January 2009

January 7

• Okotoks’ lauded population cap could be “tweaked” as the Town and the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) ponder new plans for the future. Okotoks’ mayor and two town councillors say they support altering the population cap.

January 14

• The crowd at an open house at the Okotoks Air Ranch on Jan. 12 was simmering with frustration as Air Ranch residents want Heartland production grounded.  Approximately 120 people attended the meeting at the new east hangar to address a proposal from the producers of the CBC television series Heartland to use the hangar for their production office and studio. The majority of residents opposed the proposal because the production company and the developer were planning to bring 15 large equipment trucks and up to 60 staff vehicles into a residential area where children ride their bikes on the street because there are no sidewalks.

• The OH Ranch located west of Longview was identified as a leader in environmental sustainability and conservation twice by the end of 2008. Owned and operated by the Seaman family, the ranch was awarded with the Alberta Beef Producers’ Environmental Stewardship Award on Dec. 9. The award came three months after the late Daryl “Doc” Seaman, together with the Province, dedicated approximately 10,200 acres (41.28 square kilometres) of Crown land to heritage rangeland and Seaman placed a conservation easement on privately-owned land.

• Local Alberta Health Services board members are keeping a tight lid on how they’re going tackle the provincial health care’s looming $1.3 billion deficit. The permanent single health board met Jan. 14 in Calgary to discuss the highly publicized deficit.

January 21

• The Town of Turner Valley has been ordered to pay a resident’s fees from a court hearing regarding the new water reservoir. Last week the Environmental Appeals Board announced the Town of Turner Valley would have to reimburse Roxanne Walsh for personal costs she incurred during a hearing into the new raw water reservoir.

• Steve Breally was moving last week, but there weren’t any movers or a U-Haul van. It was just Breally, his backpack, a tent and everything he owns in the world. Okotoks municipal enforcement officers gave Breally a notice to pack up his things following a complaint about his tent in the bush along the Town’s walking trails.

• Foothills residents may have to be prepared to dim their outdoor lights soon. A proposed Dark Sky bylaw was presented to MD of Foothills council last week. The bylaw outlines a number of steps intended to reduce light pollution, including banning certain types of outdoor lights, raising awareness of the issue and protecting the night sky near the area’s two observatories.

• Life begins at 40 — and older — for a pair of Okotoks figure skaters. David Sargent, 48, and Julie Shaw, 41, won gold medals at the Western Regional Adult Figure Skating Championships Jan. 11 in Calgary. Sargent won gold in the Adult Class 4 level and Shaw took first place in the Ladies Bronze Freeskate.

January 28

• The question of what is being released into the air in Turner Valley emerged as a primary concern at an oil and gas open house on Jan. 20. Alberta’s ministry of Culture and Community Spirit spearheaded an open house at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall to provide information about re-abandoning a sour gas well at the old gas plant, as well as activities of two oil companies — Talisman and Conoco Phillips — operating in the area.

• A woman who admitted to running down an Okotoks man who was hitchhiking on Deerfoot Trail last March is expected to launch a psychological defence for leaving the scene of the accident. Tanner Froom left the Deerfoot Inn and Casino on March 31, 2008 and was hitchhiking on the busy freeway, trying to get a ride back to his Okotoks home. He was struck down, but court heard the woman behind the wheel did not stop.

• The Foothills Country Hospice is celebrating its first anniversary this month but its executive director said it still needs long-term support from the community. On Jan. 28, 2008 the hospice opened its doors to patients for the first time after more than six years of fundraising.

• The land, water and wildlife holds a very special meaning for First Nations people and, according to Eden Valley resident Keith Lefthand, it plays a significant part of the Stoney Nakoda culture. Lefthand appeared at an Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) hearing into a Petro-Canada proposal to build 56 km of pipelines connecting sour gas wells west of Longview to a facility near the Spray Lakes. The pipeline would run along the reserves’ west boundary. Lefthand shared his concern about the impact a proposed sour gas pipeline will have on traditional activities and on the impact it could have on those living at the reserve in the event of an emergency.

• The Knights were ranked No. 1 in the Alberta School Athletic Association 3A school mid-season rankings — a first for the school’s girls basketball program. Their previous highest ranking was last year, when they reached No. 2 behind the Springbank Phoenix.

February 2009

February 4

• The residents of the Air Ranch community no longer face sharing their neighbourhood with a national television series production and its fleet of semi-tractor trailers. On Jan. 30 the CBC series Heartland decided to use an old hangar in Calgary as their production office and sound stage instead of a hangar at the airport in the Air Ranch community.

• A new home renovation tax credit will be good for people fixing up their homes, but an Okotoks renovator doesn’t expect people to be lining up to take advantage of the $1,350 benefit. The credit, the largest tax benefit announced in last week’s federal budget, allows people to claim 15 per cent of renovation projects on their taxes, up to a maximum of $1,350. All projects done between Jan. 27, 2009 and Feb. 1, 2010 can qualify.

• Petro-Canada and opponents of a proposed sour gas pipeline southwest of Longview will have to wait nearly three months to learn the results of a hearing into the project.

An Energy Resources Conservation Board hearing into Petro Canada’s proposals to drill 11 sour gas wells west of Longview and 56 km of pipeline inside the Kananaskis area, which began on Nov. 12, wrapped up on Jan. 30.

