Beyond Local

Acting St. Albert Fire Chief Scott Wilde describes battling back flames in high wind at Citadel Mews West seniors home Thursday night

EDMONTON — Last year's dive in oil prices has caused Alberta to change how it calculates the payments oilsands mines make to ensure there's enough money to clean up the mess they leave behind.

Ottawa has introduced new ways for small and medium businesses to get access to rapid COVID-19 tests to stop workplace spread and Alberta has announced a deal with neighbouring Montana for truckers to get vaccinated south of the border.

“He was attacked by a bear from behind and pushed off a very high embankment – 300 metres – and was found near the river,” Sarah Lertzman said in a Facebook post Thursday.

Part two of Buried in the Aftermath looks at how mountain guides are affected by critical incidents that occur in the backcountry. Barry Blanchard shares his experience dealing with trauma as a guide and details a new initiative – Mountain Muskox. Ken Wylie, who as an assistant guide survived an avalanche in 2003 that killed seven clients, challenges the industry with taking a look at how it handles these types of incidents.

About 100 evacuated from Citadel Mews West

RCMP visited property Wednesday evening and it was taken down voluntarily

The off-and-on closures have taken a toll, especially on employees with families who rely on a steady paycheque, Echino said Wednesday. 

“I’ve been in Cochrane for quite a while and I can think of a couple of instances like this. It’s not super common, I would say it’s a little more common in Kananaskis area itself. We’ve had a few of them over the years. We’ve had some close calls as well, with some aggressive animals and stuff, but not too many where it’s the cause of death.”

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has declared a state of emergency due to the increasing cases of COVID-19. Several oilsands sites within the region are on Alberta's COVID-19 outbreak list.