FortSask

A graduated driver's licence program in Alberta that has been in effect for the past 19 years is getting an overhaul.

The Graduated Driver Licensing program was introduced in Alberta in 2003. New drivers are not permitted to drive between midnight and 5 a.m. Their licence can be suspended with an accumulation of eight or more demerit points, and there is zero tolerance in the use of alcohol or drugs while driving.

Jocelyn Gillam knows she’s lucky to be alive after coming face-to-face with the post-tropical storm that destroyed part of her southwestern Newfoundland town and nearly swept her away in a surge of rushing water.

Gillam was standing near her home in Port aux Basques on Saturday morning when a storm surge hit, sweeping her off her feet and dragging her underneath a Jeep as she clung to the undercarriage for dear life.

The 61-year-old said she'd been chatting with family and neighbours when she turned her head and “saw Fiona coming.”

High school students preparing to take diploma exams this year will have a little stress lifted off their shoulders. 

The provincial government announced on Monday (Sept. 26) afternoon that due to some of the lasting impacts of the pandemic, diploma exams will only be weighted for 20 per cent of a student's total mark for the current school year. They expect that weight to go back up to the usual 30 per cent in time for the 2023-24 school year. 

Alberta's provincial government is refusing the federal government's request to assist in confiscating about 30,000 firearms from Albertans.

According to Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, the federal government recently requested Alberta aid in the confiscation of 30,000 firearms in accordance with federal legislation.

In an announcement on Monday (Sept. 26,) Shandro announced the province would be ignoring the request and will be advising Alberta RCMP not to do so either.

The town of Gibbons has some surprise visitors for the next few weeks; The Canadian Military.

The military will be doing a practice exercise around the town between Sept. 29 and Oct. 05.

Residents can expect to see soldiers in gas masks and hazmat suits around the trails south of Echo Glen Park. The military won't be conducting exercises inside the town, but instead in a development area southwest of Gibbons.

A popular fall attraction is set to resume operations. 

After being ordered to shut down in August due to a levy of safety concerns, Prairie Gardens and Adventure Farm has gotten approval from Sturgeon County to open up its doors to the public. 

This comes after the farm submitted the required technical information and committed to various safety conditions this past Friday (Sept. 23). 

Amateur astronomers in Fort Saskatchewan will have a night to remember. 

The solar system's largest planet, Jupiter, is set to be the brightest it's been in over half a century tonight (Sept. 26). 

The astronomical event, formally known as an 'opposition', will see Jupiter come within 590 million kilometres of Earth, which is the closest it has been in about 63 years and face itself directly opposite of the sun. 

Eager night-watchers should look east as the sun sets, it will appear as the brightest object in the night sky, outside of the moon of course.

A Sherwood Park man is $1-million richer. 

Dwayne Saulter matched all seven winning digits for one of the Maxmillions prizes in a Lotto Max draw earlier this month. 

“I couldn’t believe it, but there were so many people at the store I didn’t want to create a commotion,” he recalled as he claimed his prize.

Parents of kids in need of daycare have been left without answers after the Kids Fort Child & Out of School Care burnt down in early August. 

The fire, which occurred on August 14, is being investigated as arson. Parents were initially told that they could bring kids to a sister daycare in Sherwood Park but details have been sparse ever since. 

Brandi Holyoak, one of the parents affected, says that daycare management has gone silent. 

The City of Fort Saskatchewan is considering implementing a new pawnshop bylaw to combat the sale of stolen property. 

At last Tuesday’s (Sept. 20) committee of the whole meeting, the council was presented with a new bylaw that would require pawnshops to keep an online system of items that were bought and sold at each location. The system would be able to be accessed by local RCMP. 

The bylaw might seem peculiar considering that there are no current pawnshops operating within the city.