2020 year in review: April

By Herald on December 29, 2020.

Wes and Hallie Leavitt, along their children Logan, Anna, Autumn and Austin, join the hundreds of classmates, teachers, friends and community members lining the street in a show of support Saturday as the funeral procession with the family of 10-year-old Charles McIntyre leaves Copperwood Gate. Herald file photo by Ian Martens @IMartensHerald

The Herald looks back to the stories that made headlines over the past year with a month by month series running this week to the New Year:

APRIL
Nobleford rallies around family of man who was killed while hunting
Nobleford volunteer firefighter Jake Sansom, 39, shot to death on a rural road near Glendon last weekend while hunting for food to feed his family is being remembered as a dedicated husband and father who wore his heart on his sleeve.
Sansom, a Metis with traditional hunting rights, was reportedly killed alongside his uncle Morris Cardinal between 8 a.m. March 29 and 4 a.m. March 29 when their bodies were discovered near Township Road 622 and Range Road 484 near Glendon.
On April 2, Anthony Bilodeau, 31, and Roger Bilodeau, 56, both from Glendon, were charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Lethbridge Food Bank receives $300K from province for student lunch program
The Lethbridge Food Bank will be receiving a $300,000 grant from the province to expand its current brown bag lunch program for students studying at home while schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Up to a third of local businesses need gov’t assistance: task force
A quarter to as much as a full third of businesses in Lethbridge will likely not survive the month without immediate assistance from the provincial and federal governments, the Lethbridge Region Economic Recovery Task Force representatives Trevor Lewington and Cyndi Vos told city council.
“What we’re hearing is what we are seeing in provincial surveys, and that is the impact (from COVID-19) will be both widespread and pretty significant,” Lewington said.

Lethbridge School Division rescinding layoffs to 120 staff
The Lethbridge School Division was able to provide a rare bright spot for some classroom support staff by rescinding their layoff notices which had been set to kick in at the end of April.
The savings found in the school division’s budget come from the province allowing for additional funding to retain laid-off employees’ benefits, savings found from fewer CPP and EI benefit payments, and some surplus funds found in Program Unit Funding.

Show of support for grieving family
As a Lethbridge family mourned the loss of their young son, hundreds of community members lined the streets of their westside neighbourhood to show their support. Ten-year-old Charles McIntyre was struck by a vehicle turning from a shopping centre along Whoop-Up Drive earlier in the week and suffered fatal injuries.

Who is on ‘Jeopardy!’ tonight?
Sharon Lawson’s appearance on the popular television quiz show “Jeopardy!” won’t just fulfil one of her bucket list items. “It was pretty much my entire bucket list,” said the long-time fan of the show starring host Alex Trebek. Lawson was crowned champion in her debut with US$19,601 before being dethroned the following night and returning home with US$20,601 in winnings.

City debt sits at $33 million
A report on the City’s 2019 finances submitted by City Treasurer Hailey Pinksen in the past year from 2018, where the City had a surplus of $4 million in Net Financial Assets, we are now sitting at a debt of $33 million. This accumulation of debt was mainly due the construction of several major capital projects, including the ATB Centre, which also ties into the City’s long-term debt picture.

U of L cuts hockey programs
With the sudden announcement that the University of Lethbridge was cutting its Pronghorn Athletics men’s and women’s hockey programs due to the provincial budget cuts, the community is rallying around the teams who are just starting to grasp the decision.
The overall programming fees for the men’s and women’s hockey teams were $750,000 annually. The decision for the university to hold off the announcement until the end of the semester was to spare the students the additional stress while they were working to complete their final exams and projects.

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