Okotoks

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.

Vulcan County is reminding people that campfires and fireworks aren't the only things that can trigger wildfires.

They've had a fire ban in place since July 24th but recently took to Facebook to remind local farmers of other wildfire risks.

Amid the harvest of dense bumper crops, the County is urging farmers to take precautions to prevent fire from being sparked by equipment.

Standing crops can dry very quickly, allowing flames to spread at an alarming rate.

They shared a few measures that should be taken:

Many parents' hearts skip a beat when they see young kids or teens jumping off the Centre Street bridge in High River.

While it certainly looks dangerous, High River Fire Chief Cody Zebedee says it's not illegal.

"The Town of High River does not have a bylaw against jumping off of the bridge however it is one of those things that we don't encourage given that the water depth changes rapidly. We could see flow changes depending on weather conditions and things like that."

But it most certainly is dangerous.

The Town of Okotoks will be doing some water services repair work on the Crystal Shores Booster Station for about a month.

Located at 28 Crystal Shores Road in Okotoks, crews will be working between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day, beginning on August 6th.

With the work currently expected to last until September 6th, those who live in the area may notice excavation work, noise, and intermittent pathway closures.

The arrival of another Heat Warning also marks the return of the Town of Okotoks' cooling stations.

Cooling stations can be found at the Okotoks Recreation Centre, Centennial Arenas, art gallery, and museum. 

They're available during the regular hours of operation and will be available until August 2, though that may extend into the weekend.

As they did during the last Heat Warning, the town is also extending the hours of the Okotoks Spray Park from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

On Wednesday, July 31, Albertans proved they never fail to show up for their neighbours.

It was the Alberta Day of Caring for Jasper, a province-wide event to raise money for Albertans affected by wildfires.

Along with donations sent online and via text, numerous Alberta broadcasters held bottle drives in partnership with the Alberta Bottle Depot Association.

Among them were The Eagle 100.9 in Okotoks, and 99.7 Sun Country and AM 1140 in High River.

Locals didn't disappoint, bringing in a steady stream of donations from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Water skiers from around the world will be making waves in Foothills County this weekend.

The IWWF World U17 Waterski Championships will be taking place on the Lakes of Kastynstone at the Predator Bay Water Ski Club from August 1st to 4th.

This competition will see over 130 of the top youth water skiers from over 20 countries compete in the world title competition.

While there will be athletes coming from as far away as Japan and Australia, there will be a local athlete competing.

The Carstar Okotoks Bisons have announced that Daniel Tainton is off to play post-secondary hockey in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA ) with the University of Providence Argos.

Tainton has been with the Bisons since the 2020-2021 season and accumulated 48 points in 99 games with the team over the four years. He played 38 regular season games with the Herd last season, potting seven goals for 13 points.