A man who piloted a drone in the vicinity of a wildfire in Jasper National Park has been handed down a $10,000 fine. Judge Jeffrey Champion issued the penalty for the contravention of the Canadian National Parks Act during Provincial Court hearings on December 8. “It could have been a tragedy,” Cham...

Jasper’s top official got a warm welcome in the gallery of Canada’s Upper House last month.  Mayor Richard Ireland was part of a Rocky Mountain delegation in Ottawa on November 22 when he was introduced in the Canadian Senate as a longterm colleague and dear friend of former Banff mayor, now-Canadia...

Jasper municipal council passed its 2023 budget on December 6 with a $1.08 million or 4.45 per cent increase over the 2022 tax requisition. All of council voted in favour. To a residential ratepayer who owns a home assessed at $900,000, the increase represents a $105 annual jump; to an urban-commerc...

Three backcountry users in Jasper National Park were given hefty fines for entering areas closed for caribou conservation. On November 24 Jasper Provincial Court heard that last spring, three individuals were charged by Parks Canada law enforcement officers for trespassing in delayed-access areas. A...

Council has moved forward a 2023 budget with a four-and-a-half per cent increase to Jasper’s tax requisition. The budget adds new resources to address council’s stated priority of increasing internal capacity to advance housing in Jasper. If approved, the budget would also bring online a position to...

Three Jasperites have been recognized as Citizen Community Builders by the Alberta Municipalities association and the provincial government. Firefighters Kelly Dawson and Mathew Conte, along with municipal councillor Kathleen Waxer, were presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal o...

Casey Paterson is using Jasper’s Moonlight Madness festivities for a good cause. The nine-year-old Jasperite will be setting up at Mettra Pharmacy on November 25 to collect socks through his charity program, Warm Feet, Warm Hearts. Working in collaboration with Boyle Street Community Services and th...

After an award winning season debuting their hit play From Jasper, With Love, local theatre stars Pieter Van Loon and Joost Tijssen are helping Jasper youth take the stage. Since November 18, and continuing until December 16, the duo have been featuring winter acting classes for teens. In the meanti...

A 2023 proposed budget with 12 new “base” staff positions and five “optional enhancement” positions has been advanced by Jasper municipal council for further deliberation. At their November 15 and 16 budgetary meetings, council discussed each of the positions in depth. Some of the costs of the incre...

Two nominees are vying to be the NDP’s candidate in West Yellowhead in the upcoming provincial election. Lavone Olson and Fred Kreiner have been nominated for candidacy to represent the NDP in West Yellowhead. A membership vote to determine the candidate will take place December 7 and 8. Fred Kreine...

Jasper firefighters responded to a structure fire at Bear Hill Lodge just before 5 a.m. on Saturday, November 5. The fire was called in at 4:56 a.m.; firefighters arrived on scene at 5:35 a.m., according to Jasperite Alissa Stack, who witnessed the incident. Alissa Stack “The crackling sound woke my...

Thanks to the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel ( CUAET ) Ukrainians and their family members are granted free, extended temporary status which allows them to work, study and stay in Canada until it is safe for them to return home. Some of those Ukrainians have made their temporary h...

View Post When Annie Arseneau first laid eyes on Jasper, it was from the platform of the heritage train station. It was 1999. She had a ticket from her home province of New Brunswick to Vancouver. She didn’t make it to the west coast. “When I got off the train, I was blown away by the scene, the com...

Jasper Jr./Sr. High School students got a taste of Ukrainian traditional culture last week. Oksana Polivchak, who came to Canada not long after the Russian war on Ukraine began in late February, was happy to share her recipe of one of the most well-known Slavic dishes: borsch. Oksana Polivchak intro...

An all-female hockey team in Jasper is breaking the glass ceiling of boys-dominated sports. The U11 Grizzly Girls have joined the Northern Alberta Interlock league, a move which represents a novelty in Jasper and also a first for the league. Coach Janelle Tank is helping tow the Grizzlies to new gro...

Robot technology is allowing residents at Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge to access healthcare without leaving their home. A collaboration with the University of Alberta’s robotics team and the Evergreens Foundation has welcomed a new “resident” into Jasper’s seniors home and long-term-care facility. Un...

Kevin Van Tighem throwing his hat into the political arena Kevin Van Tighem says he can no longer justify wasting his experience, skills and knowledge when Alberta is facing such critical times. The author, conservationist and former superintendent of Banff National Park is running for the provincia...

HI Sleepy Hollow hosting Oct 19 A collective of artists and community-minded organizers are hosting an evening of live music and conversation October 19 about the challenges surrounding finding safe, affordable housing in Jasper. Derek Loewen, a staffer at Hostelling International’s HI Jasper, said ...

A Jasper high school volleyball team whose core squad has been together since junior high has high aspirations for their senior season. The Jasper boys team qualified this year for Volleyball Alberta’s Indoor Club System. Having played together as the Jasper Volleyball Club Chargers in the spring, t...

There has been no growth in the Chetamon Mountain Wildfire for more than a month. However, Parks Canada fire crews need more moisture to be able to declare the fire officially extinguished. “There are some remote valleys where the fire is still chewing away,” said Shepherd said Parks Canada’s incide...