HighRiver

Picket lines have gone up at six grain terminals in Metro Vancouver as workers began a strike.

More than 600 workers represented by Grain Workers Union Local 333 are off the job.

Union president Douglas Lea-Smith says the employer need to come back to the bargaining table to negotiate a deal.

The union says it provided the employer with a "comprehensive package" last Thursday and the next day, the association indicated it had no counter offer.

The Canadian Country Showcase, hosted by Courtney Fielder, airs every weekend on Saturdays at 12 PM and Sundays at 4 PM. Courtney engages in conversations with both emerging country music artists and the established stars we’ve come to love, celebrating their milestones and new releases.

The Canadian Country Showcase, hosted by Courtney Fielder, airs every weekend on Saturdays at 12 PM and Sundays at 4 PM. Courtney engages in conversations with both emerging country music artists and the established stars we’ve come to love, celebrating their milestones and new releases. Episode 19 of the podcast, features Tyler Joe Miller and Ryan Keown, aired on the weekend of September 14th-15th, 2024. 

Justin Trudeau's interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert began with the expected jokes about bacon and Canadians saying sorry a lot, but the prime minister acknowledged it's "a really tough time" in the country when the host asked about an expected confidence vote in Parliament this week.

"People are hurting. People are having trouble paying for groceries, paying for rent, filling up the tank," Trudeau said during the CBS program Monday in New York, where he has been meeting with world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly.

The balloons are back, the balloons are back.

The 12th annual Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival arrives this Wednesday and runs until Sunday.

The five-day event brings pilots and balloons together from all around the world.

This year's theme is 'Celebrating Women of the Wind'.

Two local High River women pilots are Cathy Dudgeon and Jenn Podruski.

Dudgeon, whose balloon is called 'Marianne's Treat', is also a grade 7-12 teacher at Notre Dame Collegiate.

A very popular trail in K-Country is closed for construction.

Due to ongoing construction at the Highwood Pass, the following trails are closed; the Highwoods Meadow Interpretive Trail, Pocaterra Cirque and Ridge Routes, Arethusa Cirque and Ptarmigan Cirque.

It's an especially popular destination for Albertans, and tourists, to see the colours of Autumn, especially the alpine larch trees which turn a golden yellow in the Fall.

The Okotoks Art Gallery held a couple of exhibit openings last weekend.

On Saturday (Sept. 21), artists Sabine Lecorre-Moore and Dr. Karlee Fellner were in attendance for their openings.

Sabine Lecorre-Moore's exhibit is called Painting Alberta and is all about Wildrose Country.

The Town of High River is planning on expanding its Aquatics Centre.

But in order to do so, they need to borrow the money to be able to complete the work.

High River Town Council intends to proceed with Bylaw 4633/2024, known as the Aquatics Expansion Borrowing Bylaw.

This bylaw will allow the Town to borrow up to $14 million so the town can finance the Aquatics Centre expansion.

The Town would have to pay back that loan within 30 years.

In total, the Aquatics Centre Expansion project is estimated to cost $27 million.

The agriculture sector is bracing for another potential strike ... this time at the Port of Vancouver.

The Grain Workers Union Local 333 issued a 72 hour strike notice over the weekend, meaning we could see job action start as early as today (Tuesday, September 24).

The potential work stoppage would impact all shipments of bulk grain from the port, causing congestion right through the grain supply chain all the way back to the farmgate. 

Canada's grain farmers say a strike at Metro Vancouver terminals would cripple crop exports if it were allowed to take place.

The Grain Growers of Canada say in a statement that it is "deeply concerned" about a potential strike of grain workers in Metro Vancouver, since about 52 per cent of all Canadian-grown grain went to those terminals last year.

Grain farmers say a strike would "halt nearly 100,000 metric tonnes" of commodities arriving each day, potentially costing $35 million daily in lost exports.