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Last updateThu, 14 Nov 2024 9pm

Kneehill County okays rural broadband support

Kneehill County Council

Kneehill County council has had ongoing discussions about the challenges rural residents face accessing reliable, high-speed internet and, during the regular Tuesday, August 16 council meeting, they voted to support a letter from the County of Paintearth to the provincial government to lobby for ongoing funding support for rural broadband development in Alberta.
The federal government announced some $2.75 billion in funding through the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) to support development of rural and remote broadband projects in November 2020; however, the funding was only available on shovel-ready projects, which left some municipalities unable to apply for funding prior to the application deadline of March 2021.
“A number of municipalities have put their name forward to help support this (letter),” Kneehill County Reeve Jerry Wittstock said during the meeting. “I think it’s important the province understands you can’t have a shovel-ready project if you don’t understand, or don’t have the capacity to get there.”
The Mail previously reported Kneehill County approved a contribution of $2,000 towards the Kneehill Regional Partnership (KRP) regional broadband study in April 2022; the study was to be broken down into three phases, with the first to capture the needs and desired outcomes of residents within the KRP-the towns of Three Hills and Trochu, villages of Carbon, Acme, and Linden, and Kneehill County.
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Mike Haugen explained there have been some staffing challenges since then and, at this time, the project has stalled.
However, it was noted, once these challenges have been resolved, having a “pool of funding available” would allow the project to move from a study to reality.
Council unanimously voted to support the letter from the County of Paintearth.


Indoor pool closure scheduled for annual maintenance

Copy of Copy of aquaplex exterior mar 2014

The Town of Drumheller has announced the dates of the annual maintenance of the indoor pool at the Drumheller Aquaplex in September.
This year, the indoor pool will be closed from Tuesday, September 6 to Sunday, October 2; the outdoor pool will remain open until Sunday, September 18 to accommodate aquatic programming.
“Annual maintenance shutdowns allow us to deep clean the entire facility and perform necessary upgrades and repair work to our amenities,” says Drumheller Aquaplex aquatic supervisor Andrea Leavitt.
While the indoor pool is closed to the public, it will be drained to allow for full cleaning of the basin and pool decks. Several maintenance and other highly disruptive projects are also scheduled during this time to maximize improvements.

MP Kurek calls on federal government for three-digit mental health hot line

Copy of Copy of DamienKurek 3362 HighRes

Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek is imploring the federal government to keep its promise to implement a three-digit mental health crisis line and helping to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around mental health in a new mail out.
The implementation of the three-digit suicide prevention crisis hot line received unanimous support in the House of Commons in November 2020, but MP Kurek says in the over 600 days since he has not seen anything.
“It will be a good day for Canadians when the 9-8-8 hot line becomes reality,” MP Kurek told the Mail. “Until then, we need to get our existing resources out there.”
He says the mail out had a two-fold purpose.
The first is to bring awareness to the mental health crisis and breaking the stigma about reaching out for help and support, and to help bring an awareness to people in crisis that they are not alone.
“Folks are facing challenges right now, whether that is financial hardships, back to school,” Kurek says, adding it is important to get the message out there in as many ways as possible.
Along with the mail outs, Kurek has also taken to social media to continue the conversation on mental health and suicide prevention.
The second purpose is to bring more awareness to the 9-8-8 hot line.
In times of mental health crisis the hot line would work similar to 9-1-1; callers would be put through to a point of contact equipped to be a starting point to helping them get services and resources available.
“(9-8-8) is not meant to replace the existing hot lines (Canada Suicide Prevention Service and Kids Help Phone), but to make sure Canadians have better access, a starting point to see the services come together,” Kurek adds.
The hot line would also offer a text service for those who are uncomfortable or not able to speak over the phone.
“Parliament unilaterally says ‘We need to do this,’” Kurek adds. “When our country is so divided, we can agree on this, so let’s get it done.”


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