All Stories

One walleye tournament canceled due to low water

Boat access trickier from the river, but do-able; Anglers Cup should be okay Joe McWilliams Lakeside Leader One of the area’s major walleye tournaments was canceled due to low water at Spruce Point Park marina. The other big one –…
UCP’s Sinclair wins Lesser Slave Lake

Van Dijken returned in Ath-Barr-West Joe McWilliamsLakeside Leader A majority of Lesser Slave Lake voters chose Scott Sinclair of the United Conservative Party as their new MLA on May 29. Sinclair, a 38-year-old business owner, replaces the UCP’s Pat Rehn…
Historic church in Grouard destroyed by fire

Two High Prairie men charged with arson Chris Clegg For the Lakeside Leader Two men are facing arson charges after burning a historic church at Grouard in broad daylight. RCMP report that on May 22 at 3:30 p.m., police responded…
Rain helped, but big fire suppression job continues

Pearl Lorentzen Lakeside Leader Heavy rain over the long weekend and on Tuesday, May 23 helped firefighters get a handle on the Slave Lake Forest Area wildfires. Some evacuation orders were lifted. On May 26, the Town of Slave Lake…

Richard Froese For the Lakeside Leader False alarms are rising at an alarming rate in the western part of Big Lakes County. Council heard about it from fire chief Trevor Cisaroski at its April 24 meeting, as part of his…
Big Lakes County awards business upgrade grants

Richard Froese For the Lakeside Leader Big Lakes County has awarded four business refurbishment grants to a community organization and three businesses to upgrade their facilities. At its April 24 meeting, council approved $2,500 matching grants to the Enilda and…
Driftpile 450 Diner celebrates ‘soft opening’

Part of the travel centre Chris Clegg For the Lakeside Leader Another milestone in Driftpile Cree Nation’s history was achieved May 17 with the opening of Driftpile 450 Diner. The restaurant is part of the Driftpile Cree Nation Travel Centre…
Small child killed when hit by a vehicle

Leader staff A three-year-old boy was killed in Slave Lake on May 23, when he was struck by a passing vehicle.The incident happened in the southeast part of town, just after 7 p.m., according to an RCMP news release.   …
Slave Lake lands first non-festival showing of documentary

Pearl Lorentzen Lakeside Leader Rex Theatre, in Slave Lake, will have the first non-festival showing of The Lebanese Burger Mafia. Omar Mouallem wrote, directed, and produced this documentary. He was born in Slave Lake and moved to High Prairie when…

M.D. council rules on funding applications Joe McWilliams Lakeside Leader Several community organizations will receive grants from the M.D. of Lesser Slave River, after council reviewed another round of applications at its May 10 meeting. A couple of others will…

Candidates took time off campaigning to help with wildfire emergency Joe McWilliams Lakeside Leader Nobody expects a wildfire emergency in the middle of an election campaign. But that’s what Lesser Slave Lake candidates Scott Sinclair and Danielle Larivee encountered (along…

Leader staff The Alberta government has waived the fee for replacing Alberta driver’s licences, identification cards, and birth certificates if people lost or left them behind during a wildfire evacuation from April 29 to June 29, 2023. The details from…