Jul 1 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Protesters surrounded Alberta's health minister, his wife and two young sons Thursday at the conclusion of a Canada Day parade and a celebration of the lifting of most COVID-19 restrictions. Tyler Shandro's wife Andrea was in tears and the minister held one of his sons close, putting his hands over his ears while […]
Jul 1 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Alberta lifted almost all its remaining COVID-19 restrictions Thursday, but many businesses said they are taking a more cautious approach as things start to return to normal. There are no more limits on indoor and outdoor social gatherings, no more capacity limits on restaurants, stores and places of worship. Weddings and other celebrations […]
Jun 26 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — The Lethbridge Police Service has delivered a revamped plan to the province's justice minister aimed at fixing problems that led to a threat that the service could be disbanded. The department in Alberta's third-largest city has, among other things, faced allegations of officers conducting illegal database searches for personal use. Police Chief Shahin […]
Jun 21 2021 — Bill Graveland — Calgary won't be following provincial recommendations on the mandatory wearing of masks when all COVID-19 health restrictions are lifted in Alberta on July 1. Alberta reached its Phase 3 goals earlier this month which required 70 per cent of the population receiving a first dose of vaccine and low hospitalization rates. After a lengthy meeting […]
Jun 16 2021 — Bill Graveland — LIVINGSTONE RANGE, ALBERTA — Two mountain goats stubbornly refused to get up from their resting spot Wednesday in the middle of a gravel road heading into the eastern slopes of Alberta's Rocky Mountains. Like the two goats, many rural landowners in the region aren't budging from their opposition to the province's plan to allow open-pit […]
May 8 2021 — Bill Graveland — Jennifer Coffman didn't expect to get hit with a double whammy at her restaurant in the tiny community of Field just west of the Alberta-British Columbia boundary this year. Coffman has been running the Truffle Pigs Bistro and Lodge for the last 12 years. Field, with a population of just under 200, sits along the […]
May 7 2021 — Bill Graveland — Ronald Smith sounds tired. Despite good news last month, when a bill to resume executions in Montana was unexpectedly defeated, the Canadian on death row in that state is in a sombre mood. Smith, originally from Red Deer, Alta., has been facing capital punishment since 1983 for killing two young Montana men in 1982. "I […]
May 1 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Michelle Benz thought she was playing it smart when she went back to school after being laid off from the oil and gas sector six years ago. She completed her bachelor of urban planning at the University of Calgary, but she's frustrated that the job market in her chosen field has dried up […]
Apr 29 2021 — Bill Graveland — HIGH RIVER, Alta. — Jamie Welsh-Rollo was all smiles Thursday as COVID-19 vaccination clinics began at two of Canada's largest beef-packing plants in southern Alberta. Welsh-Rollo, who is a union steward and works on the line packaging meat at Cargill, said there was an "air of excitement" inside the plant, which employs 2,200 people. "It's […]
Apr 7 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Two First Nations are taking the Alberta government and its gaming commission to court over the province's entry into the online gambling sector. Play Alberta, a provincially regulated site launched last fall, offers virtual slots and table games while casinos remain shut down due to COVID-19. The province has said it expects the […]
Apr 5 2021 — Bill Graveland — RED DEER, Alta. — The fate of a Canadian man who has been on death row in Montana for 38 years could become more tenuous as the state gets closer to removing obstacles that prevent it from resuming executions. Ronald Smith, 63, is originally from Red Deer, Alta., and has been on death row since […]
Mar 17 2021 — Bill Graveland — The federal government wants a yes or no from the three Prairie provinces on proposed upgrades to a program that protects farmers against large declines in income. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau held a news conference Wednesday to give an update on planned changes to the AgriStability program that would increase payouts for production losses, […]
Mar 15 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Longtime southern Alberta landowner Bobbi Lambright says she isn't about to let emotion colour her concerns about coal mining activities on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. She was at a news conference in Calgary Monday as Alberta's opposition NDP announced plans to introduce a private member's bill that would ban future […]
Mar 14 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — The rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations across the country is frustrating several groups of workers who identify as front-line employees and want to be bumped up in the queue. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization makes recommendations for the use of vaccines and groups that should be prioritized, but each province has the responsibility […]
Mar 10 2021 — Bill Graveland — LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA — The chief of the Lethbridge Police Service in southern Alberta says it will co-operate fully with an investigation into officers who allegedly made unauthorized checks on a provincial cabinet minister.Shahin Mehdizadeh says the force takes the matter involving Shannon Phillips seriously and the “vast majority” of officers and staff are committed […]