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District Energy marks 40 years in St. Paul with new hydrogen generator

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

When oil prices more than quadrupled during the national energy crisis of the 1970s, downtown St. Paul’s coal-powered steam plant was already creaking toward the end of its functional life.Alarmed as much by rising energy costs as by the rising steam seeping up through cracks in the downtown sidewalk, then-Mayor George Latimer convinced city building owners to back a new downtown-specific utility that would seek innovative ways to heat structures and keep energy prices steady. The St. Paul District Energy system roared to life 40 years ago this month — September 1983 — with the downtown Central Library, now known as the George Latimer Central Library, as its first client.Ken Smith, CEO of District Energy St. Paul, talks about the nonprofit’s net zero carbon goals. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)“It was established to be a model for the nation,” said Ken Smith, chief executive officer of District Energy, during a plant tour on Tuesday.The nonprofit ut...

Senate ag committee investigating the roots of soil health in Canada

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Trevor BuschSunny South [email protected] part of an effort to better understand soil health on the Canadian prairies, the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry recently completed a fact-finding mission in Western Canada.In late August, senators met with farmers and ranchers throughout the region to examine soil conditions, identify ways to improve soil health, address the effects of climate change and help Canadian producers become sustainability leaders.“The impetus for the whole study really comes from the heart and soul of our committee chair Rob Black. Rob spent his whole life working in agriculture and agricultural education,” said Senator Paula Simons, who hails from Alberta and was part of the tour as a committee representative. “For him, the state of the Canadian soil has been a concern for a long time. And he wanted us to do a follow up to the quite well known in his day Senate report, the Sparrow Report, which came out in 1984, which was the first look...

Supports available for struggling ag producers

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Trevor BuschSunny South [email protected] struggling producers dealing with the effects of drought across the region, support is available and can be accessed through provincial programs.Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter pointed out it has been a tough harvest season for some producers in areas of the riding.“There’s lots of places that are dry land that were really struggling. It depends upon where you’re at in the riding. Some places got lucky, they got some million dollar rains and they were okay.”Hunter explained the reasoning behind the declaration of agricultural disasters by various municipalities in 2023, including the M.D. of Taber.“All it does is, it’s a flag to the provincial and federal governments that we need to keep watching it. And it doesn’t – it’s just a flag, it’s just an indicator that we’ve got some problems here, and that we need to be aware of it.”Separate from crop insurance, AgriStability is a program producers can access if they need help.“S...

We tell the stories that matter to you

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

Main Street has changed. There was a time when you could find just about everything needed at a locally-owned shop. If it didn’t have exactly what you were looking for, an employee would help you source it.Customer service and loyalty to community: These are ideals diminished in an era of big box stores and one-click shopping, business dominated by the largest corporations in the world. Today, there are far fewer decision-makers on Main Street. It means fewer businesses to sponsor a local team, or help fundraise for a new fire truck, equipment for the local hospital or school trip.Through all this turbulence, we are still here with a single powerful focus. We tell the stories that matter to you. It is what makes this community newspaper unique. Some media have a global focus. Some are national or provincial. We only care about you.There are more than 865 of us across this country. You might be surprised there are so many community papers still publishing, in many cases thriving, in ...

Quarterly crime stats in Picture Butte suggest crime is down

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsRCMP Staff Sergeant of the Coaldale and Picture Butte RCMP detachments, Mike Numan gave a delegation to Picture Butte town council  during the Sept. 11 meeting.“As far as statistics go, (for) this part of the detachment and surrounding area, the numbers are very low,” Numan said.Numan said the data shows, “either crime is down, or people aren’t reporting it still,” and added, “I honestly think crime is decreasing here, which is good.” However, he clarified that the report includes statistics which cover the entire detachment area and are not specific to the town of Picture Butte.However, Numan said  activity in the first eight months of 2023 has resulted in the creation of 255 files involving Picture Butte, including various crimes, traffic violations, and other incidents and offences. Highlights include 16 traffic collisions, 40 provincial traffic offences, as well as five mental health-related calls, and 34 non-moving traffic-related tickets.Numan m...

