News

Alberta Newspaper Group Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 will forever be an unforgettable day for many farmers, ranchers and citizens of the Hilda and Burstall communities after the devastating events of the 85,000-acre fire caused by a fire pit igniting and propelled by 80 km/h wind gusts. Cattle, crops, fencing and residences were all lost in [...] Read More »

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel The Crown and defence presented closing arguments Thursday in the trial of Elliott Teed, a former Bow Island RCMP officer accused of sexual assault during a 2015 traffic stop on Highway 3. The Court of Queen’s Bench trial heard testimony from six witnesses — the complainant; her boyfriend; Jarom Leafloor, the officer in [...] Read More »

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel A man accused of murder and extortion made a brief court appearance Thursday. Robert Hoefman, 46, appeared in Medicine Hat Provincial Court via closed-circuit TV from the local remand centre. His bail hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30 at the Court of Queen’s Bench. Defence lawyer Greg White said he received a large [...] Read More »

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant The plan to build the world’s largest cannabis greenhouse in Medicine Hat is proceeding according to plan, says the chief corporate officer of Aurora Cannabis, citing an ambitious timetable of about 16 months from public announcement to first planting. The entire facility — equal in footprint to 21 football fields, capable of growing [...] Read More »

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker Medicine Hat’s Historic Clay District was able to unveil its newly-finished Artist Lodge Thursday — a project that took years of work. The lodge is at the old I-XL in an old office building donated to Medalta by I-XL and it will offer a place to live for artists from all around the [...] Read More »

Toronto police have shut down five pot shops in a co-ordinated raid Friday afternoon. Police spokesman Gary Long says the drug squad charged and released eight people under the new provincial cannabis legislation. It is only legal to buy marijuana in Ontario from the province’s online website and police Chief Mark Saunders vowed to shut [...] Read More »

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is the target of a test legal case that could prompt politicians all across the country to reconsider their use of social media. Three city residents are seeking a court order declaring that Watson infringed their constitutional right to freedom of expression by blocking them from his Twitter feed. Watson said [...] Read More »

MONTREAL – There’s been another delay in the launch of Canada’s three Earth-observation satellites known as the RADARSAT Constellation. The satellites, which will use radar to locate ships and keep an eye on the Arctic, were scheduled to be launched from California by SpaceX in November, but they have been rescheduled to February. Final costs [...] Read More »

OTTAWA – The Defence Department says Canadian fighter jets in Romania have intercepted a Russian military aircraft that was approaching NATO airspace over the Black Sea. Two CF-18s were scrambled Thursday after NATO detected the Russian SU-27 Flanker operating near Romania, where Canada has had five fighter jets and 135 military personnel. A department statement [...] Read More »

MONTREAL – New research based on U.S. hospital statistics suggests that recreational cannabis users are increasingly at risk of stroke. In findings presented Friday at the World Stroke Congress in Montreal, scientists from Avalon University in Curacao used a database covering 1,000 hospitals to analyze trends in stroke prevalence and stroke-related hospital stays among recreational [...] Read More »

CALGARY – Adam Sinagra is closing in on history. The Calgary Dinos quarterback threw two touchdowns and 428 yards in the air as Calgary (7-0) trounced the (1-6) Regina Rams 58-6 in U Sports football action Friday. With the performance, Sinagra sits at 2878 passing yards on the year, 308 back of Noah Picton’s single-season [...] Read More »

CALGARY – Two CFL teams with stalled offences want to get back on track Saturday in Calgary. With a receiving corps thinned by injuries, the Calgary Stampeders (12-3) laboured moving the ball in a 26-21 loss at home to B.C. in Week 18. The Saskatchewan Roughriders (10-6) are coming off a loss in which they [...] Read More »

CALGARY – A three-year-old boy has died after being hit by a vehicle in northeast Calgary. Calgary police say they were called to reports of a pedestrian being hit at around 8:40 a.m. on Valleyview Road N.E. They found it was child who had been hit. The boy was taken in life-threatening condition to hospital, [...] Read More »

RED DEER, Alta. – The Crown is seeking a 12-year sentence for a central Alberta man who pleaded guilty to child pornography, sexual assault and other sex charges. Stuart Peter Hunt of Red Deer was arrested last January at his home. According to the statement of facts in the case, police seized electronic devices that [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – Alberta’s police watchdog has cleared an officer who shot and killed a man armed with a hunting knife during a traffic stop. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said the Edmonton officer who shot the 55-year old man on March 9, 2017, faced a “real risk of death.” Officials said the officer pulled [...] Read More »

FORT WORTH, Texas – A 9-year-old Texas girl at the centre of a three-week court battle with a hospital to keep her on life support has died hours after an appeals court allowed her parents more time to find a facility to maintain her life support. A spokeswoman for Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort [...] Read More »

MESA, Ariz. – President Donald Trump, seeking to frame the choices for voters in the midterm elections, said Friday that Democrats are “too extreme and too dangerous” to take control of Congress. On a three-day swing out West to make his closing arguments for Republican candidates, Trump sought to hone in on immigration as one [...] Read More »

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Mega Millions numbers that could win an estimated $1 billion jackpot have been announced. They are 15 23 53 65 70 and Mega Ball 7. The jackpot is the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. lottery history. Mega Millions says it may take an hour or two to determine if there [...] Read More »

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. – President Donald Trump on Friday called Saudi Arabia’s announcement that suspects are in custody in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi a “good first step” and said he would work with Congress on a U.S. response. The president spoke to the media at a defence roundtable in Arizona hours [...] Read More »

ISTANBUL – Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a “fistfight” in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the kingdom claimed early Saturday, finally admitting that the writer had been slain at its diplomatic post. Authorities said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been fired. The overnight announcements in Saudi state media [...] Read More »