Westlock News

Parents, principals, trustees and county representatives gathered at Jarvie School on Wednesday to discuss the future of the three schools along Highway 44 north of Westlock, which are facing declining enrolment as time goes on.

The quest to find a cure for juvenile diabetes took another big step June 2 when 115 Westlock walkers raised more than $20,000 at the Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes, surpassing the $17,000 goal.

Westlock County’s reeve is “disappointed” with the town’s request for additional recreation funding, he said following a closed-door discussion at the May 24 council meeting.

The town, county and province-wide fire bans have been lifted and replaced with fire advisories, and county firefighters have been able to catch up on some much-need sleep.

The Pembina Hills school division (PHRD) will run the 2011-2012 school year with a $125,000 deficit after making changes to its operations budget to account for a $1.13 million shortfall in funding from the province.

St. Mary School's graduating class of 2011 did the traditional hat toss Friday morning following a service at the St. Mary Church. The grad supper was held later that evening at the community hall.

The communities of Westlock and Barrhead have been successful in their bid to co-host the Alberta 55-Plus Summer Games in 2013.

With dozens of evacuees from Slave Lake taking up temporary residence in Westlock, the local community has banded together to make the stay as smooth and stress free as possible.

Westlock residents’ response to the plight of their neighbours to the north has so far been “overwhelming,” town manager Darrell Garceau said.

Local firefighters from eight departments were on the scene of a deliberately set fire located about one mile north of Half Moon Lake just into Thorhild County on Tuesday afternoon.