Innisfail News

For 12 years before his retirement Lawrence Gould was a mechanic for the City of Red Deer. Today, at the age of 70, he is still a car man, a collector of vintage antique automobiles.

Investigators with the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) are continuing to probe the site of a "unique" oil well blowout incident near Gleniffer Lake, 26 kilometres west of Innisfail.

Town council has enthusiastically accepted a subdivision report from Parkland Community Planning Services to allow a new development at Hawkridge Estates that would add another 43 residential lots to its burgeoning inventory.

Surgeries are expected to return to the Innisfail Health and Care Centre this July after the doors of the operating room closed six years ago.

An Innisfail oil services company owner has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for killing four Filipino temporary foreign workers and seriously injuring another while driving drunk on the wrong side of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Q

At long last the new multi-million dollar public library will officially open its doors on Jan. 23.

Last Saturday night the Innisfail Eagles headed north up the highway to the small town of Bentley to face off against the always powerful Generals. This was the first game of the New Year for both teams.

Two accidents follow car fire on QEII. Two cars were seriously damaged and one woman was charged with careless driving following a string of accidents along QEII northbound Jan. 2.

After being pummelled by the recession in 2010, Innisfail's upbeat economic performance last year is pointing to renewed prosperity in 2012 and beyond. Last year the town saw a 15% increase in development permits from $10.3 million in 2010 to $15.

The Innisfail Lions Club agreed to donate $3,000 towards a guide dog training program that helps improve the lives of people with a variety of disabilities. The funding will be matched by an anonymous donor who has agreed to contribute up to $75,000.