-Some good news for people struggling to pay for auto insurance, as the provincial government says it’s pausing passenger vehicle insurance rate increases through the end of this year.
Finance Minister Travis Toews says they’re also going to come up with short and long term solutions to steady and lower those rates.
But even though no new increases will be approved for this year, some drivers may still see a hike in their rates, due to previously approved changes, claims or tickets they may have received. (photo provided)
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-A big score for Edmonton police, as investigators say they discovered a catalytic converter trafficking operation at a metal recycler in the southeast part of the city.
Police say they’ve been watching the place since last summer, and it was in November that they executed a search warrant at the business.
They say they found more than 400-thousand dollars worth of drugs, some weapons and more than 7-hundred catalytic converters.
“A-1 Scrap Metal Recycling Ltd” is facing a list of charges.
Tekie Awte, 27, was later arrested and charged with eight drug and firearms-related charges, as well as several breaches.
During the investigation, Meron Semere Okbamichael, 28, and Simon Semere Okbamichael, 26, were identified as suspects and were jointly charged with the same offences as Awte.
On January 5, 2023 police charged Awte and A1 Scrap Metal Recycling Ltd with the following additional offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers and Recyclers Identification Act:
- Failure to obtain and record information respecting the transaction
- Failure to provide prescribed information collected in time prescribed
- Failure to use traceable currency to purchase scrap metal
Fines for violations of the Scrap Metal Dealers and Recyclers Identification Act include:
- For Individuals:
- First offence: $10,000, or imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or both.
- Second offence: $25,000, or imprisonment for a term of not more than one year.
- For corporations:
- First offence: $50,000 fine
- Second offence: $200,000 fine
Anyone with any information about this or any other crime is asked to contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.p3tips.com/250.
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UPDATE: The Rec Centre is open now.
-Not many details at this point, but a man was sent to the hospital in critical condition, following some kind of “incident” at the Clareview Rec Centre yesterday afternoon.
The man is believed to be about 50-years old…
The Clareview Rec Centre is now closed, but it isn’t known for how long.
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-If you’re someone who loves to spend time in the Mill Creek Ravine, the city of Edmonton says part of the Mill Creek trail south of 76th Avenue and east of 89th Street has collapsed.
It’s eroding, so it’s really unstable, and is now closed for good…
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– Alberta Health Services says the outage that shut down a number of their services and forced the postponement of surgeries this week, was caused by “routine maintenance to the system.”
Healthcare staff at hospitals had to revert to paper charts, phone calls and whiteboards while the computer system was down, but officials say they did an outstanding job.
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-Former Reform Party leader Preston Manning’s pandemic panel is now going to be giving advice on public health matters.
That’s despite the government saying it was going to have medical and scientific experts as part that team.
Manning’s panel has been told to look into the government’s handling of the pandemic, and report back in November.
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-Some big accolades for a couple of colleges in Alberta, as they’ve made the list of Canada’s top fifty research colleges.
Lakeland College in Vermillion is ranked 33rd overall, while Olds College of Agriculture & Technology made it to the number 10 spot, thanks to the work being done on their Smart Farm.
“Research InfoSource Inc.” surveyed post-secondary institutions across Canada, looking at income, funding and partnerships, and the number of faculty and students involved in research over the past two years.
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-Parkland County has just made a major land acquisition that officials say will set in motion the creation of the West Link Business Park.
It features 152-acres in Acheson, along Highway 16-A.
Mayor Allan Gamble says the region already has more than 4-hundred commercial and industrial businesses, and this land will help increase that.
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-Edmonton Indigenous artist Lance Cardinal and Kunitz Shoes have launched a shoe collection to showcase Indigenous culture and raise some funds to help Indigenous families who’ve suffered trauma.
Cardinal says there are twelve styles in the collection, including boots, sneakers, sandals and flats.
They’re all sorts of colours and feature Cree and Metis language, along with various teachings.
There’s also a boot that calls attention to the issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls.
All the funds raised from the sale of those boots will go to the “Creating Hope Society.”
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-If you live in the city of Camrose and you’ve got a dog, licences are due at the end of this month.
But they’re on sale right now.
Those for spayed and neutered dogs will only cost 22-dollars, while it’s 44 for pooches who haven’t been fixed.
You can pick up your licence at Camrose city hall.
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-It was closed last summer for construction, but the new HodgePodge Lodge re-use station is now open in Strathcona County.
Officials say residents can cut down on the amount of material going into the landfill, by taking items to the Lodge.
These would be things that can’t be easily recycled and not accepted in other places.
By the way, the new building was actually built using donated and re-purposed materials. (photo courtesy of SC)
Residents can take their items for free to the new HodgePodge Lodge, which will operate year-round. It is open daily from 10 a.m. until the Broadview Enviroservice Station closes, which is 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. depending on the day.
More information: strathcona.ca/HPL
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-If joining a hockey or baseball team is out of your price range, how about corn-holing?
The “Tri-Muni Cornhole League” in Parkland County is looking for some players right now, and it’s a lot more competitive than you might think.
There’s a world championship where the players can make some serious money.
Experts say it might look like you’re just tossing bean bags into holes on a board, but there’s a lot of strategy involved.
The Tri-Muni League is hoping to make things more competitive down the line, but for now, it’s all for fun.
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