A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on September 24 of this year by the Rails to Trails committee to celebrate the opening of a significant portion of the Rails to Trails pathway, which will connect communities on both sides of the Red Deer River; however, some delays postponed the official opening until Friday, November 15.
In December 2022, the families of Darrell and Dean Kohut and Drumheller Mayor Heather Colberg announced that they had fully sponsored $125,000 towards the Midland Bridge portion of the project, and would rename it Kohut Crossing in honour of their parents–John and Irene Kohut–and their late-brother, John Kohut Jr.
“This is very exciting, this has been a long time in the works and finally we’re here to connect both sides of the valley via this bridge,” said Drumheller Councillor Crystal Sereda following the ribbon cutting.
She adds this is the perfect time of year for people to take advantage of the newly opened crossing.
“The colours down the Red Deer (River) Valley are beautiful, and lots of people have not seen it, this view, from here.”
In June 2024 the Rails to Trails project received a $100,000 from the Co-Op Community Spaces Grant to help towards upgrades of the bridge to make it useable for pedestrians.

Not only will the opening of Kohut Crossing help to bridge the gap across the Red Deer River from Midland to the north into Newcastle to the south, it will also offer new tourism opportunities for those visiting the Drumheller Valley.
Kohut Crossing will allow residents and visitors alike to have easier access to the Royal Tyrrell Museum and Midland Provincial Park, and will also offer access to residents living in Midland and North Drumheller to Nacmine and other communities south of the Red Deer River via active modes of transportation such as walking and cycling.

Kneehill County has the support of Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) with its position to lobby the Alberta government to make the electricity grid more stable.
A resolution brought forward by Kneehill County received support from the RMA at its annual Convention held from November 4-7 in Edmonton.
The resolution reads “Be it resolved that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta advocate to the Government of Alberta to adopt requirements for Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC)-approved renewable energy developments to have an identified minimum amount of electricity available to contribute to Alberta’s electrical grid on demand.”
The rationale brought forward is that renewable energy has been quickly coming on board as “Federal policies, including the Climate Change Plan and Clean Electricity Regulations, have influenced the Government of Alberta’s renewable energy strategies. These policies provide funding and support for renewable energy projects and set national targets for greenhouse gas reductions.”
It notes that while the shift towards renewables has brought benefits, including increased property tax revenues and job creation, it has also brought challenges including land use conflicts.
“There is a prevailing sentiment that the influence of our rural communities at the provincial level has been marginalized,” the resolution notes.
“The AUC continues to make decisions in ‘the public interest’ seemingly without considering the public interest pertaining to the electrical grid’s stability. An electrical grid must be reliable, resilient, and stable. At the present time, renewable energy developments do not appear able to support these requirements.”
This resolution hopes to rectify some of these issues by creating a stable electrical grid.
Once a resolution is passed by the membership it becomes an item that is advocated by the RMA. They are sent to the appropriate government ministries and applicable organizations for response.
The RMA develops positions and key messages and is often the focus of meetings with government ministers.
Resolutions have a three-year life cycle.