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Market analyst says the next few years look promising for beef producers

Jenny Oatway
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Livestock Market Analyst Sheldon Wilcox had some good news to share with local producers at the Peace Country Classic Ag Show earlier today.

Wilcox says cattle prices are higher than they have been in quite a few years, and are going to stay that way for a while.

“We’ve got several good years of marketing ahead for cow-calf producers. Our beef production has dropped quite a bit, and of course, along with that is gone rallying prices, or higher prices. As long as production stays at these levels where we’re at right now, there’s no reason to think that we won’t have good prices going forward.”

Wilcox says it will take a minimum of four years to reach a potential over-supply issue, which would force prices back down.

Wilcox says he expects that barring a major crop failure, cattle going to market this fall will fetch even higher prices than in 2013.

Federal Government is taking action to get grain moving

Jenny Oatway
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The Federal Government is taking action to help Canadian grain producers who have been struggling to move their crop from elevator to port.

Earlier today Transportation Minister Lisa Raittand Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced that rail companies will be required to move a combined minimum of one million metric tonnes of grain per week for the next four weeks.

Peace River MP Chris Warkentin says it’s unfortunate the backlog had to get to a point where the government was forced to step in.

“With the requirement now that the rail companies will have to double their capacity, I think we’re going to see immediate reaction, we’re going to see that grain will start moving at twice the capacity that is has been. Grain has been moving of the last number of months, but it’s been much too slow.”

Warkentin says if at the end of the four week period the movement of grain has been inadequate, the orders will be extended.

If railways fail to comply with the order, they could face non-compliance penalties of up to $100,000 per day.

AUMA President underwhelmed by Alberta budget

Erica Fisher
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AUMA President Helen Rice says that although the association is happy with the province’s commitment to getting rid of the Premier’s Council, she was slightly disappointed with the budget released Thursday.

Among them was a lack of funding for wastewater management, and not fixing the real issue when it comes to RCMP.

“There’s 40 more police officers, but not addressing the inequities in police funding when we know that every Albertan believes that safety is a huge concern to them.”

Rice says she was hoping to see more provisions to help municipalities like Grande Prairie deal with exponential growth.

“As our province is growing at the rate of the equivalent of a city the size of Red Deer every year, that it’s the cities and towns that are going to bear the weight of this type of growth, and the necessity to make sure they can afford to do this growth properly.”

Rice was pleased with the extra capital funding for the Municipal Sustainability Initiative, but notes the operating funds are still going down.

Northwest Alberta unemployment rate drops again

Erica Fisher
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More and more people are working in northwest Alberta, as the region saw another 0.1 per cent drop in the Athabasca – Grande Prairie unemployment rate in February.

The rate has dropped to 3.7 per cent in from 3.8 per cent in January.

That’s also where it stood a year ago.

More people working in manufacturing and accommodation services helped drop Alberta’s unemployment rate by point-two per cent over last year.

The rate was 4.3 per cent in February.

However, Canada-wide, seven-thousand jobs were lost last month, keeping the unemployment rate at seven per cent.

Grande Prairie reaches record low Thursday morning

Erica Fisher
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Grande Prairie was the coldest its been on March 6th in more than sixty years yesterday, when the temperature dropped to minus 34.5 degrees.

That’s 0.6 degrees colder than the previous record of minus 33.9 set in 1951.

The unofficial record also doesn’t account for the wind chill factor, which dropped below minus 40.

The old came in the early morning, but the day eventually warmed up to a high of around minus 15.

JDA Kings move on, GP A's knocked out of playoffs

Erica Fisher
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The County of Grande Prairie JDA Kings have advanced to the finals in the NWJHL playoffs with a 6-1 win over the Fort St. John Huskies.

The Kings won the series four games to one, and will play whoever wins between the North Peace Navigators and the Fairview Flyers.

The Navs hold a three game to two lead.

At the same time, the Grande Prairie A’s had their playoffs cut short after a 4-3 loss to the Spirit River Rangers.

The Rangers swept the NPHL west division final and will play the winner of the east division final, which is tied at two games a piece between Manning and Falher.

RCMP searching for suspect in chainsaw theft

Jenny Oatway
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Grande Prairie RCMP are looking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect of an unsolved chainsaw theft.

On December 30 around 9:30 am, police say the unknown male stole a chainsaw valued over $500 from a north end business.

