Okotoks

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued on Friday (June 27) afternoon includes an area of Foothills County.

The alert mainly covers Vulcan County, but extends into the eastern edge of Foothills County near Blackie.

Environment Canada warns that conditions could lead to severe thunderstorms, bringing strong wind gusts, large hail, and heavy rain.

Funnel clouds are also possible.

The alert is in effect for:

Alberta’s finance minister is set to deliver the final bottom line number today on last year’s provincial budget.

Nate Horner’s new figure will close the books on the budget for the fiscal year that ended in March.

That budget was last forecast to come in with a nearly $6-billion surplus.

Alberta’s new budget year is now a few months old, but its expected bottom line number is deep in the red.

This budget, introduced by Horner in February, predicts Alberta will register a $5.2-billion deficit at the end of March 2026.

In a display of community pride, Claresholm residents are coming together to add colour and creativity to Amundsen Park.  

Residents have been helping to paint the "We Are Community" Mural during Tuesday in the Park events.  

Some deep utility work will be completed in Okotoks early in July, which will cause a road closure for over a week.

Crews will be installing a new deep utility service connection on Wedderburn Drive from Banister Drive to Northridge Drive.

Due to the work, Wedderburn Drive will be closed between Banister Drive and Northridge Drive from July 2 to July 11.

While the work is being completed, there will be traffic personnel on-site, a change to traffic patterns, detour signage, as well as clear signage which will help people to access properties in the area.

Canada Day is coming up, and there will be celebrations in the Town of Okotoks.

According to the Okotoks Community Events Specialist, Connie Drake, the celebrations will be up by the Okotoks Rec Centre.

"It will be, if the weather is favourable, which it looks good, it will be on ball diamond 10 in the Wiley Athletic Park," Drake explains. "Which is the ball diamond right as you come into the parking lot."

At the event, there will be Barkside Canine Performers, face painting, stage performers, and more.

Canadian varietal development system called a success story

Canada’s system of developing wheat varieties is both efficient and effective, says a University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist.

Australia invests much more into wheat genetics and improving varieties, but the yield gains are similar to Canadian results.

“In Australia, they’re spending three to five times what we are, right now, on wheat research and wheat genetics,” said Richard Gray, Canadian grain policy research chair at the U of S.

Chanse Vigen, who now calls Calgary home, lit up the track Thursday night at the prestigious Ponoka Stampede.

Vigen and his wagon crossed the finish line in a time of 1.11.75, breaking Luke Tournier's 2011 time of 1.12.19.

High River's Jason Glass finished in 13th, Dayton Sutherland from DeWinton came in 24th while Blackie's Jordie Fike came in 36th out of 36th after suffering a 10 second penalty for his wagon missing a barrel.

The Okotoks Dawgs unleashed their scoring prowess last night in Lethbridge, absolutely destroying the Bulls 24-2.

Yes, 24 to 2 was the final score.

Connor Crowson led the charge, going 4 for 4 at the plate. He drove in 7 RBIs, crossed the plate five times, and was walked twice.

Austin Eaton got the win on the mound, going 6 innings while striking out 4 players and giving up 3 hits.

With the win, the Dawgs moved back into first place in the WCBL West Division, just a half game up on the Bulls.

The Lethbridge Police have located the missing teenager from earlier this week.

They had reported the teenager was last seen in the morning of June 23, and their efforts to locate her were unsuccessful.

There had been concerns for her well-being.

On June 26, the Lethbridge Police took to Facebook to let the public know that the teenager had been located.

Unlike last weekend, it's going to be sunny all weekend, giving people a chance to get outdoors.

Let's take a look to see what's happening in the Foothills this weekend:

Friday, June 27:

Over at the Environmental Education Centre, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., curious kids will learn all about bears as part of their Nature Fridays. They will dive into bear facts and learn about the bears that call Canada home.