Jeff Burgar
If you read this week’s commentary on this same page this week, you will notice our thoughts here on the year of 2024 echo that column.
Both ourselves and our readers seem to be on the same wavelength: 2024 was mostly a quiet year for big news, despite of course, relevance and impact on concerned families and friends by the year’s major events.
Two of the “most read” stories, according to our online statistics, were early in the year. Travis Melnyk and Kyra Backs were charged with crimes in 2022 in unrelated incidents. After a series of delays, Melnyk eventually was sentenced to life in prison in early 2024. Backs is scheduled to appear in the last part of January this year.
The third most read story is the Redrum motorcycle riders killed in a collision with a semi-trailer truck that crossed the centre line at Sucker Creek in northern Alberta.
Next up was the return of the High Prairie Gun and Sportsman Show. That was followed by news the old hospital site in High Prairie was bought, by an unnamed party, from the provincial government. The amount was $1.7 million for the 11-acre site in the middle of High Prairie on Highway 2. This was after the Town of High Prairie earlier, with no public discussion, turned down an offer by the province to sell to the Town for $148,000, a fraction of the final amount.
In fact, in late 2023, the High Prairie and Area Chamber of Commerce had written to town council, asking for decisions on almost a dozen items the chamber deemed of importance to the community. Among those items was the question, will the people of High Prairie have the opportunity to provide input into what will happen with the hospital property?
Councillor James Waikle moved the letter be “received for information,” basically meaning he wanted the entire contents to just go away. All councillors voted in favour.
To date, no one on council has volunteered to name who was all involved in the decision to not buy the land. However, a reason finally presented not to buy was, there were dead cats in a culvert in part of the land. This despite the Province of Alberta being responsible for complete clean-up and remediation of the site. There has been no word since about the cats.
In total, other than the tragedies and heartbreak of deaths that made up part of the year, it was mostly quiet in our beloved Peace country. Even news of the giant wind farm in the Smoky River area faded.
Farewell to 2024! Not a horrible year in our parts, as the few years just before, but one that should have been much, much better in many, many ways.