The MD of Greenview has issued an evacuation order for all residents in the North Goodwin area, including everyone
west of Range Road 21 between Township Road 734 and Township Road 741.

A wildfire remains burning out of control west of Range Road 21 between Township Road 734 and Township 741. Anyone in the area is required to evacuate to the Paradise Inn located at 3609 Highway Street in Valleyview. Residents are urged to bring pets, important documents and medication, enough food, water and supplies for at least three days.

The post Evacuation order issued for residents in North Goodwin area, west of Range Road 21 between Township Road 734 and Township Road 741 appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Smoke from wildfires in northeastern BC is billowing into the region and has prompted a special air quality statement from Environment Canada.

The national climate and meteorological organization says while smoke concentrations can fluctuate over short distances and vary considerably from hour to hour, conditions are expected to improve marginally by late Saturday morning, but could quickly worsen again Saturday night in some areas.

Wildfire smoke can be harmful to everyone’s health even at low concentrations, and anyone with pre-existing lung, or heart conditions, children, pregnant people, and people who work outdoors are at higher risk of experiencing health effects caused by wildfire smoke.

People in the region are being urged to reduce their activity level if breathing becomes uncomfortable or you or someone in your care feel unwell. Contact your health care provider or local health authority if you develop severe symptoms or need advice.

The post Special air quality statement issued as wildfire smoke blankets Grande Prairie region appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

The Town of Peace River has issued a fire ban, replacing a fire advisory, thanks in large part to dry conditions and continued fire danger in the region.

Municipal officials say all outdoor wood fires are now prohibited, including campfires on public and private lands, campgrounds, and backyard firepits. Also prohibited are charcoal briquette BBQs, open flame oil devices, or the use fireworks, flame powered floating lanterns or exploding targets.

Residents are still however permitted to use things like propane, natural gas, or electric powered cooking, heating, and lighting appliances, as well as indoor wood fires contained within a device with a chimney and spark arrestor.

The municipality also says the use of Off-Highway Vehicles is not permitted on public lands and roadways within the Town of Peace River limits. If you’re using an OHV on private lands, please ensure that debris, such as dried grasses and leaves aren’t collecting near the hot parts of your OHV such as the muffler, exhaust, under your seat, in the wheel wells, engine, and manifold.

The ban will remain in place until further notice.

The post Peace River issues fire ban amid dry conditions appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

There are approximately half a dozen power outages being reported in the County of Grande Prairie just east of the city.

The ATCO electric map shows a total of 6 reported outages, including the area which houses the 2DayFM on-air transmitter.

We await confirmation on the cause of the outages, and will provide an update when it becomes available.

The post Reported power outages east of Grande Prairie appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

The Beaverlodge RCMP is asking for the public's help in tracking down a missing 43-year-old woman. Police say Hythe resident Selena Wanihandie was last seen in the municipality on March 15th at approximately 8:45 a.m.. Police say there is for wellbeing and believe she may have been heading towards Grande Prairie.

Wanihandie is described as having a medium complexion, standing 5'6" tall, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a purple shirt and grey pants. Anyone with information on Wanihandie's whereabouts is urged to contact the RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

The post UPDATE: 43-year-old Hythe woman found safe appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

The Grande Prairie Storm are Inter Pipeline Cup AJHL Playoffs bound.

The Storm who finished 6th in the 2023-2024 season will take on the Calgary Canucks in the first round of the postseason. The first two games in the best-of-seven series will be on the road in Calgary on March 15th and 16th. The two teams will have a day off before facing off for games three and four at Bonnetts Energy Centre on the 18th and 19th; with games five, six, and seven scheduled between March 22nd and March 26th if needed.

The Jr A team punched their ticket to the 2024 playoffs after beating the Olds Grizzlys in a best-of-five play in the series. Grande Prairie was one of six teams to compete in the play-in series, with the top five teams in the league automatically getting a spot in the postseason. The other teams who moved onto the first round of the playoffs from the play-in competition include the Canmore Eagles and Camrose Kodiaks.

Tickets for Storm's home games can be purchased online.

The post Grande Prairie Storm playoff hockey kicks off on the road Friday appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

One person has died following a collision between a quad and a pickup truck on Highway 43 near the Williamson Park entrance.

