Westlock News

The Westlock Legion hall will have to be shut down for several months after the lounge on the lower floor flooded. Legion president Chuck Naylor said the lounge was flooded on Sept. 24 as a result of the town’s roadwork on 106 Street.

The Westlock-area fire service has suffered a big loss with the sudden death of one of the department chiefs. Colin Calkins, 45, had been with the Pickardville Fire Department for 20 years before he died suddenly Sept. 27 while on vacation.

When his position with Alberta Health Services was eliminated, the former CEO of Aspen Regional Health took home $738,000 in severance pay, sparking a wave of criticism from opposition parties and groups such as Friends of Medicare.

Westlock residents will soon be paying more on their power and gas bills after town council approved an increase to the franchise fee it charges Fortis Alberta and Altagas.

One man has been sent to hospital following a gravel truck rollover on Highway 18 east of Clyde last Thursday. At around 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 27, an eastbound gravel truck with pup trailer went off Highway 18 just east of Range Road 244.

The trial process for a former Westlock man accused of murdering his wife will continue this week in a Salmon Arm, B.C., courtroom. Peter Beckett, 54, had a pre-trial conference scheduled for Sept.

The Westlock Rotary Dinner Theatre is approaching a remarkable fundraising goal, in no small part due to the efforts of two individuals.

A nation-wide ground beef recall has affected products in both the local supermarkets in Westlock, but both companies say they have quickly dealt with the issue and pulled the products in question.

The old No. 2 elevator at the east end of elevator row in Westlock was razed Friday afternoon, coming down with a mighty crash followed by a huge cloud of grain dust built up over 70-plus years. No records have been found as of yet to the exact time it was built, but one source said 1928. The annex, which will be torn down Sept. 24, was probably built at a later date. See the Oct. 1 print edition of the Town & Country for more.

Many Westlock residents awoke to the sound of sirens last Wednesday morning as emergency crews responded to a house fire downtown. Westlock RCMP say that a concerned neighbour noticed smoke billowing from the house at 10148 105 St.