FortSask

Five players from the capital region were selected in the NHL Draft. 

From St. Albert, and taken with the 9th overall pick, was Matthew Savoie. The 18-year-old centre was picked by the Buffalo Sabres. Savoie spent a short amount of time with the Sherwood Park Crusaders in the 2020-2021 season before playing with the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL. 

It was a dream come true for Spruce Grove teenager, Reid Schaefer. Schaefer, 19, was taken 32nd by the Edmonton Oilers after recently spending time with the Seattle Thunderbirds. 

A new poll indicates Canadians are making increasingly tough budget decisions amid rising interest rates and inflation.

The MNP Ltd. survey, conducted by Ipsos in early June, suggests over a quarter of Canadians are cutting back on essentials like food, housing and utilities. 

The poll found nearly half of respondents are reining in non-essential spending on outings like travelling, dining out and entertainment.

About a third of those surveyed also reported buying cheaper versions of everyday items and driving less to save on fuel costs.  

The Fort Saskatchewan RCMP is warning the public about a rise in 'sextortion' cases targeting young men. 

The cases involve scammers initiating a fake relationship online and convincing victims to send intimate images; once they have received the photos, the scammers threaten to distribute them unless they are paid. According to police, six incidents of online extortion targeting men between 17 and 25 have been reported in the Fort Saskatchewan area since the beginning of May.

Formerly, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association was officially rebranded to better include all aspects of the industry.

Reg Schellenberg, CCA President says for 90 years, CCA has been the voice of beef farmers and ranchers across the country.

"The organization has grown to include the 60,000 members we represent today. It is important that our name, logo and brand also grow and be reflective of how our organization has evolved."

Tyler Fulton an officer with the Canadian Cattle Association says the group includes more than just ranchers and cow calf operators.

Canada's industry minister will meet with the head of Rogers Communications today in the wake of last week's massive outage that paralyzed the company's network.

The office of François-Philippe Champagne says he plans to meet with Tony Staffieri and other telecom leaders to discuss the importance of improving Canada's networks. 

The widespread Rogers service outage began on Friday morning and lasted at least 15 hours, knocking out access to many health-care, law enforcement and banking services.

Drivers may have to change up their routes over the next couple of weeks.

According to 511 Alberta, left-hand turns will be closed both eastbound and southbound on Highway 15 and Highway 28A.

The change is due to road paving which will be taking place from July 11 to 23. 

Use an alternate route where possible.

Canada's premiers are starting their summer gathering at a Victoria-area First Nation where they'll meet with leaders of the National Indigenous Organizations, a collection of five national Indigenous groups. 

The Council of the Federation, representing premiers from Canada's 13 provinces and territories, are meeting in Victoria today and Tuesday.

The Songhees Nation says in a statement that Monday's gathering of premiers and Indigenous leaders at the Songhees Wellness Centre creates a precedent by holding such an event on its reserve lands.

Strathcona County RCMP say a man died in a vehicle rollover on Friday afternoon (July 8).

Emergency services responded to a report of a water truck that had rolled over on the Anthony Henday. 

“The initial investigation determined that a southbound water tanker swerved, lost control, entered the ditch and rolled,” the RCMP said in a release.

The driver, a 39-year-old man from Leduc, was transported to an area hospital where he later died from his injuries. 

It’s a busy weekend in both Lamont and Gibbons.

The Summer Sizzler Rodeo goes in Lamont on both Saturday and Sunday (July 9 and 10).

Gibbons will play host to the annual Pioneer Days, which started yesterday and continues on Saturday.

Check out the posters below for events, times and details. 

Interac says its services are fully available again after debit transactions were halted by a widespread Rogers network outage impacting mobile and network services across much of Canada.

Interac issued a statement on its social media platforms apologizing for the inconvenience and saying it is adding a supplier to bolster service access in the future.

Rogers Communications says it has restored mobile and internet service for "the vast majority" of customers after the outage that got underway early Friday morning and lasted more than 15 hours.