St. Albert news

• What I hope to see for each Edmonton Oilers player this year

  08-09-2017 22:26 via edmontonjournal.com
  By their numbers hopes for Edmonton Oilers players in 2017-18
  Laurent Brossoit, 1: One game early on in the season where he absolutely stands on his head and steals a win for the Oilers. Confidence is a massive part of the games for any player but especially so for a young goalie trying to win the trust of his coach and team, not to mention trust in himself. If that big win comes against Calgary, so much the better. Just cause I hate the Flames. 
  Andrej Sekera, 2: Two strong knees. Sekera w
  
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• UFC 215 card takes another hit before the fighting even starts

  08-09-2017 22:25 via edmontonjournal.com
  They haven’t even started fighting yet and the body blows have already knocked the wind out of UFC 215 at Rogers Place.
  With two of the three main fights cancelled, what originally began as a powerhouse night featuring an epic heavyweight slugfest, the highest calibre fight women’s MMA has ever seen and Demetrious Johnson’s shot at UFC history is now struggling to stay on its feet.
  The card suffered its first major hit in mid-August when former heavyweight champion Junior dos S
  
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• Edmonton Food Bank warning of door-to-door collection fraud

  08-09-2017 22:07 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Edmonton Food Bank issued a warning Friday about potential fraudulent door-to-door donation collectors.
  Approved food bank collectors will never ask for monetary donations at the door and only ask for non-perishable food items, a news release said.
  The food bank posts collection events online so residents can be aware when these door-to-door collections are happening. 
  Tamisan Bencz-Knight, manager of strategic partnerships, said they are not aware of door-to-door fraud under their name
  
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• Warrants out for violent offender

  08-09-2017 21:51 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton police have issued arrest warrants for a violent offender the service warned the public about in December.
  Leon Halkett, 32, is wanted on four counts of breach of recognizance. City police warned in December that he was being released into the community.
  “Halkett poses a great risk to the public and is considered by police to be a violent and sexually violent offender who has preyed on random women, as well as women whom he has been in relationships with,” police said in a F
  
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• Death of Cold Lake child a homicide, RCMP say

  08-09-2017 21:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  The recent death of a 16-month-old girl in Cold Lake is now deemed a homicide, say RCMP. 
  Investigators first reported the toddler’s death last month. They identified her Friday as Veronica Poitras.
  A family member brought the toddler to hospital in Cold Lake on Aug. 26. Soon after, she was transported to hospital in Edmonton for additional treatment, but was taken off life support and pronounced dead on Aug. 29. 
  Cold Lake RCMP and the RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit (MCU) are in
  
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• Canada 150 Takes Root in St. Albert With Legacy Tree Planting

  08-09-2017 20:18
  Special Ceremony unveils Legacy Tree and Special Canada 150 Reflection Area Canada 150 will be rooted within St. Albert for... Read Post
  
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• Police seek new tips five years after Edmonton restauranteur shot dead outside Crestwood home

  08-09-2017 19:20 via edmontonjournal.com
  Police are turning to the public for fresh tips five years after a well known Edmonton restaurant owner was shot dead outside his Crestwood home.
  Chi Lik Wong, 50, was gunned down in his driveway near 145 Street and 97 Avenue around 11:10 p.m. Sept. 9, 2012.
  “It’s been five years since the Wong family lost their loved one to such a violent and tragic death,” said city police homicide Det. Alan Elliott in a Friday news release. 
  “Sometimes people with evidence are too
  
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• Edmonton floats idea of a new provincial park inside city borders

  08-09-2017 19:09 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson is lobbying for the creation of a new provincial park within city boundaries.
  The park would be in the Big Island-Woodbend area and could be co-managed with the Enoch Cree Nation, since it overlaps with traditional Enoch territory.
  The first details of the plan were released in a report to council Friday. The report says the mayor’s office initiated discussion with the province, Enoch and other regional stakeholders this spring. “All stakeholder representati
  
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• Wine column: 'Organic' can mean different things in the wide world of wine

  08-09-2017 18:55 via edmontonjournal.com
  When it comes to the term “organic” in the wine world, it gets a bit muddled.
  Some wines have labels indicating various certifications from organic vineyard to organic grapes, organic wine, sustainable and biodynamic. Not all wines that are organic are labelled as such. This is a long and expensive process that is often not feasible for small producers — much like the vendors we see at the local farmer’s markets. I get to know my vendor and I may even visit the farm. 
  
