The Alberta government is tightening the rules around employee bonuses in light of the six-figure payout to the chief medical officer of health. Finance Minister Jason Nixon says the civil service has been directed to review and make changes to the rules to ensure future bonus payments during emergencies go through cabinet for approval. Nixon says the public service should not have the ability to sign off on such big-ticket bonuses. Earlier this week, the government's salary list revealed Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health, received a bonus of almost 228-thousand dollars fo

The United Conservative government has cancelled an emergency directive that called for some patients in Edmonton hospitals to be treated in hallways. The order was enacted to reduce pressure on emergency departments while Alberta Health Services worked to place some patients in other hospitals. The province says it was dealing with high demand, staffing shortages and higher numbers of patients due to COVID-19. The Opposition NDP says the government contributed to the staffing shortages by tearing up the master contract with doctors and fighting at one point to cut nurses' salaries.

Defence lawyers working with Legal Aid Alberta have voted to stop taking any cases for two weeks. They say it is their response to what they call the provincial government underfunding the system. The Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association, and the Southern Alberta Defence Lawyers' Association have been pushing the province to increase Legal Aid's budget in line with other Canadian jurisdictions. Alberta Justice says it has reached out to all three organizations for a meeting.

Emergency crews were called to Range Road 24 on Township Road 524 in Parkland County at about 4:20 a-m for a report of a two-vehicle crash. Mounties say a collision analyst is on scene, and traffic will be delayed until the investigation is complete. No information about other injuries or people involved in the crash has been released. RCMP is currently on scene investigating and traffic in the area will be affected.

Alberta's Opposition N-D-P leader says the United Conservatives must bear the responsibility -- and the fallout -- for the record-setting six-figure bonus payment to the chief medical officer of health during COVID-19. Rachel Notley says she isn't passing judgment on whether the payout to Dr. Deena Hinshaw is merited. But she says the payout has to be set against a government that, at the same time, was trying to cut the pay of front-line health workers in collective bargaining. The government's sunshine salary list shows that Hinshaw received a bonus of almost 228-thousand dollars for COVID-1

Environment and Climate Change Canada says hail ranging from the size of a pea to a softball fell in central Alberta on Monday. Sara Hoffman, who is a meteorologist with the agency, says although the storm that passed through the Rocky Mountain House and Red Deer areas wasn't record breaking, the size of the hail was bigger than expected. Environment Canada issued a tornado watch in the afternoon that warned large hail might fall from the sky later in the evening. Videos on social media were posted after the storm of drivers on Queen Elizabeth II Highway pulled over and covering their heads as

Woman charged with manslaughter after man found in stairwell, Edmonton police say Police say they have charged a woman in the death of a man in central Edmonton over the weekend. Edmonton police say officers responded Sunday to a call of a man in a stairwell. They say the man was found unresponsive and pronounced dead on scene. Police say a 41-year-old woman was arrested and charged with manslaughter. They have identified the victim as 38-year-old Christopher McMullen. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

RCMP in central Alberta say an attempt to steal copper wire from an underground vault was responsible for a power failure that affected multiple neighbourhoods. Police say someone got into the enclosure in Red Deer and tried to cut live electrical wires early Monday. Red Deer utilities manager Jim Jorgensen says approximately six thousand customers were affected. Police said yesterday they were still trying to locate the suspect, noting the person might be seriously injured.

The Calgary Real Estate Board says last month's home sales slipped by three per cent year-over-year as the market continued to experience a slowdown. The region's sales for the month totalled 2,254, down from 2,314 last July. The Alberta board says the figures mark the second month in a row that the pace of sales slowed, but noted that the numbers are still among the strongest the market has ever seen. Last month's new listings amounted to 3,174, down almost four per cent from 3,298 in July 2021. The average price of a home in the region hit $491,392, a nearly one per cent climb from $488,484