Latest from Dennis Kovtun
With walls, berms and raised roads, Fort McMurray is working to keep its river from overflowing
Fort McMurray sits at the junction of two rivers, which makes it susceptible to ice jam floods in the spring. It experienced a large ice jam flood in 2020. Now, Fort McMurray has extensive infrastructure to prevent a repeat — and is building more.
One artifact at a time, this museum in northern Alberta is preserving Canada's military history
The Wood Buffalo Military Museum in Fort McMurray, Alta., has thousands of artifacts. Cataloguing them is a priority. The museum is working on digitizing its collection of documents and books, which can be fragile. Yet it still wants its artifacts to be seen by the public.
Fort McMurray, Alta., supportive housing facility fears loss of funding
The Tawâw Indigenous-led supportive housing program in Fort McMurray is meant to help people experiencing homelessness. Now it fears provincial funding cuts — which the facility's residents say could severely impact them.
Fort McMurray woman sentenced to 10 years for child porn, sexual interference
An Alberta judge sentenced a Fort McMurray, Alta., woman to 10 years in prison on Wednesday, after she was convicted of child pornography charges and sexual interference of a minor.
Grande Prairie will save millions of dollars with its new police force, city report says
Grande Prairie is transitioning away from RCMP and establishing its own police force. The Grande Prairie Police Service will take over from RCMP in 2026 and the transition will be finished by 2028. The city expects to spend less on the new police service than it does on RCMP.
Municipality of Wood Buffalo granted exemption from Bill 20 for byelection
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is in the middle of a byelection in one of its wards. It asked the province to exempt the municipality from some of the election process changes introduced with Bill 20.
Experimental bitumen extraction project in Fort McMurray area faces local opposition
A novel bitumen extraction project is being proposed by Drift Resource Technologies, a carbon tech firm. The company says it could have significant environmental benefits for the oilsands industry, but residents of Saprae Creek, a hamlet close to the site of the proposed project, oppose it.
Alberta First Nations leaders say federal government hid contamination at local dock
Chemical contamination was found at the site known locally as the Big Dock, which is owned by the federal government. Fort Chipewyan leaders say the feds concealed the contamination from the local community, which uses the facility for various purposes.
The Alberta government wants to incentivize oilsands companies to hire more locals. Here's why
The Fort McMurray oilsands have long hosted a large number of transient workers. Now, there's a fresh push for companies operating at the epicentre of Canada's oil and gas extraction to make their workforce more local.
Construction services company EllisDon to lead Jasper wildfire debris cleanup
Debris from about 350 destroyed structures in the Alberta mountain town needs to be removed. Construction services company EllisDon will lead this effort, but most of the work will be done by local and regional contractors.