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• Bündok brunch offers respite from busy downtown Edmonton farmers' market

  08-09-2017 18:36 via edmontonjournal.com
  One of the major attractions of living in downtown Edmonton is easy access to the farm-fresh vegetables, handmade perogies, beautiful prints and quirky jewelry at the 104 Street market each Saturday.
  When the weather is good, the crowd of shoppers strolling between the vendor stalls gives the area the type of bustling urban vibe sought by city planners across North America.
  But after getting up in the morning and wandering through the area north of Jasper Avenue to find the perfect bottle of org
  
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• Man arrested for alleged sexual offences against young relatives

  08-09-2017 18:24 via edmontonjournal.com
  Police have arrested an Edmonton man for alleged sexual offences committed against family members, including four children.
  Alberta’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit announced Friday that officers arrested the 50-year-old man after a six-month investigation that identified four child victims in Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. 
  Police are not releasing the accused’s name to protect the identities of the victims. ICE is working with the Zebra Centre for Child Protection
  
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• City announces free shuttle service from Greyhound station to Kingsway

  08-09-2017 18:16 via edmontonjournal.com
  Those arriving to Edmonton by Greyhound will now have a shuttle bus connection to the city right from the station. 
  The city announced a partnership Friday morning between Edmonton Transit Service and Greyhound Canada that will offer a free coach shuttle service connecting the station and the Kingsway Transit Centre starting Sept. 17.
  This partnership comes two days after recommendations to improve transit for tourists were brought to the city’s urban planning committee.
  Right now, th
  
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• Terry Jones: UFC 215 in Edmonton will still be better than Calgary’s

  08-09-2017 17:16 via edmontonjournal.com
  Because Saturday night’s UFC 215 at Rogers Place has lost it’s featured main event fight and Demetrious Johnson has lost his chance to make history here, it does not mean this is going to be UFC 149 all over again.
  UFC 149 was the infamous Calgary disaster in July of 2012. It was the only previous UFC fight card in Alberta and was a colossal train wreck from beginning to end.
  This is the loss of the main event that was declared to lack sizzle and pay per view salability by UFC media
  
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• Vignettes Does Dining launches as part of Edmonton Design Week

  08-09-2017 17:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  Dining devotees have a chance to sample some of Edmonton’s hottest, and newest, restaurants as Vignettes Does Dining kicks off its second annual pop-up experience in the heart of downtown.
  A followup from last year’s inaugural event (which featured three pop-up options along 104 Street), this year’s pop-up showcases nine restaurants — all of whom are working out of a sea-can restaurant erected for the event at 10004 103A Ave. Called The Christenson (after local developer
  
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• David Staples: Family opens up about son's opioid-overdose death in effort to spur more action

  08-09-2017 15:35 via edmontonjournal.com
  The death toll is so high from new, powerful and lethal opioids that Edmonton city council is now getting quarterly updates on how it might possibly cope with the crisis. 
  In the latest update Thursday, council learned 609 Albertans have died from an apparent fentanyl overdose since January 2016. That’s up from just 29 in 2012.
  The majority of deaths came from outside of the inner city. This includes Matthew Wallin, 23, who grew up in an affluent family in a west Edmonton suburb. He d
  
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• UFC 215 main event has been cancelled due to illness

  08-09-2017 15:33 via edmontonjournal.com
  The main event of Saturday night’s UFC 215 card in Edmonton has been cancelled.
  Late Thursday night, news broke that Ray Borg was pulled from his fight with UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson due to illness, according to multiple reports.
  The fight was meant to be the headliner of Saturday night’s pay-per-view, which had already lost a blockbuster heavyweight showdown between Francis Ngannou and former champion Junior Dos Santos.
  The women’s bantamweight title fight betw
  
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• Restoration ecologist one of many University of Alberta researchers to receive Discovery Grants funding

  08-09-2017 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Justine Karst, a restoration ecologist in the University of Alberta’s faculty of agricultural, life and environmental sciences, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) industrial chair in terrestrial restoration Ecology, is studying how fungi growing symbiotically with tree roots support the health of boreal forests.
  “My research bridges historically disparate fields in forest ecology and emphasizes interactions between forest ecosystem components,
  
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• Friday's letters: Why shutter downtown for Tour of Alberta?

