Brooks Smoker Wars is a friendly community event to raise donations for community groups and have fun while doing it BBQ/Smoking amazing food. Last year was the first event. There were 15 teams and about 60 competitors. Allied Distributing was one of the sponsors. The owner Dave Hatnik made a substantial donation and in return, Brooks Smoker Wars cooked 200lbs of brisket for his customer appreciation event. He charged a small fee for his luncheon per plate which he matched and donated to the BCHS trades program. Brooks Smoker Wars was able to donate over $8000; $2000 dollars each going to the Brooks food bank, Cantara Safe House, BAPS and The Larson Family tragedy. The goal of the event is to get as much of the community engaged and give back. Teams can sign up here. Food tickets will be on sale soon, event takes place June 16 & 17 at the Centennial Regional Arena.

Know Dementia presented by Prairie Rose Hospice Palliative Care and Alzheimer Society at the Heritage Inn & Convention Centre on June 8th, 9-4PM. Featuring Brooks local resource groups, Q&A Panel with community members sharing their journey, interactive musical experience with guest Erica Phare-Bergh. Lunch and refreshments provided. Registration $20.

58% of crime impact in Alberta is committed by 100 individuals. – Councillor Idriss shared this stat in his report to council from the Municipal Leaders Spring Caucus.

Resiliency Campaign celebration takes place April 25 at St. Joseph’s Collegiate. Students will also be recognizing their mentor’s via Facebook. Follow their Facebook page, to see mentors from the community being recognized throughout Resiliency Week.

Tumbleweed Theatre production Small Town - Shows run April 20-22 and 27-29 at 7pm. Tickets are on sale at Steaming Cup and at HERE.

Duchess Solar Project, located approximately 2.4K north of Duchess, was approved by the AUC. The approval is subject to the following conditions:

• Acestes Power will take steps to avoid work within 100 metres of wetlands during the amphibian breeding and dispersal period.

• Submit an annual post-construction monitoring report following the mortality rates for birds and bats and must implement new mitigation measures to prevent or reduce further mortalities.

• Use an anti-reflective coating on the project solar panels.

• Report any complaints or concerns it receives or is made aware of regarding solar glare from the project during the first year of operation,

• Once equipment selection and project layout is finalized, it must file a final project update to confirm the project has stayed within the allowances for solar power plants, and it must also reassess the glare impacts if the final project update uses a resting angle different than three degrees. The final project update must be filed at least 90 days prior to the start of construction.

RemedX Remediation Services Inc. and project partners, Smith Holdings and the Newell Brethren, whose lands the proposed facility is to be built on, are seeking approval from the County of Newell to construct and operate an Industrial Waste Landfill. The landfill will be located 15 minutes North of Bassano along Duck Lake Road.

The potential loss of revenue at the Newell Regional Landfill could financially affect every person and business in the region. Shawn McKay, Authority Manager of the Newell Regional Solid Waste Management Authority reported to County Council that losing a large portion of the industrial waste revenue would mean it would have to be made up from rate payers. It is estimated the rate payer would see an increase from $35 to $150. The landfill users would see a scale fee of $15.00 per trip, plus a $75.00 per tonne disposal fee.

TOP 5 Downtown Businesses . . . and a peek at who’s chasing them.

Thank you for the additional suggestions but remember we are voting for the TOP 5 Downtown Businesses.

Voting continues until the end of April. 😁👍