Today in High Prairie! See what’s happening today in town, celebrity birthdays, local history, world history and your daily horoscope. Please send your birthdays and community events to southpeacenews@hotmail.com and/or spneditor@outlook.com.

What’s Happening Today – July 12, 2026

National Simplicity Day!

Attend the church of your choice.

10 a.m. – Yoga at the Beach at Shaw’s Point Resort. Nell’s Yoga.

1:30 p.m. – Enjoy cribbage games at the HP Golden Age Centre, 4824-53 Ave. $1 coffee charge.

6:30 p.m. – Enilda & District Society for Recreation and Culture meeting at Bowling Alley.

Today’s Celebrity Birthdays – July 12, 2026

1854 – George Eastman, Kodak camera inventor

1880 – Tod Browning, Dracula director

1883 – Joseph Crehan, The Roaring Twenties actor

1884 – Amedeo Modigliani, Reclining Nude painter

1886 – Jean Hersholt, Heidi, actress

1895 – Oscar Hammerstein II, Sound of Music co-lyricist

1895 – R.B. Fuller, Invented geodesic dome

1908 – Milton Berle, Uncle Miltie comedian

1909 – Joe DeRita, The Three Stooges [Curly]

1920 – Beah Richards, Roots actress

1920 – Pierre Berton, Canadian author

1930 – Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor/director

1937 – Bill Cosby, Cosby Show actor

1941 – Joseph Whipp, Escape from Alcatraz actor

1943 – Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac vocalist

1944 – Denise Nicholas, Room 222 actress

1948 – Richard Simmons, US exercise guru

1948 – Jay Thomas, Murphy Brown actor

1950 – Eric Carr, Kiss drummer

1951 – Cheryl Ladd, Charlie’s Angels actress

1952 – Liz Mitchell, Boney M vocalist

1952 – Philip Taylor Kramer, Iron Butterfly bassist

1958 – Tonya Lee Williams, Canadian actress

1967 – Bruny Surin, Canadian 4X100m sprinter

1970 – Jaason Simmons, Baywatch actor

1976 – Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies actress

1977 – Brock Lesnar, US pro wrestler

1988 – Melissa O’Neil, Canadian singer

1997 – Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani female activist

This Day in Local History – July 12, 2026

July 12, 1913: The Grouard News reports Chiverton and Amos buy the Grouard Hotel.

July 12, 1913: The Grouard News reports the village’s population stands at about 1,500.

July 12, 1913: Editor Roy S. Burns writes in his editorial of the disgusting state of Main Street: “…pools of stagnant water filled with microbes, glass in the form of bottles, and no effort on behalf of the town to have it drained.”

July 12, 1914: Settler J.M. Bryan is found dead of suicide at his home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

July 12, 1967: Helen Payne is awarded a Centennial Mother-of-the-Year plaque at Triangle.

July 12, 1969: J.A. Smith, of McLennan, is presented with his 50-Year Jewel at the Masonic District 13 meeting in High Prairie.

July 12, 1972: Gift Lake receives a grant of $5,580 for a recreation project. Joyce Laderoute sets up a program to teach arts and crafts and organize playground activities.

July 12, 1972: The High Prairie Playboys top the High Prairie Men’s Fastball League standings with a 10-1 record. The Peavine Rangers are second at 7-1.

July 12, 1972: South Peace News reports in the Salt Prairie News the following: “Telephone service has been a great help in lightening the sense of isolation prevalent in a rural community, although a few immature people seem to have the peculiar notion that the phone is a toy. They have launched a deluge of pointless, anonymous calls … screaming into the line … and hanging up fast. One irate lady received six of these calls in one day. However, it is expected that such irritations will diminish as the novelty wears off.”

July 12, 1972: The completely renovated Roxy Theatre celebrates its grand opening.

July 12, 1976: The Peavine Rangers complete a perfect regular season by going 12-0 to finish in first place in the High Prairie and District Men’s Fastball League standings.

July 12, 1986: High Prairie Dolphins swimmers Byron MacDonald, Cathy Hubar and Marnie Fyten win the aggregate titles at a swim meet in Peace River.

