Groups representing defence lawyers in a dispute with Alberta over funding say their members will not take on serious criminal offence cases starting on September 1st. The groups include the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association in Calgary, the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association in Edmonton, the Southern Alberta Defence Lawyers Association and the Red Deer Criminal Lawyers Association. The types of cases they will refuse include most sexual offences, firearms-related offences, all homicides and dangerous offender proceedings. They say defence lawyers are taking the action following a meeting wi

Calgary police say they are investigating the death of a woman after they were called the southwest neighbourhood of Evergreen for reports of a shooting. Emergency crews were called to the 100 block of Everwoods Court S.W. at around 8:20 a.m. Police say officers found a man and woman injured in a parked car, suffering from what appeared to be gunshot wounds. They say a woman was pronounced dead at the scene and a man was sent to hospital in life-threatening condition. As of 8:55 a.m., police were asking people to avoid the area but the situation did not warrant a “shelter in place.”

Calgary police say they are trying to find a woman who's believed to be involved in the hate-motivated harassment of two teenagers on a bus. Police say that two 13-year-old girls were travelling around 8:30 p.m. last Thursday to a community in southwest Calgary from the Somerset-Bridlewood light-rail transit station. They say the girls were approached by an unknown woman who was speaking aggressively and yelling racial slurs at them. Const. Matt Messenger says harassment won't be tolerated in the city. He says it was completely unprovoked and left the two teenagers scared and upset. Messenger

One person has died in an early morning crash on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Calgary. Emergency crews responded to the crash about 20 kilometres west of the city around 7 a-m. Mounties say one person who was riding a motorcycle has died. It was not immediately clear if other vehicles were involved, but traffic heading west was down to a single lane this morning. One westbound lane of the highway was closed to traffic following the crash but reopened at around 9:30 a.m.

The United Conservative Party government has released its proposal for a provincial police service to replace the R-C-M-P in Alberta communities. Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the plan would add 275 front-line officers to small detachments. It says 275 front-line police officers would be added to Alberta's 42 smallest detachments. Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the proposed model would have 65 to 85 community detachments that would have a minimum of 10 police officers and a maximum of 80 officers working in them. The plan also includes service-hub detachments with between 48 and 192

A new 64-unit seniors' complex has opened in southern Alberta. The federal and provincial governments have contributed about eight-million dollars toward the 15-point-eight-million-dollar cost of the facility in Lethbridge. The complex is located near shopping, medical services and walking trails along a nearby lake. It offers a mixed-income rental model based on household income and all units are fully or partially accessible. Lethbridge and Region Community Housing Corporation CAO Robin James says there are currently around 600 seniors on a waitlist who are looking for appropriate accommodat

RCMP say a woman found dead at a seniors' home east of Calgary was a victim of homicide, but won't be arresting a suspect in the crime. Police responded to a sudden death of a 63-year-old woman at Age Care Sagewood in Strathmore last Friday. Investigators identified a suspect, but he was found dead in Calgary. Investigators say both the victim and suspect were known to each other. They are not searching for any other suspects Autopsies on both have been conducted, but RCMP won't be releasing any further information.

The risk of wildfires in Alberta is on the rise as temperatures hover around 30 degrees Celsius in much of the province. There are 35 active wildfires across Alberta. The danger in the Calgary forest area, which runs along the eastern slopes of the Rockies but does not include the City of Calgary, remains high and all existing fire permits are suspended. Fire bans are also in effect for Banff, Canmore, Three Hills, Rocky View County, Foothills County, Cypress County, and Lethbridge's river valley. Last year, wildfires burned up 4.3 million hectares of Canadian forest.

Four people were injured over the weekend when a pickup truck crashed through the front of a Calgary restaurant. Police say it happened late Saturday when a GMC Sierra with a 76-year-old man at the wheel drove into Sammy's Chophouse at a high rate of speed. Three of the injured suffered minor injuries, but one was seriously hurt. Police said yesterday they were still investigating, but they didn't believe alcohol was a factor, and they said no charges had been laid.