FortSask

Fort Saskatchewan and Strathcona County firefighters teamed up to fight a multiple structure fire in rural Strathcona County on Aug. 18. 

The nightshift firefighters were called in just after 6 a.m to find a fire spreading to multiple buildings on the rural property. They quickly initiated offensive fire attack operations. The fight lasted long enough that the night shift crew was swapped out with the morning crew mid-battle.

The fire was quickly under control and fire investigators remained on the scene into the morning.

It was a warm Saturday evening and a group of journalists had gathered at a Paris restaurant to enjoy the last weekend of summer. At sometime past midnight, phones around the table began to ring — seemingly all at once — as news desks contacted reporters and photographers to alert them that Princess Diana’s car had crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.

More than half of Conservative party members have voted for its next leader, leaving one week for the remaining members to do the same. 

As of Tuesday, the party says over 350,000 mail-in ballots have been returned out of the 678,000 they sent to people who can vote in the contest. 

That means voter turnout is currently sitting at around 52 per cent so far. In the party's 2020 leadership contest, which was won by Ontario MP Erin O'Toole, around 65 per cent of members voted. 

Drivers should be avoiding Highway 825 north of Highway 37. 

511 Alberta says rail repairs will close the road on Wednesday (Aug. 31). It will reopen at around 2 a.m. on Thursday. 

Motorists are being told to use Highway 28A and 643 as alternate routes. 

Canola has been one of the crops that have benefitted greatly from the better growing conditions this year, with yields and production improving drastically.

Statistics Canada estimated that Saskatchewan would see a 43.2 per cent increase in production year-over-year to 9.7 million tonnes, while yields are projected to increase by 50.8 per cent to 37.7 bushels per acre.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau has announced an initial list of designated regions in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba where Livestock Tax Deferral has been authorized for 2022 due to extreme weather conditions.

The Livestock Tax Deferral provision allows livestock producers who are forced to sell a significant amount of their breeding herd due to drought or flooding to defer a portion of their income from sales until the following tax year.

Statistics Canada's latest crop yield estimate is showing that Western Canada is poised to make a rebound this year.

Last year's drought caused yields and total production to plummet, which has been made up this year in many areas with good growing conditions.

Wheat is projected to increase 55.1 per cent and Canola is rising 41.7 per cent, with others close by.

Leftfield Commodity Research Vice President Jon Driedger says that the overall figures are echoing what he's seen from earlier trade estimates.

Two people have been charged with stealing catalytic converters, one of which is a Fort Saskatchewan woman who was charged with the same crime less than a month ago.

Yesterday (Aug. 29) at 3 a.m, Fort Saskatchewan RCMP received a complaint of a catalytic converter theft on Santana Crescent. 

RCMP arrived and located a man and woman hiding in a pickup truck. The two were arrested. A power saw and one catalytic converter were found on the suspects upon arrest.

Amy Gummeson (42) of Fort Saskatchewan, was charged with:

With bags of chips, mini donuts, and the all-refreshing lemonade, the Nerbas and Kalyn families have already raised over $3,000 for the Stollery Children's Hospital on Lemonade Stand Day.

Last Saturday (Aug. 27) from 11 a.m to 2 p.m the families set up their 'Squad Squeezers' lemonade stand to help raise money for the Stollery, a tradition the families have been doing for the last five years. Since then they've raised thousands of dollars for the hospital.

Gibbons is reporting vandalism after bathrooms near the community outdoor rink were damaged last Thursday (Aug. 25). 

The vandals entered the washrooms to turn on all the water taps and then left the building with the water running. This has prompted the city to close the washrooms to the public while proper repairs are done. 

The identities of the vandal(s) are not known. 

To combat this from happening again, new push taps that prevent water from running for extended periods of time will be installed.