July 12, 1987: Michael Bliss, Ryan MacDonald and Hazel Kroetch return home with gold medals as the first Northwest Alberta Summer Games come to a close in Grande Prairie.

July 12, 1989: An informal survey of 47 high school students by South Peace News indicates drug and alcohol problems are on the rise.

July 12, 1992: Kerdessa Perry and Ian Griffiths each win four races for the High Prairie Dolphins at a swim meet in Slave Lake.

July 12, 1992: Steven Leepile wins a silver medal and Tamara Neilsen a bronze medal at the Junior Canadian Taekwondo Championships in Toronto.

July 12, 1993: The Cycle of Hope begins as Recreation Supt. Lauren Craven and 14-year-old students Joey Delauriers and James VandenBerg, and AADAC counsellor John Dunn cycle to Vancouver for charity.

July 12, 1995: A delegation from Prairie Echo attends the M.D. of Smoky River meeting to discuss joining their M.D.; however, council says they can’t afford the delegation’s road request. Residents in Salt Prairie meet the same day and say they want no part of leaving the M.D. of Big Lakes.

July 12, 1996: High Prairie Truck and Trailer celebrates its grand opening.

July 12, 2000: Ray and Dianne Willier, of Sucker Creek, win $100,000 by matching the Plus number in the Lotto 6/49 draw.

July 12, 2000: The High Prairie Bad Boys blast the visiting Peace River Stampeders 13-2 to all but clinch first place in the East Division of the Wheatbelt Baseball League.

July 12, 2006: Slave Lake developers Arnie Dreger and Shane Knutson attend an M.D. of Big Lakes meeting saying they want to develop a 58-lot project in Joussard’s west end. The development would become known as Red Sky.

July 12, 2006: Gilwood-Triangle Councillor Ken Melnyk resigns after informing council he plans on moving out of the jurisdiction.

July 12, 2010: I&P Mechanics opens its doors as the new Greyhound Bus service provider in High Prairie.

July 12, 2012: A few dozen people and several wagons leave Driftpile for Lac Ste. Anne for the annual pilgrimage.

July 12, 2014: High Prairie Dolphins Ella Deering wins four races and Kirsten Bruder three at the Grimshaw Gators Swim Meet.

July 12, 2016: High Prairie town council waives a $268.03 tax penalty to a Drayton Valley woman for paying her taxes late. Council gives her the benefit of the doubt after her cheque arrives late.

July 12, 2016: High Prairie town council adopts the green lights bylaw, which allows firefighters to install flashing green lights in their vehicles in order to get to emergencies quicker.

July 12, 2016: John “Jack” Gordon passes away, age not disclosed. He worked in construction and helped build Dunvegan Bridge.

This Day in World History – July 12, 2026

1109 – Crusaders capture Syria’s harbor city of Tripoli.

1785 – First manned flight by gas balloon in Netherlands.

1843 – Mormon leader Joseph Smith says God allows polygamy.

1859 – Paper bag manufacturing machine patented.

1902 – Australian parliament agrees to female suffrage.

1918 – Japanese battleship explodes in Bay of Tokayama, 500 killed.

1921 – Babe Ruth sets record of 137 career home runs.

1928 – First televised tennis match.

1940 – Air conditioning unit for trucks patented.

1943 – WWII: Battle of Prokhorovka – one of largest ever tank battles.

1948 – First jets to fly across Atlantic.

1957 – US Surgeon General Leroy Burney connects smoking with lung cancer.

1960 – Congo, Chad and Central African Republic declare independence.

1960 – USSR’s Sputnik 5 launched with 2 dogs.

1962 – Rolling Stones 1st performance. [Marquee Club, London]

1970 – Thor Heyerdahl crosses Atlantic on raft Ra II.

1975 – Sao Tomé & Príncipe gains independence from Portugal.

1976 – First “Family Feud” game show debuts on ABC hosted by Richard Dawson.

1987 – First time in 20 years a delegation from USSR lands in Israel.

1988 – USSR launches Phobos II for Martian orbit.

1990 – Boris Yeltsin quits the Soviet Communist Party.

1995 – Latin King of Pop Enrique Iglesias releases his first album.

