Okotoks

Numerous town facilities in the Town of Okotoks will be closed on the Monday of the Heritage Day Long Weekend.

The Municipal Centre, the Operations Centre, the Fire Station, the RCMP/Municipal Enforcement offices, Centennial Arenas, the Okotoks Family Resource Centre, the Okotoks Art Gallery, the Okotoks Public Library, and the Okotoks Museum and Archives will all be closed for the day, meanwhile, the Okotoks Recreation Centre will only be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

An Air Quality Alert has been issued for Foothills County.

Due to the wildfire smoke, Foothills County residents can expect to experience very poor air quality and reduced visibility.

While everyone is at risk during these heavy smoke conditions and should limit time outdoors, those who are particularly vulnerable including pregnant people, seniors, smokers, infants and young children, and those with pre-existing illnesses or chronic health conditions should take extra care to avoid strenuous outdoor activities.

Four days of fun start today in Nanton.

The annual Nanton Roundup Days Starts today (August 2), and it'll feature a long list of events over all four days of the long weekend.

On Saturday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration are being held at the Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre following a banner year that saw them place third in the national Next Great Save contest.

Tours of the elevators will also be held by donation each day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Several streets in Diamond Valley will be getting some love today.

Crews will be out applying a dust suppressant around town, which will cause several parking bans for the day.

2 Ave. NW, 2 Ave NW from 1 Street to Government Road North, 2 Street NW from Centre Ave to the dog park (as long as the construction on 1 Ave permits), 2 Ave SW from 3 to 4 Street, and 1A Ave from 4 to 5 Street will all be getting the dust suppressant and temporary parking bans.

The work began at 8 a.m., and the Town is asking people to plan accordingly and find other places to park.

Members of the Alberta RCMP are on the lookout for an elusive nude man who’s been spotted in Kananaskis.

They and the Kananaskis Emergency Services have received multiple complaints from people who have spotted the man near the Mount Kidd RV Park in the last few weeks.

He’s described as bearded, thin, and pale.

Public Information Officer with the Alberta RCMP, Corporal Troy Savinkoff, says he seems to be constantly on the move.

Anyone can be a nature documentarian this long weekend with the fourth annual Big Backyard BioBlitz.

Organized by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), the event allows Canadians of all ages to contribute to ecological research by documenting the natural world.

During the event, participants are asked to take photos or record video or audio of birds, animals, insects, or plants and upload them to the NCC website.

Some residents in Foothills County are now under a water restriction.

Effective August 1st, those who live in the Hawk's Landing subdivision, including The Timbers and Nest, are under a modified Level II watering schedule.

On top of a waterline break, there isn't enough moisture to divert water for irrigation purposes.

While watering lawns are not permitted under this restriction, you are still allowed to hand water their flowerbeds and vegetable gardens twice a week.

Okotoks' own Finlay Knox took part in two heats during the Men's 200-metre Individual Medley at the Olympics in Paris on Thursday.

Knox would place third to advance to the semi-finals with a 1:58.97 finish time. In the semi-finals later in the day, Knox finished third again with a 1:57.76 to advance to the finals scheduled for 12:43 p.m. today. Eight different swimmers are competing in the final, including Knox.

The Okotoks Dawgs put away the Fort McMurray Giants in their final meeting of the season taking it 6-0 at Seaman Stadium on Thursday.

The Dawgs pitching was on point tonight in not allowing a run, only six hits against, and put up nine strikeouts for the shutout. 

Brock Townsend started on the mound and pitched for five full innings with four strikeouts, claiming the victory for Okotoks. Cade Herrmann, Gavin Wuschke, Easton Corey, and Ashton Luera came in as relievers. Herrmann and Corey would both punch out two batters with strikeouts during their time at the mound.

Southbound traffic on Highway 2 is seeing some delays near Okotoks after a collision.

It happened at the intersection of Highway 2 and 338 Ave, and responders are on scene.

The northbound lanes are unaffected.