Okotoks

The Seasons Retirement Community in High River recently made a donation to Wildrose Community Connections' Food Rescue.

They collected 145 canned goods earlier this month as part of the"‘One Can Make a Difference" challenge, a company-wide event to support local food banks.

The event includes Seasons Retirement Community locations in Ontario and Alberta.

A goal of 7,000 cans was set for this year's challenge, but they ended up collecting 9,543.

That's an increase of 3,167 from last year.

The chuckwagons were fast and furious last night in High River as the Battle of the Foothills kicked off.

High River's Jason Glass, coming off the huge win at the Calgary Stampede, ended up in seventh after one night of racing.

He was in the 8th heat where Chanse Vigen flew down the track and ended up with the top time of the night, 1:16.00.

Jamie Laboucane, last year's Battle of the Foothills champion, ended up just behind Vigen in second.

The wagons will hit the track again starting at 7:00 p.m. with gates and the beer garden opening at 5:00 p.m.

Savannah Blakley has been an important member of the Okotoks Dawgs since 2012 coming in as the Athletic Therapist for the squad.

Anytime a Dawg gets hurt she is on the case and finding the best solutions to help the players get back on the field healthy and ready to play.

Blakley explains how the opportunity crossed her path back in 2012.

"I was in school for athletic therapy and when I graduated there was an opening. The therapist that they had working for them moved. Me and another girl actually came on and took the role of Athletic Therapists," Blakley said.

The Okotoks Dawgs were in Regina on Thursday night for their first meeting with the Red Sox during the 2024 WCBL season and won convincingly 19-8.

Nash "Bash" Crowell picked up a home run in the game and scored five RBIs on the night. Spencer Sullivan also smashed a home run and added four RBIs on the night. Logan Grant was unstoppable as he hit five times in six at-bats and got a home run against the Red Sox.

More than 200 guests enjoyed a mouth-watering BBQ, music, and a chance to shop at this year’s Sneak-a-Peek at the Chucks. 

The special event was put on by Sun Country 99.7 and held at Eamon's Garage and the Heart of the West Museum. It was designed as a fun way to kick off the Battle of the Foothills which began Thursday evening. 

The celebration included a beef-on-a-bun lunch by JRRR BBQ. 

High River is going to be filled with film crews next week.

On top of film crews filming parts of the second season of My Life with the Walter Boys in High River on July 30th and 31st, there will also be crews filming Heartland around High River all week.

Crews will be filming for Heartland's 18th season from Monday, July 29th to Friday, August 2nd, at various locations around town, which is likely to cause minor traffic and pedestrian disruptions during filming.

The Town is asking locals watch for crews and obey signage.

A visibly shaken and emotional Premier Danielle Smith, often pausing through tears, delivered an update on the wildfire situation in Jasper on Thursday.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says up to half of the buildings in Jasper may have been burned after wildfires swept through the evacuated community.

Here are the latest developments on the wildfire situation in Alberta (all times are MT):

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10:13 p.m.

Cool and wet weather is making a difference in Jasper National Park.

A statement from the park Thursday night says up to 15 millimetres of rain has fallen in the area since midnight, leading to minimal fire spread.

Team Canada at the upcoming IWWF World U17 Waterski Championships will have some Foothills representation.

Sofia Pelkey is among the 11 Canadian athletes set to compete, and on top of representing the Foothills, she'll also be representing her province as the only Albertan on the roster.

The event will be hosted by Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada at the Predator Bay Water Ski Club in Calgary from July 29th to August 4th.

Athletes from over 20 countries will be coming to compete in Slalom, Trick, Jump, and Overall events.

Foothills County is currently under another Air Quality Advisory.

Not only that, but Foothills County is still under a Heat Warning.

Due to the amount of wildfire smoke in the air, very poor air quality and reduced visibility can be expected.

The air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke is able to fluctuate over short distances, as well as from hour to hour.