• Shannon Kleibrink was hoping for another comeback at this year’s Alberta women’s curling championship, but she came up just short. Kleibrink, the defending champion, was eliminated in the semifinals when she lost 8-7 to Heather Nedohin of Edmonton at the Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sylvan Lake on Jan. 31.

February 11

• The public is invited to cast their votes to elect the directors for the new Foothills Humane Society. Turner Valley resident Cheryle Dobbyn initiated the project last spring and over the last year a plan for a no-kill facility for stray animals in the foothills has developed.

• MD of Foothills residents want to see an emphasis on protecting agriculture and open spaces in a new plan to chart the area’s future growth. “I’d like to see more thought put into conservation of our land,” said Margaret Plew at a DeWinton open house on a draft of the Municipal Development Plan (MDP). “The bottom line is you can’t keep cutting up farm land.”  The DeWinton event was one of three open houses held throughout the MD where residents saw a draft of the proposed plan.

• Two previous Juno Award winners from the foothills have captured judges’ attention again this year. High River resident Amos Garrett is one of five musicians nominated for Blues Album of the Year and George Canyon, who lives between Okotoks and High River, is one of five musicians nominated for Country Recording of the Year.

• The only thing bigger than the trophy the Holy Trinity Academy Knights won on Saturday, was how big the boost will be for their confidence. The Holy Trinity Knights boys team won one of the biggest Catholic high school basketball tournaments in the province when it beat St. Francis Xavier from Edmonton 65-60 in the 26th annual Father Troy Basketball Tournament in Edmonton.

February 18

• A Millarville area family is asking for close to $200,000 from an oil company that left contaminated soil and dumped polluted water on their grazing land. Imperial Oil has already been ordered to pay $65,000 to the Ball family, owners of a 2,500-acre beef ranch west Millarville, for what a judge called a breach of standard of care. The money awarded was in compensation for the animals lost to illness the following year and for the grief it caused the family.

February 25

• A Mexican couple who has been living in Okotoks for the past four years will be deported to their home country, where they say they will live in fear of their lives. A man, who only wants to be known as Alberto, said he and his wife fear being arrested and killed in prison when they return to Mexico on March 6.

Alberto fled the country in 2003 on the advice of his lawyer, who Alberto said was killed four months later.

• A petition asking the Province to clean up the old Turner Valley Gas Plant was presented to the provincial government. A 2,130-name petition was launched by a group of Okotoks residents in August. Laurie Blakeman, Liberal critic for the ministries of Environment and Culture and Community Spirit, presented the petition to the Legislature on Feb. 17.

• The Stoney language, also known as Nakoda Sioux, is commonly heard on the Eden Valley Reserve west of Longview. There the Stoney Nakoda First Nation people have preserved the language through everyday use while other First Nations people in Alberta and across Canada are struggling to hang on to their linguistic heritage.

Eden Valley resident Bradford Lefthand estimated between 75 and 95 per cent of the adults on the reserve speak their mother tongue, however, the children and teenagers prefer to speak English.

• The Foothills Falcons Junior Varsity boys basketball team showed no signs of slowing down from last year’s league and zone championship wins. This year’s team is undefeated in league play and has just returned from Red Deer with an impressive tournament victory on Feb. 13-14.

March 2009

March 4

• On Saturday Feb. 28 more than 300 people filled the gymnasium of the Millarville Community School to celebrate the life of a seven-year-old who touched the hearts of a community. The funeral service paid tribute to Brandon Kruggel, who died on Feb. 24 when he was hit by a car as he waited to board a school bus in front of his home.

• A draft development plan for the Calgary region was given a resounding ‘no’ vote by foothills residents during a heated open house. MD of Foothills residents attending a Feb. 25 open house roundly panned the Calgary Regional Partnership’s (CRP) plan that many called unfair and undemocratic, however, an official with the partnership said the document is not as bad as was presented.

• Kayben Farms, well-known for its red and black currants, is applying a granular fertilizer derived from manure to a trial sample of their crops this year. The organic matter fertilizer is made by a Calgary company called Earth Renew Organics Ltd., which developed a new technology that uses a natural-gas fired turbine to heat manure and creates pellets of a similar size to chemical fertilizer, and a byproduct is an excess of electricity that the company sells to the Alberta power pool.

• A foothills-area farmer who got one of his first jobs announcing at the High River chuckwagon races will be replacing a legend at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.

Les McIntyre was introduced as the new announcer for the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby, replacing Joe Carbury who has been behind the mic for 45 years in Calgary.

March 11

• Turner Valley Coun. George Wallace has lost the confidence of fellow council members and several residents as well. A letter he wrote to the editor of the Western Wheel, published Feb. 4, was a contributing factor in council passing a vote of non-confidence against Wallace on March 2, which effectively removes him from committee and board duties. He does, however, remain a councillor. Wallace’s letter also angered several residents and prompted former mayor Kelly Tuck to ask him to resign.

• A small group of rose-bearing men and women shed tears of joy at the Alberta legislature after hearing the Province had decided to fund an expensive cancer drug. Health Minister Ron Liepert announced in the legislature Thursday the Province would add the drug Avastin to its drug benefit list as of April 1.

• Girls basketball in the Foothills Athletic Council is ruled by the Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) Knights — and it was at the expense of a school to the south.

