FortSask

The Sturgeon Spirits high-school football team is looking to exact some revenge this week. 

After going a perfect 7-0 in the regular season, the Spirits will be facing the Lillian Osbourne Legends in the Gilfillan division semi-finals on Thursday (Oct. 27). 

This will be an emotional game for the Spirits, as the Legends were the team that defeated them in the finals last season. 

This year's Spirits team features an astounding 26 grade 12 players. 

Little Minion Events seventh annual Trunk or Treat event is coming back to downtown Fort Saskatchewan this weekend.

Vehicles, generally from businesses or organizations in the community, will be lined up and full of candies to hand out to trick-or-treaters.

The event will go on Saturday (Oct. 29) from noon to 4 p.m. on 100th Avenue.

"People can expect candy handouts and lots of opportunities to connect to the community at large," said Meghan Pollard, vice chair of Little Minions Events.

If you see smoke around Elk Island National Park this week, there is no need for concern. 

The park has been and will continue to conduct controlled guard burning in the area around Shirley Lake. 

"A fire guard provides a buffer around a prescribed fire by removing fuels like grasses or dead logs along the unit boundary," said the park in a press release. 

They also added that these types of burns help to release nutrients and support a diverse ecosystem within the park. 

The Fort Saskatchewan Firefighter's Association is working alongside the city to help bring faster and more effective service to the community. 

Darrick Graff, president of the firefighter's association, is concerned that the current state of the fire department is not enough to serve Fort Saskatchewan.  

"Our municipality has grown exponentially over the last decade," said Graff. "The fire department itself has not grown in numbers to match the demand that's required by our community."

Canada is the world's leading exporter of durum wheat, a crop grown in southwest Saskatchewan, and southeast Alberta.

Over the last five years over 23 million tonnes of Canadian durum have been exported to 49 countries including the U-S.

The major durum-consuming markets for Canadian durum are countries like Italy, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

Durum is traditionally used in the production of pasta and couscous. 

Strathcona County is home to some extraordinary firefighters. 

A trio of Strathcona County firefighters took home gold and silver medals in multiple categories at the 2022 FireFit Worlds event held in Spruce Meadows last month. 

Brad Dicks, a nine-year veteran with the Strathcona County fire department, took home gold in the men's individual, finishing three seconds shy of a world record. 

Carla Morrison, who is currently in her 13th year of service, was also at the top of her game, finishing first in the women's individual, beating second place by 18 seconds. 

For most of Saskatchewan and Alberta that moisture came in the form of snow, while much of Manitoba saw rain.

Parts of West Central Saskatchewan reported light snow that melted fairly quickly.

Swift Current, Moose Jaw and other areas in southern Saskatchewan saw more significant amounts. 

Crops Extension Specialist Matt Struthers says with harvest pretty much wrapped up it's good to see the moisture.

"I think it's really great to see. Now, I would like to see some warmer temperatures just to get that snow to melt."

Alberta Health Services (AHS) are notifying of an ongoing investigation into a Shigella outbreak.

According to AHS, they identified a cluster of Shigella cases in Edmonton in August.

To date, they have identified 87 people with Shigella, 64 of them needing to be hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Shigella is a disease that spreads through contact with feces or by eating food contaminated with the bacteria. It can cause severe illness resulting in hospitalization in some cases, with symptoms ranging from diarrhea and fever to nausea and stomach cramps.

Snow has finally popped up in the Fort Saskatchewan forecast for this week. 

The city has been dodging snow all October, with snow falling throughout a healthy portion of the province.

According to Environment Canada, there is a 30 per cent chance of flurries on Monday (Oct. 24) night. On Tuesday, the chance of flurries increases to 60 per cent with the possibility of freezing rain early in the morning. 

However, with temperatures returning to above average as the week goes on, any snow that does fall should melt by the weekend.

The Fort Saskatchewan Youth Council is looking for more voices to join the discussion.

The council can fit up to 14 members but has only filled five of its seats. 

Currently, the council is working on strategic planning and chatting with youth to figure out a plan to get them more involved in the community. 

"Some things that we highlighted were facilitating more groups and clubs in town for young people because there's not a lot for [youth] to do," says Cassidy Sinclair, vice chair of the youth council.