By Rick Northrop
Staff reporter
Fire departments from three nearby municipalities responded to a house fire south of Okotoks on March 4, but it was too late to save the home.
The Asuchak family which includes Ben, his wife Wanda, and children Tanner, 13, Nicholas, 10 and Braeden, 8 have been left homeless as a result of the fire.
At approximately 5:45 p.m. the blaze, which gutted the inside of the home belonging to the Asuchaks, started in a mechanical room in the basement of the house. No injuries were reported as the home …

Rocky View County is set to start work on a solution to Bragg Creek’s wastewater problems.
Construction on the first phase of a wastewater treatment plant for the hamlet will begin this year.
Currently homes in the hamlet use septic systems and the commercial areas are tied to a pump out system, which collects wastewater that is trucked to Calgary to be treated.
Byron Reeman, acting director of infrastructure and operations for the county, said the plant will be a big benefit for the hamlet not only providing residents with sewer service, but …

An 18-year-old woman from Millarville who spent approximately 40 harrowing hours in a lifeboat was greeted with a hero’s welcome when she arrived home on Monday night.
When some of the more than 20 friends and family burst into a rendition of ‘Alana Row The Boat Ashore Hallelujah’ upon her arrival, all Alana Johnson could do was burst into a wide grin and start hugging people.
Johnson was one of 48 students in the Class Afloat program aboard the tall ship the SV Concordia that sank approximately 550 kilometres off the Brazilian …

It was a harrowing 45 minutes as MD resident Willy Gannon waited for an ambulance to arrive at her home about six minutes west of Okotoks, because of confusion over directions.
She called 911 after her husband began complaining of feeling dizzy, he showed a “scary” high blood pressure and he was vomiting. Her husband has had two heart attacks in the past.
Gannon provided directions to her home west of Okotoks, just off Secondary Highway 549 as well as her MD street address and was told they didn’t make sense.
“I gave …

A deficit budget has curtailed the large-scale cuts expected in Alberta’s 2010 budget.
The Province unveiled its budget on Tuesday afternoon which included a record $4.7 billion deficit, a $1.7 billion increase in overall spending despite some funding cuts.
Finance Minster Ted Morton, who is the Foothills-Rocky View MLA, said the budget wasn’t going to please everyone, but it’s focused on the Province’s priorities of health, education and protecting vulnerable Albertans.
“Budget 2010 strikes the right balance between fiscal discipline and protecting core programs. It enhances our competitiveness by keeping taxes low and …

A society striving to build a new community centre has decided to give up on building the facility in Turner Valley.
At a public meeting on Feb. 4, Diamond Valley Community Centre 78 Society executive voted to
abandon its plan to build the facility in Turner Valley and start looking for land in Black Diamond or the MD of Foothills.
Society chair Tyler Bray said after three years they have become frustrated that they still do not have a lease in place with the Town of Turner Valley.
“There are people and businesses that support what …

Dig yourself a hole and it can be awfully hard trying to get out — sometimes you just fall right back in.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights dug themselves a deep hole against their crosstown rivals, the Foothills Falcons on in Foothills Athletic Council action on Wednesday evening. After a making a charge, the Knights wound up on the losing end of a 75-46 score of the senior boys basketball game at Holy Trinity Academy.
Foothills coach Amron Gwilliam said the Knights showed the Falcons they can never get complacent.
“We had a …

It’s a bittersweet feeling for an Okotoks teen who arrived home after two weeks in Haiti which was decimated by an earthquake in January.
Jessica Friesen is happy to be reunited with her family after working at an orphanage in the Caribbean country, but she can’t help thinking there is more she should do.
“It’s nice to be with my family, but I feel like I should be there doing something,” she said. “It’s hard being here when I want to be there.”
Friesen was in Haiti when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit …

The former business manager of Oilfields High School in Black Diamond has been charged for allegedly doing drugs with two male students and then having sexual contact with them.
Police laid charges last week against a woman following a six-month investigation into the charges. Officers reviewed an extensive number of phone calls and text messages between the accused and the victim.
The case was sent to a special Crown prosecution team in Calgary that deals solely with sex crimes. They reviewed the case and agreed charges should be laid.
Word of the investigation …

Sitting on the balcony savouring a warm Caribbean evening a young Okotoks woman’s paradise was shaken by a catastrophic earthquake that left much of Haiti in ruin.
Jessica Friesen, an 18-year-old graduate of Foothills Composite High School, is currently in Haiti volunteering at the orphanage operated by God’s Littlest Angels (GLA) a charity with its Canadian office based in Okotoks.
Friesen travelled to Haiti last fall to volunteer at the GLA orphanage.
Although no one can prepare for such a disaster, when the earthquake shook the island on Jan. 12 Friesen’s instincts took …