  08-09-2017 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Last Monday, without much notice, streets were suddenly closed, parking temporarily restricted and access in and out of parking garages blockaded. 
  Bus routes had been rerouted without a lot of notice and many downtown bus stops had been temporarily abandoned.
  Although Edmonton wants to call itself a Festival City and wants to demonstrate that by having a major international event like the Tour of Alberta to show off its downtown core, the city went out of its way to present a ghost town.
  I
  
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• Editorial: Education reforms stuck in limbo

  08-09-2017 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  If overhauling Alberta’s education system was a school project, provincial politicians would earn a failing grade — not for lack of effort but because the assignment is long overdue despite numerous extensions.
  Let’s review: Several years ago, the former Progressive Conservative government decided to reshape Alberta’s education landscape for the “21st century learner.” It spent three years consulting with an estimated 20,000 educators, parents, students and ot
  
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• Terry Jones: Maas understands emotions in good times and bad

  08-09-2017 13:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Three weeks ago Jason Maas was coaching on top of the world. Now his team is crawling through Death Valley.
  Three weeks ago his Edmonton Eskimos were 7-0. Now they’ve lost three straight and fans are reporting more injuries than the team itself as they do a reenactment of Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.
  Maas gets it. He understands.
  “The City of Champions is real. People love winning here and they expect to win here. When you are winning, they want to get on board more. But as much as
  
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• UFC 215 main event cancelled as Ray Borg ill ahead of bout with Demetrius Johnson

  08-09-2017 09:01 via edmontonjournal.com
  The main event of Saturday night’s UFC 215 card in Edmonton has been cancelled.
  Late Thursday night, news broke that Ray Borg was pulled from his fight with UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson due to illness, according to multiple reports.
  The fight was meant to be the headliner of Saturday night’s pay-per-view, which had already lost a blockbuster heavyweight showdown between Francis Ngannou and former champion Junior Dos Santos.
  The women’s bantamweight title fight betw
  
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• Old vs. new: five factors to consider when deciding what type of home to buy

  08-09-2017 08:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  It’s as exciting as it is daunting: buying a home is likely the biggest purchase you’ll ever make. Once you’re ready to take that giant step, there other big decisions involved, like whether to go with an older home or one that’s brand new.
  There are pros and cons to each. Many old houses have that street-appeal charm that only comes with heritage; newly constructed ones, by contrast, come with clean lines and contemporary design. Here are a few more factors to consider.
  
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• Clash over caribou, jobs in Whitecourt

  08-09-2017 06:29 via edmontonjournal.com
  By Peter Shokeir
  Whitecourt  – Government officials, environmental organizations and forestry groups offered clashing opinions about the way forward on caribou at a forum in Whitecourt on Thursday.
  The Whitecourt Chamber of Commerce hosted the Caribou, Forestry and You Public Information Awareness Panel to discuss Alberta’s future Caribou Range Plan and how the local forestry industry may be affected. The 11 panel members included environmentalists, forestry industry representat
  
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• Enforcement team struggling to rein in chronic noisy, messy properties

  08-09-2017 04:26 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton staff are ramping up the tickets but still struggling to rein in trash, violence and noise issues on dozens of problem properties across the city.
  “Compliance isn’t easy. That’s why we have this program,” city director Ryan Pleckaitis said Thursday, defending a new team against criticism that they’ve failed to gain control of the issue.
  Edmonton now has a multi-disciplinary team checking on the worst houses, rental properties and rooming houses that make ne
  
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• UFC fighters teach select fans their favourite moves in front of crowd

  08-09-2017 04:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  One of the event staff casually reminded Thursday’s Knock ‘em Out challenge participants they were being filmed. He told them about the millions of people who would be reached through UFC social media. They’d be rock stars.
  The fans were assembled at Rogers Place, where they’d purchased up-close-and-personal access to three of UFC’s mixed martial artists for the day. On the other side of the fence, a crowd was there for their own brush with UFC infamy — a phot
  
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• Travis Vader admits to meth use, stolen truck possession in mid-trial plea deal

  08-09-2017 04:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  After nearly 2-1/2 days of witness testimony, Travis Vader entered guilty pleas Thursday to two of the charges he faced for offences committed while out on bail during a double-murder trial.
  Vader, 45, admitted to consuming the street drug version of methamphetamine shortly before a urine test found evidence of the drug in his system in early May 2016. He also pleaded guilty to having been in possession of a stolen truck when he was arrested by investigators after they learned he’d failed
  
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• Blue-green algae in bloom at Heritage Lake

  08-09-2017 03:43 via edmontonjournal.com
  A blue-green algae alert was issued Thursday for Heritage Lake near Morinville, Alta., and Alberta Health Services is recommending lake users take precautions.
  Blue-green algae — or cyanobacteria — blooms naturally occur in Alberta lakes and can look like scum, fuzz or globs of blue-green, greenish-brown, brown, or pinkish-red algae on the surface of the water, often smelling musty or like grass.
  People who come into contact with blue-green algae or who drink water with cyanobac
  
