Edmonton Local News Digests

🚑 Breaking & Incidents

Tornadoes hit eastern Alberta; five people report minor injuries. Environment Canada tracked two tornadoes the night of July 8 near Paradise Valley and Dillberry Lake Provincial Campground, prompting a critical Alberta Emergency Alert before 7:30 p.m.; the RCMP evacuated the campground and confirmed everyone was accounted for while trailers suffered significant damage. ↗

Accused killer Justin Bone shows dashcam of RCMP drop-off in Edmonton. Defence counsel played a 49-minute cruiser dashcam three days before the May 18, 2022 killings in Chinatown; the video shows Bone telling an RCMP officer the drop-off violated his release conditions that required him to stay away from Edmonton as he faces second-degree murder charges in the deaths of Hung Trang and Ban Phuc Hoang. ↗
Teen charged with second-degree murder after weekend shooting in Edmonton. Edmonton police laid a second-degree murder charge against a teenager following a fatal weekend shooting, according to the police report filed July 2026; the accused remains in custody as investigators continue the homicide probe. ↗

Elections Alberta warns that spoof site electionsab.ca contains fake voter data. Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure said the site mimics elections.ab.ca and that names, addresses, phone numbers and elector ID numbers on electionsab.ca are bogus; McClure said his office lacks authority to investigate and has contacted enforcement and cybersecurity agencies to seek the site’s takedown. ↗
Province announces 36+ school projects for 39,000 new or upgraded student spaces. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said on Thursday that the Schools Now program will fast-track projects statewide, with 11 new schools planned for Edmonton and 12 schools expected by the end of the fiscal year while the province estimates 90,000 additional students enrolled over four years. ↗
Alberta warns public about scam texts targeting provincial health cards. The province issued a consumer alert on July 2026 about fraudulent SMS messages purporting to be from Alberta Health Care that attempt to steal personal information, and officials urged recipients to ignore links and report the texts to authorities. ↗
Hinton council caps short-term rentals with bylaw amendments. Hinton council passed amendments on July 2026 that impose limits on Airbnb-style rentals in the municipality, adjusting zoning and licensing rules to control the number of short-term rental properties, according to the town’s council release. ↗

Meta to build its first Canadian data centre northeast of Edmonton. Meta announced plans on July 2026 to construct a data centre northeast of Edmonton, marking the company’s first Canadian campus and signaling new local infrastructure and construction activity for the region. ↗

Brockville police warn of distraction-style necklace thefts on July 4, suspects used counterfeit swap technique. ↗
Two N.W.T. wildfire air attack officers, Olivier Lamy and Ryan Beck, identified after June 24 crash, third victim from Buffalo Airways not named. ↗
Environment Canada lifts tornado warning for east Central Alberta after storm passes. ↗
AER fines oil company nearly $438,000 for a leak undiscovered for 15 months, penalty announced by regulator. ↗
Federal and provincial plans would expand oil export pipelines, reports detail new export proposals. ↗
Beaverlodge RCMP issued Amber Alert for a six-year-old boy, alert posted by RCMP. ↗
Alberta AG expects to finish probe of a health contract by year-end, Attorney General announcement. ↗
Accused in Edmonton Chinatown killings says he has no memory of the attacks, court testimony submitted. ↗
Questions raised about statistical sampling on rejected anti-coal petition, review cites sampling concerns. ↗
Province fast-tracks 22 schools from planning to design under Schools Now program, province statement. ↗
Meta’s new data centre follows regional infrastructure approvals, planning documents referenced. ↗