RCMP say a Two Hills man has been charged in connection with a sexual assault that occurred more than three decades ago after investigators used a modern genetic genealogy technique to develop a lead from historical DNA evidence. RCMP say the assault occurred in June 1992 in Two Hills, Alta., when a woman was attacked in her home at knifepoint while her children were present. Investigators collected DNA at the time but were unable to identify a suspect. Police say the investigation was reopened after a familial DNA lead was identified and investigators obtained a DNA warrant to compare a dire

Federal transportation investigators are heading to central Alberta to examine a Canadian National Railway derailment that sent dozens of rail cars off the tracks west of Edmonton. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada confirmed it is deploying a team after 37 loaded train cars derailed Thursday near the hamlet of Wildwood, roughly 110 kilometres west of the provincial capital. The site is along a CN main line that carries a mix of freight through rural communities in the region. CN spokesperson Ashley Michnowski said preliminary information indicates the cars were loaded, but the company

A youth hockey team from Airdrie is paying tribute to three junior players who died in a highway collision in southern Alberta by wearing and sharing memorial stickers during an upcoming tournament. The under-13 AA Airdrie Lightning team will place the stickers on their helmets and hand them out to opposing teams while competing in Regina this week. The stickers feature the jersey numbers of the players and the logo of the Southern Alberta Mustangs, the junior team the victims played for. The initiative was organized by a Lightning parent who ordered close to 100 stickers with the goal of keep

A federal safety investigation into a deadly helicopter crash in central Alberta is advising pilots to carefully weigh the risks of practising emergency manoeuvres while carrying passengers. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the July 2025 crash involved a privately operated Bell Textron 206L-4 LongRanger that made a hard landing west of Red Deer during a training flight. The pilot and one passenger were on board when the aircraft went down. According to the report released Thursday, the pilot was practising autorotation, an emergency procedure used when a helicopter loses engine p

Two Alberta-based francophone organizations are pushing back against calls to loosen bilingualism requirements for Supreme Court of Canada judges, warning that language rights should not become a political bargaining tool. The Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Alberta and the Alberta chapter of the French Canadian Association say bilingualism at the country’s highest court is essential to ensure francophones can fully access the justice system in one of Canada’s two official languages. They argue the requirement reflects constitutional principles rather than regiona

A Calgary man who travelled to the Middle East and joined the Islamic State terrorist organization has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, with parole eligibility only after serving at least half of the sentence. A judge handed down the sentence to Jamal Borhot following his conviction in December on three counts related to participating in the activities of a terrorist group. The court heard that Borhot left Canada in 2013 and travelled to Syria with a cousin, where he knowingly and willingly aligned himself with ISIS. Evidence presented at trial showed the 35-year-old took part in violent

Health Canada says it will not reverse its ban on strychnine, maintaining that environmental and human health risks outweigh concerns raised by Prairie governments and farm groups. The federal department confirmed it reviewed requests from Alberta and Saskatchewan to reconsider the use of the rodent poison to control gopher populations that farmers say are damaging crops and pastureland. Health Canada concluded the risks associated with strychnine remain too significant to justify its use. Strychnine has been prohibited for most pest control uses because of its high toxicity and the risk it po

The Alberta government says it will present its next provincial budget on February 26, warning that deteriorating financial conditions will make the process difficult. Finance Minister Nate Horner says lower oil prices and ongoing global economic uncertainty are putting strain on provincial revenues, forcing the government to make what he described as tough choices. Alberta’s economy remains closely tied to energy markets, making budget planning vulnerable to swings in commodity prices. The province is currently projecting a 6.4 billion dollar deficit by the end of the fiscal year in March.

The Alberta government says it will review a rural highway intersection near Stavely following a deadly crash that claimed the lives of three junior hockey players earlier this week. The collision occurred Monday at a highway entrance just outside the southern Alberta community, about an hour south of Calgary. RCMP say a car carrying members of the Southern Alberta Mustangs junior hockey team was travelling east across the highway when it was struck by a northbound semi truck hauling two trailers of gravel. In a statement Tuesday, Alberta’s transportation ministry said reviewing fatal collis