On February 21, 2018 at 5:43 p.m., the Hanna RCMP received a call of suspicious activity.
The complainant reported that they encountered a stranded motorist south of Hanna that had run out of fuel. The complainant gave the stranded motorist a ride to Hanna due to the cold weather and then called the RCMP because they thought the circumstances to be suspicious.
RCMP members located the vehicle that had run out of fuel and confirmed it was stolen from Delia. The suspect, a 34 year old female from the Drumheller area, was located and arrested. She has been charged with possessing stolen property and theft of a motor vehicle. She was released after a bail hearing and is scheduled to be in court again on March 28, 2018 in Hanna.

On February 21, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. the Hanna RCMP received a complaint of a suspicious male in Youngstown. A second call came in at 9:00 PM about the same male that was now at the Cactus Corner truck stop. Members attended the truck stop and located the suspect along with a vehicle that was stolen out of the Calgary area. The suspect, a 24 year old male from Calgary, was arrested and charged for possession of a stolen vehicle and for breaching his probation. He is set for a bail hearing in Drumheller today (February 23, 2018).

On February 22, 2018 at 1:30 a.m. a vehicle struck a large landscaping rock and then a power pole in Youngstown. The truck received substantial damage as there was transmission fluid all over the ground at the scene. As a result it could not be driven. The suspect had the vehicle towed from the area and did not report the collision to the property owner or the police at the time of the incident. The driver has since been identified and has now made the required collision report. This matter is still under investigation and charges are pending.

The press release noted, “It is important to point out that the first two occurrences above were the direct result of a community members reporting activity they believed to be suspicious. If it wasn't for these reports it is likely the illegal activity would have went unsolved. RCMP would like to thank the community for their assistance and encourages people to report activity that they believe is suspicious."

DVSS Student council has created a challenge surrounding pop can tabs. The initiative involves the main schools, the community of Drumheller, and the penitentiary. Student council wishes to see who can collect the most pop tabs by March 26. The challenge has already began as of February 5. “The more the merrier, we are just trying to collect as many as we can,” said student council teacher Wendy Olson. Folks can take part in the challenge by dropping off their collected tabs at any business that is participating. A container with specific labeling will be used for this collection. If a business wishes to get a container, contact the DVSS office at 1-403-823-5171. “We are hoping for more community members to reach out and pick up a container so they can collect as well,” said Olson.
The DVSS Grade 7 class is leading the junior and senior high combined program. Grade 7 student Grayden Ewing even created a video to explain the challenge which can be accessed on YouTube. “Cassia Teske has collected them for a long time and a gentleman from the penitentiary, Steve Bryant, had collected about 15 pounds of them and wanted to give them to her so we thought we would take the initiative and Cassia wanted to do something with the pop can tabs,” said Olson. The tabs will then be counted, weighed and donated to the Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton as the houses in Calgary and Red Deer no longer use the program. About 1,128 pop can tabs are equal to one pound. One pound is typically worth between $0.40 and $0.50. “They melt the metal down
because it’s a high grade aluminum and they give the money to the Ronald McDonald House which houses families that have sick children,” explained Olson. Each classroom is on board with their own container for inner class competition. “I think this is a really cool challenge and I’m really excited for the kids because they are really excited about doing it and I’m hoping that it will have success and we will collect a lot of pop can tabs to fill the back of a truck." A wrap-up event will be held on Saturday, March 24 to support the Ronald McDonald House in Calgary. March 26 is the final date of collection.