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 »

arged a repeat offender with multiple, drug-related offences. On Wednesday, members of the Lethbridge Police Service Crime Suppression Team observed an individual engage in activity consistent with drug trafficking at locations in north Lethbridge, the downtown core and the area of the homeless shelter. Police arrested a Lethbridge man in the 500-block of 5 Street [...] Read More »

LETHBRIDGE HERALDshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A former Fort Vermillion man who fired two lawyers and made dozens of court appearances on numerous criminal offences, has finally pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later this year. Jessie Hugh Flett pleaded guilty Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court to charges of fleeing from police, driving while prohibited, possession of stolen property [...] Read More »

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com The Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs welcomed University of Lethbridge associate vice-president of students Kathleen Massey to its weekly livestream YouTube speaker series to talk about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of students at the university. According to a recently conducted student survey, about 30 per cent [...] 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 »

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times eastern): 10:20 a.m. The Manitoba government is now predicting it will be able to provide all eligible adults with a first dose of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of June. Officials say it might even be as early as mid-May, depending on the flow of [...] Read More »

OTTAWA – Health Canada has approved the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson and Johnson, saying it has the evidence showing the vaccine is both safe and effective against the novel coronavirus that causes the disease. It is the fourth vaccine to be approved in Canada and the first and only one Canada has purchased that requires [...] Read More »

Canada added a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to its pandemic-fighting arsenal on Friday, approving Johnson & Johnson’s product a week after it was authorized in the United States. That gives Canada four approved vaccines – Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna inoculations were approved in December and the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab was endorsed last week – and it adds flexibility [...] Read More »

OTTAWA – Health Canada is to announce approval of the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson and Johnson this morning, according to multiple sources aware of the decision but not authorized to discuss it publicly. The federal regulator has found the evidence shows the vaccine is both safe and effective against the virus that causes COVID-19. It [...] Read More »

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of March 5 … What we are watching in Canada … Walter Gretzky, the ultimate Canadian hockey dad who taught and nurtured the Great One, has [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – A judge is to decide today whether to release an Alberta pastor from jail, after his lawyer argued he should 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. Coates is charged [...] 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 »

LONDON – Buckingham Palace says Prince Philip has been transferred back to the private Prince Edward VII’s hospital to continue his recovery after a heart procedure. The palace says the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital on Wednesday. Prince Philip is “expected [...] Read More »

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says authorities have disrupted the attempted hijacking of a passenger jet in flight on Thursday night. The Guard said on its official website the hijacking targeted a flight heading from the southwestern city of Ahvaz to the northwestern city of Mashhad. The Guard announcement on Friday did not [...] 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 »