The Valleyview RCMP says the collision took place shortly after 7 p.m., when it's believed the quad was crossing the Highway 43 when it made contact with the pick up. When police arrived on scene, the driver of the quad was declared deceased, while the four occupants of the truck were uninjured.

The deceased is a 26-year-old Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation resident, and the Alberta RCMP wishes to extend their condolences to the loved ones of the deceased.

The post Valleyview RCMP continues to investigate fatal Highway 43 collision appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Two people are facing a slew of charges after allegedly stealing mail from multiple mailboxes over a six-week span from December 2023 to January 2024.

Police say between December 14th and January 22nd, the accused were involved in 27 thefts from different mailboxes across the city, and thanks to video surveillance being available from one the locations, they were able to identify a male suspect and vehicle. Authorities say a subsequent search warrant was conducted, which then lead to the arrest of the man, and a second, female suspect.

30-year-old Gary McKeever and 29-year-old Beth Seymour, both of Grande Prairie, are facing charges including theft from mail, illegal possession of government documents, and possession of forged documents, among others.

The post Pair charged after alleged string of mail thefts appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

A brush fire near Highway 724 and Township Road 720 has fire crews from across the county busy on Friday afternoon.

The blaze began, according to fire officials, after sparks from a recreational fire pit spread to nearby grass thanks to some gusty winds. However, the fire has since spread to nearby outbuildings, which has sustained minor damage, before then spreading to a nearby wooded area.

County Fire Chief Trevor Grant believes it's the earliest into the season fire of this size on record in the region. Earlier Friday, the County of Grande Prairie issued a fire advisory for the entirety of the county, which mean no burning permits will be issued until unseasonably warm, windy conditions persist.

The post Crews battling brush fire near Wembley as county issues fire advisory appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

UPDATE: Environment Canada has ended the wind warning for the Peace Country.

Environment Canada has issued a wind warning for the majority of the Peace Country including Grande Prairie, Beaverlodge, Valleyview, Sexsmith and La Glace.

The warning is the result of rain showers that are reportedly moving eastward, which could result in wind gusts up to 90 kilometres an hour at times throughout the morning.

According to Environment Canada “Damage to buildings, such as to roof shingles and windows, may occur. High winds may toss loose objects or cause tree branches to break.”

Drivers are being advised that driving conditions could be hazardous on the highways because of the wings, "especially in high-profile vehicles".

The post UPDATE: Wind warning ended Peace Country appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

There were four accidental fatal drug poisonings in reported in October in Grande Prairie.

According to the Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System this is up from the number of deaths reported the previous month, with one accidental drug poisoning death reported in the city in September. All four incidents were reportedly connected to non-pharmaceutical opioids.

From January to October of 2023, there were 29 accidental drug poisoning fatalities reported in Grande Prairie. Across the province, there were 143 fatal drug poisoning incidents reported in October.

The post Four fatal drug poisonings reported in Grande Prairie in October appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Two people are facing charges in connection with several thefts from oil and gas sites in northern Alberta.

The RCMP says the investigation began last fall, as they were monitoring the suspects for involvement in crimes targeting oil and gas sites in the County of Grande Prairie, the MD of Greenview, Big Lakes County, Woodlands County, Parkland County and the Peace River District of BC.

On January 12th, the two accused 44-year-old Michael O'Bee and 41-year-old Denai Lanz, both of Grande Prairie, were arrested after the months long investigation wrapped up. Both accused are facing charges are facing charges including break and enter, possession of break in instruments and possession of a controlled substance.

The post Two charged in connection with alleged oil and gas site thefts appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

City of Grande Prairie crews are set to start residential snow clearing on Monday.

Clearing will be done in two-week rotations, following a Week A and B schedule. Crews will begin clearing the latest snowfall from communities on Monday, January 22nd following the Week A schedule, including the communities of Hillside, Mountview, Montrose, Crystal Heights, Crystal Landing and Ivy Lake Estates.

Snow clearing will be done from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and during this time residents are reminded a parking ban is in place on residential roads on the assigned plowing days or when signs indicate.

More information can be found on the city's website.

The post Residential snow clearing to start in the City of Grande Prairie Monday appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Former Premier Rachel Notley is stepping down as lead of the Alberta NDP. She made the announcement on Jan. 16 and says she believes it is best both for her and the party.