The Knights won the Senior Varsity title when they beat the Highwood Mustangs from High River 64-46 on March 7 at Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks. Meanwhile, their younger counterparts beat the Mustangs by the identical 64-46 score in the Junior Varsity final.

March 18

• The trial for a man accused of killing five Okotokians, including three children, in a horrific crash on Macleod Trail wrapped up March 17.

Over the past week 28 witnesses took the stand to testify in the trial against Daniel Tschetter. Tschetter was driving a 20-ton cement truck when he slammed into a car on 194th Avenue on Dec. 7, 2007. Christopher Gautreau, 41, and his fiancé Melaina Hovdebo, 33, were killed in the crash. Gautreau’s children, Alexia, 9, and Kiarra, 6, also died, as did Hovdebo’s 16-month-old son Zachary.

• The mayor of Okotoks is preparing to don his work clothes in the coming weeks and head up to Airdrie to perform a simple act of green. Bill McAlpine will spend a day working in the Airdrie’s recycling centre after Okotoks lost the Million Acts of Green challenge to Airdrie.

• Surrendering three power-play goals in the third period may have cost the High Country Rockies a provincial Bantam B championship. It was billed as a clash of the titans March 15 night at Oilfields Arena in Black Diamond as the two top teams in the Hockey Alberta Bantam B provincials battled for the championship banner.

• There’s a team at Foothills Composite High School whose members have collected scrapes and bruises, a couple of broken noses and smiled all the whole way through it. The members of the Foothills Falcons cheerleading squad were smiling ear-to-ear after winning a bronze medal at the provincial high school cheerleading championships in Athabasca on March 6-7.

March 25

• A substantial investment from the provincial government for affordable housing was welcome news for Foothills seniors. Alberta Seniors and Community Supports announced $119 million in funding to build and upgrade 3,000 supportive living and lodge units across the province. Included in that commitment was $7.4 million for The Brenda Stafford Foundation to build 100 affordable assisted living units in Okotoks and another $1.1 million for The Elders Development Corporation to build the Ridge Stone Lodge in Black Diamond.

• Investigators looking into a “personal relationship” that formed during a hearing into a proposed sour gas pipeline have ruled the process has not been compromised.

A public hearing for a proposed Petro-Canada pipeline southwest of Longview was put on hold last month after a relationship between employees of Petro-Canada and the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) was revealed. The board launched an investigation to ensure the relationship did not compromise the hearing.

• Who is the man of the shroud? That’s a question that has been intriguing people around the world for centuries and from March 30 to April 4 St. James Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Academy in Okotoks hosted the Man of the Shroud exhibit.

• The last drop of 2005-06 Oil is gone. Justin Daigle, who played 15 games as an affiliate with the Okotoks Junior A Oilers in their inaugural season, played his last game with the organization when the Olds Grizzlys eliminated the Oilers from the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs on March 16.

April 2009

April 1

• The provincial government will provide more than $5 million to keep foothills ambulances running. The Foothills Regional Emergency Medical Service (FREMS) received $5.45 million from the Province as it takes over responsibility for Alberta’s EMS services effective April 1.

• A Mexican couple living in Okotoks for the past four years returned to their home country where they say they fear for their lives. A man, who only wanted to be known as Alberto for fear of reprisal upon his return to Mexico, said he and his wife chose to return rather than break Canada’s laws. The pair had contemplated taking refuge in a church, but instead flew to Puerto Vallarta, where their sons live, on Saturday morning.

• Gordon Day stepped down as president of the Royal Canadian Legion Turner Valley Branch 78 after 20 years. Michel Jackson was appointed to the position.

• Holy Trinity Academy is the first high school in Canada to receive the LEED gold standard. LEED uses a point system rating environmental impact and considers areas ranging from being a sustainable site to innovation and design.

• Ecole Percy Pegler School students finally found a home while their school undergoes an extensive overhaul. It was decided the elementary students will have temporary classrooms at the nearby Ecole Okotoks Junior High School over the next school year.

April 8

• Five teens who burned down an agriplex building in Eden Valley had the charges against them dropped after completing community service. The agriplex burned down in late 2007.

• Okotoks businesses say growing the town beyond its 30,000 population cap would make good economic sense if sustainable principles are still followed. In a poll of Okotoks Chamber of Commerce members, 85 per cent of business owners who responded said they support Okotoks lifting the 30,000 population cap. However, they also wanted any growth to occur in line with sustainable principles.

April 15

• Carol Henderson, a Grade 2 teacher at Big Rock School in Okotoks, was elected president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). Henderson has already served four years as the association’s vice-president and spent another 10 years as a district representative.

• The taps of residents and businesses in Turner Valley are now flowing with water coming from the new raw water reservoir.

• Okotoks homeowners are going to be shelling out more in property taxes after last week’s provincial budget. The Province is increasing the amount it collects in education property taxes in 2009 by 5.2 per cent to $1.5 billion. Louise Wasylenko, Okotoks’ financial services manager, said this could result in a four per cent increase in taxes for a typical home in town.

• Alberta is headed back into the red 15 years after the provincial government posted its last deficit budget. Alberta Finance Minister Iris Evans forecasted a $4.7 billion deficit this year and a return to surplus by 2012-13 in the provincial budget.

