel costs, increase in the inflation for wages, the 3.9 [per cent rise] is what we landed on." 

Staff at Sky Hy Pizza & Donair got quite the surprise earlier this week. 

Two longtime customers, Chris Guy and Clayton Harrison, showed off their brand-new tattoos to show off their love for the pizza joint. 

Guy's tattoo says 'Sky Hy till I die' while Harrison's has a skull saying 'SkyHy 4 life'. 

Guy says the idea to get the tattoos came out of the blue. 

"Me and Clayton were talking, we do enjoy our donairs and have been friends for 20 years," said Chris. "We figured we'd get something together and we decided to get [the tattoos]." 

A lot of people are talking about the challenge this year of finding that Christmas turkey.

Darren Ferrance, Chair of the Turkey Farmers of Canada says the turkey industry was hit hard by avian influenza.

He says they had 46 cases of avian influenza reported in commercial turkey operations, which resulted in the loss of 991 thousand birds.

"In Canada, at the end of November the losses are totalling about 12 and a half million kilograms due to AI, and on the Prairies, that's about 5.6 million kilograms.

There's a lot of discussion around the Federal Governments move to introduce amendments to Bill C-21 that would also result in banning several types of hunting rifles. 

Conservatives MP for Cypress Hills-Grasslands Jeremy Patzer says it's not based on any evidence.

"The claim from the government is that they're only trying to ban semi-automatic firearms that can receive a cartridge that can hold more than five rounds. But what we're seeing is there's a lot of single-shot firearms in there. There's a lot of your regular hunting rifles that are part of this ban."

Fort Saskatchewan RCMP have arrested a woman for several offenses, including running from police, and a string of thefts.

On Tuesday (Dec. 13), police say they noticed a U-haul driven by Crystal Hee, a 24-year-old woman that was wanted for several crimes. Police allegedly tried to stop the U-haul but it fled.

The vehicle was found parked by Mounties soon after.

Hee was arrested and charged with two previous thefts in Fort Saskatchewan, as well as one in Chipman where she was said to have been driving a stolen vehicle.

An Alberta mountain town has passed a bylaw banning smoking and vaping in most public places.

Banff's bylaw, which comes into effect in February, prohibits tobacco smoking and vaping in its municipal parks and green spaces, on trails and pathways, and at outdoor markets and events. It also covers bus stops, public sidewalks and in proximity to children.

"Making Banff smoke-free in public places is an effort to help residents and visitors to enjoy Banff without the health risks of second-hand smoke," Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno said in a statement Wednesday.

Whether it's flowers and cookies or board games and jewelry, there's a business downtown for everything.

Businesses all over downtown Fort Saskatchewan are staying open later to help bring people to the area.

"People keep talking about that they want to be able to shop downtown," said Erin Brush Duncan, economic development officer with The City of Fort Saskatchewan. "When you're working your standard hours it's kind of hard for people to come and find those open businesses."

You'll no longer have to deal with slower-than-usual speed limits on the new Highway 15 bridges. 

After completing all the necessary work, speed limits going in and out of the city were set back to 70 km/h a few weeks ago. 

This isn't to say that all work on the bridge is done. 

On Wednesday (Dec. 14) the city of Fort Saskatchewan released a brief update on the construction surrounding the bridge. 

The trails underneath the bridge are still a work in progress with paving set to start in the Spring. 

A former Lamont Health Care Centre employee has been charged with knowingly disclosing health information.

On Friday (Dec. 9), Kathryn Starzynski pled guilty to taking photos of three long-term care residents back in 2019.

She took a photo of a resident using a 'bug-eye' filter before sharing the photo with a friend.

She shared two other photos on social media accounts.

Taking photos of patients is in violation of the Health Information Act, which states that disclosing health information (including pictures) is a punishable offence.