Article content

Good morning, Fort McMurray!

Get the news in your inbox every Friday morning by signing up for our newsletter.

In fight against wildfires, Alberta’s lookout towers are reliable, low-tech protectors

Satellites, A.I. and cameras are some of the newer tools used to fight wildfires. Alberta is no exception in adopting this technology, but the province insists its lookout towers are just as reliable as the latest tech.

With 100 towers across Alberta and eight in the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region, Alberta has more towers than any other province. Some provinces scrapped their programs decades ago.

But towers have proved reliable in Alberta, even during heavy wildfire seasons. If you’re mentally and physically fit enough, it can also be a peaceful job (provided you can cope with the isolation).

“I don’t know what this job will look like in the future, but I know you can’t beat it,” said Brett, a lookout observer who spent the summer at a tower south of Fort McMurray

RCMP investigating homicide near Janvier; region’s fourth homicide of 2023

Police are investigating the death of Rico Wilson Janvier, 33, of the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation as a homicide.

At around 1 a.m. on Oct. 16, Alberta RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit says officers were told of an unconscious man outside Lot 6 on the Janvier reserve of the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation, which is adjacent to the municipal hamlet of Janvier. Police say Janvier was found with life threatening injuries.

A ground ambulance rushed him to a nearby airstrip and he was flown to the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre, then to the University of Alberta Hospital. He remained on life support and in critical condition until his death on Tuesday.

This is the fourth homicide to occur in the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region this year. It is also the first homicide of 2023 to occur in the region’s rural areas.

Counter-protest outnumbers protesters against gender, sexual education

No more than 30 people protesting how sex and gender are taught in classrooms spent Saturday afternoon near the Fort McMurray court house on Franklin Avenue.

But they were met with dozens more counter-protesters who organized after learning about the rally.

The people opposing sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) education in schools are part of 1 Million March 4 Children, a nation-wide protest movement that has rallied in dozens of cities and towns across Canada.

A Fort McMurray rally against SOGI in September brought hundreds of people who marched from the Jubilee Centre to the Catholic and public school divisions. Pride YMM, which advocates for the region’s 2SLGBTQI+ community, did not organize a counter-protest to that rally.

This time, Pride YMM called the turnout a success. There were no violent clashes or arrests between either side.

Council approves $13.9 million for flood mitigation of TaigaNova’s northern portion

Flood mitigation of the northern portion on the TaigaNova Eco-Industrial Park will cost roughly $18.5 million. An extra $13.9 million in additional funding will be needed and the remaining $4.6 million will come from the existing flood mitigation budget.

Municipal administration made the request to council at their Tuesday meeting. Funding needed to be approved immediately so procurement could begin quickly, as opposed to waiting for council’s 2024 budget talks in December.

Procurement requests will be posted next week and administration hopes to award contracts soon.

Most flood mitigation will be done by 2026. A final barrier will be finished by 2027 or 2028.

Council asks for review of skate park proposal pitched by Gregoire students

After pitching a skate park to council last March, the children of Gregoire will have to wait longer before learning if the RMWB will build a place to skateboard, bike and roller blade in their neighbourhood.

Council unanimously had administration continue reviewing the project, including the size, design and costs of any park proposals.

Councillors balked at costs of the options they were shown at Tuesday’s meeting. Administration said inflation and supply chain problems had driven up construction costs.

Last March, the Grades 5 and 6 students of Greely Road School asked council to build a park in the neighbourhood. During an April visit to the school, the students told Fort McMurray Today that Gregoire needs more municipal investment for families and young people in the community.

Family of Fort McMurray man killed in Vietnam to be honoured on Remembrance Day

The family of Lance Corporal  Gordon Glenn White will be honoured as this year’s Memorial Family at local Remembrance Day ceremonies.

White was born in 1945 in Fort McMurray and worked at Great Canadian Oil Sands (GCOS). His father served in the Second World War and in May 1968, White enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. On March 12, 1969, White was killed by a landmine in Vietnam.

Remembrance Day ceremonies often feature the family of a veteran who died serving their country in war. White’s family will be represented at this year’s ceremony by his youngest sister, Penney Fedora, and his nephew, Rick White. A fellow Marine and Vietnam veteran will also speak at the ceremony.

Details for this year’s ceremonies are in the story.

Mountie justified in failed ‘suicide by cop’ shooting in Fort Chipewyan: ASIRT

Alberta’s police watchdog says a police officer was justified to fire his weapon at an intoxicated man he believed was about to draw a weapon on him.

An intoxicated Fort Chipewyan man was banging and kicking the RCMP’s detachment’s door when he was approached by an officer. The man yelled at the officer to shoot him and had his hands in his pocket. The officer shot the man once in the leg when the man pulled a black object from his pocket. It turned out to be a broken TV remote.

The man survived the shooting and did not remember the incident. He apologized to the officer for his behaviour.