🚨 Crime & Public Safety
- Sentencing for semi driver who killed two motorcyclists was postponed Thursday. Michael Maurice Koochin, 40, of Slave Lake pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing death and six counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm after his 1995 GMC tractor-trailer crossed the centre line on Aug. 31, 2024 near High Prairie; the sentencing was delayed because the Crown prosecutor had a sudden medical issue and no new date is set.
- ALERT seized more than two dozen firearms and nearly 200 knives in Lethbridge drug probe. The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team recovered about $20,000 in drugs, $13,649 in cash and 20 cartons of contraband tobacco from a home in the 2000 block of 7 Avenue North; two people were arrested and charged with trafficking and multiple firearms offences.
- Calgary homicide unit investigating after a man died from a stabbing overnight. Officers found a man with a stab wound in the 1400 block of 38 Street SW just before 11 p.m.; two people were taken into custody and police say the suspects and victim were known to each other.
- ASIRT probes police shooting after confrontation in Bridlewood early Thursday. Calgary officers responded about 1 a.m. to the 1000 block of Bridlemeadows Manor for a disturbance involving a man with a weapon; one officer discharged a firearm after a confrontation roughly two hours later and the suspect was hospitalized in critical condition.
💼 Economy & Business
- TC Energy raises North American natural gas demand outlook to 51 bcf/d to 2035, citing data-centre growth. CEO François Poirier said nearly 70 per cent of that growth is concentrated in the U.S. heartland, Alberta and Mexico, and TC noted pipeline shipping capacity in the Greater Edmonton Area offered in March was fully subscribed by data-centre developers.
- Canfor says Fox Creek sawmill closure is permanent amid scarce fibre and weak markets. The company blamed exhausted regional fibre, the end of Alberta’s pine beetle management strategy and U.S. tariffs, noting the Fox Creek mill employed more than 74 people before the shutdown.
- Heritage Festival returns to Hawrelak Park expecting about 300,000 visitors this August long weekend. The Edmonton Heritage Festival will host more than 60 countries across 65 pavilions in Hawrelak Park after a three-year absence, and organizers say the event significantly supports Edmonton Food Bank fundraising.
🏛️ Government & Politics
- Wetaskiwin Mayor Joe Branco has sued the city to restore his access to city hall. Branco says councillors barred him from entering city hall in January and restricted municipal facility access citing confidential personnel matters; he has been attending meetings virtually and filed the lawsuit after being banned from city hall.
- Organizers of Corb Lund’s Water Not Coal petition filed for judicial review of Elections Alberta’s decision. The petitioners say roughly 35,000 signatures were rejected and that the drive needed almost 178,000 validated signatures to force government consideration or a referendum, so they asked Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench to review the verification process.
📰 Also Today
- Heat warnings issued for Calgary and Medicine Hat, temperatures to reach 38 C in Medicine Hat.
- Calgary makeshift memorial grows after body identified as 11-year-old Parker.
- Experts warn: don't drive through flooded streets, safety guidance reiterated.
- WestJet flight attendants' union served a 72-hour strike notice.
- Canmore-Kananaskis highway targeting mid-August reopening after rockfall.
- Alberta employer health benefits could cost more for workers over 65 under proposed changes.
- Leaked report says Lloydminster health services are 'struggling to keep up', NDP says.
- Edmonton crime severity index drops to a five-year low, EPS data shows.
- Some Albertans on disability payments set to receive wrong amounts in August.
- Second hiker this week dies after falling from a Banff National Park mountain.
- Carney says he doesn't 'see the value' in using energy as leverage in U.S. trade talks.
