Lacombe

Alberta's government is putting $19 million toward municipal flood and drought prevention projects as part of its new budget.

Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz says eight municipalities as well as two Indigenous communities are to receive the grant funding.

She says the money will help build a new berm along the Bow River at Siksika First Nation and a retaining wall to protect the Slave Lake Airport.

Calgary is also to receive funding to improve a storm water ditch that connects the city to the nearby hamlet of Langdon.

Wetaskiwin General Duty Officers and Wetaskiwin Crime Reduction Unit responded to a report of an impaired driver on March 25.  

When officers arrived on the scene, two occupants were seen leaving the vehicle.  

They were arrested, and a further investigation led to a search of the vehicle resulting in the seizure of:  

• A sawed-off rifle;  

While it may seem early to be thinking about Christmas, the Yuletide Festival is set to return to Sylvan Lake this holiday season with the help of volunteers. 

Coinciding with the Santa Claus Parade and Light Up the Nights, the festival will take place at the NexSource Centre, featuring vendors, markets, and free activities for children. 

However, the event is calling for volunteers to help make the festival a success. 

The Innisfail Eagles' 2024/25 season is officially over.

The North Central Hockey League champions were scheduled to participate in the provincial tournament in Lethbridge next week, however due to low participation, that tournament has been cancelled.

During the March 24 regular meeting, Lacombe City Council discussed red tape reduction, the fire station North Area Structure Plan, and downtown development.  

Here are the meeting highlights: 

Open Forum 

Request to Review Order to Remedy Contraventions - Ian Brown 

Canadian police patrolling corners of the dark web are well aware of the commonly nefarious ways criminals exploit artificial intelligence. 

There's deepfake pornography. Voice impersonation. Romance scams that turn into financial fraud.

But recently there's been a new twist — criminals offering to "jailbreak" the very algorithms that form the architecture of AI's large language models, or LLMs, tearing down their safeguards so they can be retasked for criminal purposes.

Call it tech support for cybercriminals.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is back in Ottawa today to deal with the fallout of new auto tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Carney said he was suspending his campaign plans for the day and would return to Ottawa to hold a meeting of the Canada-U.S. cabinet committee.

It's unclear when Carney will be back on the road to continue campaigning. 

Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for parts of Central Alberta.

The snowfall warning is in effect for Ponoka County, Wetaskiwin County, and Clearwater County. 

A long period of snowfall with total amounts of 10 to 20 cm is expected.

Some areas may receive as much as 30 cm by Friday morning.

Snow will intensify this morning and continue to be heavy at times through the evening.

Periods of lighter snow will continue through Friday.

The Sylvan Lake RCMP is investigating an accidental death.

Wednesday morning at 11:18 a.m., RCMP received a request from EMS to assist with a medical emergency on 48 A Avenue and 46 Street in Sylvan Lake.  

An adult male was treated by EMS but succumbed to his injuries.   

A grant of $608,307 was given to Big Brothers Big Sisters to make a lot of changes possible for the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) in downtown Red Deer.  

The group received the grant through the Government of Alberta’s Community Enhancement Program (CFEP) for purposed facility upgrades.