FortSask

A new playground has finished construction in downtown Fort Saskatchewan, but this one has a catch -- it's all made from natural materials.

The Fort, which finished construction on Thursday (Nov. 17), is in the middle of its final inspection with an expected opening day of Tuesday (Nov. 22). The playground is located next to the Fort Heritage Precinct.

According to Jenelle Hart, parks services manager with The City of Fort Saskatchewan, studies show that kids need to get out and play in natural areas.

The USDA's November World Agricultural Supply Demand Estimates report saw an unexpected change.

Dan Basse with Ag Resource Company says the surprise in the report was an increase in yield for US Corn and Soybeans:

"That extra supply ended up coming through in both end-use stocks and U.S. soybean. End-use stocks were up 10 per cent or 20 million bushels to 220 million bushels. The corn was still relatively tight, it was a little under 1.3 billion bushels."

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is continuing its investigation into a recent Shigella outbreak.

According to AHS, they noticed a cluster of Shigella cases from the inner-city population of Edmonton in August.

Back in October, they identified 87 people with Shigella — 64 of them were taken to hospital.

In less than a month, these cases have doubled to 173 people identified with Shigella — 115 required hospitalizations.

The annual Lights Up! celebration will be returning in its full form next Friday (Nov. 25). 

The event will take place at Fort Saskatchewan City Hall and will be both an indoor and outdoor celebration, a change from last year's completely outdoor format. 

Arthur Lewandowski, the community events and tourism specialist for the city, is excited to bring the holiday spirit to Fort Sask. 

Elk Island Public School's (EIPS) longest-serving superintendent will be moving on at the end of the school year. 

Mark Liguori, 62, has been teaching since the late 1980s and has served as the division's superintendent since 2015. 

"It has absolutely been rewarding," said Liguori. "It's the people I will remember the most regardless of whether it's our staff, our parents or our students." 

Being in the role for the past eight years has proven to be anything but ordinary, but Liguori looks back fondly on all the challenges that came his way. 

When Teagan Littlechief sings in front of thousands of fans at Sunday's Grey Cup game, she'll be thinking about Canada's Indigenous youth. 

Littlechief, who is from White Bear First Nation on Treaty 4 territory in southeastern Saskatchewan, says she was often the only Indigenous person on stage when she first started performing.

The Shell Theatre will be the place to be on Saturday (Nov. 19) night! 

The Anchor's Up Tour will take to the stage for a night full of maritime melodies. This MIX Presents show features three of the hottest east coast artists -- Old Man Luedecke, The Fortunate Ones, and The Once 

"Every year I head out to the East Coast Music Awards to find new talent," said Josh Gennings from the Shell Theatre. "The environment there is one where everyone gets on stage to perform, and the music is just amazing!" 

"We wanted to recreate that out here in Fort Saskatchewan." 

The Canadian Seed Growers Association (CSGA) has a new affiliation agreement with its seven regional branches.

The agreement includes the Alberta-British Columbia Seed Growers, Saskatchewan Seed Growers and the Manitoba Seed Grower Associations.

CSGA Executive Director Doug Miller says with the industry going through a seed industry modernization initiative it's important to have unity and a clear message.

No case has ever been found in Canada, but the disease has had a major impact in countries like Asia, Europe and the Carribean.

African Swine Fever is a fatal swine disease.

Earlier this week, Ottawa announced applications are now open for Agriculture Canada's African Swine Fever prevention and preparedness program. 

Funding for the new program will support projects such as biosecurity assessments and improvements, wild pig management, the retrofit of existing abattoirs, sector analysis and ASF-related research.

The outdoor rinks in Fort Saskatchewan have a definitive opening day. 

According to the city manager in a Facebook post, depending on the weather, the two boarded rinks will be flooded next week with an estimated opening on the week of Nov. 27.

The snowbank rinks will start being built at the same time, with the city hoping to have them open in early December. 

As of Thursday (Nov. 17) morning, the ice at the snowbank rinks is currently five centimetres thick. The city needs at least fifteen centimetres to be able to build the rink.