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Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

Main Street has changed. There was a time when you could find just about everything needed at a locally-owned shop. If it didn’t have exactly what you were looking for, an employee would help you source it.Customer service and loyalty to community: These are ideals diminished in an era of big box stores and one-click shopping, business dominated by the largest corporations in the world. Today, there are far fewer decision-makers on Main Street. It means fewer businesses to sponsor a local team, or help fundraise for a new fire truck, equipment for the local hospital or school trip.Through all this turbulence, we are still here with a single powerful focus. We tell the stories that matter to you. It is what makes this community newspaper unique. Some media have a global focus. Some are national or provincial. We only care about you.There are more than 865 of us across this country. You might be surprised there are so many community papers still publishing, in many cases thriving, in ...

Quarterly crime stats in Picture Butte suggest crime is down

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsRCMP Staff Sergeant of the Coaldale and Picture Butte RCMP detachments, Mike Numan gave a delegation to Picture Butte town council  during the Sept. 11 meeting.“As far as statistics go, (for) this part of the detachment and surrounding area, the numbers are very low,” Numan said.Numan said the data shows, “either crime is down, or people aren’t reporting it still,” and added, “I honestly think crime is decreasing here, which is good.” However, he clarified that the report includes statistics which cover the entire detachment area and are not specific to the town of Picture Butte.However, Numan said  activity in the first eight months of 2023 has resulted in the creation of 255 files involving Picture Butte, including various crimes, traffic violations, and other incidents and offences. Highlights include 16 traffic collisions, 40 provincial traffic offences, as well as five mental health-related calls, and 34 non-moving traffic-related tickets.Numan m...

Copperheads take 1-1 record away from opening weekend of regular season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

By Garrett SimmonsSunny South NewsThe Coaldale Copperheads are off to a 1-1 start in Heritage Junior Hockey League play.Coaldale capped off opening weekend on Sunday with a 5-4 loss at home against the Medicine Hat Cubs.Saturday’s home opener featured a 6-5 win over the High River Flyers.Coaldale raced out to a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s game, as Nathan Verloop’s goal opened the scoring for the Copperheads for the 2023/2024 season, at the 13:32 mark of the first. Adam Kennedy and Koden Lazar had the assists.Drew Constant made it 2-0 on a goal assisted by Nolan Price. High River made it 2-1 after two periods, before the fireworks really started in the third.The Flyers kicked off the scoring in the final frame with an early goal to tie it at two, and then took the lead with a shorthanded goal.The lead didn’t last long, as Caden Heins scored on the powerplay to tie it at three, as Price and Griffin McCulloch drew helpers. Riley Potts made it 4-3 on a goal from Rylan Millo and Brandon Creig...

Housing Needs Assessment Report shows local impact of national issue

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsCoaldale council received a report on current housing needs within the town, during the Sept. 11 regular council meeting.In the fall of 2022, Coaldale town council met with the board of the Green Acres Foundation (GAF), a regional seniors non-profit housing management body, to learn about all of the steps involved in obtaining grant funding to work towards building more seniors housing in Coaldale. In order to move forward GAF indicated that one of the next steps would be to prepare and undergo an official Housing Needs Assessment (HNA). Following this discussion, Town Administration began preparing an official HNA through the Government of Alberta’s Affordable Housing Needs Assessment tool, which is administered by the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services.According to Town Administration, receiving Council’s official endorsement of the HNA is the final step in the HNA process. Once Council has approved the HNA, Administration will submi...

Coalhurst Council receives department reports

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

By Nikki JamiesonSunny South NewsThe following are selected briefs from departmental reports during Coalhurst town council’s regular Sept. 19 meeting.CAO reportThe following are highlights from Shawn Patience’s CAO Report to council:• On the development side, he filed an appeal on the County Home Occupation Distillery permit, is working on appeal case documents for submission to the Land and Property Rights Tribunal, worked on updating Fire Quality Management Plan (QMP) that has been submitted and approved and met with ORRSC staff to discuss permitting and staffing options moving forward.• On the Corporate Services side, he met with Mike Passey, Director of Corporate services for the Town, to review financial software and go over consultation options and plan for budget, and reviewed capital budget items.• On the Community Development side, he worked with Kim Horak from the Miner’s Days Committee and held several meetings and phone conversations to get the Miner’s Days parade organi...

