News

Dale Woodard Lethbridge Herald Small businesses in Alberta are being offered a helping hand. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hinder small businesses, the province is offering supports to help owners through a tough time with additional pandemic support through a new financial relief program, the Enhanced COVID-19 Business Benefit, beginning in April. The Enhanced COVID-19 Business Benefit provides [...] Read More »

Tim Kalinowski Lethbridge Herald tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com Blood Tribe members are calling for the reform of the current electoral system after about 300 people were not allowed to vote in the municipal election at the Lethbridge polling station back in November. A separate problem happened in Calgary when the location of the vote was changed the day [...] Read More »

Andrea Bourque-White, Library Assistant, Lethbridge Public Library People have been eating versions of pizza for centuries. What we know as pizza can be traced back to late 18th century Naples, Italy, but it wasn’t a family favourite like it is today. So, how did pizza become one of the world’s most popular foods? Back in [...] Read More »

Many people no longer attend religious services. According to the sociologists, this percentage of people is increasing as the years go by. While many who are active in religious groups decry this trend, others of us want to warn “Be careful before you assume that we’ve rejected all sense of the Great Mystery!” I’m one [...] Read More »

Are you thinking of using cannabis? Are you already using? Cannabis is a psychoactive substance that has many short- and long-term health risks including: impairment, memory issues, mental health problems, lung damage and risk of dependency and cannabis use disorder. If you are using, ensure that you read the product labels. Know what and how [...] Read More »

Delon Shurtz lethbridge herald dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com Richard Allen Knoch should have left his rifle at home, rather than his coat and shoes, when he went for a short walk last December. It was just after 8:00 in the morning on Dec. 11 when the 65-year-old Coalhurst resident was seen walking barefoot along 51 Avenue, and wearing [...] Read More »

Justin Seward Southern Alberta Newspapers The National Police Federation launched the ‘Keep Alberta RCMP’ campaign recently in response to the province’s Fair Deal Panel looking at replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force. Alberta taxpayers and local communities would have to pay the $112 million if Alberta were to replace the RCMP. The federal [...] Read More »

By Cole Parkinson Southern Alberta Newspapers With the carbon tax continuing to be an issue across the country, Bow River MP Martin Shields has continued to bring forward concerns to the House of Commons. On Feb. 17, Shields rose in the House to speak on how the carbon tax is affecting his constituents, including veterans [...] Read More »

Delon Shurtz lethbridge herald dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A Lethbridge judge is expected to give his decision next month on whether a man sexually assaulted a woman while she was passed out in his bedroom in 2019. Justice Vaughan Hartigan reserved his decision following Ivan Iain Palmer’s trial earlier this month, but is set to announce on March [...] Read More »

Biogas production and growing Alberta’s agriculture in the coming years was front and centre as the Southern Alberta Council of Public Affairs met Thursday. Taking the virtual podium for the morning session was Chris Perry, the co-founder and president of CKP Farms Ltd. and Grow the Energy Circle Ltd. (GrowTEC), explaining the lengthy regulatory process [...] Read More »

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Site C hydroelectric dam has risen in cost by over $5 billion and been delayed by a year, bringing the price tag of the megaproject to $16 billion and stretching the completion date to 2025. Premier John Horgan said Friday the project is halfway complete and the skyrocketing expenses and construction [...] Read More »

WASHINGTON – The pandemic diplomacy at work between the United States and Canada is continuing, this time with the secretary of state. Antony Blinken is visiting virtually with Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau as part of the Biden administration’s post-Trump fence-mending campaign. Blinken’s “virtual trip” to Canada, which also includes a meeting with Prime Minister [...] Read More »

VANCOUVER – A spokeswoman for Vancouver police says the conduct of two officers is under investigation after video footage emerged of the pair allegedly posing with a dead body at a popular beach. Const. Tania Visintin says the officers responded to calls about a deceased individual at Stanley Park’s Third Beach, and waited for the [...] Read More »

OTTAWA – The fact Admiral Art McDonald stepped aside as Canada’s defence chief while misconduct allegations are investigated demonstrates how seriously such cases are taken, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says. But Trudeau said Friday that more must be done to ensure workplaces are free of harassment and intimidation. “This is something that is extremely important. [...] Read More »

VICTORIA – The cost of British Columbia’s Site C hydroelectric dam has grown by $6 billion, bringing the price tag of the megaproject to $16 billion and stretching the completion date to 2025. The provincial government says the skyrocketing expenses are due to construction setbacks, geotechnical issues, COVID-19 and other cost and schedule pressures. Premier [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – A group of health professionals is urging the Alberta government not to ease COVID-19 restrictions next week and to instead toughen measures for bars, restaurants and pubs. The plea comes from two doctors who co-chair the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association’s pandemic committee. Dr. Noel Gibney and Dr. James Talbot say in a [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – An Alberta woman who admitted to shooting her husband and dumping his body in a slough wants her 18 -year prison sentence reduced. Helen Naslund pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter in the September 2011 death of 49-year-old Miles Naslund on a farm near Holden, Alta., about 100 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. An [...] Read More »

CALGARY – Women’s hockey star Angela James, Edmonton Oilers executive Kevin Lowe and former Hockey Canada president Bill Hay have been named to the Order of Hockey in Canada. James was a member of Canada’s national women’s team from 1990 to 1999. She recorded 54 points in 50 international games and helped Canada win four [...] Read More »

CALGARY – A judge has sentenced a man with a benign brain tumour, who lost consciousness while driving and killed a Calgary woman, to 27 months in prison. James Beagrie, 48, was originally charged with criminal negligence causing death after his truck hit Anjna Sharma, a mother of three, who had been on a walk [...] Read More »

CALGARY – A man who killed and dismembered his father has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance at parole for 15 years. A jury found Zaineddin Al Aalak guilty in December of second-degree murder in the death of 53-year-old Mohamed Al Aalak. He was also convicted of offering an indignity to the [...] Read More »

WASHINGTON – Saudi Arabia’s crown prince likely approved an operation to kill or capture a U.S.-based journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence report released Friday that could escalate pressure on the Biden administration to hold the kingdom accountable for a murder that drew bipartisan and international outrage. [...] Read More »

New York City’s Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza announced Friday he would step down, citing the coronavirus pandemic’s personal toll on his family. He will be replaced by Bronx Executive Superintendent Meisha Ross Porter, who becomes the first Black woman to lead the nation’s largest public school district. Carranza, who has spent only a year on [...] Read More »

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – An explosion struck an Israeli-owned cargo ship sailing out of the Middle East on Friday, an unexplained blast renewing concerns about ship security amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The crew and vessel were safe, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by the [...] Read More »

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Authorities say an explosion has struck a ship in the Gulf of Oman. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by the British navy, says the crew is safe after the explosion overnight. The UKMTO says the ship is heading to the nearest port. The UKMTO gave the [...] Read More »

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Two U.S. Navy warships operating in the Mideast have been struck by coronavirus outbreaks, authorities said Friday, with both returning to port in Bahrain. A dozen troops aboard the USS San Diego, an amphibious transport dock, tested positive for COVID-19, said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the Bahrain-based 5th [...] Read More »