1997 – Cubs play in their 5,000th consecutive game without being no-hit.

2017 – Giant iceberg breaks away from Antarctica: 6,000 sq km in area.

2018 – World’s longest fingernails cut off: 909.6 cm.

Today’s Horoscopes – July 13, 2026

Aries [March 21 – April 20] – Recent developments have brought new interests into your life! As a result, you might be seriously considering enrolling in a formal course of study in the future involving these subjects! If you really want to do this, it is definitely the right time to start planning! Others in your community might want to do the same, so a discussion on the subject might help! Books and magazines could also be useful!

Taurus [April 21 – May 21] – Your mind is especially sharp! You are logical and objective by nature! However, today you are likely to find your thinking is more influenced by feeling than usual! This is a positive development! It demonstrates your intuition is operating at a high level, so do not fight it! This is definitely the day to follow your heart rather than your head!

Gemini [May 22 – June 21] – A group you are involved with may want to discuss a future trip of some kind, perhaps to a convention! The drive to expand your horizons is very strong today! Therefore, trips like this or other opportunities to learn and grow can be especially appealing! You might come up with a few ideas of your own you prefer to pursue alone! Give it some thought!

Cancer [June 22 – July 22] – Your intuition is operating at a very high level today! You tend to follow your heart by nature, so you do not always go out of your way to be logical or objective! However, more than one event could occur during the day in which it is imperative you go with your intuition even though it defies all logic! Have a little faith and go with your gut!

Leo [July 23 – Aug. 23] – Today should be a gratifying day, full of great news, pleasant surprises, and opening doors of opportunity on just about every level! Career breaks and chances to earn more money could come your way! New friends may be introduced to you, and future opportunities for education and travel also may arise! Whatever actually manifests out of all this is up to you! You might find decisions difficult!

Virgo [Aug. 24 – Sept. 22] – Paperwork involving financial transactions may need to be handled today, but it will not be as tedious as you think! Whatever information is required is easily obtained! Most of what is presented to you should be clear and understandable, and the people involved helpful! It is important you do get this done! If you wait, it might not go as smoothly! In the evening, schedule a romantic encounter, if possible! Your level of passion is rather high!

Libra [Sept. 23 – Oct. 23] – A friend could put you in touch with a lot of interesting people, some in fields such as law, education, or the ministry! Expect at some point to be treated to a monologue on social and ecological responsibilities! You will have a lot of definite ideas on those subjects, but you will be more likely to listen than talk for most of the day! Enjoy your day!

Scorpio [Oct. 24 – Nov. 22] – You may spend much of your day trying to sort out financial matters for yourself, your job, or perhaps for a friend or relative! A lot of phone calls, and a lot of research, perhaps on the Internet, could be necessary in order to accomplish this! Whatever you decide to do, you will attack it with determination and feel a great deal of satisfaction when you are done! Go to it!

Sagittarius [Nov. 23 – Dec. 21] – Today you might spend a lot of time with the special person in your life if that is possible! Romance and affection are definitely a powerful factor in the course of your day, but much of what might bring you closer together is conversation! You are likely to exchange information that interests you both about specific subjects and yourselves and future plans! A short journey might also take place! Enjoy your day!

Capricorn [Dec. 22 – Jan. 20] – The possibility of some future houseguests might have you checking your home to see what needs to be done to make it presentable! It may need a few minor repairs and you could do some online shopping to dress the place up a little! Books might give you some workable ideas! Your mind might be working more quickly than your body, however! Take care not to push yourself too hard!

Aquarius [Jan. 21 – Feb. 18] – Today you might decide to participate in activities involving children! Field trips either for pleasure or educational purposes may take place, if possible, and you could enjoy it as much as the children! Letters and phone calls could bring good news from far away, which you will almost certainly want to pass on to others! Tonight, curl up with the latest mystery! Intrigue should be especially appealing now!

Pisces [Feb. 19 – March 20] – Your financial situation looks particularly good right now! An increase in income could be coming your way! The downside could be that contracts might be involved, and you will have to spend time perusing boring legal documents that need to be executed! A lot of people could reach out to you tonight, probably to exchange ideas and information! Do not talk or text for too long! You will want to get some sleep!