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Cochrane news year in review: January

JANUARY Providence Lane Homestead, a sheep and alpaca fibre farm located about a 20-minute drive northwest of Cochrane, was the only one of its kind in Canada to receive the most rigorous certification a farm can strive for in terms of animal welfare
20220130 Cochrane Freedom Rally 6 JL
Children at the rally gather for a group photo holding protest signs at the request of someone in the crowd. (Jessica Lee/The Cochrane Eagle)

JANUARY

  • Providence Lane Homestead, a sheep and alpaca fibre farm located about a 20-minute drive northwest of Cochrane, was the only one of its kind in Canada to receive the most rigorous certification a farm can strive for in terms of animal welfare standards and environmental sustainability. Tara Klager, who not only owns but lives and breathes her work on the farm, said she was thrilled to learn that A Greener World (AGW) was awarding the homestead with their Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) certification, about eight months after she applied for the distinction. “It was a big deal,” Klager said.
  • The trial for accused killer Robert Daignault was delayed on Jan. 4, following his close exposure to a positive COVID-19 case in the Calgary Remand Centre. Daignault was one of three suspects charged in the 2019 murder of Calgarian Kasif Harani, whose body was found on a rural road west of Springbank Airport. His trail is set to take place this January.
  • Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced students would be kept out of classrooms for an extra week in the wake of another COVID-19 spike. Originally slated to return to school Jan. 3, K-12 students’ holiday break was extended until Jan.10.
  • Persistent extreme cold led to overland flooding in areas adjacent to the Bow River, including in Cochrane, where it doesn’t normally flood.
  • Changes were made to Alberta’s COVID-19 testing protocols Jan. 10, which meant only those working or living in high-risk settings, or were themselves at high risk, could be tested. Alberta’s top doctor, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, advised that anyone with symptoms (stuffy or runny nose with cough) should stay home.
  • Mayors and municipal representatives along the line of the proposed Calgary-Banff passenger rail wrote a joint letter to the province in support of moving the project forward. The group, which included Parks Canada, met Jan. 7 to discuss next steps on the proposed $1.5 billion project.
  • As of Jan. 19, Cochranites had donated more than $42,000 to the Cochrane and Area Humane Society in honour of the late, great Betty White, a few weeks after the acting legend’s passing. The Betty White Challenge started as a tribute to the lifelong animal lover and Golden Girls actress who died on Dec. 31, 2021, just weeks shy of her 100th birthday.
  • A Cochrane group advocating for ambulance and emergency medical service reforms submitted their 10-point plan to the provincial health minister as calls for improvements around the province became louder. “People are having emergencies, but the whole service is an emergency right now,” said Don Sharpe, a registered paramedic working for Alberta Health Services.
  • A privately-owned Cessna 182 taxied by its pilot was flipped upside down by the wind on the runway at Springbank Airport Jan. 11. The pilot was unharmed – the plane, not so much.
  • In what now seems a prescient move, the Town of Cochrane changed its borrowing practices to finance the cost of a new protective services building, prompted by an unanticipated rise in interest rates. Corporate services executive director Katherine Van Keimpama noted indications from the Bank of Canada pointed to more rate increases. When the province announced they were no longer going to offer lower below-market loans to municipalities, the Town moved to borrow the needed funds sooner rather than later.
  • Property assessment notices arrived on Cochrane doorsteps in late January. The average residential single-family assessment went up 8.73 per cent, while the average non-residential assessment went up 1.66 per cent.

Howard May

About the Author: Howard May

Howard was a journalist with the Calgary Herald and with the Abbotsford Times in BC, where he won a BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Association award for best outdoor writing.
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