Lethbridge RDC celebrates Fairfield Poplar Tree

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsFor National Forest Week in September Lethbridge Research and Development Centre (RDC) celebrated the beauty and important role trees play in global ecosystems with a tribute to the site’s Fairfield Poplar Tree as part of National Tree Day on Sept. 20.Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research and Development Centre (RDC) has long celebrated the beauty and importance of trees. Did you know the centre’s grounds are home to a provincial heritage tree – the “Fairfield Poplar”?The Fairfield Poplar, is one of the Province’s heritage trees. When the Lethbridge RDC opened its doors for the first time in 1906, tree-planting was a top priority for the area. In 1907, over 550 trees, including ornamental and apple trees were planted, in addition to various other shrubs. Despite no spring crops being sown in 1907, Site Superintendent, William Fairfield, was pleased to report on the progress made on the sites arboretum, which had come to include over 2...

Library requests funding increase to address shortfalls since pandemic

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsThe Picture Butte Library Board has requested a significant funding increase to the Town’s annual contribution during the Sept. 11 regular town council meeting.As the board develops its 2023-2025 plan for service, Manager of the Picture Butte Public Library, Cheryl Garratt, said it has been hard to keep up with the expected level of service under current budgetary constraints.The delegation revealed over 5,000 people passed through the doors of the Picture Butte Public Library in 2022; a far cry from being an under-utilized resource in the community.Garratt presented council with a copy of the library’s current budget, revenue, and expenses which shows since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, the library has been unable to break even. In 2020 and 2021, the library was over-budget its annual budget by $13,000 each year, and over $10,000 in 2022. Garratt added, “So far we’re projected to lose $13k again this year.”The Town’s current contribution is $20,000,...

Fireworks at news conference before Jamestown Mall demolition

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Dignitaries assembled at the vacant Jamestown Mall to mark the start of the demolition of the long-abandoned shopping center.And while a contractor is handling the demolition, there were fireworks between north St. Louis County officials, the head of the county council, and a local state senator during Tuesday morning’s news conference.The sparks started flying after St. Louis County Chairwoman Shalonda Webb said she was the prime mover in the project and had not received much help from lawmakers in Jefferson City. That rubbed State Senator Angela Mosley the wrong way, who took the podium with strong words for Webb.“This is my district—District 13—and I will address some of the lies that was given up here on this podium. I never had Shalonda Webb in my office. She never came to my office,” Mosley said. “I never seen her and I never was against giving $6 million to (demolish) this mall.”The state senator then added this dig: praising the person Webb defeated t...

Tripled detention population at Juvenile Justice Center

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Concerns over the St. Louis County Juvenile Justice Center led to a special meeting Tuesday between parents, the county council, and the courts.Michael Hicks was one of more than a dozen parents attending.“I’m worried about my son’s safety inside of there,” he said.Reverend Dr. Linden Bowie, president of the Missionary Baptist State Convention of Missouri, was part of making the meeting possible.“I would hope it’s to get some clarity on what the administration, the leadership, is doing to resolve some of those issues,” he said.A joint letter from the church group and the NAACP includes the following complaints about the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center:Reported assaults, some leading to injuries to both juveniles and staffVisits and phone calls not allowed to juveniles who are not on disciplinary restrictions12-hour lockdowns, forcing juveniles to use food containers as toilets Cloned voice, fake bondsman target St. Louis woman Chief Juvenile Offi...

Worries of mine subsidence at Belleville grocery store

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Some Belleville residents woke up to chaos Tuesday morning, as several homes had to be evacuated and their local food market was closed due to concerns about possible mine subsidence.“I got a call Sunday morning from our streets department, and that was the first I’d heard of it,” Belleville Fire Chief Stephanie Mills said. “And we came out here and just observed the same thing that you all are seeing, the buckling in the pavement.”Officials say a former mine is beneath the area.“We began reaching out to people that knew more about it than we did,” Mills said. “We contacted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and they’ve responded, and they’re going to continue to monitor the situation.” Maps of the old mines under Missouri and Illinois Structural engineers went in and out of Rulers Foods throughout the day as part of a building assessment.Some residents tell FOX 2 they saw cracks in the concrete over the weekend and called 911.“Saturday there was a bu...