Police have charged an Okotoks youth with making and distributing child pornography, but can release few details about the case.
A 15-year-old teen has been charged with making, possessing and distributing child pornography, as well as voyeurism. Voyeurism is the act of recording somebody when they are unaware of the other person’s presence.
Police and the Crown prosecutor’s office are revealing very few details about the case. Sgt. Ian Shardlow of the Okotoks RCMP said everyone involved in the case is underage and therefore they have to be very guarded about what …

An Okotoks RCMP officer who was feet away from rioting protesters in Toronto during the G20 meetings said despite public criticism police did a good job in controlling a group bent on destruction.
Const. Grant Kneller was sent to the G20 as a member of an Alberta RCMP riot squad with 80 members. Kneller said his troupe was standing by with tear gas when, what he described as anarchists, smashed property and lit cars on fire.
The police have come under fire for their response. Some are saying mass arrests were heavy-handed …

Sarah’s already upside down world was thrown into chaos a year ago.
At a young age her father was disabled in an accident at work and her mother left the family behind. Since the divorce, her mother almost disappeared from her life completely as she began partying with an older crowd.
Sarah, 16, whose name has been changed, said her life included only drugs, partying and friends. She stopped going to school and pretty much lived with her boyfriend. She said her group of friends would meet up every night at a …

A group of woman in the foothills are supporting and educating families and the community about a disability that can be shrouded in secret and shame.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affects 1 in 100 Canadians and one in five with a diagnosis have the most serious symptoms, known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. However those figures are based on research out of the United States. The Public Health Agency of Canada does not have figures on the number of diagnosis in this country. The federal government spends $16 million annually to prevent …

The gymnasium at Eden Valley’s school was transformed into a party atmosphere last Wednesday, with disco lights orbiting around the room sparkling on each banquet table.
The starry décor, hip hop performance by First Nations Seattle rapper Litefoot and a roast beef dinner were all in honour of three young men graduating from the Stoney Nakoda reserve’s Chief Jacob Bearspaw School.
It was the first time in three years that students have completed Grade 12 at the reserve’s school. On Wednesday evening members of the community from Eden Valley and from Morley, …

Fans of a popular restaurant in Turner Valley are arriving in town looking for international dishes made with locally grown meat and produce, only to be disappointed.
On May 30 Black Diamond residents Lanny and Mark Klaudt, owners of The Route 40 Soup Company, closed the restaurant’s doors after five years.
In 2005 Lanny and Mark Klaudt opened in Turner Valley. Since then, the restaurant has drawn customers from near and far to sit down to homemade soups, entrees and ice cream inspired by the couple’s interest in creating global flavours with …

The principal of Foothills Composite High School wasn’t at a loss for words when he described the school’s graduating Class of 2010.
In fact, one word immediately came to the mind of principal Scott Carey when he addressed the graduates at the Foothills Composite High School and Alberta High School of Fine Arts Colour Night on June 29 at the Centennial Arena.

“I often used one word to describe these students and that is ‘savvy,’” Carey told the Class of 2010. “They have a strong sense of what is right.”
Carey said …

An Okotoks town councillor wants to see houses used for drug manufacturing cleaned up and property owners held accountable for the cost.
Coun. Beth Kish proposed a controlled substances properties bylaw during town council’s June 28 meeting and it will be back in front of council for further discussion at its July 12 meeting.
She said the effects of a grow operation or drug manufacturing can linger long after the police have removed the drugs and arrested suspects.
“I feel sorry for the people who are neighbours and their property values are jeopardized …

A proposed new municipal development plan (MDP) for the MD of Foothills passed the first hurdle last week after councillors removed one of the plan’s most controversial elements.
Council unanimously approved first reading of the MDP 2010 on June 29 after removing a provision encouraging residents to pursue estate-planning methods that do not lead to fragmentation of agricultural land.
“There really wasn’t a purpose to have it in there to start with,” said Coun. Larry Spilak. “It mostly frustrated a lot of residents and it didn’t really serve a purpose.”
At a public …

Alberta’s finance minster is going to have to find a new riding to call home in the next provincial election thanks to proposed changes to the province’s election boundaries.
In the final report by the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission the Foothills-Rocky View riding, represented by minister Ted Morton, will be no more.
Morton said no decision has been made, but he expects he’ll likely end up running in one of the new ridings proposed outside the Calgary area.
“Tentatively, I would run in the new one of Chestermere-Rocky View,” he said.
The report splits …