Okotoks

The new name of Okotoks' hockey arenas and event centre has been revealed.

For the last two years, the home of the Okotoks Oilers has been known as the Centennial Arenas after the previous sponsorship ended.

Moving forward, the hockey arenas and event space (formerly the Foothills Centennial Centre) be called the Viking Rentals Centre.

Owner of Viking Rentals, Lars Pettersen, was quoted in a release from the Town.

The Town of High River will be pruning and removing some large poplar trees on 12 Ave SW this week.

Crews started yesterday and will be working through to this Friday, August 9 and will be taking down some trees which will involve intermittent closures along the route.

The trees that need to be removed are old and are becoming too fragile, which poses a safety risk.

The Town asks you to use caution while traveling along the busy avenue and watch for signage and workers.

The Town of Diamond Valley will be changing some of the speed limits in town.

Back in 2016, Turner Valley had already lowered their speed limit from 50 km/hr to 40 km/hr, but the speed limit in Black Diamond remained at 50 km/hr, even after the two towns amalgamated in 2023.

During the July 17th Council Meeting, the Town approved changes to its Traffic Bylaw and now the entirety of Diamond Valley will have a 40 km/hr speed limit, unless otherwise posted.

Taber's famous corn on the cob is back in High River and locals are lining up.

Every year many southern Albertans await the return of the sweet corn from the town of Taber to the Foothills.

Originally made famous by the Jensen family, it was bought out by Johnson Farms a number of years ago.

A pickup truck was full of sacks of corn parked in High River at their usual location in the parking lot of the Heritage Inn over the August long weekend.

The Okotoks Dawgs host game one of the best-of-three first-round playoff series tonight at Seaman Stadium against the Lethbridge Bulls.

During the 2024 WCBL regular season, the Dawgs took the season series by a close margin of 6-4. The Dawgs were down in the series 4-2 but won four straight against the Bulls including the final two games of the regular season to take the season series.

Okotoks is on fire heading into tonight's matchup as they have won seven games in a row to close out the regular season.

Seth Poelzer took home a bronze medal, and the tournament MVP honours last month on July 13.

Alberta would shut out Saskatchewan 35-0 in the bronze medal game with Poelzer putting up 98 yards in rushing. The running back would also rush for 121 yards in the first game of the tournament against New Brunswick and follow it up with 109 yards in the 12-11 loss to Quebec.

Poelzer explains where his passion for football came from.

On July 24, Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for the area around Lachute, Que., northwest of Montreal, urging people to take shelter. The warning was accurate: a tornado touched down outside Lachute about an hour after the alert. But three other twisters that day slipped past forecasters.

After landing back in Toronto, Summer McIntosh says she would return to Paris if selected as Canada's flag bearer for the closing ceremony.

The Toronto teenager who won four medals at the Paris Games, including three golds and a silver, says it would be "an honour" to carry the flag for Canada. 

McIntosh says that having returned home, she wants to take a break from swimming and plans to relax at her cottage with friends before likely coming back to Toronto to do some shopping. 

But she is not ruling out a quick turnaround to Paris. 

Police have released more information on a fatal shooting.

According to Strathmore RCMP, at around 12 p.m. on Tuesday (Aug. 6) police received a call about a shooting near the intersection of Range Road 282 and Township 250 in Rocky View County.

"Upon arrival our members discovered that two individuals had been shot," said Staff Sgt. Mark Wielgosz, the detachment commander for Strathmore RCMP. "One superficially. Tragically, the second succumbed to their injuries."

Vulcan County has moved from a Fire Ban down to a Fire Restriction.

The County had moved to a Fire Ban back on July 23rd, but on August 6th, the County changed the Ban to a Restriction.

The Restriction is still in place due to the windy, dry, and warm conditions the region has been experiencing.

Under this restriction, campfires and charcoal briquettes are prohibited in backcountry and random camping areas, but campfires that are in fire rings in campgrounds are allowed.