FortSask

Downtown Edmonton was quite the scene on Thursday (Apr. 27) night. 

A large grassfire ignited alongside the river valley and threatened two large hotels in the downtown core. 

Firefighters responded to the scene just after 9 p.m. after reports that the fire had ignited the patio at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, which sits right beside the iconic Fairmont Hotel MacDonald. 

Employees inside the Courtyard were able to capture some terrifying footage as the blaze got closer to the hotel: 

A new federal law will require digital platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok to contribute and promote Canadian content. The Liberals' Online Streaming Act passed its final vote in the Senate Thursday and received royal assent. 

The bill updates the Broadcasting Act to bring online streaming platforms under the regulatory authority of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

It also sets steep penalties for digital platforms that don't make Canadian content available to their users in Canada.

A hotel patio caught fire due to a large blaze in the Edmonton river valley on Thursday (Apr. 27) night. 

At about 9 p.m. fire crews were called after reports of the fire igniting the patio at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in downtown Edmonton, which stands directly beside the iconic Hotel Macdonald. 

"After about an hour and 15 [minutes] with a lot of hard work we were able to get it under control," said Corey Cremer, the acting fire chief on the scene. "No injuries, just a lot of damage to the courtyard patio." 

A large fire broke out in the Edmonton river valley near the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald on Thursday (Apr. 27) evening.

According to Corey Cremer, the acting fire chief on the scene, crews responded to the fire just after 9 p.m. and were able to get it under control in just over an hour.

Videos posted online show flames rising up the hillside in front of the hotel.

The majority of the damage was done to the Courtyard by Marriott's patio. No injuries were reported. 

A fire restriction is in effect for Lamont County.

On Thursday (Apr. 27), the county announced that a fire restriction would be in place immediately.

"This restriction is due to a rapid deterioration of conditions, due to the extremely dry and heavy fuel load in our area currently," wrote the county in a release.

The restriction is in effect for all Lamont County rural areas, including hamlets.

All active fire permits are now cancelled, and no new fire permits will be issued. Fireworks and exploding targets are prohibited during the restriction as well.

Statistics Canada reporting total producer deliveries of major grains in the Prairies for the month of March was 6.1 million tonnes up from the 4.6 million tonnes moved in February.

Total wheat and durum deliveries in March hit 3.2 million, oats 249 thousand, barley at 484 thousand tonnes, rye was 20 thousand while flaxseed numbers hit 39 thousand tonnes.

Total canola deliveries were at  2 million tonnes.

March stats for canola seed crush totaled 922,944 tonnes, with 384,817 tonnes of oil and 545,922 tonnes of meal produced.

With the consistent warm weather lately, it's only a matter of time before the iconic sheep return to Fort Saskatchewan.

The sheep have been delighting visitors and trimming the grass in parks around the city for the last 30 years.

"The sheep return as part of our Legacy Park Family Festival where we host a sheep returning parade," said Arthur Lewandowski with The City of Fort Saskatchewan.

The definitive date of the sheep's return is on June 3, and the sheep will remain in Fort Saskatchewan until September 4.

Lamont County is mourning the loss of their longest-serving firefighter. 

Robert 'Bob' Mitchell, who joined the Lamont Fire Department at the age of 18 as one of its founding members in 1951, passed away earlier this week at the age of 90. 

His start with the fire department was by chance. 

"I guess there was a big fire in Lamont, and they didn't even have a fire department back then so they asked him at 18 if he would consider joining the fire department, they were going to make one, and he did," said Koreen Mitchell, Robert's daughter. 

You may not realize it but the province has more than eight million acres of grasslands, forests, riparian areas, and wetlands located on Crown land that can be used to graze livestock.

The Rangeland Grazing Framework focuses on how grazing fits into Crown Land and integrated land management practices.

Crown rangelands support 14 per cent of the province's beef herd.

As cattle graze the land they help to maintain healthy watersheds, wildlife habitats, and diverse plant and wildlife populations, and sequester carbon.

The Canadian Transportation Agency has released the information they'll be looking at in determining the Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE) for the railways in 2023-24.

The Maximum Revenue Entitlement limits the overall revenue earned by CN and CP for shipping grain, if the railways go over that cap they must pay a penalty to the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF).