News

asmith@medicinehatnews.com The Paperback Stage has returned from a long hiatus, but their rendition of C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been well worth the wait. With the script adapted from the book itself by the production’s artistic director, Richard Grafton, it is a rare occurrence that a review can comment [...] Read More »

bmiller@medicinehatnews.com With an aging wooden grandstand still “barely standing” and the motivation to attract more tourism dollars and hold larger conferences and events in the city, the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede is looking forward to working with elected officials in 2026 as it continues to seek funding for repairs and expansion. Stampede officials say [...] Read More »

The City of Medicine Hat will see building and operations closures through the final days of 2025. City hall will be closed Dec. 25-28 and open for regular hours Dec. 29-31. It will be closed Jan. 1 and open again for regular hours Jan. 2. There will be no waste collection Dec. 25 and 26, [...] Read More »

asmith@medicinehatnews.com While drought conditions continued for much of the region this year, 2025 was a year of innovation for southeastern Alberta. Rain did arrive later into the early part of the growing season, but for many farmers the precipitation came both too little and too late to prevent reduced yields. In Cypress County, the consistent [...] Read More »

zmason@medicinehatnews.com It has been a historic year of upheaval for health care in Alberta. The system-wide overhaul the province dubbed a ‘health-care refocusing’ was announced in 2023 and began in 2024, but 2025 was the year organizational changes came to fruition. Between the changing face of health care in the province, high-profile inquiries into service [...] Read More »

TORONTO — A Pillsbury brand Pizza Pop may not seem like an obvious candidate for E. coli – given the freezing and heating that goes on before it reaches the consumer’s lips – but foodborne illness experts say it’s not that simple. A public health notice Monday stated 20 people got sick and four have [...] Read More »

On the darkest nights of winter when the cloud cover is just right, there’s a purple haze above parts of Metro Vancouver and it has nothing to do with Christmas or Jimi Hendrix. Cathy Latremouille said she looked outside her Crescent Beach home in Surrey on Friday night to see what looked like a “great [...] Read More »

MONTREAL — Quebecers are being urged to avoid unnecessary emergency-room visits amid what one infectious-disease doctor is calling a respiratory virus maelstrom. Dr. Donald Vinh says his Montreal hospital — McGill University Health Centre — is bursting at the seams as the province grapples with a combination of flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or [...] Read More »

Canada says Santa Claus is a Canadian citizen, and it claims Canadian sovereignty extends to his North Pole residence and workshop. While the federal government did proclaim Santa’s Canadian citizenship in 2008, its sovereignty over the North Pole is contested, and the United Nations has yet to rule on Canada’s claims to extend its Arctic [...] Read More »

Citizen-led recall petitions were officially approved Monday against three more Alberta legislature members, bringing the total to 26. Twenty-four of those petitions are for United Conservative Party politicians, which is more than half of Premier Danielle Smith’s 47-member caucus. Two are for Opposition New Democrats. It’s the first time Alberta’s Recall Act has been used [...] Read More »

Over 200 Blood Tribe members took part in The Blood Tribe Resource Fair Thursday in Standoff. The event was the first of its kind, says Levi Little Moustache, Director of Blood Tribe Employment and Skills Training (BTEST). “The event today was a collaboration of all the HR departments (including) all the departments under Blood Tribe, [...] Read More »

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com Misconduct allegations from more than five years ago finally culminated in a disciplinary hearing for Lethbridge Police Service Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh this week. The Lethbridge Police Commission held the hearing Thursday at City Hall to address misconduct allegations against Mehdizadeh regarding an incident that took place in March 2021. The allegations were made [...] Read More »

LETHBRIDGE HERALDjmanio@lethbridgeherald.com A perpetual challenge for not-for-profit organizations is funding for their charitable work. In support of its continuing mission, Lethbridge Family Services (LFS) is hosting an inaugural gala called “Spring to Light” on April 25 at the Agri-Food Hub and Trade Center, featuring Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and author Rick Mercer. “This [...] Read More »

Some Lethbridge homeowners might be surprised to see an almost 14 per cent increase in their education taxes when they get their property tax bill this spring. According to the Government of Alberta website, education property taxes are increasing for 2025-2026 after being frozen in 2024-2025. For Lethbridge residents, this will amount to a 13.8 [...] Read More »

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com Efforts to raise $30 million to improve cardiac care in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are paying off. Three new donation commitments totalling $350,000 mean a fundraiser to establish the Southern Alberta Cardiac Centre of Excellence has reached about a third of its goal. Campaign manager Jordan Cleland said Wednesday about $10 million has [...] Read More »