Lacombe

Residents and visitors in Jasper are facing a mandatory evacuation as a wildfire approaches from the south. 

The evacuation order, issued late Monday night (July 22), affects everyone within the townsite and the surrounding national park.

According to an updated alert at 10:18 p.m., the fire is rapidly advancing toward the community.

"Everyone in Jasper must evacuate now," declared the official notice.

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Agriculture Ministers spent time talking about ways to improve the Business Risk Management programs during their annual conference last week in Whitehorse.

A press release from the event noted that FPT Ministers of Agriculture discussed several areas of interest for Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector. 

Farmers are scouting fields on a regular basis for signs of insect damage or disease.

Insect activity varies from area to area and province to province with producers reporting issues with wireworms, grasshoppers, aphids, the pea leaf weevil and more.

Dr  Meghan Vankosky, a research scientist in field crop entamology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says it definitely proving to be a very interesting growing season.

They've just wrapped up the annual phermone trap monitoring program for bertha armyworm in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Garbage disposal at the Waste Transfer Site is closed until further notice due to fire. Underground embers from branch disposal were re-ignited by today’s winds and high temperatures. Thanks go out to quick acting staff and our Fire Department. The fire was extinguished quickly, and no injuries were sustained. We’ll announce the reopening of the garbage disposal as soon as it is safe.

Closed until further notice:

Israeli police say a Canadian citizen was killed Monday after threatening local security officials with a knife near the border with the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military says the man drove to the entrance of the town of Netiv HaAsara, just 300 metres north of the Gaza border. The military says the man left his vehicle with a knife and approached the local security patrol, who opened fire and killed him.

There were no other injuries, the military said, providing a photo of a kitchen knife with a black handle. The rescue service Zaka also said nobody was injured. 

As the heat wave continues, record-high temperatures were recorded in areas of Central Alberta on Sunday (July 21).  

Nordegg, Rocky Mountain House, and Sundre areas have set new heat records.   

The Nordegg area set a new record of 32 C, up from the previous 30.9 C set in 2006.   

A community citizen-based group called 'Stettler Needs Doctors' committee is planning a Town Hall Meeting this Thursday, July 25th, 6:00 pm at The Stettler Recreation Centre.

The group is dedicated to voicing the concerns of the community and fighting to recruit and retain doctors. 

Leona Thorogood, Treasurer and Media Relations for Stettler Needs Doctors explains why a group like this is needed.

U.S. President Joe Biden is stepping aside as the Democratic candidate in that country's November election and throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris -- a Montreal-area high school graduate who spent several years in the city.

Here's what to know about her Canadian connections. 

Before she became America's first female, first Black, and first South Asian vice president-elect, Harris spent several years in Montreal, where she attended Westmount High School from 1978 to 1981.

There was a powerful word being repeated in the joyful Newfoundland community of New-Wes-Valley on Sunday: "Miracle."

Over and over, residents out walking or chatting to one another in local stores described the rescue of seven fishermen from the area who had somehow survived two days in a life-raft on the Atlantic ocean as nothing short of miraculous.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for returning our men," Betty Lou Pollett told a crowd of hundreds at the end of a community parade held to celebrate the fishers' return.

Just after 8:00 am, Monday, July 22nd, power went out in some parts of the Town of Olds.

Fortis Alberta is reporting this as an unplanned outage and at this time the cause of the problem is not yet known. Crews are onsite investigating. Over 100 homes are affected.

Residents to the west of Highway 2a and south of Highway 27 are in the outage area.

Fortis is estimating the power will be restored at around 11:00 am this morning.

For the latest updates click here.