News

Alexandra Noad Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Lethbridge Herald City Council has approved a new policy regarding decorative crosswalks in response to public requests for them during the last city council meeting for the term on Tuesday. This policy comes a year after the motion of a crosswalk for the Royal Canadian Legion was brought up a year ago but was put on hold until a decorative crosswalk policy was put in place. Councillor Belinda Crowson said that this policy was presented as a means to navigate requests for decorative crosswalk. “For whatever reason, the public likes decorative crosswalks, we get requests, we need to have a policy if we’re going to get requests, either to turn them down or not. It was also discussed if the policy was voted down, they could amend the previous motion to allow the Royal Canadian Legion crosswalk without the policy. There were concerns about the safety of decorative crosswalks and it was suggested that the policy be revised once the findings are released from a study in the works by the City of Edmonton on the safety risk of decorative crosswalks. Councillor Jeff Carlson pointed out the short lifespan of decorative crosswalks, with them often looking presentable for only a few days. “I enjoyed the first couple attempts and iterations we did, but after the first day none of them even look nice anymore and they don’t really commemorate. I would rather explore other options.” The majority of council agreed that there are better ways of commemoration, but many council members felt there needed a policy in place to have those discussions when requests for a decorative crosswalk come in. With the approval of the decorative crosswalk policy, the motion to have a crosswalk for the Royal Canadian Legion also went through unanimously. The project is co-sponsored by Mayor Blaine Hyggen and Councillor Ryan Parker and will be installed near the Cenotaph paid by city councillors. The city will be working with the Legion in terms of design and making sure all protocols are followed. While it is hoped the project is finished in time for Remembrance Day, City Council also wants to make sure this project is done correctly and in doing so accepts it may take longer to do so. During the closed session of the meeting, council members came forward with a statement to update the public on the status of the negotiations between Access-A-Ride transit union, Amalgamated Transit Union (AMU) and the city. AMU has decided to get a mediator and a meeting has been scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16. With the city’s election being scheduled for Oct. 8-20, this was the final city council meeting of the term with councillors Jeff Carlson and Nick Paladino announcing they will not be rerunning for council. The current councillors will remain in power until the new city [...] Read More »

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Lethbridge Herald Alberta Blue Cross has developed a new work- place guide to help employers and employees address a critical but often overlooked challenge in today’s workforce: menopause. According to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, Menopause is defined as “the permanent cessation of menstruation due to the loss of ovarian [...] Read More »

Sam Leishman Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Lethbridge Herald Jim Sazalski is cruising in style as this year’s winner of the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation (CRHF) truck raffle. In fact, the 71-year old Lethbridge native spoke to the Herald over the Bluetooth calling system from his brand new 2025 Ford F-150 XLT Super Crew Cab yesterday [...] Read More »

Alexandra Noad Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A sedative intended for large animals is believed to be the cause of a recent increase of opioid related emergencies, specifically to the Edmonton region. According to the Canadian Center of Recover Excellence (CoRE) carfentanil can be up to 100,000 times stronger than morphine and 100 times [...] Read More »

Sam Leishman Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter An important item might have been missed on your child’s back-to-school list: Glasses. The Alberta Association of Optometrists may be able to help with the expense, too. The Eye See Eye Learn program launched this school year, offering a free pair of glasses to kindergarten-aged children at [...] Read More »

A British Columbia RCMP officer who was born in Iran says he wasn’t offended when fellow officers made jokes about terrorism and referred to him as “Uncle Osama.” Coquitlam RCMP Const. Mersad Mesbah has told a code-of-conduct hearing in Richmond, B.C., that he felt accepted right away and had no trouble fitting in after completing [...] Read More »

Concerns over a federal loan being used to buy ferries for British Columbia from a Chinese company are “bizarre” given the amount of money Ottawa has spent on ferries in Eastern Canada, including from the same shipyard, Premier David Eby said. Eby, who was in Ottawa for a series of meetings, told reporters on Thursday [...] Read More »

VANCOUVER — The lawyer for the man accused of an attack at a Vancouver Chinatown festival says his client had no motivation other than a direction from God to stab three people and he should be found not criminally responsible. Glen Orris told a B.C. Supreme Court judge in closing arguments that Blair Donnelly’s mental [...] Read More »

Quebec is now the second province after Alberta to announce it will no longer offer free doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to its entire population, starting this fall. The decision matches a similar policy announced by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who said in August her own government would no longer do so as a cost-saving [...] Read More »

OTTAWA — The financial returns from Ottawa’s capital spending plans in the upcoming fall budget will help Canada pay down the deficit in later years, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on Thursday. His comments came in an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday before he departed on a trip to meet with European officials [...] Read More »