FortSask

Strathcona County RCMP is investigating an increase in mail thefts around the area. 

Police say that they have noticed a large number of incidents involving small parcels and cards being stolen from rural community mailboxes in the county. 

Constable Chantelle Kelly wants residents to take extra precautions to make sure they don't become victims this holiday season. 

A collision is causing delays on Highway 21 this morning (Dec. 16). 

Alberta 511 is reporting that the collision is located on the highway at Township Road 510 north of Looma. 

The highway was down to one lane for a time but has since been cleared.

More to come...

Expect to see some prices rise next year. 

On Tuesday (Dec. 13) Fort Saskatchewan city council approved the 2023 budget during their regular council meeting.

The operating budget includes an expected 3.05 per cent property tax increase.

“Council approved budget while facing unprecedented inflationary pressures," said Mayor Gale Katchur. "Our goal was to ensure existing programs and all services are maintained at the high level our citizens have come to expect while keeping the property tax increase to a minimum."

It seems like things are going smoothly at Fort Saskatchewan's newest walk-in clinic. 

After opening last Friday (Dec. 9), things have been steady as residents try to take advantage of the new resource. 

Owner Raj Bharadia is excited that the community is embracing them early on. 

"The first week of us being open has been fantastic," said Bharadia. "Over the week we have seen over 130 patients in the clinic."

Fort Saskatchewan RCMP had to use a spike strip to stop a local man on a car chase. 

On Tuesday (Dec. 13), police say they responded to a stolen vehicle report in Bruderheim. Mounties found the vehicle a short time later in Fort Saskatchewan.

RCMP reportedly tried to stop the vehicle, but the suspect took off at a high speed. 

With the assistance of specialized units and RCMP from Morinville, Redwater, and air services, police were able to stop the suspect with tire spikes.

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."