Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

lab

Here's how a Calgary lab monitors wastewater for respiratory diseases

Here's how a Calgary lab monitors wastewater for respiratory diseases

Inside the Pine Creek wastewater treatment plant in the south of Calgary, a lab run by the University of Calgary is busy processing wastewater samples from municipalities across the province. This lab, along with one operated by the University of Alberta, started tracing levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater in early 2020 — providing Alberta Health Services with infection trends in different communities. Now the project has expanded to check for influenza A and B, as well as RSV — respiratory viruses that are all currently putting a strain on Alberta's health care system.

Anthrax outbreak confirmed in Wood Buffalo National Park

Anthrax outbreak confirmed in Wood Buffalo National Park

A suspected anthrax outbreak at Wood Buffalo National Park has been confirmed. Samples sent to a lab early last week came back positive on Thursday said Parks Canada in a news release the same day, confirming the presence of anthrax in at least one dead bison at the park. Bison will usually contract the disease from contaminated soil while wallowing in dust baths. Spores develop in hotter temperatures and fluctuating water levels. Cooler temperatures will kill the spores and slow the outbreak.

Calgary’s water likely safe following coal policy changes, High River area a concern

Calgary’s water likely safe following coal policy changes, High River area a concern

Following public uproar of the Alberta government quietly pulling the 1976 coal policy, opening up more areas of the province for coal mining, a Calgary committee has started work to find out how those changes could affect the city on the Bow and Elbow Rivers. “The good news is, we found out today that although there’s different (land use) categories, the main category of the national parks and everything for our river system in the Bow is not affected with this policy,” Ward 1 Coun. Ward Sutherland said. “Obviously we’re very pleased with that.”

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