Cochrane

The Alberta United Conservative government introduced two bills Tuesday to reduce the self-policing powers of elected public school boards and municipal councils.

One bill, if passed, would cancel local councils' codes of conduct and put an end to any ongoing complaints or sanctions that aren’t before the courts.

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, before introducing the legislation, told reporters that in some cases, codes of conduct had been weaponized to silence dissent on municipal councils.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says Alberta's measles outbreak isn't dire enough for the province's top public health doctor to address the public, despite mounting calls for the government to do more to stop the spread.

Alberta Health Services announced seven new cases of the highly infectious disease Tuesday, bringing the province's confirmed case total to 43 since early March. Cases have been reported in all five provincial health zones.

The final list of federal election candidates in the Airdrie-Cochrane riding was confirmed early this morning by Elections Canada.

After some jockeying, the Airdrie-Cochrane riding has five candidates confirmed for the Apr. 28th election.

The CochraneNow Online Auction is officially open, with hundreds of deals from local businesses waiting to be scooped up.

From restaurant outings and adventure packages to spa days and even a hot tub, there's something for just about everyone.

Even better, all items start at 60 per cent off their original retail price!

Check out the full list of items and start bidding HERE.

A new community scavenger hunt kicks off this week in downtown Cochrane, with local businesses teaming up to offer a gold rush of fun.

The Spring Scavengers event, organized by Found Books & Shop, runs every Thursday for the next four weeks.

"It's a gold rush scavenger hunt," says Tupaj Parrado with Found Books. "You can go to different Main Street businesses to collect coupons and exclusive gold nuggets."

The first three people to collect and return all 11 golden nuggets to Found Books by 7:00 p.m. on Thursdays will win a $25 gift card.

Canadian producers will have a new way to make sure they can say their product is upholding sustainability, as the Canadian Meat Council (CMC) is unveiling their participation in the Protein PACT Sustainability Framework. The initiative will look to uphold sustainability standards across the country for Canada's beef producers.

Lauren Martin, the Senior Director of Public Affairs and Corporate Council for CMC, says that it was made in cooperation with our southern neighbours.

The leaders of the top three federal parties were campaigning Tuesday in Western Canada, where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised to crack down on offshore tax loopholes by appointing a tax task force.

The Conservatives said the task force would be asked to make the rules simpler and more fair and would ensure large companies can't "stash their money in offshore tax havens."

There has been a steady rise in the number of people seeking asylum at a major border crossing south of Montreal, border officials said Tuesday amid concerns that Trump administration policies could drive another massive influx of migrants to Canada.

The rise in would-be refugees at the St-Bernard-de-Lacolle crossing coincides with the looming expiration of the temporary status of hundreds of thousands of migrants in the United States.

The Alberta government is proposing changes that would remove the authority of municipalities to create their own council codes of conduct, citing concerns that these rules have been misused and have contributed to dysfunction among some local elected officials.

On Friday, Horse Creek Candy, Gifts & Chocolate Shoppe put up six custom-made lawn signs to promote their new location a few blocks further west on 1st Street W. in downtown Cochrane.

By Monday morning, all six signs had vanished.

"I put them up Friday morning. They were there Saturday night around 7 p.m. when my husband walked the street to make sure they were in good spots, and by Monday morning, they were gone," said owner Cherie Hill.

"Like, come on, guys, it's not funny. They took every one of them!"