A young man was fined over $4,000 for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and driving with no insurance.
Tyler Merkowsky, 20, appeared in the Alberta Court of Justice in Drumheller on Friday, February 9. He was facing several charges related to driving events on June 20 of last year. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and having no insurance.
The court heard that Merkowsky was driving erratically on Highway 9 near Horseshoe Canyon. He cut off another vehicle at a high rate of speed and then put on his brakes in front of the other driver. He then rolled down his window, making the other driver feel threatened. The driving pattern continued from Horseshoe Canyon to the Drumheller penitentiary. He continued to follow the other vehicle into Drumheller.
The other driver called the RCMP, and police identified his vehicle and attempted a stop. Merkowsky fled and RCMP did not pursue. His vehicle later crashed on Bridge Street and ended up in the ditch. The driver fled the scene.
Upon investigating the vehicle police discovered open and closed liquor as well as cannabis and a machete. They also discovered the vehicle was not insured.
Merkowsky later turned himself in and he has no previous record.
He was fined $2,500 for the dangerous driving, plus the victim fines surcharge and $2,000 for the no insurance ticket. He was also suspended from driving for one year.

Heather Colberg... Drumheller Mayor

Town of Drumheller Mayor Heather Colberg is participating in the creation of a Mid-Size Towns Mayor Caucus, along with the Mayors of other towns like Carstairs, Didsbury, Olds and Three Hills.
This caucus will be for these communities to explore joint opportunities and help each other out and share ideas, along with the hopes of gaining more access from the Provincial and Federal governments in grants for undertaking projects like infrastructure.

The Mail spoke with Mayor Colberg about what these towns share as common needs, and how they hope to get the attention from the governments to address their issues.
“I think we’re all trying to get more access to grants for infrastructure. That’s the big one,” explains Mayor Colberg. “Really, it’s just trying to differentiate our towns. We’re not small, but we’re not the big cities like Calgary or Edmonton. We want to be able to have a stronger voice because we do make up a lot of the middle-ground. With a stronger voice we can put together the framework for how they (the government) determine the grants, and how we can be higher on the priority list versus the big cities, as one voice.”

There is a $250 membership fee that all Mayors involved in the caucus pay, with Drumheller’s town council approving this fee at the January 29, 2024, Regular Council Meeting. The full list of participating Mayors is expected to be in by the end of February, 2024.