There were tears, hugs, laughs and songs in the halls of the Turner Valley School last Friday as students, teachers and parents bid farewell to their beloved school caretaker.
Turner Valley resident Mary Russell swept, wiped and organized her way into people’s hearts during her 14 years working at the Turner Valley School. But at 74, Russell has been experiencing health problems and realized it is time to retire.
On her last day at the school on Feb. 11 the students showed their love for her showering Russell with gifts, flowers, cards …

An eclectic lineup of musicians from around the world will continue to file into the community hall in Turner Valley at least until next spring.
Plans are in the works for a new community centre to be built in the High Country area, which would include space for the Beneath the Arch Concert Series.
Every September, the non-profit society running the Beneath the Arch Concert Series plans the lineup of musicians to perform the following year.
Without any solid plans in place yet, for the new Diamond Valley Community Centre 78, the society …

Unused or obsolete cell phones may be worthless to their owners, but they are worth at least 25 cents to a group of parents aiming to build a $100,000 playground one quarter at a time.
Rebecca Gunn, head of the Dr. Morris Gibson School playground improvement and expansion committee, is collecting unwanted – even broken – cell phones. Once a big enough batch has accumulated, Gunn will ship them to a recycling company in Ontario.
The cell phones will fetch 25 cents for older models and $1 for the newer models.
The committee …

With no money in hand for a mandated increase to teacher’s salaries and no increases for education this fall, local school boards are facing their toughest financial crisis in years.
On Feb. 9 the Province unveiled its 2010/2011 budget and although education was spared from any major cuts it will not see an increase in its grants for the next school year.
Earlier this month a mediator ordered the Province to give teachers a salary increase based on an adjustment made to the Alberta Weekly Earning Index. The Province did not budget …

New Provincial funding for police could bring more officers to Okotoks, however the Turner Valley detachment, which hasn’t had an increase in approximately seven years will not receive any more officers.
The Provincial budget handed down last week held good on its promise to put 300 front-line police officers in towns with a population with more than 5,000 people over three years. Thirty million has been set aside to fund the officer’s salaries. In its final year the program will provide 20 RCMP constables to towns chosen by K-division.
The Town of …

When a judge agreed to dismiss a charge of obstructing an officer it was an emotional moment for a man who claims he was clubbed in the head and tasered by an Okotoks RCMP officer.
Derrick Fitchett was charged with obstruction when he refused to identify himself to Const. Jason Wells on Feb. 8, 2009 during a confrontation in downtown Okotoks.
Last week Wells testified he had been alerted to Fitchett and three of his friends by an auxiliary constable who was in his cruiser that evening. The constable spotted one of …

The trial of a woman charged in an incident that left a polocrosse coach in a coma will be heard in Calgary in October.
Last summer STARS Air Ambulance was called to a home east of Aldersyde that was host to a weekend polocrosse tournament after a man was injured in a single vehicle accident.
Synclair Byrne, a polocrosse coach from Australia, fell out of the back of a truck he and several others had climbed into to go visit other people camping around the polo field.
When the truck took a sharp …

Two blood samples, one taken in a hospital and one obtained by RCMP, will be evidence in a trial that will conclude almost three years after a crash seriously injured a teen.
In March 2008 four teens were in a car accident on the Priddis Valley Road. The car lost control on a corner and careened down a hill. One girl was thrown from the vehicle and suffered serious head injuries. She was flown by air ambulance to a Calgary hospital. A 19-year-old male in the car broke his arm. The …

A bar fight turned serious this summer when a woman was kicked in the face outside a popular Okotoks establishment.
According to police, on May 30 an argument broke out between a pair of patrons at In Cahoots Bar and Grill and a man was slapped by a woman at the bar.
“Someone was provoked,” said Const. Steffan Manuel of the Okotoks RCMP. “They were bickering back and forth. Both of them were escorted out of the bar.”
Outside the bar the woman was allegedly kicked in the face.
“She was rushed to the …

The Conservative government is giving Albertans a new way to invest in the Province’s future growth.
The Tories announced a plan to sell Alberta Capital Bonds later this month to raise money to build more seniors housing.
A financial advisor said the plan’s success will depend on how much the Province is prepared to give back to investors.
The bonds will go on sale on Feb. 16.
Not only will it raise money for infrastructure projects, Nick Kaczmarek, Alberta Finance and Enterprise spokesperson, said it’s a way for Albertans to benefit from the work.
“It’s …