Copperheads take 1-1 record away from opening weekend of regular season

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Garrett SimmonsSunny South NewsThe Coaldale Copperheads are off to a 1-1 start in Heritage Junior Hockey League play.Coaldale capped off opening weekend on Sunday with a 5-4 loss at home against the Medicine Hat Cubs.Saturday’s home opener featured a 6-5 win over the High River Flyers.Coaldale raced out to a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s game, as Nathan Verloop’s goal opened the scoring for the Copperheads for the 2023/2024 season, at the 13:32 mark of the first. Adam Kennedy and Koden Lazar had the assists.Drew Constant made it 2-0 on a goal assisted by Nolan Price. High River made it 2-1 after two periods, before the fireworks really started in the third.The Flyers kicked off the scoring in the final frame with an early goal to tie it at two, and then took the lead with a shorthanded goal.The lead didn’t last long, as Caden Heins scored on the powerplay to tie it at three, as Price and Griffin McCulloch drew helpers. Riley Potts made it 4-3 on a goal from Rylan Millo and Brandon Creig...

Housing Needs Assessment Report shows local impact of national issue

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsCoaldale council received a report on current housing needs within the town, during the Sept. 11 regular council meeting.In the fall of 2022, Coaldale town council met with the board of the Green Acres Foundation (GAF), a regional seniors non-profit housing management body, to learn about all of the steps involved in obtaining grant funding to work towards building more seniors housing in Coaldale. In order to move forward GAF indicated that one of the next steps would be to prepare and undergo an official Housing Needs Assessment (HNA). Following this discussion, Town Administration began preparing an official HNA through the Government of Alberta’s Affordable Housing Needs Assessment tool, which is administered by the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services.According to Town Administration, receiving Council’s official endorsement of the HNA is the final step in the HNA process. Once Council has approved the HNA, Administration will submi...

Coalhurst Council receives department reports

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Nikki JamiesonSunny South NewsThe following are selected briefs from departmental reports during Coalhurst town council’s regular Sept. 19 meeting.CAO reportThe following are highlights from Shawn Patience’s CAO Report to council:• On the development side, he filed an appeal on the County Home Occupation Distillery permit, is working on appeal case documents for submission to the Land and Property Rights Tribunal, worked on updating Fire Quality Management Plan (QMP) that has been submitted and approved and met with ORRSC staff to discuss permitting and staffing options moving forward.• On the Corporate Services side, he met with Mike Passey, Director of Corporate services for the Town, to review financial software and go over consultation options and plan for budget, and reviewed capital budget items.• On the Community Development side, he worked with Kim Horak from the Miner’s Days Committee and held several meetings and phone conversations to get the Miner’s Days parade organi...

Lethbridge RDC celebrates Fairfield Poplar Tree

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsFor National Forest Week in September Lethbridge Research and Development Centre (RDC) celebrated the beauty and important role trees play in global ecosystems with a tribute to the site’s Fairfield Poplar Tree as part of National Tree Day on Sept. 20.Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research and Development Centre (RDC) has long celebrated the beauty and importance of trees. Did you know the centre’s grounds are home to a provincial heritage tree – the “Fairfield Poplar”?The Fairfield Poplar, is one of the Province’s heritage trees. When the Lethbridge RDC opened its doors for the first time in 1906, tree-planting was a top priority for the area. In 1907, over 550 trees, including ornamental and apple trees were planted, in addition to various other shrubs. Despite no spring crops being sown in 1907, Site Superintendent, William Fairfield, was pleased to report on the progress made on the sites arboretum, which had come to include over 2...

Library requests funding increase to address shortfalls since pandemic

Published Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:59:00 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsThe Picture Butte Library Board has requested a significant funding increase to the Town’s annual contribution during the Sept. 11 regular town council meeting.As the board develops its 2023-2025 plan for service, Manager of the Picture Butte Public Library, Cheryl Garratt, said it has been hard to keep up with the expected level of service under current budgetary constraints.The delegation revealed over 5,000 people passed through the doors of the Picture Butte Public Library in 2022; a far cry from being an under-utilized resource in the community.Garratt presented council with a copy of the library’s current budget, revenue, and expenses which shows since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, the library has been unable to break even. In 2020 and 2021, the library was over-budget its annual budget by $13,000 each year, and over $10,000 in 2022. Garratt added, “So far we’re projected to lose $13k again this year.”The Town’s current contribution is $20,000,...