A collision last week almost ended tragically for one Ponoka family.
The first snowstorm of the winter season created extremely dangerous driving conditions for motorists last Thursday, Nov. 27 and Friday, Nov. 28.
While travelling northbound on Highway 2 at 1 p.m. Nov. 28, just south of the Morningside exit, a Ponoka family, driving a VW Tiguan, collided with a cube van that had stopped on the road without its hazards flashing.
The driver of the Tiguan hit the brakes but the vehicle lost control and collided with the cube van. After notifying police, the family exited the vehicle to stay out of the road but another vehicle lost control for the same reason and struck the 10-year-old Ponoka boy, a member of the family.
The boy was taken to hospital and treated for two broken legs, say police. The driver of the cube van was charged with parking on the road while not disabled.
Dozens of calves lost in blaze
A barn fire Wednesday, Nov. 26 claimed the lives of dozens of calves at Henk Van Aken’s farm on Range Road 265.
The call came in at approximately 7:45 a.m. reporting that a calf barn west of Ponoka was in flames. Ponoka Fire attended the scene to try and mitigate the damage and remained there for approximately four hours. The building was destroyed in the blaze.
While fire engines were fighting the blaze, another small garage fire occurred near Morningside in the Morning Meadows subdivision. Firefighters responded but the garage could not be salvaged.
Youths antagonize fast food employees
Four Ponoka youths narrowly avoided charges of assault last week after throwing ice water at a fast food employee.
Staff at the restaurant say there have been recurring instances of these four youths entering the drive-thru at the restaurant, demanding tap water and causing other problems for staff.
To deal with the issue, staff told the youths they would have to pay for the water Nov. 24 at 7:20 p.m. Rather than pay, the youths became angry and yelled at staff members.
They then went to another fast food restaurant, asked for some ice water, drove back to the drive-thru of the original fast-food restaurant and threw it at the employee.
The staff member declined to press charges but police explained to the youths how they could be charged with assault with a weapon and brought them back to the place of business where they were told to apologize for their actions.
Ponoka RCMP and the Integrated Traffic Unit received 76 calls for service last week.
If you have information on any crime call Ponoka RCMP at 403-783-4472 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.