It’s a day full of celebration, storytelling and community as the Cavendish Farms Centre hosts the inaugural Blackfoot Winter Solstice.

The celebration recognizes and pays respect to the Blackfoot community in the form of a dedicated Indigenous art display and ceremony with local Indigenous leaders.

Today, Lethbridge City Council approved initial steps that would pave a new path forward for Lethbridge & District Exhibition and the Agri-food Hub & Trade Centre. In response to a letter of intent received from the Lethbridge & District Exhibition, City Council passed a resolution that will provide emergency interim resourcing to create stability and business continuity and explore a vision for the future.

Late in the day, we received confirmation from the Government of Alberta that they have declined our request to provide $1.04 million in capital funding to support the Agri-food Hub & Trade Centre.

City Council today received an update on the repurposing review of the Main, North, South and West pavilions as well as Heritage Hall and Safety City buildings located on the Exhibition grounds.

The Downtown Lawlessness Reduction (DLR) Task Force, which will consist of members from City Council, City Administration, the Downtown BRZ, Lethbridge Fire and EMS and the Lethbridge Police Service, is now officially operational. On Tuesday, Lethbridge City Council voted to approve the Task Force’s Terms of Reference

Partner Services, driven by a vision of nurturing and expanding our connections with post-secondary institutions, enthusiastically supports City departments and the development of our local young talent.

The Lethbridge Animal Shelter will soon be adding a fenced dog run on its property to provide new opportunities for exercising, training and socializing dogs available for adoption.

Traffic signals have been re-installed at the intersection of 4 Avenue and 7 Street South and the section of road has officially re-opened to vehicular traffic. With this major step, work on this project will now be wrapped up for the construction season.

City Council voted today to provide emergency capital funding and a one-year deferral of loan payments to the Lethbridge & District Exhibition, contingent on the Provincial Government providing matching capital support.

Lethbridge residents and motorists may recall the traffic incident in June this year that resulted in Whoop-Up Drive coming to a standstill for several hours. The incident provided City staff the opportunity to conduct a substantial review of the Whoop-Up Drive Emergency Traffic Protocol. A revised protocol has now been approved and activated by the City Manager to provide an enhanced response in the event of an incident.