A fire restriction is now in effect for a large part of southwestern Alberta as hot weather hits with no rain in the forecast. The order for the Calgary forest area issued today by Alberta Forestry suspends all fire permits, requires all outdoor fires to be put out and prohibits wood campfires on public land _ particularly the backcountry. Officials say extreme temperatures and dry conditions have persisted in the area with almost no precipitation. They say conditions in the southern part of the Calgary forest area, which runs along the eastern slopes of the Rockies but does not include the Ci

Calgary's Municipal Building reopened to the public yesterday. The move came after a break-in where several fires were set. Police say a man armed with a knife entered the building around 4 a-m last Tuesday and started lighting fires. Although the building has reopened, several service counters inside are still closed. The city is trying to assess the extent of the damage and to estimate repair costs and a timeline for completion. “The Police investigation is still active, and we will not be commenting on the individual or the investigation at this point,” said the City of Calgary.

The Alberta NDP is calling on the province's auditor general to investigate bonuses paid to the chief medical officer of health and other managers for work related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Deena Hinshaw received a record-setting bonus payment of almost 228-thousand dollars last year in addition to her regular salary of more than 591-thousand dollars. In a letter to Auditor General Doug Wylie on Monday, finance critic Shannon Phillips requested a performance audit of the bonus payment structures and processes related to the COVID-19 pandemic response. Phillips also requested a performance

One person is dead following a police shooting northeast of Edmonton. RCMP say a second person was also shot and taken to hospital in critical condition. Mounties say officers from the St. Paul detachment were looking on the Saddle Lake Cree Nation for two suspects in several ongoing investigations. They say there was a confrontation between the suspects and police, and the shooting then happened in the nearby Smoky Lake area. No officers were injured. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, the province's police watchdog agency, is investigating.

An inmate who escaped from a minimum-security healing lodge in Edmonton last summer has been captured. Correctional Service Canada says Monique Cardinal was apprehended by the Edmonton Police Service on Saturday night. The CSC says staff from the Buffalo Sage Wellness House observed Cardinal escape on July 8th, 2021, and an arrest warrant was issued. She was serving a sentence of three years, three months, 20 days for convictions that included breaking and entering, and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose. CSC and BSWH will investigate the circumstances of this incident.

Alberta's minister of Advanced Education says he can't help Athabasca University if the online-oriented school won't come to the table. Demetrios Nicolaides (duh-MEE'-tree-ohs nick-oh-LIE'-dezz) says he is willing to help with whatever the university wants -- including money -- to relocate up to 500 employees to the small town that's the school's namesake. Nicolaides says he asked earlier this year for a plan from the university to move staff, but says they failed to step up. The minister says he has little choice but to give the university until the end of this month to agree to the plan, and

Alberta's police watchdog is investigating the arrest of a man at the Calgary Municipal Building earlier this week. Officers were called to the building early Tuesday morning for reports of a man brandishing a long-edged weapon and setting fires. Police have said the man likely got in by smashing the glass at the front of the building, which has been closed to the public since Tuesday. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says in a news release that police tried to talk to the man, but were unsuccessful. It says several officers fired non-lethal weapons and the man was arrested with the

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.