“Break out the burlap and bed sheets, it’s rodeo weekend.”  No, we weren’t hosting barrel racers, my guy's annual giddy-up referred to the sudden, brisk overnights to come. Each year the late August chill that would put a damper on lake activities also put me into a frost-fearing frenzy. Frost Warni...

Jasperites came together with members of the Kelly Lake Cree Nation on Tuesday, September 30. National Truth and Reconciliation Day recognizes the atrocities and multi-generational effects of the Canadian Indian residential school system. This year, after rain dampened planned outside activities, th...

Although it could be a decade before the Jasper townsite recovers from last year’s wildfire, rebuild projects have broken ground on several lots. BILD (Building Industry and Land Development Association) Alberta CEO Scott Fash, whose organization represents the residential construction industry in A...

" Just like the story of how this skatepark came to be, it takes a lot of resiliency and sticking with it and I imagine that’s what a lot of folks in Jasper are feeling right now. " Excitement was in the air and vibes were sky high at the long-awaited grand opening of Jasper’s brand new skatepark on...

Herb Robinson will be Jasper’s next school board trustee. The retired educator, longstanding community volunteer, minor hockey referee and former president of the Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society was the only candidate to put his name forward in the Jasper Ward of the Grande Yellowhead Public Sc...

Seventeen candidates will compete for six councillor positions this Monday, October 20. Nominations closed today (Monday, September 22) at 12 p.m. Elections Alberta returning officers for the Municipality of Jasper, Christine Nadon and Lisa Daniel, said the last day for nominations saw one final can...

Jasper Jr/Sr High School is within the top 13th percentile of Alberta secondary schools in terms of academic performance, according to a recent report. The Fraser Institute’s Report Card of Alberta High Schools 2025 ranked JJSHS 38th out of 293 high schools in the province. The report came out Septe...

Teachers trying to reach a collective agreement before October 6 are calling out the provincial government’s complaint to the Alberta labour board as a frivolous stall tactic. Yesterday, Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) president Jason Schilling addressed a September 15 complaint filed by the prov...

After months of lobbying three different governments for reimbursed costs incurred while hosting Jasper wildfire evacuees, the Village of Valemount and nine Valemount businesses have had their voices heard. In August, the Village received $302,585.60, disbursed by the Alberta Government via the Muni...

Zucchini, that Zeppelin wanna-be in your garden, can be utilized in a rich range of recipes I’ve spent some time in Rossland, B.C. After gold was discovered on Red Mountain in 1887, the ‘Golden City’ was the heart of a significant boom. Rossland gardens produce their own mother lode. With each Koote...

Long-serving Jasper school trustee Dale Karpluk will not run for re-election in October. Karpluk, who was first elected in 2017 and who for the last four years has sat as chairperson on the Grande Yellowhead Public School Division board, said she is ready to pass the torch to another community-minde...

The 2025 Jasper Folk Music Festival marched into town on Friday, September 5. The two day festival was a weekend of whimsy and well-deserved respite for a community rebuilding after the July 2024 wildfire. The Jasper Local has this photographic report : Totally tubular: On Friday, September 5, the c...

A gardener and a publisher walk into a Farmers’ Market I sow seeds in potting soil. When we were chatting at the market, Jasper Local publisher Andrea Ziegler sowed a seed in my ear, “You should put your gardening tips in writing.” That seed has sprouted. I love growing and foraging for food. And I ...

Richard Ireland has indicated his intent to run for mayor in Jasper again. The only mayor that the community has ever known filed his notice of intent papers today, August 15, 2025. Reached at his home Friday afternoon, Ireland said he and his family came to the decision to offer his services to the...

Were it not for a life-altering wager, longtime local and raft guide Andre Blanchette-Dube might not have been raised in Jasper. “My parents moved to Jasper because my dad took a bet with his coworkers,” Blanchette-Dube said. “There was a job opportunity as a music teacher and [my dad] applied for t...

A week of theatre games hosted by a duo from Edmonton culminated in a Friday afternoon circus performance for the ages (and for all ages). From August 4-8, Marie-Joanne (MJ) Fogue Makou and Steve Jodoin from Unitheatre Edmonton brought big performer energy down the Yellowhead Highway and into the Ja...

The 2024 wildfire exacted a terrible toll on Jasper, but instead of focusing on what’s been lost, Jasper’s next mural will honour The Things That Grew. Starting on August 6, helped along by a series of community events and opportunities for residents to gather, Belgian artist Gijs Vanhee will bring ...

At about 10 p.m. last July 22, 2024, anxious Jasperites, stuck in gridlock only blocks away from their homes and illuminated by the headlights of their neighbours, evacuated slowly westward towards the Yellowhead Highway. One year later, on July 22, 2025, many of those same people came together agai...

On a path fraught with obstacles, it's helpful to have a guide One year after a wildfire altered the way forward for so many Jasperites, local residents are being empowered as Pathfinders . Spearheaded by the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre and supported by the Municipality of Jasper, the Pathfi...

“I feel like I should share my process of healing and hopefully it can help somebody else.” - Katie Potter __ A collection of writing, visual art and photography is rising from the ashes of Jasper’s devastating wildfire. To commemorate the one year anniversary of the fire, on July 25, the Jasper Art...