FortSask

There have been some fires burning in Elk Island National Park lately, but there is nothing to fear. 

The park is in the process of conducting its annual prescribed fires around the Shirley Lake area this Spring. 

"We've actually already conducted two ignition operations so far," said James Cook, a fire management officer at EINP. "Our usual window runs from March 15 to April 30." 

"[The fires] are located in the Shirley Lake prescribed fire area, so that's to the southwest of Astotin Lake on the western side." 

As snow melts and signs of spring start to emerge, many cow-calf producers are either just beginning to calve or their calving season is drawing to a close. For those nearing the end of calving, spring offers an opportunity to look back upon the successes and challenges of the season to make changes for next year. Spring is also a great time to begin planning for summer turnout and to consider implementing management practices that may offer health and performance benefits to your herd this summer.

Monday (Apr. 17) was a big night for students of F.R Haythorne Junior High.

The Grade 9 students in the school's film production class got to participate in the 19th annual Hawk Film Festival, hosted at the Sherwood Park Cineplex.

The lobby of the cinema displayed a row of posters for the festival's shorts, all of which were written, edited, and filmed by students of the class.

In total 17 films were shown, with each utilizing some sort of split screen, a filmmaking technique famously used for phone calls or to show multiple character reactions.

Our local MLA has been banned from entering Russia.

Earlier this month, Russia imposed sanctions on 333 Canadians, including public officials and prominent Olympians. These sanctions include a lifetime ban from entering the country.

Of those is Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk.

“As a proud Ukrainian and a vocal opponent to Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine, I have never been happier to be on a list," wrote Armstrong-Homeniuk in a release. 

The West River's Edge boat launch is open for the season.

Residents can now use the boat launch to safely deliver their boats to the North Saskatchewan River.

The City of Fort Saskatchewan asks boaters to take the necessary precautions, such as wearing a life jacket and packing a first aid kit.

The boat launch may close without notice due to changing river conditions or weather.

Elk Island Catholic School (EICS) buses are remembering Constable Harvinder Singh Dhami in their own unique way. 

After receiving the heartbreaking news of Dhami's death earlier this month, the school division decided that they wanted to do something to show solidarity with the RCMP. 

One of the ways they decided was to tie blue ribbons to 40 school buses. 

The Fort Saskatchewan RCMP is hoping for more information about an alleged fight that occurred at the Kin Family Spray Park.

According to a post on a private Facebook page, earlier this month two boys were allegedly attacked by a group of kids.

Apparently, one of the victims was left with a shattered face, and the other has a broken collarbone. 

The Fort Saskatchewan RCMP told FortSaskOnline that no reports were made. However, they are looking into the incident and are asking for more information. 

It's street-sweeping season once again. 

Strathcona County began their street sweeping on Monday (Apr. 17) in the neighbourhood of Aspen Trails.

Signs will be placed in the neighbourhoods before sweeping is scheduled to give residents notice to move their vehicles.

The sweepers will make several passes to clear the roadway, starting near the curb and working into the centre of the road, similar to a Zamboni.

It takes the sweepers around four to five weeks to clear arterial roads and residential roads in Sherwood Park and Ardrossan.

For the cattle sector the first quarter of 2023 has been fairly good.

Brenna Grant, the Executive Director of Canfax says fed cattle prices in Alberta reached new record highs in mid March and are continuing to see one of the strongest spring rallies in the last 15 years. 

"We are seeing leverage shift from the packer to the feedlot across North America and we see fed cattle supplies tightening up."

It was just a few weeks ago, that slaughter cows prices hit $132 per hundred weight, their highest since September 2015. 

The Fort Saskatchewan Sonic volleyball club had four teams competing at Alberta Volleyball provincials last weekend. 

It was quite a successful weekend, as two of the four teams came away with medals. 

The U15 boys, the only all-boy team within the club, had a fantastic result capturing the division three championship. Eli Vriend and Taylor Percy also got recognition as tournament all-stars. 

For the girls, the most successful team was the U15 blue girls' team as they came away with a silver medal in division five.