FortSask

Prairie farm groups voiced their concern this week over the delay in moving Bill C-234 through the Senate.

The group includes the Keystone Agriculture Producers (KAP) in Manitoba, the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), and the Alberta Federation of Agriculture (AFA).

The Conservative Private Members Bill C-234 would see farmers exempt from paying the carbon tax on propane and natural gas used on farms for drying grain and heating barns.

Fort Saskatchewan High School principal Curtis Starko came into his office Wednesday (June 14) evening to a sticky situation.

The principal's office had been plastered with sticky notes, a prank courtesy of the graduating class of 2023.

"I had no idea it was going to be my office. I thought it might be something in the school," said Starko. "I found out pretty quick that it was just me."

Fort High shared a photo of the prank to their Facebook page, showing an unimpressed Starko standing in his sticky note-laden office.

At least 15 are dead and 10 people are in hospital following a tragic collision that took place on the Trans-Canada Highway north of the town of Carberry in southwestern Manitoba.

RCMP report the eastbound semi-trailer struck a southbound bus at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 shortly before Noon today (Thursday, June 15, 2023).

Police have confirmed the bus was carrying a number of senior citizens from the Dauphin, MB area.  At this point, not all next of kin have been notified.

Consolidation is happening more and more in the ag sector from farm input companies to equipment dealers and grain elevators.

Agricultural commentator  and farmer Kevin Hursh thinks the farm reaction to the merger will be fairly muted as there are many delivery choices for farmers.

Environment Canada has issued a Special Air Quality Statement for the area.

The areas covered by the statement include Fort Saskatchewan, Bruderheim, Lamont, Gibbons, and Sherwood Park, and Edmonton.

Wildfire smoke is causing poor air quality and reduced visibility at times. Wildfire smoke can be harmful to people's health, even in low concentrations.

Children, pregnant people, and those who work outdoors are at a higher risk of experiencing health effects, along with those who suffer from heart or lung disease.
 

Strathcona County has moved from a fire ban to a fire advisory as of Thursday (June 15).

When the fire ban was in effect, all types of open fires and burning were prohibited. Any kind of fire permits were also suspended. However, residents were still permitted to use propane barbecues.

Now that the fire ban has been moved to a fire advisory, all outdoor fires and burning are now permitted, even on public land.

However, fireworks and exploding targets are still prohibited without the written permission of a forest officer.

Chris Hadfield says he's been working with King Charles on a space sustainability plan dubbed the Astra Carta.

The Astra Carta will explore how humans can use space and settle the moon in a different way than they have settled on Earth, the Canadian astronaut said Tuesday.

“We have a clean slate with the moon,” he told The Canadian Press on the sidelines of the Super Session, a Toronto conference held by the Creative Destruction Lab, a non-profit helping science and tech firms.

“There's no life on the moon, so we're not disrupting an ecology.”

Strathcona County RCMP has located a missing man deceased. 

On June 14, 55-year-old Grant Wozny was reported missing. 

Police say he was last spoken to on June 8 and was believed to have last been seen at the Flying J gas station in Sherwood Park at the beginning of the month. 

On Tuesday (June 20) RCMP released that they had found Wozny dead. 

Police do not currently believe the circumstances of his death to be suspicious. 

A man who went missing over a year ago has been found deceased by the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP.

Trent Milligan was last seen in July of 2022 in Fort Saskatchewan. Police received reports of him missing in January of 2023.

Milligan's remains were found by police during a search of a rural area back in April. His identity has been confirmed through DNA testing.

An investigation into Milligan's disappearance is still ongoing.

Are dogs and other kinds of pets allowed at the Fort Saskatchewan Farmers' Market?

According to Karen Collins with the Fort Saskatchewan and Lamont Regional Chamber of Commerce - yes, they are.

"In 2019, the chamber changed its policy. The park is city property. It's a public park, it's public land. It's not in an enclosed arena, like other farmers' markets," said Collins.

However, all dogs and other pets must be on a leash and can't approach any food vendor unless given permission by the vendor themselves.