Westlock News

An early-morning fire ripped through a Westlock home last week, completely gutting the building and rendering it uninhabitable. RCMP Staff Sgt. Bryan Clayton said the exact cause of the fire, which started around 5 a.m.

It can be frustrating to look at a neighbour’s yard full of weeds, especially after you’ve put a lot of effort into beautifying your own property.

A three-vehicle crash on Highway 44 half a mile south of the county line has left one man dead and several others injured. The collision occurred on July 29, at around 3:30 p.m. just south of Township Road 572, said Westlock RCMP Const.

Despite the unusually heavy rainfall in the area, at this point Westlock County is not likely to declare an agriculture disaster. Around the region, however, other municipalities have made such declarations.

Although Statistics Canada is reporting that national crime rates have dropped to their lowest levels since the 1970s, Westlock RCMP say they are not seeing as drastic a drop within the county’s borders.

Building permit numbers as of July 21 in Westlock County are down from the same time last year, but they are still ahead of the number of permits issued prior to 2007.

A group of riders heads north along Highway 44 during the 185-km Tour de l'Alberta July 24. The cyclists left Morinville in the morning and travelled through St. Albert before heading north through Westlock and Clyde before returning to Morinville. See more on the ride in next week's Westlock News.

Users of the Westlock Community Recreation Centre should expect to see changes to the building’s façade and roof in the coming months as the facility undergoes a $500,000 renovation to ensure it remains viable for the next 30 years.

When former Westlock town councillor Henry Romanchuk first brought the idea of hosting the 2013 55 Plus Alberta Summer Games to council and administration, he probably wasn’t expecting to chair the board of directors.

Competitors aim for a dime-sized target in the classic accuracy competition at the National Sport Jumping Competition, which began Saturday and runs all week at the Westlock Airport. After jumping from 2,800 feet (853 metres), most competitors landed within centimetres of the tiny yellow dot.