Okotoks

After much hounding by federal officials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is giving Canadian dogs a slightly longer leash when it comes to new rules aimed at controlling the spread of rabies.

Health Minister Mark Holland said Wednesday that he's been able to secure some changes to the regulations for dogs entering the United States from Canada after a series of meetings in Washington, D.C.

"We made good progress, I think it significantly improves the situation, but it's not enough," he said.

High River residents could experience some traffic disruptions on Centre Street between 2nd Avenue South and Centre Street Bridge on Thursday.

Access to Centre Street from Macleod Trail will be closed but residents can still get into Sobey's with flaggers and signage to control traffic going northbound and southbound on Centre Street.

The Town of High River asks people driving in the area to obey all traffic control devices and directions from the flag persons.

The work should only take a day, and everything will be back to normal on Friday (July 19).

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is holding their Summer Meeting in Whitehorse this week.

The meeting is planned in conjunction with the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Agriculture Ministers Annual Conference.

CFA President Keith Currie says their Summer Meeting which covers two days has focused on a wide variety of issues from how ag production companies like Syngenta, BASF and Nutrien are looking to the future.

CARSTAR Okotoks recently held a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis research.

On Saturday, July 13th, CARSTAR Okotoks held the event to help raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research, and people were able to come for a car wash, eat some food, and enjoy some activities.

Over four hours, 120 people and their vehicles showed up, and over $1,300 was raised.

There was a barbecue lunch on site, serving up hot dogs, burgers, and drinks.

There was also CARSTAR swag and Pokémon cards available for people who attended.

Applications opened Wednesday for two streams in the federal government's new $30-billion public transit fund even though the money won't start flowing for another two years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

The 10-year Canada Public Transit Fund has been in the works for months and was in the recent federal budget but more details were provided as Trudeau made a visit to a subway yard in Toronto.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides has released a statement in response to the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) sharing their thoughts on recently announced changes for the next school year.

Last week the ATA shared a letter that was sent to them by the Minister. According to the ATA, the letter outlined more testing that will be added for the 2024-25 school year.

According to the Minster, it is not additional testing but rather proficiency assessments.

The Carstar Okotoks Bisons have unveiled their 2024-2025 schedule and will open the season against the High River Flyers.

That opening game is on Sept. 20th at Murray Arena. The Herd's regular season will come to a close on Feb. 8th, 2025 when they host the Rocky Rams.

The Bisons play their first exhibition game on Sept. 13 when the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings make their way to town.

A handful of new charges laid against a B.C. resource company is reinforcing concerns many people have voiced over coal projects in Alberta.

On July 10, Climate Change Canada Enforcement charged Teck Coal Limited for five contraventions of the Fisheries Act.

The company is alleged to have deposited "deleterious" (harmful) substances into "water frequented by fish, or in any place where the deleterious substance may enter any such water."

This follows an investigation from Environment and Climate Change Canada that was started on March 7, 2023.

The Town of Okotoks provided some information about pothole repairs in its last council meeting.

On July 15th, Council provided a response to Councilor Robinson who had previously inquired about the number of potholes patched annually, the length of time required to fill the potholes, and how much it costs to fix each pothole.

So far this year, the Town has repaired around 325 potholes, for $41 per pothole, for a total cost of around $13,325.

Your morning coffee is going to hit a little differently on Wednesday.

Tim Hortons Camp Day is back which means 100 per cent of the proceeds from all coffee and iced coffee sales will go to Tim Hortons Foundation Camps.

There are a total of seven Tim Hortons Foundation Camps across Canada and the U.S., which support underserved youth 

The owner of both of the Tim Hortons locations in High River, Kevin Generoux, has seen the effect that these fundraisers have.