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  • More than 45,000 people in south Edmonton were without power last night due to an outage that began around 6:15pm. It took about three hours for EPCOR to start restoring service. The outages map listed the cause as equipment failure.
  • While some Alberta parents are glad to have their kids return to class after an extended holiday break, others feel that the province is not providing enough clarity or support to control the Omicron variant in schools. While schools have received masks and test kits, Edmonton Public Schools and the Alberta Teachers' Association warned that some kids may not have access to them until it's too late.
  • Edmonton's Winterscapes photo contest is open again, and is accepting photos of snow, ice, lights, ornaments — anything that is winter-themed and helps grow an appreciation of the cold months in the city. There are three categories available to local photographers: Winter Art, Winter Garden, and Winter Play, and the contest is open until Feb. 28.
  • The province is changing the criteria for who can get PCR tested for COVID-19 as demand was pushing AHS to its limit, according to Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health. Only priority groups including healthcare workers, continuing care staff, correctional facilities, and others are now eligible for PCR testing.
  • As of today, campers will be able to book sites online any time, year-round, instead of only during a short window of time in February. Campers can book 90 days in advance of their trip for single sites, and 180 days in advance for group and comfort camping sites.
  • Albertans who have been the victim of a crime now have only 45 days to apply for a provincial program that compensates them, instead of the two years they had previously. The move drew criticism, with some arguing that it — and the new $1,000 limit the province set on reimbursements for counselling — could cause longer-term issues and costs for healthcare and social services. "This is really naïve and, quite frankly, uninformed to make a decision about what it means for a survivor to even acknowledge to themselves what happened, let alone report," Mary Jane James, CEO of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, told CBC News.