HighRiver

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.

The Okotoks Community Food Drive was held on Saturday (Sept. 21), and brought in just over 30,000 pounds of food donations for the Okotoks Food Bank.

It's an annual event that's been running for over 10 years and is run by volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

The food bank's executive director Bente Yanota says it was a smooth process, as the LDS church volunteers have it down pat after so many years.

Rail Safety Week in Canada is an annual event to raise awareness about rail safety. 

Operation Lifesaver and its partners are reminding everyone there is no "undo" button. 

This year's theme is there is no "undo" button... taking risks near tracks can change your life forever or cost you life and limb.

CPKC's Assistant Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Bulk Elizabeth Hucker 

The Okotoks Oilers opened up their first-ever full season in the BCHL against a familiar foe in the big bad Brooks Bandits in back-to-back games over the weekend.

The Bandits, who have over 10 players returning compared to the Oilers' six, took control and didn't let up against the Oilers taking the game on Friday 5-0 at the Green and Gold's home opener, and then following it up with another victory in Brooks with a 5-1 win on Saturday (Sept. 21).

Fall is a critical period when it comes to managing winter hardiness or winterkill in alfalfa stands.

Range Management Specialist Trevor Lennox says alfalfa is thought of as queen of the forages.

"It's a very important forage, as a result, it's important to keep the stand as productive as possible."

He points out that when an alfalfa plant is cut, the initial regrowth that follows is produced from root reserves, as new leaves are developed, they begin to manufacture their own energy for growth.

The HJHL season was in full swing this past weekend with the Bisons taking the first game of the season 5-3 over the High River Flyers on Friday (Sept. 20) and then falling just short in a 3-2 hockey game against the Medicine Hat Cubs the following night.

The High River Flyers came away with a single point over the weekend due to an overtime loss to the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings but looked competitive even after a loss to start the season against the Carstar Okotoks Bisons.