April 22

• Okotoks RCMP and the Southern Alberta Marihuana Investigative Team (SAMIT) broke up a grow-op in the quiet residential community early Monday pulling three people and more than 300 plants from the house. Okotoks RCMP Cpl. Leanne Beattie said police pulled 318 plants from the house at 50 Cimarron Way. The plants were estimated to have a street value of $398,000.

• The Okotoks Costco Wholesale store moved one step closer to reality after the Town’s Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) approved the company’s development permit. Costco’s plan is for a 151,000-square-foot building with a gas bar, a tire centre and liquor store. The store will be located immediately north of Home Depot. The area’s plans also include space for a number of other stores surrounding the Costco location.

• The ranks of Alberta’s  — and Canada’s — unemployed has climbed as the country’s economy dipped into recession. On March 2009, the Canadian unemployment rate climbed to eight per cent, the highest level in seven years. In Alberta alone, 15,000 jobs were lost last month. According to the Alberta Federation of Labour Alberta’s job market is falling faster than any other province. Between October 2008 and March 2009, Alberta lost more than 73,000 full-time jobs. Between March 2008 and March 2009, the number of unemployed people in Alberta jumped by 72 per cent — the highest increase in the country.

• Daryn Coulson, 28, of Turner Valley was killed when he lost control of his truck and rolled into the ditch. Turner Valley RCMP were called to the scene of the crash along Highway 22 (Friendship Trail) between Turner Valley and Black Diamond at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning.

• The Town of Turner Valley has donated an acre of land in hopes of expediting an affordable housing project in the community. At the town council meeting on April 6, council agreed to designate a property, which is close to one acre in size, for use by the Foothills Foundation to develop housing for low income families, single parents and senior citizens.

April 29

• French speaking students in Okotoks’ public schools are heading to high school for the first time. Foothills School Division  (FSD) started its French immersion program in 2000 at Ecole Percy Pegler School with Grade 1 students. The eight remaining students from the group who pioneered the program in Okotoks will be attending the Foothills Composite High School in September.

May 2009

May 6

• The Okotoks Salvation Armey store announced it would be closing in June. Capt. Jeff Howard, with the High River Salvation Army, said the store has been in a “permanent” deficit for a number of years and the recession was the final blow. The deficits were starting to eat into support services offered by the Salvation Army in the region.

• John Paul II Collegiate vice-principal Mariette Moss was short-listed for a 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award.

• The efforts of an Okotoks doctor who was instrumental in establishing the Foothills Country Hospice were honoured with a prestigious award. Dr. Eric Wasylenko was presented with the Okotoks Rotary Club’s Integrity Award at a ceremony at the Foothills Centennial Centre on April 22.

• Two foothills area municipalities were honoured for their efforts to get their residents off the couch. Okotoks and Longview received awards through the Alberta Parks and Recreation Association’s Communities ChooseWell initiative at a ceremony in Okotoks. Okotoks was named a high achiever for communities with a population between 10,000 and 50,000 people. Longview was named a high achiever for communities with a population between 100 and 999 people.

• The Province has given the green light on a planned modernization at Percy Pegler School in Okotoks. The Foothills School Division began looking for a construction company to begin work on a modernization of the 30-year-old school this summer. The modernization of the school will include projects to unify and brighten the building.

• A former employee of the Town of High River was sentenced to six years in prison for the aggravated sexual assault of a toddler in 2008.

May 13

• More than half of Okotoks residents want the current 30,000 population cap to remain in place, according to early results of a Town survey.

• Manslaughter was the verdict for a Cochrane cement truck driver who smashed into a car on the south end of Macleod Trail killing five Okotoks residents. Daniel Tschetter was allowed to remain free on bail until Aug. 5 when he will be sentenced.

• The Kenn Eastlick gym, the larger of two gyms at Okotoks Junior High School, has been shut down two months after the gym at nearby Percy Pegler School was closed. The lack of gym space has moved even more students outside and to other facilities like the Okotoks Recreation Centre.

• The High River District Health Care Foundation introduced its new executive director Michael Brown and revealed its direction for the future.

• It took three and half years of hard work, but the staff at Millarville Community School were rewarded for their perseverance April 1 when the school became an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) world school.

• An Okotoks doctor knows the importance of being proactive in promoting healthy lifestyles to prevent many health problems before they start. Dr. Anton Nel is one of a group of physicians in Okotoks, Black Diamond and High River who have teamed up to encourage people to be more active. The Walk Away from Illness initiative encourages doctors to hand out pedometers to patients who they think could benefit from increased exercise — no matter their age or health condition.

• An Okotoks youth has been charged for frightening people in the Sheep River Park last week with what was thought to be a pellet gun. On May 8 at 1:30 p.m., Okotoks RCMP were called to a complaint of a youth pointing a gun in the park. It was later determined the firearm was a pellet gun.

May 20

• The Town of Okotoks now has the land it needs to construct a new joint police/fire station on the south side of the Sheep River. Town council approved spending $1.54 million to purchase a portion of the former Keith GM site at the corner of Southridge and Woodhaven Drive.

• Kia Motors announced it will open a new dealership in Okotoks in June in a familiar location. Capital Kia is set to open its doors in the former Keith GM location on Southridge Drive in June.

