Olds News

A family chosen to live in one of two new duplexes planned for Olds by Habitat for Humanity Mountain View chapter (HFHMVC), says it's a chance for a better life. Brandy Hodgson, 33, is a single mom with two kids: Tyson Pratt, 11, and Taya, 6.

A house fire that occurred in Olds on Family Day (Monday, Feb. 20) was still under investigation late last week, according to acting fire chief Scott Chant. As a result, the cause of the blaze had not yet been determined.

Some companies doing business in Olds and area say the provincial carbon tax, which came into effect Jan. 1, is forcing them to pass that cost on to their customers. Jeremy Tookey, owner of Olds Electric & Lighting Ltd., is one such business person.

Fundraising efforts towards an at least $500,000 goal to support "extras" at a proposed new athletic park in Olds got a big boost recently.

The Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Progressive Conservative constituency association has chosen its delegates for the PC leadership convention and the slate appears to be 100 per cent for leadership candidate Jason Kenney.

Olds Central Highlands Golf Course has had to raise its rates by about 10 per cent to cover higher costs due to the carbon tax and the increase in the minimum wage, according to golf pro Wade Bearchell.

The provincial government says an Olds resident is wrong; in the government's opinion "climate change is real.

Olds resident Jim Schulz says the provincial government's carbon tax is not going to alleviate climate change because he says carbon creation is not a problem. In fact, Schulz says in some cases we don't have enough carbon in the atmosphere.

A facility combining Olds Institute (OI), the chamber of commerce, Uptowne Olds and a visitor information centre should be open as early as next month, OI executive director Mitch Thomson says.

Olds deputy mayor Harvey Walsh is pleased with statistics that show that the town's population grew by 11.5 per cent to 9,184 in 2016 from 8,235 in 2011. Those figures are contained in a report by Statistics Canada, released last Wednesday.