Notley leaves as the party is the largest opposition in Alberta’s history and she says it is stronger than ever. She told reporters she considered stepping down in 2019 when she did not win a second term in government and she is proud of the work she has done since deciding against it.

“There are many reasons I did not. But the biggest is probably this: too many people were declaring that the Alberta NDP was done and, more importantly, that Alberta was destined to revert back to being a one party conservative state. And I knew that wasn’t true. And I also knew that it would be awful for Albertans if they came to believe that it was,” she says.

She says one of her biggest accomplishments is knowing Albertan do not have to feel like their voices do not matter in elections.

“It was that way when I started. It’s not that way anymore. Not only do I leave Albertans with that electoral choice, I leave them with a caucus that is filled with expert, dedicated, diverse people, supported by the hardest working and most skilled political staff in the country,” she says,

Notley will remain in her position until a new leader is elected. 

With files from mylethbridgenow.com reporter Tyler Hay

The post Notley stepping down as NDP leader appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Extreme cold temperatures forecasted for Monday morning has resulted in a few bus cancellations.

All Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation buses, Valhalla Community School, and First student buses have been canceled for Monday, January 15th. However, according to Peace Wapiti School Division administration schools in the division will be open.

I got word from the Grande Prairie Public School Division and they are canceling only a few school buses for MORNING only:
Buses for this morning only:
C51
C19
C17
C22
C45
C49
C52

The post School bus cancellations, January 15 appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Several people have been left without a home following a blaze in the Mountview neighbourhood on Wednesday afternoon.

The Grande Prairie Fire Department says they arrived on scene shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, and encountered smoke and flames coming from the attached garage of the home. Officials say they were able to effectively suppress the fire and stop it from spreading to nearby properties despite the blisteringly cold and windy conditions.

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire. An investigation into the cause of the blaze remains ongoing.

The post Several people displaced following Mountview house fire appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

The emergency department at the Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital will be without a doctor as of 5 p.m. Monday, December 11th until 8 a.m. Tuesday, December 12th.

Alberta Health Services says while no physician will be on site, nursing staff will still be on hand to provide triage, assessments and referrals to other facilities, including the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital.

Those with non-emergency medical needs or questions are urged to call Healthlink at 811.

The post Beaverlodge emergency department without physician coverage overnight Monday appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

A fairly large swath of Grande Prairie is without power Tuesday afternoon.

According to the ATCO Electric Outages Map, the outage spans from approximately 108 Avenue in the north to south of 68 Avenue, and from 100 Street to Range Road 63 east to west. Crews are on scene to assess and fix the outage, with an expected completion time of approximately 3 p.m.

The post Power outage impacting large swath of Grande Prairie appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Police are looking to the public to try and track down a pair of suspects connected to what they're calling a fraudulent bank transaction in Spirit River.

The Grande Prairie RCMP says they received a report about the alleged transaction on November 21st, but provided little in terms of details. The first of the suspects is described as a man, between 45 and 55 years old, standing approximately 5'4", weighing 210 pounds with short gray hear and a short salt and pepper beard. He was last seen wearing a white and beige ball cap with a logo on it, dark clothes and a

The second suspect is a woman, between 45-55 years old, 5'2", 190 pounds, with short brown hair and was last seen wearing white and brown diamond patterned shirt, dark coat and black purse.

Anyone with information on the two is urged to call police or Crime Stoppers.

The post Suspects sought following alleged fraudulent bank transaction in Spirit River appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.

Again, this year, Grande Prairie residents can pay for parking tickets at Alberta Health Services facilities with toys instead of cash for the holiday season. Toy donations can be used to pay for tickets issued between November 6th and December 15th.

“Last year was a huge success as we collected more than 470 toys province-wide,” says Nick Ternovatsky, Director of Parking at AHS. “Given its past success and positive reception, we are happy to launch it once again this holiday season.”

All toys must be in their original packaging, unwrapped and worth more than $25, and for newborns to age 17. All toys brought in will be donated to children’s foundations and charities throughout the province.

AHS recommends donations such as books, art supplies, electronics, Lego sets, and baby toys. It will also accept gift cards for grocery stores and restaurants for families.

The donations can be dropped off at any AHS parking office.

The post AHS accepting toy donations instead of cash for parking tickets appeared first on My Grande Prairie Now.