Latest news with #CalgaryAlberta
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
‘Good old-fashioned price war': Some Calgary gas stations see prices near a dollar
Several Calgary gas stations were seeing lineups and packed pumps as drivers looked to take advantage of prices nearing a dollar per litre, a price point the city hadn't seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Calgary gas stations were seeing lineups and packed pumps as drivers looked to take advantage of prices nearing a dollar per litre, a price point the city hadn't seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Some stations saw prices as low as 102.9 c/L on Tuesday morning, while other locations—some within just blocks of the cheaper offerings—still saw prices at 122.9 c/L or higher. 'I mean, as an analyst, it makes you scratch your head how they're able to take it on the chin like that, but it looks like it's just a good old-fashioned price war. So, bottom line, enjoy it while you can,' said Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis with A lineup of about two dozen cars wrapped around part of the parking lot at the Mobil gas station in Shawnessy to fill up at 103.8c/L. 'I drive for Uber, so I'm trying to get the cheapest gas possible because it costs me a lot of money driving,' said Ryan Carpenter. 'I saw the price at $1.03 and figured this is a lot better than the $1.35 downtown.' Several Calgary gas stations were seeing lineups and packed pumps as drivers looked to take advantage of prices nearing a dollar per litre, a price point the city hadn't seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Calgary gas stations were seeing lineups and packed pumps as drivers looked to take advantage of prices nearing a dollar per litre, a price point the city hadn't seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the last time prices neared a loonie in Calgary was at the end of 2020. As of Tuesday afternoon, the price of regular gasoline in Calgary still sat at 128.6c/L, according to the gas tracking site. 'We have seen an incredible amount of volatility in the price of gasoline over the last couple of weeks. We've seen Middle East tensions flare up, the price of oil surging, then plummeting. So keep in mind that stations generally filled our underground tanks every two to four days. And with all that volatility, that can create a wildly varying environment,' explained De Haan. At a Tempo gas station in Sundance, drivers were able to fill up at 102.9c/L. 'I'm just happy as a consumer that's coming down a bit for us. It's a bit of a break considering all the cost of living has gone up in Calgary, so I appreciate what's going on,' said Dave Chow. Both Tempo and Mobil were back up to 122 c/L later in the afternoon.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
We'll get a day of summer heat in Calgary—but just one day
Calgary Watch Summer heat moves into the city on Tuesday! But it's just one day in the 30s, then the weather pattern will adjust and the clouds will creep in.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Paralyzed pup races brother + Calm capybara + T-Rex takes a ride
Calgary Watch We take a look at the lighter side of the news and what's trending online and on air.
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
What are chinch bugs and why are they devouring Calgary lawns?
They're small and hard to spot, but the damage chinch bugs are doing to Calgary lawns is unmistakable. James Szojka owns the lawn company Yard Dawgs, and says the 2024 water restrictions placed on Calgarians didn't help matters. 'We are seeing more this year than all the other years combined,' he said. 'I think the damage, especially in the southeast communities of Mahogany, Auburn Bay, McKenzie Towne, all these areas in particular – because chinch bugs migrate from the south – do get hit first and they get hit the hardest.' The bugs target individual blades of grass and suck the nutrients out of them, leaving them brown. Over time, a lawn will have a series of brown spots, and if left unchecked, they'll devour the entire lawn. 'They inject a toxin, and it will cause damages up to the point where someone has to completely replace their lawn,' he said. 'This is perfect environment for the bugs to really start to get very active and start to damage, because they love hot and dry, they do not like cold and wet.' Szojka says chinch bugs migrate to other lawns by flying or walking and won't discriminate. It's something causing concern for Calgary homeowner Tamara Schuetzle. She says her lawn is green and lush right now, and she's working hard to keep it that way. 'By removing the thatch, aerating so it's not compacted, and then of course nutrients,' she said. 'Calgary has a lot of clay, so I kind of use a combination of things that breaks up the clay so that the grass can have a better root system.' She's watering frequently to make her lawn less appealing to chinch bugs, which have devastated her neighbour's yard. 'The problem is, yes my lawn looks green now,' she said. 