It's Valentine's Day! Did Red Deer make PinkCherry's annual sexiest cities list? This week, Josh talks with Shamus Neeson from Canadian Blood Services in central Alberta about how NOT scary it is to donate blood, how blood donation works, and his journey to over 300 donations, plus a kidney donation (4:38)! Then, we hear from Juno Award winner and now (newly) two-time Juno nominee Claude Lapalme, music director and conductor with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra (18:39)! Plus, this Monday is Sockey Day in Red Deer, and Josh shares all the details (00:43).

This week, we chat with Erin Peden, long-time executive director at the Community Foundation of Central Alberta. Josh and Erin dive into what exactly a community foundation is, what her organization's priorities are, how any central Albertan or Red Deerian can help, and what it means for community to come together to make our home a better place. More information is at www.cfcab.ca.

This week on the podcast, rdnewsNOW's Ian Gustafson chats with Red Deer Rebels owner Brent Sutter about joining the New York Islanders Hall of Fame (2:24); and host Josh Hall speaks with Mike Thibeau, creator of the 'Man Up' men's support group, about mental health and the group starting back up again soon (6:36). Find Mike on social media @MouthfulofTBO.

This week on the podcast, Josh Hall and Ashley Lavallee-Koenig run down rdnewsNOW's top stories of the week, and chat about some fun shows and events coming up in Red Deer (0:44); then we hear from Mayor Ken Johnston who announced Jan. 22 he is to retire after this term of council (6:47); finally, our feature interview with 25-year Red Deer radio host here at Pattison Media, Peter Michaels (15:35)! Find Peter on social media @WKRPetey.

On the first episode of 2025, it's all about the WHL Trade Deadline, which came to pass at 6 p.m. on Jan. 9. First, host Josh Hall and rdnewsNOW reporter Ian Gustafson talk all the moves the Rebels made (00:27); then we have today's post-deadline media availability between reporters and Rebels owner/GM Brent Sutter (12:13); then we take a look around the division, first with Medicine Hat Tigers play-by-play announcer and CHAT News reporter Will Bryant (22:44), and finally we speak with Lethbridge Hurricanes public address announcer and WILD 95.5 announcer Nevin Sereda (31:41). Find Josh, Ian, Will and Nevin on social media @vancan19, @IanGustafson12, @willllbryant and @DJShneev.

This week, we take a moment to recognize an outstanding charitable donation, and we remember the late Michael Dawe a year after his passing. Then, we introduce you to all the members of our Red Deer newsroom; that includes Pattison Media Alberta news director, Sheldon Spackman (00:23); our Rocky Mountain House reporter, Jordan Rein (8.58); the newest member of the team, Ian Gustafson (16:37); and last, but not least, City Hall reporter Ashley Lavallee-Koenig (23:01). We hear about some of the team's favourite stories from the year that was.

This week on the pod, we chat with Jula Lewis, club administrator at the Red Deer Titans Rugby Club (3:07), about upcoming winter tryouts; then we talk to Ian Wheeliker, executive director at The Outreach Centre (11:39), about the ongoing Holiday Hope and Adopt-A-Family campaigns. Please send podcast feedback and ideas to [email protected].

In the debut episode of the Everything Red Deer Podcast, rdnewsNOW's Josh Hall speaks with Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston. The conversation starts light-hearted, getting into how and why Johnston got into municipal politics (5:38), then we transition to talking about a recently approved 10.5 per cent municipal property tax increase (17:47), then progress on the $1.8 billion redevelopment of Red Deer Regional Hospital (31:19), and then the subject of homelessness and a recent Point in Time count conducted by the city (38:16). Mayor Johnston also shares a holiday message as we forge onward toward 2025.