Buffalo’s back (Whitecourt Star) Neil Hochstein's father, Lee, is a beef man. Neil on the other hand is not. Having spent years travelling the globe, Neil arrived back home to Alberta two years ago and decided to raise bison. [News Source]

‘The Americans are nervous’ (Whitecourt Star) Well, it's about time. After years of somewhat hypocritical trade practices, so they should be. There are numerous minor examples where trade relations have broken down. [News Source]

Stronger trade ties with Beijing forged (Whitecourt Star) The message is clear from the federal government. It will deal with China. Trade between Canada and Asia's largest economy will increase in future years as federal Conservatives work to detangle the country from its dependence on trade with the U.S. [News Source]

Penn Medicine News: Prion-Busting Cocktails (University of Pennsylvania Health System) Prions are shape-shifting proteins that act like germs, infecting healthy tissue and causing havoc in the body. Prions pass on, or infect, by converting normally folded molecules of the same protein into abnormally structured clumps called amyloid. [News Source]

School lunches follow USDAâregs (Williston Herald) Reducing fat content while still providing five combined servings of meat, vegetables or fruit, grains and milk remains the focus of school lunches across North Dakota and nationally. [News Source]

Heard along the trail (The Hazleton Standard-Speaker) BIGGEST BEAR - Charles W. Olsen Jr. of Wilkes-Barre shot the largest bear in the state so far this season. The Game Commission said Olsen's bear weighed an estimated 707 pounds. He shot it on Nov. 25 in Noxen Township, Wyoming County. Of the next two lar [News Source]

Climate-change skeptics gain from Ottawa funding. The federal government has been funding an asbestos lobby group that promotes the work of prominent climate-change skeptics. [News Source]