Shannon Williams

Mr. Mike's Plumbing Ltd. pleaded guilty on July 13 to one charge under Alberta's OHS Act, three years after apprentice plumber Liam Johnston was buried in an unshored trench in northwest Calgary. The company was fined $115,000 and ordered to pay a further $215,000 to fund a provincial campaign teaching young workers to speak up about unsafe work. Court heard Johnston had raised concerns about the site the day before he died.

Alberta and Quebec signed a five-year agreement on July 14 to share artificial intelligence tools, training and code between their governments. There's no money attached; it's a knowledge-sharing pact. But behind it is a much bigger Alberta project: rebuilding the province's aging government software with AI, work Alberta says would otherwise cost $2 billion and take a century, at a claimed 95 per cent less cost.

A 16,000-square-foot Planet Fitness is under construction inside the Walmart at 2075 Strachan Road SE in Medicine Hat, with an opening planned for fall 2026. It's the chain's latest Canadian location, built around low-cost memberships and, for Black Card members, extras like massage loungers. Here's what's coming and what it means for the city.

Environment Canada has issued a tornado watch for southern Alberta, covering everywhere within about 130 kilometres of Lethbridge. Conditions are favourable for severe thunderstorms that could produce tornadoes later today, along with large hail, strong winds and heavy rain. This is a watch, not a warning, so there's still time to prepare. Here's what it covers and what to do if a warning follows.

Looking for things to do in Red Deer this weekend? From July 17 to 19, Westerner Days takes over the city with pancake breakfasts, rides and rodeo action, plus purple martin condo tours at Ellis Bird Farm and hands-on beading and basket workshops. Here's your guide to the best of the weekend.

An Alberta Emergency Alert sounded on phones across the province Saturday in the search for Parker, a missing 11-year-old Calgary boy, after the government granted a rare exemption to use the system for a case that doesn't meet Amber Alert criteria. His family released a statement and new photos the same afternoon, asking Calgarians to check yards, sheds, garages and hot tubs, and not to approach Parker if they see him.

Alberta's public libraries have until January 1 to restrict access to materials with sexually explicit images for anyone under 16 without a parent's authorization. The province notified libraries of the deadline this month, and Calgary and Edmonton's systems are still working out what compliance looks like. Here's what Bill 28 actually requires, what stays the same, the unanswered e-book question, the enforcement powers behind it, and why libraries are pushing back.

The search for Parker Wells has entered its seventh day, and Calgary police have released a map of the missing 11-year-old's known and believed route from the day he disappeared. Police are also warning about a fake GoFundMe circulating in Parker's name and telling people to stop showing up at strangers' homes to investigate tips themselves. "We are not giving up."

The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede is on now through Saturday, July 25, with the Summer Pro Rodeo, the West Coast Amusements midway, and Johnny Reid closing out the night shows. Gate admission is $12, kids are $6, and Friday afternoon is a Double Toonie window. Here's everything still ahead, what tickets actually include, and the midway math worth knowing.

Edmonton police have charged 22-year-old Ritish Kumar with second-degree murder in the death of Damanpreet Kaur, a 23-year-old woman found gravely injured at a Silverberry home earlier this month. She died in hospital three days later, and an autopsy determined she was strangled. Police are calling it an intimate partner homicide. The allegation has not been tested in court.