FortSask

Last week, students at Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) had a book read to them by Fort Saskatchewan's own Rhett Melnyk.

A former Fort Sask Ranger, Melnyk now serves as captain of the Edmonton Oil Kings. Last Wednesday (Mar. 15) he read a story to the kids.

"One of my old teachers back from Win Fergusen reached out to me, and she asked if I'd like to read to some of her classes," said Melnyk. "She taught me back in Grades 3 and 6, so it seemed like a cool opportunity."

Melnyk decided on the book 'The Pigeon Needs a Bath!' to read for the students.

The Strathcona Christian senior girls' basketball team took home a provincial silver medal over the weekend. 

The team was in Wetaskiwin playing in the 3A provincial tournament. 

They opened up their tournament with a first-round bye before defeating Winston Churchill 78-66 to advance to the semis. 

It was then a battle of two local teams, as Strathcona Christian defeated Sturgeon by a score of 79-74. 

"We had two real tough games to go to the final," said head coach Chris Aubrey. "They were real close games, we had to play well and we did." 

Drew Lerner with World Weather Inc says we can expect to finish off the Month of March in the prairies with a cool bias.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says his chief of staff, Katie Telford, will testify at a House of Commons committee on the issue of foreign interference in the last two Canadian elections.

The move came Tuesday as Trudeau's office issued the mandate for special rapporteur David Johnston, giving him until May 23 to recommend whether any additional mechanisms — like a formal public inquiry — are necessary.

The provincial government has announced new supports for Ukrainian evacuees coming to Alberta. 

In an announcement in Mundare on Tuesday (Mar. 21) morning, Premier Danielle Smith was joined by. Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville MLA and parliamentary secretary, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk to announce additional help for Ukrainians fleeing the war. 

"Our government is committed to helping the thousands of Ukrainians seeking refuge here," said Smith. 

With Spring now officially here, it's time to start thinking of ways to keep your yard looking fresh.

The best, and perhaps easiest, way of doing that is taking advantage of all the native plant species that the Fort Saskatchewan area has to offer. 

Susan Gronau with the Fort Saskatchewan naturalist society says the community has some very beautiful flowers to choose from. 

Razak Iyal was given a warm embrace as he officially became a Canadian citizen, more than six years after nearly freezing to death  walking across the Canada-United States border in Manitoba.

It was a low-key citizenship ceremony but one steeped in hope, gratitude and assurance. 

Iyal, 40, was joined by a group of close friends as he logged on last week for the virtual event, which included dozens of others sitting in front of a judge to swear their allegiance to Canada. 

Manitoba's Cattle Marketing report shows feeder steer prices ranged from an average of $327.68 per cwt for the 401-500 pound category to $226.88 per cwt for the 901+ category. The biggest increase was $9.38 for the 601-700 pound weight category for an average of $297.50 per cwt. Feeder heifers ranged from $273.96 per cwt on average for the 401-500 pound weight category to $198.50 per cwt for the 901+ category.  The biggest increase in the feeder heifer market was $11.38 for the 901+ category for an average price of $198.50 per cwt.

A new pedestrian bridge near the Legends Golf and Country Club is set to begin construction this summer. 

The bridge will be built on Township Road 540 and will cross the North Saskatchewan River to connect with Edmonton's northeast trail system. 

"[The Edmonton trails] are actually around the Quarry golf course," said Kristine Archibald, the executive director of the River Valley Alliance (RVA).  

A local astronaut has the chance to be the first Canadian on the Moon.

Joshua Kutryk is one of four Canadian astronauts who have the chance to be on the Atermis II mission in May 2024.

Kutryk was born in Fort Saskatchewan where he attended St. John XXIII Catholic School before moving to Cold Lake to work with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Back in 2017, he was chosen out of 3,772 applicants as one of the newest members of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He graduated from the basic astronaut training course three years later in 2020.