'But if everybody doesn't take care and do their part, they're just going to keep coming back, so it needs to be like a community thing where we do it together.' University of Calgary insect physiologist Jackie Lebenzon studies insects, how they work and how they respond to changes in different types of environments. She says Calgary's northern climate restricts the species that can live here, but chinch bugs have grown hardy and can survive winters easily. 'They're totally built to last.' she said. 'They do go away, they go dormant and they disappear (for close to six months of the year), so I guess there's two things they could do: run away, a lot of them migrate south just like a lot of us wish we could do, and then a lot of them just hunker down and stay here and enter a hibernation like state.' Lebenzon says Calgarians have a love-hate relationship with bugs, but there's likely more people that hate them in their yards, especially wasps, ants and aphids. 'Last year, people were like, 'There's so many wasps everywhere,' she said. 'I think it's because we had a really wet spring, which means there's lots of aphids 00 and wasps like to eat the aphid dew, which is basically like aphid poop – and so because of that, their population can maybe grow a little bit larger than what you might have seen the year before." Lebenzon says insects are an important part of our ecosystem. 'Insects make up three-quarters of all animals that live on land,' she said. 'They pollinate about three quarters of all the food that we eat, like all the types of plants and so you know like it or not, they're very important.'
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
What are cinch bugs and why are they devouring Calgary lawns?
They're small and hard to spot, but the damage chinch bugs are doing to Calgary lawns is unmistakable. James Szojka owns the lawn company Yard Dawgs, and says the 2024 water restrictions placed on Calgarians didn't help matters. 'We are seeing more this year than all the other years combined,' he said. 'I think the damage, especially in the southeast communities of Mahogany, Auburn Bay, McKenzie Towne, all these areas in particular – because chinch bugs migrate from the south – do get hit first and they get hit the hardest.' The bugs target individual blades of grass and suck the nutrients out of them, leaving them brown. Over time, a lawn will have a series of brown spots, and if left unchecked, they'll devour the entire lawn. 'They inject a toxin, and it will cause damages up to the point where someone has to completely replace their lawn,' he said. 'This is perfect environment for the bugs to really start to get very active and start to damage, because they love hot and dry, they do not like cold and wet.' Szojka says chinch bugs migrate to other lawns by flying or walking and won't discriminate. It's something causing concern for Calgary homeowner Tamara Schuetzle. She says her lawn is green and lush right now, and she's working hard to keep it that way. 'By removing the thatch, aerating so it's not compacted, and then of course nutrients,' she said. 'Calgary has a lot of clay, so I kind of use a combination of things that breaks up the clay so that the grass can have a better root system.' She's watering frequently to make her lawn less appealing to chinch bugs, which have devastated her neighbour's yard. 'The problem is, yes my lawn looks green now,' she said. 'But if everybody doesn't take care and do their part, they're just going to keep coming back, so it needs to be like a community thing where we do it together.' University of Calgary insect physiologist Jackie Lebenzon studies insects, how they work and how they respond to changes in different types of environments. She says Calgary's northern climate restricts the species that can live here, but chinch bugs have grown hardy and can survive winters easily. 'They're totally built to last.' she said. 'They do go away, they go dormant and they disappear (for close to six months of the year), so I guess there's two things they could do: run away, a lot of them migrate south just like a lot of us wish we could do, and then a lot of them just hunker down and stay here and enter a hibernation like state.' Lebenzon says Calgarians have a love-hate relationship with bugs, but there's likely more people that hate them in their yards, especially wasps, ants and aphids. 'Last year, people were like, 'There's so many wasps everywhere,' she said. 'I think it's because we had a really wet spring, which means there's lots of aphids 00 and wasps like to eat the aphid dew, which is basically like aphid poop – and so because of that, their population can maybe grow a little bit larger than what you might have seen the year before." Lebenzon says insects are an important part of our ecosystem. 'Insects make up three-quarters of all animals that live on land,' she said. 'They pollinate about three quarters of all the food that we eat, like all the types of plants and so you know like it or not, they're very important.'
