Okotoks

Vigils are being held for those who have been impacted by the current state of EMS response times in Alberta.

The vigils are part of the EMS Safeline, which is a grassroots advocacy group that gives those who have been impacted by EMS response times a safe place to speak.

According to Ali Morrison, the creator of EMS Safeline, the Safeline was created after seeing a Facebook post about Ryan Middleton, the paramedic who spoke out about issues within EMS delivery a few years ago.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says it has taken down picket lines at Canadian National Railway Co. and its workers will begin returning to work on Friday.

However, the union says the work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. remains ongoing pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Following months of increasingly fraught contract talks, Canada's two biggest railways both locked out workers after failing to reach deals with the union by a Thursday deadline.

Canada's two biggest railways say they’re preparing to get trains back on track after Ottawa intervened to end an unprecedented labour impasse that disrupted business across the country and cancelled commutes for thousands.

Canadian National Railway Co., in a statement Thursday, said it has ended the lockout of workers that began earlier in the day.

The move came shortly after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration to end the dispute and get the trains running.

The federal government has decided to impose binding arbitration between the Teamster's Canada Rail Conference, CN Rail, and CPKC.

The worker's union and the two companies had entered into a lockout at 12:01 a.m. this morning.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the decision at a news conference in the afternoon.

That came after the Canada Industrial Relations Board set August 22 as the date for strike action, following a decision that labeled the rail industry as non-essential.

CUPE Local 5040 re-entered negotiations with the Foothills School Division today (Aug. 22.)

The union branch, which represents school support staff within the district, hopes to finally come to a resolution to longstanding negoations over pay and training, among other things.

One of the major changes they're calling for is a raise in pay, with the union claiming that many education employees are having to take two, three, or even four jobs to stay afloat.

The playground at Bill Robertson Park in Okotoks is closed for a week.

It's being resurfaced to address concerns that the Town has heard that the black current surface gets too hot under the summer sun.

On top of being more heat resistant, the new surface will also have increased durability, with some damage having been noted with the previous flooring.

The work coincides with the installation of a new accessible swing set to accommodate wheelchair users.

Several of High River's writers and storytellers gathered at a local business on Saturday (Aug. 17) to hear the results of an essay writing contest.

The "High River - Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" essay contest was organized by Bishop's Crossing Pharmacy & Travel Clinic, and called for High Riverites to submit essays on what they love about their town, how they came to be there, and how they want to see it develop.

Owner of Bishop's Crossing Pharmacy, Alaba Ojapinwa, explains where the idea for the contest came from.

CN and CPKC took steps early Thursday morning to lockout over 9000 employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference after an agreement was not reached.

In a press release following the lockout, CN notes that they chose to lock out employees after the union did not respond to another offer by CN in a final attempt to avoid a labour disruption.

CN says over the last nine months they have negotiated in good faith

In a first for Canada, freight traffic on its two largest railways has simultaneously ground to a halt, threatening to upend supply chains trying to move forward from pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last year.

In the culmination of months of increasingly bitter negotiations, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the parties disagreed on a new contract before the midnight deadline.

Last Friday (August 16) the Okotoks Oilers made it official that Brady Pupp is the new Business Manager for the team.

Pupp is not a stranger to the game of hockey or the Okotoks Oilers as he worked with the team last year and even played against them during his hockey career in the AJHL. Pupp played for the Calgary Mustangs during the 2016-2017 season and spent some time with the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the 2017-2018 season.

After his junior career, Pupp played hockey for the Marian University of the NCAA Division III for four seasons.