Calgary Daily Digest — Feb 25, 2026

Big education news: Alberta’s government says Budget 26 will put $143 million toward hiring 1,600 teachers and 800 support staff, and deliver a record $10.8 billion for schools (a $722-million or 7% increase) with funding rising to $11.5 billion by 2028–29 to hire more than 5,000 staff. ATA president Jason Schilling called it "historic" but warned success depends on real hires and supports (names: Premier Danielle Smith, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides); the NDP’s Amanda Chapman and others worry the province won’t be able to recruit or retain enough teachers and point to the October three-week strike by Alberta’s 51,000 teachers.

Tragic loss of two young hockey players: Danica Hills, 18, and Kayla Peacock, 17, died in a crash on Highway 16 east of Jasper around 7:15 p.m. Monday after practice; both lived in Hinton (about 75 km from Jasper) and played on the Jasper U18 Bearcats. The tight-knit communities are grieving (flags lowered, memorial game Friday, GoFundMe fundraisers) while police say slippery road conditions may have been a factor.

Cute contest alert: 13 German Shepherd puppies being born at the RCMP Police Dog Services Training Centre in Innisfail (about 120 km north of Calgary) need names, and children aged 4–14 are invited to submit original suggestions online. Winners (announced in late April) get a laminated 8×10 photo, a plush dog named Justice and an RCMP water bottle; entries must be suitable for future working police dogs.

Wild chase: Just after 10 p.m. Tuesday near Whitecourt (about 160 km NW of Edmonton), a handcuffed suspect managed to steal an Alberta Sheriffs patrol vehicle and drive roughly 100 km southeast before RCMP tracked it near Gunn on Highway 43. Officers used a spike belt and eventually disabled the cruiser after ramming it; a 42-year-old Spruce Grove man was taken to hospital and faces charges (his hands were reportedly in cuffs at the front when arrested).

Name revealed as sentencing begins: The publication ban was lifted so the eight-year-old girl found dead in a hockey bag can be publicly named as Nina Napope — she went missing in April 2023 and was later found in Maskwacis. Ashley Rattlesnake, who cared for Nina, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Sept. 2025; the autopsy showed blunt-force head trauma and chronic abuse, the Crown seeks a nine-year sentence (defence eight), and victim-impact statements were read in court.