It may have felt like the summer that never was, but for students this so-called summer is very nearly over.
Students attending local Catholic schools are back-to-school on Monday and public schools will hitting the books the following day.
It happens from time to time that school starts up again in August, usually catching parents, kids and teachers slightly off kilter.
However, the ones who really need to take note are drivers. For them its been a nice break to drive through those schools zones going 50 kilometres an hour, but those days …

It seems so simple. Turner Valley wants a community centre and there is a group in town that has been fundraising, planning and securing government grants to build one.
The Centre 78 group has $500,000 from the Provincial government to build a community centre and they have plans from an architect that detail what the building could look like.
The Town of Turner Valley has no money and no plans for a community centre, but led by councillor Nathan Jones the town is now looking into how they can proceed with a …

For a community that prides itself on being at the forefront of environmental sustainability, Okotoks’ intransigence on the Wind Walk development is confusing.
The Town should be a partner in the project, not putting up roadblocks.
On Monday, council voted to inform the MD of Foothills it will not support the first phase of the development without confirmation of a water licence and its outstanding concerns over the development are resolved. Council also gave administration what amounts to pre-authorization to appeal the development’s area structure plan (ASP) to the Municipal Government Board …

The damage to foothills history may not have been as bad as first feared after a fire at the Museum of the Highwood in High River last week.
The early morning July 28 blaze was limited to one part of the building and firefighters and volunteers were able to save most of the museum’s collection and archives.
The museum may be located in High River, but its collection covers much of the foothills and protects artifacts and photographs representing the region’s heritage.
Its collection includes items such as Calgary Stampede founder Guy Weadick’s …

By leaving the fate of the new Sheep River Library in the hands of a plebiscite, Black Diamond town council is showing a lack of leadership.
The Town of Turner Valley has asked its counterparts in Black Diamond to contribute $250,000 to the construction of the new library in Turner Valley.
However, rather than making a decision Black Diamond council announced on Monday it was going to have a plebiscite as part of the municipal election in October on whether it will fund the project.
The plebiscite will include two questions: The first …

It was a troubling story for the Okotoks community to wake up on Sunday morning to hear a man had been shot by RCMP after an armed stand off.
The details that have since emerged are even more shocking.
Police first arrived at a home on Alcock Street at about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday responding to a report of a domestic disturbance and were confronted by a man holding a shotgun, a stand off ensued.
At 2 a.m. on Sunday Corey Lewis, husband of town councillor Naydene Lewis, emerged from his home carrying …

Alberta school divisions should not have to budget year-to-year let alone month-to-month.
The local school divisions received some pleasant news last week when the provincial government announced it would indeed cover the 2.92 per cent teachers’ raise. However, a great deal of damage has already been done.
Initially, it appeared Alberta Education would not fund the raise and, as a result, the Foothills School Division and Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools proceeded to complete their budgets this spring.
Thinking they would have to cover the raises with existing funding the divisions’ budgets included …

A move to force prompt clean sweeps of homes ruined by marijuana grow-ops seems like a no-brainer, but may be more complicated than it sounds.
Okotoks town councillor Beth Kish has given notice that she intends to introduce a bylaw that would declare grow op houses uninhabitable and require them to be repaired and inspected before anyone can move back in.
Fixing the problem is a lot more difficult than creating a bylaw.
In B.C. and in Calgary significant changes have been made to their laws to create the ability for officials, other …

The municipal election in October is shaping up to be a referendum on whether or not Okotoks will grow beyond its 30,000 population cap.
Last week long-time Okotoks councillor Bill Robertson announced he will be entering the mayorial race.
With Robertson in the race there are two distinct camps — one in support of growth beyond 30,000 and another who wants to stay true to the Sustainable Okotoks vision.
Coun. Beth Kish is also running for mayor and she has made it clear she does not support the Sustainable Okotoks policy. She wants to …

The decision by Alberta’s oil and gas regulator regarding a sour gas pipeline through the pristine foothills doesn’t take the full environmental and human impacts into consideration.
The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) approved an application by Petro Canada (now Suncor) to drill 11 sour gas wells west of Longview and build a 56km of pipeline extending south near the Chain Lakes passing 400m outside Eden Valley’s west boundary.
If anything goes wrong, the cost to the environment, government, the energy industry, residents and ranchers could be catastrophic.
The ERCB approved Suncor’s proposed …