News

Ponoka was officially designated as Alberta’s first Senior Friendly community on May 27 at the Alberta Council on Aging Annual General Meeting in Red Deer.

The Ponoka Fort Ostell Chapter of the IODE was recently recognized at their provincial conference with a special honour.

Hobbema RCMP arrested Jody Lee Francis Soosay, 28 years old, on May 15 and charged him with 12 criminal code charges. Soosay has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear in Wetaskiwin Provincial Court on May 27.

Walking is an easy way to stay healthy and support your community. On May 23, approximately 550 members of the Hobbema community gathered at the Maskwacis Health Services for a two-kilometer Inter-Tribal Diabetes Walk to focus on staying healthy.

Alberta continues to be a tourist’s destination despite decreasing national tourists numbers.

The Town of Ponoka approved the 2008 mill rate during their council meeting on May 13. The overall mill rate for non-residential (commercial) properties has decreased from 12.51 mills in 2007 to 10.84 mills for 2008. The overall mill rate for residential properties has also decreased from 10.46 in 2007 to 7.43 mills in 2008.

Between May 11 and the 18, Ponoka RCMP members experienced the typical rise in complaints that is brought on by the arrival of warmer weather. This increase in workload was further aggravated by the May long weekend and a full moon (one bringing out drunken campers the other bringing out werewolves ... and vise versa). A representative cross-section of each made up a good percentage of the 29 guests we billeted in our cells this week.

Alberta has set a record in Ca anada by having the lowest urban and provincial unemployment rates in the country according to Statistics Canada. The province has set the record with its 3.3 per cent jobless rate as Alberta’s additions to the employed far outweighed growth in both the population and the labour force and brought Alberta’s employment rate to an incredible high at 72.1 per cent.

The Alberta government eliminated the province’s nine health regions on May 15. The David Thompson Health Authority Board members were let go at noon, as well as the members of the eight other regional health boards in Alberta. They are being replaced by the Alberta Health Services Board that will encompass the entire province. The board will be responsible to ensure quality health care for the entire province.

Canada’s largest oil and gas producer will be splitting into two. The Calgary-based giant EnCana Corporation is dividing into two separate companies. The one would be a natural gas company, called GasCo, and the other, called IntegratedOilCo (IOCo) would be a fully integrated oil company.