• Two Okotoks-area groups joined forces with four resident groups from the Municipal District of Rocky View in opposition to the Calgary Regional Partnership’s (CRP) land use plan. Citizens for a Sustainable Okotoks (CSO) and No Calgary Veto have partnered with the Central Springbank Taskforce for Sensible Development, The Highway 8 Sensible Development Group, the Sensible Development Bearspaw Group and the Springbank Community Planning Association.

May 27

• Local school divisions want a controversial bill scrapped that could land teachers with a human rights complaint if they spontaneously discuss religion or sexuality. Alberta Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett introduced Bill 44, which makes changes to existing human rights legislation. In Section 11.1 school boards will be required to send notice home anytime sexuality, sexual orientation or religion will be discussed. Parents are then given the option to pull their child from the classroom for those discussions.

• The Town of Okotoks and MD of Foothills are taking steps to create a new plan to deal with development around the town. The Town and MD have launched a new joint planning initiative to lay the groundwork to review and rewrite the intermunicipal development plan (IDP) between the Town and MD.

• Some quick thinking Mounties caught their man when a truck full of alleged thieves sped away with more than $6,000 worth of stolen goods. Turner Valley RCMP were en route to an alarm at a Longview convenience store early in the morning of May 19 when they saw a truck go speeding past on Highway 22. Officers reacted quickly and found the truck’s box full of stolen goods.

• Davis Edels breathed a huge sigh of relief after learning his business, Keith GMC Pontiac, survived a country-wide closure of more than 250 General Motors outlets. Other dealerships along the Highway 2 corridor have also avoided the axe. High Country Chevrolet in High River will also remain open as will Westwind GM in Claresholm.

• MD of Foothills council passed second and third readings of the area structure plan (ASP) for the Sirocco development on May 14.

• The Town will receive $666,666 from the provincial and federal governments to go towards completing renovations to the Rotary Performing Arts Centre (RPAC). The Town will kick in an additional $333,333 to cover the $1 million price tag for the project.

• Federal-provincial funding announced last week will help end longstanding water contamination woes in Bragg Creek. Rob Merrifield, Canada’s Minister of State for Transport, and Luke Ouellette, Alberta’s Minister of Transportation, announced funding for a water treatment plant on May 21.

• On May 20 Foothills School Division accepted a bid from Bayview Contractors for $4.4 million to modernize Percy Pegler School.

• Councillors unanimously supported the existing 30,000 population cap and chose to work with the MD of Foothills in the next two years to develop a growth management plan for the area, but council left the door open to growth beyond the cap if an adequate water supply can be secured.

June 2009

June 3

• The historic Hell’s Half Acre flame near the gas plant in Turner Valley was extinguished.

• The Town of Okotoks opened its Emergency Operations Centre at the fire hall on May 13 for a mock flood disaster. The scenario was a flood worse than the 2005 incident in Okotoks which shut down many businesses for weeks and caused major damage in many homes.

• More senseless vandalism has the principal of Foothills Composite High School renewing calls for video surveillance at the school. On May 11 four large windows at the school were smashed sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight at a cost of $4,000.

• Okotoks town council approved second and third readings of a bylaw authorizing a $500,000 interest-free loan to the Dawgs help pay for the Rose Duvernay Tourmaline Field House.

June 10

• The federal government will invest up to $19.9 million in Western Biodiesel in Aldersyde over the next seven years as part of the government’s seven-year, $1.5 billion ecoENERGY Biofuels program.

• The president of the Legion in Turner Valley wants the federal government to  get rid of a long-standing policy that cuts veterans’ pensions when they reach 65. Michel Jackson said it is unfair that once a veteran or an RCMP officer turns 65, their pension payments are reduced by $200 to $400.

• The Town has applied for nearly $1 million from the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) program for upgrades to fields in six parks as well as other facility upgrades.

• The results of a tri-annual community survey revealed 42 per cent of residents would use a community transit service, a number the report’s authors say is high compared to other communities.

June 17

• A block away from two schools police busted a marijuana grow-op on a quiet cul-de-sac on Okotoks’ south end. Members of the Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigation Team along with the Okotoks RCMP broke down the door at 3 Cimarron Park Bay on June 10 on a tip from the public that a marijuana grow-op was being operated inside the home.

• Changes to the south ring road in Calgary will impact Highway 22X including a reduction in the number of interchanges from four to three. Alberta Transportation announced the changes to the MD of Foothills council last month and detailed how there would only be three interchanges along Highway 22X compared to the four proposed at their Nov. 20, 2008 meeting. The three interchanges will be at 53rd Street, 69th Street and 85th Street. The proposed interchange at 37th Street has been removed from the plan.

• Okotoks motorists might have to slow down on residential streets if town council proceeds with a plan to reduce speed limits on residential roads to 40 kilometres per hour.

• Foothills MD council has thrown its support behind the Sandstone Springs subdivision despite objections from its counterpart with the Town of Okotoks. Sandstone Springs will include 300 residential lots spread over 419 acres and will be located just west of Okotoks between Highway 7 and Big Rock Trail.

• The Province announced the Leighton House and Art Centre northwest of Okotoks has been designated an Alberta Provincial Historic Resource.

• The Okotoks and District Historical Society is planning to erect a memorial at the cemetery that will include names of people buried in unmarked graves in the older section of the cemetery.

