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 »

Tim Kalinowski Lethbridge Herald tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com The Children of St. Martha’s elementary school held its third annual “Blankets of Hope” campaign on Thursday, and it has never been more needed in this year when COVID has cut off so many community connections for both the school’s children and the local homeless population,” says Kindergarten teacher and [...] Read More »

Nikki Jamieson Southern Alberta Newspapers After more than 15 years working for the town, Kirk Hofman will be leaving his position as CAO. Hofman has long ties to the Nobleford area — his great-grandparents had homesteaded in the area, and his grandparents and parents lived there — and he has enjoyed working for the town [...] Read More »

Collin Gallant Southern Alberta Newspapers Advocates for the twinning of Highway 3 say they hope to keep up momentum as the province plans to start work on some sections this summer. That includes a call to bring industry voices on board the effort, which has already brought support from Medicine Hat-based major manufacturer, Goodyear Tires. “We want to [...] Read More »

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com City council was forced to cancel all remaining public hearings for the new Municipal Development Plan this week, and also the planned public hearing on the proposed Mustard Seed temporary shelter site at 110 13th Street South next Tuesday due to an advertising error. City staff informed council at the start of what [...] Read More »

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A 29-year-old man who was expected to resolve his assault charges on at least four occasions over the past for weeks, may finally enter pleas later this month. Wade Allan Cross Child, who faces single counts of aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon, was expected to resolve the [...] Read More »

OTTAWA – With a federal budget in the offing, premiers are stepping up the pressure on Ottawa to immediately boost health-care funding by at least $28 billion a year. They held a virtual news conference Thursday to reiterate their demand for a big increase in the unconditional transfer payment the federal government sends provinces and [...] Read More »

IQALUIT, Nunavut – COVID-19 infections rose sharply in Arviat on Thursday, but Nunavut’s top doctor said there is no sign of uncontrolled spread and numbers are declining overall. The community on the western shore of Hudson Bay tallied 10 new illnesses to bring the active case count to 14. Arviat’s population of about 2,800 has [...] Read More »

OTTAWA – Canada is on the cusp of authorizing a fourth vaccine for COVID-19, raising the possibility that every Canadian adult will be offered at least one dose before Canada Day. Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada, said Thursday the review of Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine “is going very well.” “It’s [...] Read More »

Premiers say federal COVID-19 vaccine procurement delays have left them no choice but to stretch out the time between doses, as pharmacies in some parts of Ontario were preparing to start giving shots next week. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Thursday that he had asked chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw some time ago to [...] Read More »

PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. – As Lionel Desmond completed an 11-week program for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder in August 2016, those responsible for his care were worried about something they couldn’t figure out. Though he displayed symptoms considered common among combat soldiers diagnosed with PTSD, he was making little progress under treatments that usually [...] Read More »

CALGARY – Alberta’s police watchdog is investigating the shooting death of a woman by Calgary police at a hotel. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) says Calgary Police Service officers responded Wednesday afternoon to a report of a distressed woman with a gun who was threatening to harm herself. Police say they attempted to [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – The lawyer for a pastor accused of holding Sunday services that ignored COVID-19 rules says his client should be released from jail and be free to lead worshippers until his trial. James Coates with GraceLife Church, west of Edmonton, has been in jail for more than two weeks and is appealing his bail [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – Alberta’s health minister says 437,000 people can soon begin booking appointments for the next round of COVID-19 vaccinations. Tyler Shandro says those aged 65 to 74 and First Nations, Inuit and Metis people aged 50-plus can begin booking March 15. The province has been able to accelerate vaccinations due to a third one [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – The lawyer for a pastor accused of holding Sunday services that ignored COVID-19 rules says his client should be released from jail and be free to lead worshippers until his trial. James Coates with GraceLife Church, west of Edmonton, has been in jail for over two weeks and is appealing his bail conditions. [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – An Alberta pastor accused of holding Sunday services that violated COVID-19 rules is to appeal his bail conditions today. James Coates with GraceLife Church, west of Edmonton, has been in jail for just over two weeks. Coates is charged with violating Alberta’s Public Health Act and with breaking a promise to abide by [...] Read More »

BANGKOK – YouTube has removed five channels run by Myanmar’s military for violating its community guidelines and terms of service. The company said Friday that it terminated channels of broadcasters Myawaddy Media, MRTV, WD Online Broadcasting, MWD Variety and MWD Myanmar. The decision follows a Feb. 1 military coup that ousted the country’s elected government, [...] Read More »

BEIJING – A senior Chinese official says the largely pro-Beijing committee that currently elects the Hong Kong’s leader will also elect some members of the city’s legislature, as part of Beijing’s planned revamp of Hong Kong’s electoral system. “The election committee will be entrusted with the new function of electing a relatively large share of [...] Read More »

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – One of the strongest earthquakes to hit the South Pacific in modern history triggered tsunami warnings across the ocean and forced thousands of people in New Zealand to evacuate coastal areas Friday. Small tsunami waves were seen, but little damage was apparent hours later. The magnitude 8.1 quake in the Kermadec [...] Read More »

BEIJING – China is increasing its defence spending by 6.8% in 2021 as it works to maintain a robust upgrading of the armed forces despite high government debt and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. A national budget report issued Friday said China would spend 1.355 trillion yuan ($210 billion) on defence in the coming [...] Read More »

BEIJING – China is increasing its defence spending by 6.8%, a slight uptick from last year, amid high government debt and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic impact. A national budget report issued Friday said China would spend 1.355 trillion yuan ($210 billion) on national defence in the coming year. That’s up from the 6.6% [...] Read More »