County of GP No. 1 News Archive

Chewing hot coals, licking a red-hot knife, breathing fire, or extinguishing a 3,482 C cutting torch with his tongue are just some of the acts performed by Doug “The Demon” Thompson. His social media presence, which has gained millions of views, is dominated with disbelief in the comment sections; people claim it's an act, an […]

Tammy Lynn is like any other Grande Prairie small business owner. Tuesday to Saturday, she opens up the shop, meets customers, chats with regulars, offers a trade or a barter when she can, and does her job. She’s also a witch. The shop is called Beneath the Witch’s Hat; while sitting down with the News […]

Vandalism at the Ed Brown and Ed Hotte Ag Complex in Beaverlodge may cost thousands in repairs. “Lots of holes kicked in the walls, through the drywall and stuff,” said Beaverlodge & District Agricultural Society president Shaun Chalmers. He said one of the members discovered the damages to the ag barn Oct. 20. “A couple […]

The province has invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to order teachers back to work. It effectively ends the teachers' strike, which has been ongoing since Oct. 6. Locally, teachers have hosted a rally attended by over 800 and have written more than 1,000 letters to local MLAs explaining the classroom situation.  Supporters took the streets […]

The $3.9 million Sargent Family Kidney Care Centre opened at the Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Ambulatory Care Centre on Friday, Oct. 23. The centre will now offer multiple services in one spot in Grande Prairie, including hemodialysis, home peritoneal dialysis, the Diabetic Nephropathy Prevention clinic and the Chronic Kidney Disease clinic. “This is an absolute […]

Last week, a sign went up at the Beaverlodge Post Office urging customers to action. According to some local staffers, Beaverlodge, Hythe, Wembley and Sexsmith are on the list of potential rural post office closures as Canada Post undergoes restructuring.  Hands Off My Post Office asked the public to stand again losing services in their […]

About a quarter century ago, a young man from Norway landed in Sexsmith.  His “temporary adventure” would go on to traverse generations, change communities and leave a legacy that is unmatched.  By the time of his passing at the age of 92 on Sept. 26, Isak Skjaveland had carved out a role in Sexsmith that […]

The official results of the 2025 municipal and school trustee elections were released on Friday, Oct. 24. Many councillors were sworn into office on Monday.  (I) means incumbent. Town of Beaverlodge Mayor: Gary Rycroft (I) - 399 Councillors: Trevor Bartsch - 382, Hugh Graw (I) - 353, Richard Lappenbush - 295, Tyke Longmore - 285, […]

The unofficial results of the 2025 municipal and school trustee elections began appearing late Monday night and into Tuesday morning. Changes to the Elections Act have caused all ballots to be hand-counted, unlike previous years, which used tabulators. Results from Sexsmith and the County of Grande Prairie arrived around 11 p.m. on Monday, while the […]

About $100,000 in football equipment was destroyed early Sunday morning in Wembley after an outbuilding on the field caught fire.  The Wembley Fire Department responded to the fire at the Wembley football field at 6:35 a.m. on Oct. 19. County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service district fire chief Matthew Smith said the fire was […]