June 24

•  The Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP) was approved by 14 of the Calgary Regional Partnership’s (CRP) 17 members, but three major landholders in the CRP opted out. The MDs of Foothills and Rocky View and the County of Wheatland opposed the plan after long-standing concerns over proposals for high-density development and controversial voting rules within the group were not addressed.

• Jobs have been cut back at the Foothills School Division to make up for rising salary costs and the cuts could become deeper this fall if the Province approves an unfunded raise for teachers. Hours for three full-time support staff at the division office were rolled back to cut almost $200,000 in wages and some contracts were also not renewed.

• After years of chauffeuring cancer patients and volunteering with various community groups, Eileen Jewitt has been honoured for her efforts. On June 15 the Okotoks Lions Club presented Jewitt with the Citizen of the Year award. Jewitt, who came to Okotoks in 1988, has been volunteering tirelessly for 21 years.

•  Cody William Bates, 24, was sentenced for his part in a robbery gone wrong that ended with the death of Ali Khamis, a rival drug dealer, in Calgary.

• Two local women were arrested by Calgary Police in connection with a brutal mugging that left a 92-year-old woman hospitalized. The senior was in the South Centre mall parking lot in Calgary on June 17 when two women approached her and attempted to snatch her purse. The strap of the woman’s bag was wrapped around her wrist and her assailants punched and kicked her in an attempt to get the purse free.

• Black Diamond town council was asked to consider using sheep for vegetation control on empty lots owned by the Town to prevent a fire hazard.

• Okotoks Dawgs’ pitcher Brandon Kaye was selected in the 45th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Major League Baseball draft earlier in June.

July 2009

July 1

• To be a city or not to be, that is a question now starting to run through the mind of Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine.

McAlpine said it may be time to take another look at whether or not the town should become a city now that Okotoks’  population has officially passed the 21,000 mark.

• Okotoks Junior A Oilers Corban Knight and Derek Rodwell were both selected in the fifth round at the NHL entry draft. Knight was selected by the Florida Panthers, 135th overall, while Rodwell was picked nine selections later by the New Jersey Devils.

• People all over the world mourn the death of Michael Jackson.

July 8

• Just over 300 people participated in the fourth annual Foothills Charity Triathlon at Crystal Shores and their efforts helped raise $16,000 for Kids Hope Ethiopia and $3,000 for Okotoks Family Healthy Resource Centre.

• Tara Sergerie, who grew up in the Black Diamond area, starts her reign as a Calgary Stampede Princess.

• Okotoks has been given $797,989 from the Province for affordable housing for 2009-10. The money is part of a $278 million provincial capital fund announced last week to build 2,200 affordable housing units in Alberta.

• Black Diamond artist Julia Reimer is asked by the Prime Minister’s Office to make a series of vases similar to artworks she had exhibited at Lafreniere & Pai Gallery in Ottawa.

• A false start penalty costs Okotoks wagon driver Mark Sutherland his first Rangeland Derby championship.

Sutherland crossed the finish line first with a time of 1:14.76, but Sutherland’s NCi Construction outfit rolled past his top barrel.

July 22

• Business owners in downtown Okotoks voiced their concerns with renaming McRae and North Railway Streets at an open house due to the potential cost and time it would take to adjust to the changes. The Town of Okotoks held an open house to hear from residents and business owners about the possibility of renaming the Elizabeth/McRae/North Railway Street corridor through Okotoks.

• The Okotoks Dawgs’ annual breast cancer research showed the team finished in the pink — deep in the pink. The Dawgs raised approximately $20,000 when 15 players’ pink jerseys were auctioned live between innings of the Western Major League Baseball League game.

July 29

• Investors could be out millions of dollars, but local residents are relieved a proposed golf and hotel resort with high-end housing slated for the Millarville area looks to be in jeopardy. When a preliminary plan was made public in 2007 residents spoke out against the development saying they were worried about their water supply and high density housing in a rural area. That plan may not get off the ground because the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) is looking into allegations that at least 1,731 Alberta investors, who may have provided as much as $46 million, were not given all the information by the developer Foundation Capital.

• The Okotoks Outlaws won the Baseball Alberta Peewee Tier I championship when they beat the South Jasper Place Jays 18-17 at the Wylie Ball Diamond in Okotoks.

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August 2009

Aug. 5

• The Foothills Regional Service Commission, which oversees the regional landfill south of Okotoks, has joined  the Southern Alberta Energy-from-Waste Alliance (SAEWA) which is a new collective aimed at creating a regional plant to convert garbage to energy. Twelve waste commissions from Okotoks to Lethbridge have signed on to the alliance, representing about half of the municipalities in the area.

Aug. 12

• The Lakes of Kastynstone left its mark on the world hosting the World Waterski Championships northeast of Okotoks.

Aug. 19

• The Okotoks Dawgs share the Western Major Baseball League title with the Melville Millionaires when the final series was stopped after two games due to continuous rain in Melville. The Dawgs lost the first game of the series 5-3 on Aug. 12 at Seaman Stadium. They bounced back to win Game 2 in Okotoks 10-2 to tie the series at 1-1.

Aug. 26

• The Ardiel house along McRae Street in Okotoks is being refinished, refreshed and restored despite its lack of formal historical status.

September 2009

Sept. 2

• The provincial government announced $80 million in education cuts.

