Cochrane

Alberta Education has confirmed none of the 10 priority school projects are now approved for the next stage of project delivery are in the Rocky View School Division.

Yesterday, Infrastructure minister Peter Guthrie announced added flexibility to accelerate the construction of new schools in the province outside the traditional budget-year cycle. Projects already in the planning and design stages can move forward to the next step as soon as they are ready to do so without having to wait for the next budget cycle.

The devil is in the detail, and that's what Rocky View Schools (RVS) is awaiting on the government's new school construction accelerator program.

Update: Residents are reporting a return of power to the area as of 7 p.m.

Orignal story follows. 

Residents in the Bow Ridge/ Bow Meadows and Jumping Pound area of Cochrane are dark this evening after an unexpected power outage.

Fortis Alberta is currently working in the area to restore power. 

The work is predicted to return around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. 

Mayor Jeff Genung is hopeful the province's school construction accelerator program means we'll be getting more schools sooner.

"I've long said Cochrane has been the recipient of a lot of new residents and it's putting extreme pressures on all of our schools and frankly on all of our infrastructure," says Genung. "It was great to see the UCP government step forward and announce a plan to get more schools built in the province."

Among the eight new school sites identified by the Cochrane, there's one in Heartland that is shovel ready.

There's some good news for Canada's pulse sector as industry representatives gather this week in Winnipeg for the Annual Pulse and Special Crops Convention.

India announced late last week that it would once again extend the timeline for duty-free imports of yellow peas until December 31st, 2024.

India originally lifted the duties on pea imports on a temporary basis in December of 2023 and has continued to issue temporary extensions since then, while the import duty exemption on lentils is in place through March 31, 2025.

Zoocasa has released a new blog post showcasing the affordability of property taxes for 25 municipalities around Alberta.

How does Cochrane stack up?

Canmore, Chestermere and Calgary locked in the top three spots.

Cochrane has ranked as the fourth most affordable.

P&H Milling Group, a division of Parrish & Heimbecker Limited, have started construction on a new, state-of-the-art flour milling facility in Red Deer County. 

A sod-turning event earlier this month marked the start for the $241 million facility which will have the capacity to mill an estimated 750 metric tonnes of wheat daily from Western Canadian farmers.

More than a dozen soldiers were sent to hospital this afternoon after an accident at a military base in Quebec.

Capt. Hermione Wilson, a public affairs officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, says the accident took place at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier.

Wilson says the accident in the base's training area involved two armoured vehicles.

She says civilian and military emergency services responded immediately to the scene.

Wilson says 16 members of the 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has confirmed he will ask the other opposition parties to bring down the Liberal government next week with a non-confidence motion.

A Conservative spokesperson said the motion will simply say the House has no confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government.

Now that the NDP has ended the supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals, the minority government needs to shore up support from opposition parties on a vote-by-vote basis.

It's officially Girl Guide Cookie season in Cochrane!

This weekend is a cookie blitz hosted by all the Cochrane units including Sparks, Embers, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers.