JUNE
- The spirit of the late great Fred Sasakamoose – the first treaty-status Indigenous hockey player to grace the NHL – was cast in bronze by Cochrane’s Studio West Foundry. The life-size statue of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation man was unveiled at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Sask., opposite a statue of Canada hockey great Gordie Howe.
- Results of a checkstop blitz by RCMP over the May long weekend showed that impaired drivers are still not getting the message in Alberta. RCMP officers apprehended 165 impaired drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol over the three-day weekend, compared to 101 over the long weekend the year before.
- The white spruce was declared the official tree of Cochrane, after an impassioned presentation to Town council by members of a Grade 6 class from RancheView School. Council decreed the first Saturday in June, beginning on June 4 this year, would also be designated as Arbor Day in Cochrane.
- Dot Gillis, aka the ‘Queen of the fire hall’ was celebrated by the Cochrane crews as she retired after 25 years with her second family. Gillis was treated to a ride in the bucket of the Aerial 151 ladder truck, and to cupcakes.
- Cochrane RCMP issued a composite drawing of a male suspect in response to two separate reports of child luring – one in the area of Sunset Park and Sunset Way and another near Carolina Crescent.
- Following two motor vehicle accidents involving large trucks descending the big hill on Highway 1A, the speed limit was reduced to 60 kilometres-an-hour (km/hr) around the first curve, and to 50 km/hr near the runaway ramp.
- As interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada contributed to a chill in real estate prices in other parts of the country, the market in Cochrane stayed strong, going from ‘crazy to a little less crazy’ according to local agent Kendra Watt.
- Lawyer and associate professor of law Shaun Fluker won the nomination to be the Alberta NDP’s candidate for Airdrie-Cochrane in the provincial election, scheduled for May 2023.
- The new Rocky Mountain Rotary Club was formed, designed to appeal to a slightly younger demographic of Cochranites looking to give back to the community and have a good time doing it.
- The number of Ukrainian asylum seekers settling in Cochrane rose to 48 in June. Local organizer Chantal Barber said she had been directly involved in bringing 10 families from the war-ravaged country into Alberta.
- At his State of the Town address Mayor Jeff Genung said Cochrane was becoming a “community of choice,” and was at a crossroads. “We are growing and evolving as a vibrant and innovative community and striving to preserve our inherent charm of the past.” he said.
- Town council gave the go-ahead to administration for the creation of an art task force that would be challenged with determining what the theme of Cochrane’s public art should be in the future.
