(Town of Taber via Facebook)

Police help round up Alberta ostriches on lam

Several wander into Taber, become social media stars

Most of a flock of farmed ostriches that got free of their pen near the southern Alberta town of Taber have been rounded up, but not before grabbing their proverbial 15 minutes’ fame. Taber-Vauxhall RCMP said in a release Thursday afternoon that they began receiving reports shortly before 8 a.m. that day of ostriches on […] Read more



RCMP on Feb. 14, 2022 reported seizing the guns, ammunition and other items shown here during a search of three trailers "associated to" a group involved with the Coutts, Alta. border blockade. (An earlier version of this caption incorrectly quoted RCMP as saying the trailers were at the blockade.) (Photo courtesy Alberta RCMP)

Alberta border blockade expected to disperse Tuesday

Decision comes amid arrests, reported violence at blockade

Amid reports of violence involving a farm tractor and trucks — and seizures of weapons — the protest blockade that shut Alberta’s busiest U.S. trade corridor is reported to be winding down starting Tuesday. Several media outlets on Monday quoted organizers of the blockade at the Canada-U.S. border crossing at Coutts, Alta. as saying they […] Read more

A supplied aerial photo of vehicles blocking through traffic on Feb. 1, 2022 at the Canada-U.S. border crossing between Coutts, Alta. and Sweet Grass, Montana. (Photo courtesy Alberta RCMP)

Single lanes opened at Alberta border crossing, Mounties say

RCMP 'acknowledges the work that is being done'

Single lanes have reopened in each direction at Alberta’s busiest Canada-U.S. trade window, allowing cross-border supply chains to resume, RCMP report. In response to “concerned citizens in the area of Coutts,” participants in a blockade of vehicles in place at the local border crossing “made the decision to open a lane going northbound and southbound […] Read more


A supplied aerial photo of vehicles blocking through traffic on Feb. 1, 2022 at the Canada-U.S. border crossing between Coutts, Alta. and Sweet Grass, Montana. (Photo courtesy Alberta RCMP)

Alberta RCMP to start unclogging major border crossing

Blockade 'not a peaceful assembly,' Mounties say

A major supply chain corridor connecting Alberta and the U.S. is expected to be cleared of protestors and reopened to traffic on Tuesday, Alberta RCMP have warned. Protestors in vehicles formed a blockade Saturday on Highway 4 leading to the province’s only 24-hour Canada-U.S. border crossing, at Coutts, Alta., about 100 km southeast of Lethbridge. […] Read more

(Valerie Loiseleux/iStock/Getty Images)

Vaccine protest jams southern Alberta border crossing

Premier, transportation minister called for blockade to disperse

UPDATED, Jan. 31 — A major supply chain corridor between Alberta and the U.S. remained blockaded through into Sunday evening by vehicles in protest of mandates requiring foreign truckers entering Canada and the U.S. to be vaccinated. The protest on Highway 4 at the Coutts, Alta. border crossing, about 100 km southeast of Lethbridge, began […] Read more


(File photo by Lorraine Stevenson)

Elevators hope mandatory vaccination doesn’t disrupt operations

New regulations will require all federally regulated employees to comply early in 2022

Canada’s major companies hope their operations won’t be disrupted when Ottawa requires federally regulated employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting early in 2022. “It depends on whether employees that aren’t vaccinated will get vaccinated, or would they leave their jobs,” Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) said in an interview […] Read more

An eastward-facing view from the north edge of the crossing at Mile 98.14 of CN’s Ashcroft subdivision, where BCWS suspected the Lytton fire began. (TSB photo)

No evidence trains sparked Lytton fire, TSB says

Transportation Safety Board now stepping out of ongoing fire probe

There’s no proof the fire that largely destroyed a British Columbia village, damaged a key rail bridge and led to cuts in rail speed limits in high-risk areas was sparked by train traffic, the federal Transportation Safety Board says. The TSB on Thursday said its investigation, launched in early July, “has not revealed any evidence […] Read more


Tracking down cattle thieves is one thing, but having enough evidence to lay charges is another, says Cpl. Lindsey Anderson.

Wherever there are cows, there could be cattle thieves lurking

Cattle rustling is fairly common in Alberta, so take some simple steps to protect yourself, says investigator

Reading Time: 3 minutes The ugly truth about cattle rustling is that it’s fairly common in Alberta. “Every year, we have more calves stolen,” RCMP livestock investigator Cpl. Lindsey Anderson said earlier this month. “We were able to charge someone a couple weeks back and get a search warrant to recover some stolen calves. “A lot of times, especially […] Read more

These explosives were found this summer after a family located a cache of dynamite, detonator cord, and a box with detonators while cleaning out barns in the Bassano area.

Could there be old explosives on your farm or ranch?

RCMP believe there is ‘a large amount of degraded dynamite’ in rural Alberta

Reading Time: < 1 minute Every year, Albertans report finding dynamite or detonators stored, or in some cases forgotten, on their properties. We are encouraging Albertans to continue to report these explosives to their local police. From January to October of this year, the Alberta RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit (EDU) located and disposed of 36 geogels (gelatin dynamite), 11 sticks […] Read more