FortSask

A shift towards environmentally friendly materials and new digital engagement strategies are among new initiatives the Royal Canadian Legion is hoping will breathe fresh life into the 2022 national poppy campaign.

The annual push to honour fallen soldiers officially launched on Friday and is set to run until Remembrance Day, and organizers say they're hopeful the features introduced this year will help re-engage Canadians in the act of paying tribute to veterans both past and present.

Families of those killed or injured in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash are raising concerns that Saskatchewan's rules for truck driving licences could be loosened as the industry deals with a shortage of drivers. 

The crash killed 16 people and injured 13 others after a bus carrying the junior hockey team collided with a transport truck at a rural intersection on April 6, 2018. 

Farmers are being encouraged to let their name stand for the Alberta Canola Producers Commission.

Monday, October 31st is the Director nomination deadline for Regions 1, 4, 7, and 10. 

Farmers are eligible to be a director if they or the farm operation has paid a check off to the Alberta Canola Producers Commission for canola grown in one of these regions since August 1, 2020.

A former Fort Saskatchewan U16 AAA Ranger has made the jump to the WHL. 

Ismail Abougouche, who was born in Lac La Biche but spent the last three years playing hockey in Fort Saskatchewan, has cracked the lineup for the Kelowna Rockets. 

Abougouche, 16, is the first 12th-round pick in franchise history to make the team. 

Usually, a late draft pick such as Abougouche would be sent back to his junior team after a short stint in training camp, but that wasn't what he experienced. 

Olymel has announced plans to cut 177 management positions.

The job cuts are primarily in Quebec and will mainly focus on administration.

The company says  57 current employees have received their layoff notices, while the remaining 120 positions are currently vacant.

Yanick Gervais, President and CEO of Olymel says after careful analysis, the difficult decision to significantly reduce our management staff is an answer to the need to adapt to unpredictable market conditions and to better position the company for the future.

Sherwood Park's Madison Bailey-Borges is one of three provincial athletes acting as ambassadors for the 2023 Special Olympics Alberta Winter Games.

Bailey-Borges previously competed in the Provincial Summer Games in 2017 for golf, and also in the 2019 Provincial Winter Games in figure skating. She was even featured in the music video for the Avril Lavigne song Fly.

Her love for sports goes back to her youth. 

"When I was four, my parents used to take me to the driving range and I hit lots of golf balls," Bailey-Borges said. "I love the outdoors."

A group of fifth graders from Ecole Parc Elementaire raised 751 pounds of fresh vegetables for the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank. 

They donated these vegetables through a fundraiser called Farm to School, which involves participants purchasing vegetable bundles either for themselves or for the food bank.

Half the proceeds of all vegetable bundles are donated back to the school, with the total amount earned reaching over $1,200.

A Fort Saskatchewan hockey player had a pretty good game over the weekend. 

Riley Fiddler-Schultz of the Calgary Hitmen scored an incredible five goals in a game against the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday (Oct. 23) night.

It was just the fifth five-goal game by a single player in the WHL since 2012. The performance ties Calgary's franchise record for goals in a game set by Pavel Brendl in 2000. 

Fort Saskatchewan city council will be making a decision on whether or not to explore the possibility of building a bike skills park in the community. 

On November 8, councillor Lisa Makin will present a motion to ask for $70,000 from the Financial Stabilization & Contingency Reserve to support an investigation into the feasibility of building the park. 

Strathcona County has been certified as a 'bird-friendly city' by Nature Canada. 

The county becomes just the 12th municipality in Canada to earn the designation. 

Emily Kabotoff, an environmental analyst with the county, is excited to see the area recognized. 

"We have a lot of policies that we've implemented that have really helped promote bird habitats," said Kabotoff. 

Kabotoff says her department was stirred to action after hearing that there are about three billion fewer wild birds in North America today compared to 50 years ago.