News

Medicine Hat News A roundup of Medicine Hat News coverage note morning of Sunday, March 29, 2020: Local and regional news: As warm weather baths Southeast Alberta, authorities are asking residents to avoid playgrounds and other recreation spaces, such as tennis courts and picnic tables, as well as practising six-foot physical distancing from others, as [...] Read More »

Medicine Hat News No cases of COVID-19 have surfaced in the Medicine Hat area’s seniors homes and long-term care facilities, the local top medical officer confirmed to the News on Friday. None of the five local cases has required hospitalization. Provincial actionThe province further increased restrictions on the size of gatherings, on Friday and has [...] Read More »

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant City council was give a “high level” update Friday on local action taken to help stop the spread of coronavirus as well as options for a local government response to aid financially stressed residents and businesses. That didn’t include any final decisions, and councillors the News spoke with said they are following a rapidly [...] Read More »

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant In case you missed it, Dale Nally, the associate minister of the newly former Natural Gas portfolio in the Alberta cabinet, was given the added responsibility of electricity this week. That puts him on speed dial for the City of Medicine Hat. The city’s natural gas business unit has spent years trying to climb [...] Read More »

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant Some city workers have been laid off already, according to the union representing them, and more will face that possibility in coming weeks, senior officials at the City of Medicine Hat said on Friday. That comes two weeks after city recreation and cultural facilities were closed to the general public as a response to [...] Read More »

OTTAWA – The COVID-19 pandemic ended the secret handshakes and deal-making in the world’s power corridors, but Canada’s campaign for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council is full steam ahead. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and International Development Minister Karina Gould confirmed the continuing campaigning in separate interviews with The Canadian Press [...] Read More »

TORONTO – No aspect of Canadian life has been left untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic, including politics, and pundits agree the premier of Ontario is one of those most transformed by the outbreak. Doug Ford, a divisive player on the regional stage long before becoming an equally polarizing national figure, has been turning heads since [...] Read More »

Luciana Infusino-Tomei has been left alone to care for her young daughter during the COVID-19 pandemic after her husband was sent to prison last year on a drug-related charge. The 38-year-old woman from Vaughan, Ont., is one of many worrying about the health and safety of their incarcerated loved ones, whose living arrangements make them [...] Read More »

WINNIPEG – Phones have been ringing continuously at the office of the First Nations family advocate in Manitoba as parents, children and social workers look for answers about what will happen to some of society’s most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic “I always want to give the message to our families to stay strong,” says [...] Read More »

Spring break is over in most of Canada but provincial governments and teachers’ unions are still trying to figure out how learning will resume at home, which for many parents has been transformed into a workplace and now a classroom. Shelley Morse, president of the Canadian Teachers Federation, said her main concern is that some [...] Read More »

CALGARY – The union representing federal meat inspectors says its members will be back at work Monday at a meatpacking plant just north of Calgary if the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is reassured that it’s safe. Production at family-owned Harmony Beef was halted last Friday after one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19 a [...] Read More »

DRUMHELLER, Alta. – Another federal prison in Alberta has been locked down as a precaution after some inmates showed flu symptoms. Correctional Services Canada says two medium security unit inmates at Drumheller Institution were tested Thursday for COVID-19. An official says the two inmates have been isolated from others as they wait for the test [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has rejected calls to fire his health minister for threatening to sic legislature security on a private citizen and berating a physician in front of his family. Kenney says Tyler Shandro and Shandro’s wife, Andrea, have been facing recent online abuse, including death threats against her, tied to unfounded [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – The Alberta government has announced that landlords will not be able to evict anyone for not paying their rent until at least the end of April, as the province deals with the economic fallout of COVID-19. Premier Jason Kenney said Friday that landlords will also not be allowed to hike rents while a [...] Read More »

EDMONTON – The Alberta Opposition is calling for Health Minister Tyler Shandro to be fired over allegations he has verbally attacked online critics and threatened to involve legislature security staff. NDP Leader Rachel Notley says Shandro is exhibiting reckless, intimidating behaviour that cannot be allowed during the COVID-19 crisis. Notley was responding to a CBC [...] Read More »

Tim Kalinowski Lethbridge Herald tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com The Lethbridge Police Service is preparing to enforce public health orders pertaining to the COVID-19 outbreak for those who refuse to follow provincial and municipal safety protocols. “As mentioned by the premier on Wednesday, he is enhancing police authorities as well as community peace officer authorities to enforce the Public [...] Read More »

Delon Shurtz lethbridge herald dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A Lethbridge man serving time in jail for various criminal offences has been denied bail on charges relating to a robbery five months ago. Following a lengthy bail hearing Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court, Kyle James Young Pine was remanded in custody, despite concerns by Lethbridge lawyer Vince Guinan it [...] Read More »

Tim Kalinowski Lethbridge Herald tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com The City of Lethbridge announced Friday it would be temporarily moving the homeless shelter to the Fritz Sick gymnasium to allow for proper social distancing between individuals in the homeless community. “Within our business continuity plans, the Fritz Sick centre has always been our backup facility for the homeless shelter,” [...] Read More »

Delon Shurtz lethbridge herald dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com Most people can’t wait to get released from custody after they’ve been arrested, but not Abdi Dahir. During a brief hearing Friday in Lethbridge provincial court, Dahir, who appeared by closed-circuit TV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, made it clear he wanted to remain in custody, and complained if he [...] Read More »

CROWSNEST PASS One person was killed following a two-vehicle collision on Highway 22 on Thursday. A preliminary investigation by Crowsnest Pass RCMP revealed a car and SUV were heading north on Highway 22. Both vehicles lost control and collided after going into a ditch. The 27-year-old male driver of the car from Calgary was pronounced [...] Read More »

WASHINGTON – As President Donald Trump looks for ways to restore normalcy in parts of the U.S., his foremost infection disease expert says the country could experience more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections from the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, offered his prognosis as [...] Read More »

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government’s foremost infection disease expert says the United States could experience more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections from the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, offered his prognosis as the federal government weighs rolling back guidelines on social distancing in areas [...] Read More »

KAMPALA, Uganda – Ugandan pop star and opposition leader Bobi Wine, who released a song urging Africa’s people to wash their hands to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, is criticizing African governments for not maintaining better health care systems for the continent’s 1.3 billion people. In his new song, “Corona Virus Alert,” Wine [...] Read More »

MOSCOW – Russia’s Rosneft oil company said Saturday that it’s halting operations in Venezuela and selling its assets there to a company fully owned by the Russian government, a move apparently intended to protect Russia’s largest oil producer from U.S. sanctions while Moscow continues supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The sale follows the United States [...] Read More »

MOSCOW – Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft oil company says it is ceasing operations and selling its assets in Venezuela. Rosneft said in a statement Saturday that it decided to sell its business in Venezuela to a company that is 100% owned by the Russian government. It said it “concluded an agreement with the company 100% owned [...] Read More »