The man is described as caucasian, 5′ 8″ tall, about 50 years old with greying hair, wearing a black ball cap, a blue and grey winter jacket, and jeans.

Anyone who may be able to help police in identifying him is asked to contact the local detachment (780-830-5700) or Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-8477).

Alberta budget promises no cutbacks, but will push the province deeper into debt

Jeff Henson
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More money for health and K-12 education were among some of the highlights of today’s provincial budget.

Finance minister Doug Horner also announced money for 40 additional RCMP officers in the province, and an additional 2,000 post secondary spaces.

Municipalities will see an additional 150 million dollars in Municipal Sustainability Initiative funding over the next three years, and 667 million in GreenTRIP funding over that same time.

The Redford government has also pledged to spend 19 billion over the next three years through their Building Alberta plan on roads, schools, and health facilities.

A large chunk of that money though will be borrowed, which will push the province’s debt to a projected 21.6 billion dollars by 2017.

Two local hockey teams look to keep playoff hopes alive this evening

Erica Fisher
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Both the Grande Prairie A’s and County of GP JDA Kings return to action tonight, facing opposite ends of their playoff hopes.

The A’s are in Spirit River for game four of the NPHL West final, needing a win to keep their season going.

Spirit River leads the series 3-0.

As for the Kings, they host Fort St John in game 5 of their NWJHL semi final, needing one more win to advance to the league final.

Puck drop is 8:30 at the County Sportsplex.

Grain market analyst shares optimism with local ag producers

Jenny Oatway
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‘Weather the Storm’ is the message Peace Region ag producers have been hearing a lot these days.

That was a large part of what Market Analyst Greg Kostal had to say during the Grain Market Outlook seminar at the Peace Country Classic Ag Show earlier today.

Kostal says prices are low right now, but he thinks the market can only go up, though it might take some time to get there.

“Riding it out I think is a good way to put it into perspective. We’ve had a year to two years in some commodities where prices have sagged, and the historic charts would say that we would be in a position to grind sideways for one, and if we were to look at this in another one to two years, I think we’re going to see a better price prospect outcome.”

He also discussed what he calls the “Made in Canada Congestion Problem,” adding that the spread between port and elevator has never been wider.

“The weakest link in the whole distribution or transportation is inability of rail movement to surge to this large crop size. So to regulate that and find equilibrium, speed of supply versus speed of demand, you’ve had the two extremes.

Kostal says he is confident that producers will see prices picking up by 2015 and 2016.

Major jump in Crown petroleum and natural gas sales

Erica Fisher
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The sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights in the province took a large jump yesterday, with the biggest taking so far this year.

At an average price of 768-dollars a hectare, Wednesday’s sale brought in $70.8 million in bonus bids.

That’s more than the first three offerings of the year combined and more than six times the first sale of March last year.

That brings the year-to-date total to $118.4, now more than 80 per cent of where we were last year.

The next sale is scheduled for March 19.

41 months for Little Buffalo man who shot at officer

Erica Fisher
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A Little Buffalo man will have to serve another seven months in prison after an incident in July 2013.

Then 29 year old Rodney Ominayak fled from police in his vehicle, and shot at an officer with a rifle.

The officer was not hit, and returned fire, also missing Ominayak.

He was sentenced to forty-one months in Peace River Court Wednesday, but was given credit for time served.

Among his original charges were attempted murder, which was plead down to assaulting a police officer using threats.

He also plead guilty to unlawful use of and pointing a firearm, failing to stop for a police officer, driving while disqualified and having a blood alcohol level exceeding the legal limit, leading to a five year suspension of his licence.

Manning students half way to bike and skate park fundraising goal

Erica Fisher
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The Town of Manning and the County of Northern Lights have each come forward with $50,000 in support of a bike and skate park in Manning.

That puts a group of students in grades five, eight, and nine halfway to their goal of $200,000.

Grade nine student at Paul Rowe High School Erik Johnson believes the concrete park will be well used by everyone from skateboarders and bikers to scooters and rollerbladers.

“And we were even thinking of renaming it to an “all-wheel park”, and there is lots of those because it invites all these other things. I think that would definitely be big to get everyone we could to use this park.”

The student committee has yet to choose a company or design for the park, but is moving forward with hopeful completion by August.