Foothills schools are busy pouring over their balance sheets to slash hundreds of thousands of dollars from their own budgets in the wake of the announcement.

Sept. 9

• The federal and provincial governments stepped forward to provide $11 million each for the 32^nd Street bridge in Okotoks. Town council borrowed $8 million for the project, and will use $3 million from grants and other funding sources to cover the final one-third share of the bridge’s $33 million price tag.

• Norway’s Suzann Pettersen wins the 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Open at Priddis Greens. The result of the was never in doubt on Sunday as cruised to a five-stroke victory to clinch her first LPGA tour win in two years.

Sept. 16

• The MD of Foothills  pulled out of the Calgary Regional Partnership almost three months after voting against a development plan for the Calgary region.

MD council voted unanimously to withdraw from the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) cited long-standing concerns over a loss of autonomy under the plan and proposed urban growth corridors included in the plan not approved by the MD.

Sept. 23

• Local schools are preparing for a second wave of the H1N1 flu virus, also known as the swine flu. A case of the flu was confirmed in an Okotoks high school student last May, but since then no more cases in foothills’ schools have been reported. In that case letters were sent home to parents and local health officials spoke with those who had close contact with the student.

Sept. 30

• A ballooning price tag may have sunk the latest plans for a regional fieldhouse, but foothills municipalities are not packing up their gear just yet.

The MD of Foothills and the Towns of Okotoks, High River, Black Diamond and Turner Valley partnered to look into the concept. High River has pulled out of the partnership twice, with the second time earlier in September. Black Diamond remains involved, but its council has expressed concern over the project’s price tag.

October 2009

Oct.  7

• The MD of Foothills is working on a plan to build a new fire hall in the Heritage Pointe area to be staffed by 16 full-time firefighters.

MD manager Harry Riva Cambrin said the MD is planning to hire 16 full-time personnel over the course of the next year with the first firefighters starting work next year.

• The Rowan House Emergency Shelter purchased a lot in High River.

• The Okotoks Junior A Oilers released their head coach after a disappointing 3-6 start to the season. Former Oiler head coach Garry VanHereweghe replaced Dan MacDonald as the team’s head coach and general manager.

Oct. 14

• On Oct. 7 Daniel Tschetter was sentenced to eight years in prison for the fatal crash that claimed the life of Chris Gautreau, his daughters Kiarra, 6, and Alexia, 9, and Chris’ girlfriend Melaina Hovdebo and her 16-month-old son Zachary Morrison.

• Thanks to warm weather in September Foothills farmers are reaping a much better harvest than expected, but it will still not be good enough for most in the agriculture industry.

Oct. 21

• A popular Okotoks teen collapsed and later died in an Edmonton hospital on Oct. 12 after taking the drug ecstasy. Family and friends gathered at an Okotoks funeral home to remember 19-year-old Zachary Lamb who graduated from Foothills Composite High School in 2007.

•  On Oct. 13 a pharmacist at the Rexall Pharmacy in Okotoks was approached by a man who demanded prescription drugs. When he brandished what looked like a sawed-off shotgun the pharmacist handed over some drugs.

• Wyatt Littlechief of Oilfields High School finished second in the Junior boys division (4,000m) at the provincial cross-country championships Oct. 17 in Wetaskiwin in a time of 15 minutes and 54 seconds.

Oct. 28

• Thousands of people lined up this week to receive the vaccine for the H1N1 flu shot in Okotoks.

• Lewis and Marie Callahan received the Clifford and Louise Lougheed Award for philanthropy at the foundation’s annual dinner Oct. 24 at the Foothills Centennial Centre in Okotoks.

• The Foothills Falcons beat rival Holy Trinity Academy 49-17 at Foothills Composite in front of approximately 1,500 fans Oct. 23 and will advance to the Tier II high school provincial football playoffs.

November 2009

Nov. 4

• Members of the Foothills MD council are lobbying to relax the restrictions on wind turbines in the municipality to make it easier for landowners to access alternative energy resources.

• A new Bibles for Missions thrift store is set to open at #14-49 Elizabeth Street later this month which will fill a void in the community after the closure of the Okotoks Salvation Army Thrift Store this summer.

• It was a season of redemption for the Foothills Falcons girls’ soccer team as they clinched the zone championship.

• Turner Valley received a federal grant for $176,000 to cover one-third of the cost of needed repairs to its outdoor pool. The Town will need to cover the remaining two-thirds, $352,000.

• Brian Young was a member of the bronze medal winning soccer team in the men’s 45-plus Premier Division at the World Masters Games in Sydney. Meanwhile, Norma Dawson of Millarville won three gold medals in the women’s 60-plus four-women kayak and three silvers in the 60-plus two-women’s kayak.

Nov. 18

• Jim “Bearcat” Murray was inducted into the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto during the ceremony on Nov. 9.

• The local D.A.R.E. program celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Nov. 25

• Okotoks homeowners could be looking at a 3.5 per cent tax increase next year.

Town council discussed the proposed tax increase during meetings  to determine Okotoks’ 2010 operating budget.

• A large assisted living seniors development in Okotoks’ Sheep River valley is in receivership and owes $26 million to creditors including several local residents and businesses. Serenity Manor, a 134-unit seniors complex, was owned by Stratum Developments, which has offices in Okotoks, Lethbridge and in British Columbia. They are also constructing similar projects in Fairmont and Nanaimo.

