Wheatland Crossing School, located south of the Village of Standard at the intersection of Highways 561 and 840, is planning to expand to accommodate potential future student growth.
A request to allow the expansion, through a 2,300 square foot addition, came before the Wheatland County Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) during its Tuesday, July 11 meeting.
“The reason for requiring this addition is, according to Alberta Education, the school’s total capacity is 461 students; it is now 86 per cent full with 398 students currently attending,” explained development officer Suzanne Hayes during the meeting.
Ms. Hayes noted the proposed addition would include a vestibule, two modular classrooms, and a hallway with lockers. This addition will allow the school to accommodate for future student growth, and would also allow the school to continue providing various programs such as those offered at the junior and senior high levels including woodworking and cosmetology.
The Municipal Planning Commission approved the request, with conditions which include completion of a fire inspection prior to operations.

Drumheller RCMP announce that a new patrol program has launched in and around the Drumheller Valley. On July 1st, 2023, uniformed officers started conducting patrols on police mountain bikes.
The first appearance of these officers was made during the Canada Day Parade. Following the parade, patrols continued throughout the day and within the crowds. Traffic tickets were written, calls were responded to, a disturbance was encountered and dealt with, and the public was engaged and interacted with.
Prior to July, the detachment arranged to have two officers trained and certified and had a third who was previously trained re-engaged, for a total of three officers.
S/Sgt. Robert Harms said, “Patrolling the community on mountain bikes is another component to our Crime Reduction Program in that officers can quickly get into areas that police cars sometimes can’t, such as parks, back alleys, large crowds, and more. Furthermore, this type of patrol also allows us to get up close and personal with the public contributing to police visibility and public engagement.”
Officers will continue to conduct bike patrols throughout the summer and have received much positive support and comments regarding the program.