Paul Rowe Principal Matthew Taylor explains the group brainstormed the idea in an enrichment class, and took the initiative with parent and teacher help.

“It was quite a learning experience for them, and they certainly represented their community very well and it was really great to see our youth take that leadership to do something that benefits the entire community.”

The committee of students did spoke with skate park design companies and fellow classmates in the community to gauge their interest, and presented their findings to the Town and County, who they’d like to thank for their support.

GPRC Wolves take on nationals in Toronto

Erica Fisher
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The GPRC Wolves’ women’s volleyball team is in Toronto today for the 2014 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championships.

The number five ranked Wolves earned a wild card spot after making the finals of the ACAC provincials on their home court in February.

They’ll first take on the number four ranked Humber Hawks of Ontario this afternoon.

Peace Country Classic Agri-Show opens today

Erica Fisher
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The Peace Country Classic Agri-Show opens at Evergreen Park in Grande Prairie today.

158 exhibitors have set up shop at the Entrec Centre ready for the opening at 10 a.m.

On the agenda today are a number of seminars, from a grain market outlook to presenters on farm safety and fertilizer markets.

Unfortunately, the Horse Program and Petting Zoo will not be a part of this year’s event, due to a recent quarantine of the Lewis Hawkes Pavilion, but the bull sale will still go ahead Friday afternoon in the Drysdale Centre.

The show runs until 5 p.m. today and Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Oil spill near Peace River

Erica Fisher
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Cleanup is underway on an oil spill in the Alberta Peace.

Fourteen cubic metres of crude oil was released at a Baytex facility 28 kilometres east of Peace River.

The spill occured Sunday, and the Alberta Energy Regulator says it was restricted to the lease.

The cause is unknown, but no impacts on wildlife or waterbodies have been reported.

Energy company to support development of oil and gas wing of dino museum

Jeff Henson
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Seven Generations Energy and the Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative have announced a partnership regarding the Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum.

The energy company will provide core samples and expertise for the Oil and Gas wing of the museum, which is slated to open late this year.

PCDI Head Paleontologist Dr. Matthew Vavrek says that expertise will be beneficial in telling stories of the history of this region.

“They have met with us a number of times, and they are helping us to develop our exhibits so that we Can explain to people what are the rocks that are underneath your feet.  And what is oil and how do you actually get oil out of those rocks.”

Dr. Vavrek says paleontology has a lot of strong ties to the oil and gas industry, adding all of those resources have come from some form of organic matter in the past.

City introduces new job board process

Jeff Henson
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Saying they are constantly recruiting new employees throughout the year, the city has revamped it’s online application and recruitment process.

A new Applicant Tracking and job board system has been added to the city’s website, which allows the applicant to register and apply for current openings, with their resume also staying on file for potential future opening.

City Human Resources Manager Janice Kretzer-Prysunka says that second feature provides a number of benefits for both sides.

“If they are interested in some job in the future, then it is a quick couple of clicks of the mouse and they have applied for it because their resume is already there.  But the other point is that if we are looking for people with particular skils, and they actually have not applied for one of our jobs, we can search that database.”

Kretzer-Prysunka says the process will be easier for both the applicant and the recruitment managers, as everything is handled within the new system.

GP Chamber of Commerce claims #2 ranking in Alberta

Jenny Oatway
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Grande Prairie’s Chamber of Commerce has moved into the number two slot in a ranking of all chambers across the province.

Chamber Chair Shawna Miller says the ranking is a testament to the strength of the business community in Grande Prairie.

“We’re a pretty vibrant community, we’re the most entrepreneurial city in Canada, and that’s definitely reflective in this number. Our business community gets out and supports each other and supports their Chamber of Commerce.”

Miller says our chamber now boasts nearly 1200 members, putting the city behind Edmonton, and just ahead of Calgary.

Storm goalie wins AJHL's Pro Hockey Life award

Jeff Henson
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Storm netminder Nick Kulmanovsky has won the AJHL’s Pro Hockey Life award for having accumulated the most player of the game nods in the league this season.

Kulmanovsky was named Storm player of the game 19 times this past season, two more than runner up Spencer Foo of Bonnyville.

The goalie hails from Fairbanks, Alaska, and just finished his second and final season with the Storm 11th overall with a save percentage of .902%.

He led all AJHL goaltenders in minutes played with 3,085 and faced the most shots of any AJHL goalie in the regular season with 1,794.

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