• The Foothills Falcons won their fourth Tier II provincial title this decade when they shutout the Bishop McNally Tigers 35-0 at Foote Field in Edmonton.

December 2009

Dec. 2

• MD of Foothills’ council chambers overflowed as residents spoke out against the municipality’s proposed municipal development plan (MDP). Many at a  public hearing in High River on the proposed MDP 2010 urged council to go back to the drawing board saying the plan infringed on their property rights as landowners and it will hurt the future of agriculture in the Foothills. The proposed MDP makes preservation of agricultural land a priority, recognizing all land in the MD as agricultural unless zoned otherwise.

• One of Alberta’s oldest companies has an alternative for the on-again-off-again regional field house. Sprung Instant Structures, based in Aldersyde, has drawn up a proposal for an indoor sports centre with a price tag nearly one-quarter the cost of a previous plan brought forward earlier this year. “The architects developed the $43 million plan which in short order, after everybody sat down and all the region’s towns and cities saw what their piece of it would’ve been, realized it wasn’t going to happen for a lot of years,” said company president Phil Sprung.

• Dave Robb was named the head coach of the Okotoks Dawgs for the 2009 seaon. Robb was the Dawgs’ first head coach in 2007 but stepped down midway through the season to become the director of the Dawgs’ youth programs.

Dec. 9

• One word could be said about road conditions in the foothills on Dec. 4 “terrible.”Okotoks resident Beth Cozens said that is exactly what was likely on motorists’ minds as a snowstorm descended on the foothills creating havoc on highways. RCMP were busy all afternoon responding to a number of collisions and reports of vehicles going into the ditches. Police were recommending people not travel on local highways due to the treacherous conditions.

•  The father of a missing Toronto girl is doubtful a report she tried to sell crafts to two Okotoks businesses was actually his daughter. Mariam Makhniashvili, 18, has been missing since Sept. 14 when her brother last saw her outside her Toronto-area school. Mariam’s father Vakhtang said his daughter would’ve called if she was out on her own.“She was walking around without any problems and it is strange that she would be walking alone after being missing for three months,” he said.He said the person seen in Okotoks does not match his daughter. The RCMP would confirm later in the month that in fact it was not the missing 18-year-old woman who was seen in Okotoks.

• Take “co” off the Okotoks Dawgs’ 2009 championship pennant. The Dawgs were named the out-right champion of the Western Major Baseball League when the Melville Millionaires were stripped of the co-championship on Dec. 14  because the Saskatchewan team had used an ineligible player in the league playoffs. The Dawgs have now won all three WMBL championships since coming to Okotoks in the summer of 2009.

Dec. 16

• Okotoks homeowners will pay more in taxes and service fees next year.Town council approved a 3.2 per cent tax increase in the Town’s 2010 operating budget on Monday night, but not all councillors supported the move. Council was split on the increase, with Councillors Stephen Clark and Naydene Lewis voting against the budget — in part, because of a decision to draw on $1 million  from the Town’s operating reserves.

• When the last rock at the women’s Olympic qualifying curling final was released both skips thought Okotoks curler Shannon Kleibrink was going to make a return trip to the Winter Olympics However, Cheryl Bernard’s final stone curled just within the back of the eight-foot to give her shot rock in the 10th end for a 7-6 victory in the Roar of the Rings Women’s Winter Olympic curling qualifying final at Rexall Place in Edmonton earning the Calgary skip a berth in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver this February.

Dec. 23

• A warm and fuzzy feeling spread through the halls of Heritage Heights School earlier this month as a small pile grew into a mountain of teddy bears. Students and staff at the Kindergarten to Grade 9 school northeast of Okotoks collected new teddy bears over the past four weeks. Each teddy bear dropped off meant another child spending Christmas in the Alberta Children’s Hospital would get a surprise.

• A warm and fuzzy feeling spread through the halls of Heritage Heights School earlier this month as a small pile grew into a mountain of teddy bears. Students and staff at the Kindergarten to Grade 9 school northeast of Okotoks collected new teddy bears over the past four weeks. Each teddy bear dropped off meant another child spending Christmas in the Alberta Children’s Hospital would get a surprise.

Dec. 30

• A frightening Christmas morning blaze destroyed a home near DeWinton, but much to the relief of neighbours no one was home at the time of the fire.

At about 7 a.m. on Dec. 25 Herb Schaller and his wife Susan noticed a tower of flames on the dark  morning horizon and immediately called 911. “When I phoned 911 there was no report of a fire yet,” said Schaller. “We didn’t know if there was anyone in the house.” Sometime later emergency personnel learned Karen Walker and her daughter Muffy had left the home earlier that morning to join her husband Brad Walker in Saskatchewan.

•  Led by a trio of local players the UFA Midget AAA Bisons are a perfect 3-0 at the Mac’s Midget Tournament as of Dec. 28. According to Bisons head coach, Brett Goulet Okotoks area players Steven Soto, Keaton Lubin and Levi Bews, who scored his first-ever goal at the tournament on Dec. 27, have their roles and each is filling it well. “They are not out of their element at all, they’re very good hockey players and they’re definitely showing it every time they play a game that they belong,” said Goulet.