Page 105 - Ilers News Today

Métis singer-songwriter Celeigh Cardinal says her cover of The Tragically Hips most successful single in Canada is a shining light mid-pandemic and a celebration of the bands contribution to Indigenous communities.

  EDMONTON -- Alberta reported 1,081 COVID-19 cases and a positivity rate of 8.9 per cent on Tuesday. Variants account for 52.4 per cent of the 15,087 active cases in the province after Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported 705 B.1.1.7 infections. There are 402 Albertans with COVID-19 in hospital, with 88 of them in intensive care units. "Hospitalizations are increasing provincewide and cases continue to rise sharply," Hinshaw told reporters. "My team is monitoring cl...

  EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) is expecting to see its enrolment levels return to pre-pandemic levels, but a new funding model might not be enough to keep up. “We are experiencing growth, 2.7 per cent enrolment growth is what we are forecasting for,” said EPSB Board Chair Trisha Estabrooks. “You can see that, although we are projecting an enrolment of, I think, 104,000 students, we’re in essence only really funded for 99,000 of those students based on the new ...

  EDMONTON -- On Tuesday, organizers of the Big Valley Jamboree (BVJ) announced due to “uncertainty around border closures” and COVID-19 protocols it would be postponing the 2021 event. “This is not the news that our fans want to hear or the news that we wanted to deliver,” Troy Vollhoffer, the CEO for BVJ said. “We look forward to getting back there in 2022 and putting on the best country music festival possible.” According to organizers, BVJ is making plans to return to Camr...

A social impact audit conducted by HelpSeeker has identified the city spends nearly $7.5 billion on Edmonton’s social safety ecosystem.

  EDMONTON -- The University of Alberta is proposing tuition hikes that some say will drive students away and seem to go beyond what the province allows. “Students are quite disappointed about these increases,” said Joel Agarwal, president of the U of A Students’ Union (UASU). “I’ve had students email me about transferring universities. “My worry is for parents out there who may be sending their kids to university, they’ll be choosing options outside of Alberta.” The UASU ...

A new Angus Reid survey, commissioned by the Alberta Association of Optometrists, shows children under 18 are spending around 40 to 60 per cent of their waking hours on digital devices.

  EDMONTON -- Edmonton is getting a new overpass in an effort to help the flow of traffic on 50 Street. The overpass is being built for the rail crossing on 50 Street near 84 Avenue. 50 Street will also be widened from four to six lanes from Sherwood Park Freeway to 90 Avenue. The city was debating between an underpass and an overpass for the area. It said an overpass was chosen because it will be less expensive, have better drainage and there will be fewer impacts to the area. A public in...

Alberta is to join three other provinces to explore the feasibility of small modular nuclear reactors as a clean energy option.

  EDMONTON -- Albertas advanced education minister has tabled a bill to bring in more apprenticeships for students in the trades. Demetrios Nicolaides called the current Apprenticeship and Industry Training Act, introduced in 1991, dated and restrictive. He also said it makes updating curricula or designating new trades difficult. If passed, his Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act would aim to expand apprenticeship options to new careers, change how trades are regulated, and...