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• Edmonton to bid on 'tasty morsel' $5-billon Amazon headquarters

  08-09-2017 03:30 via edmontonjournal.com
  Online retail giant Amazon is looking for a second North American headquarters and Edmonton is hoping to be its home.
  The Seattle-based business is looking to open what it calls Amazon HQ2, a $5-billion construction project that could bring with it 50,000 jobs.
  Mayor Don Iveson said the Amazon request for proposals is a “tasty morsel” that made his ears perk up Thursday.
  “If they’re looking for assets like great talent, affordable downtown real estate, one of the best mac
  
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• New playground speed limit runs into stiff opposition

  08-09-2017 03:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton is moving too fast on a new strategy to reduce speed limits around playgrounds across the city, warned two councillors Thursday. 
  Coun. Ed Gibbons and Coun. Moe Banga came out dead set against a new plan to impose 30 km/h limits beside 425 playgrounds in the city.
  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a grandfather. I want to make sure that the kids are safe. But at the same time, I think we’re overdoing it right now,” said Banga, councillor for Ward 12.
  “You
  
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• Edmonton looks at cutbacks, fare increase for Route 747 airport bus

  08-09-2017 03:04 via edmontonjournal.com
  Days after debating the importance of transit for tourism, city council will be looking at deep service cuts and fare increases for its only bus connection to the airport.
  Edmonton Transit officials suggested Edmonton could cut service to just once an hour, end it at 10 p.m. and increase fares to $7.50 from $5 to make up for the elimination of a subsidy from the Edmonton International Airport.
  For the last five years, the airport authority has been subsidizing the service with a $500,000 annual
  
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• Sunshine and record temperatures in Edmonton Thursday

  08-09-2017 03:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmontonians were out enjoying the sunshine Thursday as the temperature in the city shattered previous records.
  The highest temperature recorded on Sept. 7 in Edmonton since 1996 was set in 2003 when Environment Canada measured it at a hot 29.7 C.
  That record was broken Thursday when the temperature hit 31.8 C at Blatchford Field, formerly City Centre Airport, by 5 p.m.
  The temperature Friday could threaten a record set for Sept. 8 in 2011 at 29.9 C. The forecast for Friday calls for the tempera
  
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• Oil Kings continue pre-season with home and home against Hitmen

  08-09-2017 03:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Pre-season has never been about the final score.
  So Edmonton Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton is not concerned with dropping both games at an exhibition tournament in Red Deer last weekend.
  Instead, Hamilton is focused on the positives showcased by his young team in losses to the Prince George Cougars and the Red Deer Rebels, and is looking to build on them heading into a pre-season home-and-home series with the Calgary Hitmen this weekend.
  “Overall, I think it was a positive impression
  
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• Former Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference starts new TV job

  08-09-2017 03:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Former Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference started a new part-time job Thursday.
  Working for Sportsnet, doing feature stories.
  “I’m a rookie like everybody else,” joked Ference, who was talking to Oilers’ prospects, off on their maiden voyage as NHL pros-in-waiting with the Young Stars tournament in the Okanagan.
  Related
  Oilers winger Slepyshev might not be ready for training campOilers prospect Yamamoto trying to find right speed, strength balanceOilers prospect Benso
  
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• TransCanada seeking 30-day suspension of Energy East application

  08-09-2017 02:53 via edmontonjournal.com
  CALGARY — The future of the Energy East pipeline has been thrown into question after TransCanada Corp. announced it wants to suspend for now its application to build the $15.7-billion project.
  In a statement Thursday, Calgary-based TransCanada says it filed a letter to the National Energy Board asking for a 30-day suspension for the proposed the 4,500-km pipeline which would carry crude from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in Eastern Canada.
  The company says it wants to study how th
  
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• Alberta deputy health minister Carl Amrhein resigns to return to academia

  08-09-2017 00:20 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta deputy health minister Carl Amrhein has resigned.
  The news was announced Thursday shortly after Amrhein appeared at the legislature’s public accounts committee meeting to answer MLA’s questions about integration in the health system.
  Amrhein has served as deputy minister for more than two years, since August 2015. His last day will be Oct. 6, the government said.
  He will be returning to academia as the provost and vice-president, academic, at Aga Khan University. Prior to his
  
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• 'I've never cried so hard:' Edmonton husband left grieving after wife drowns on wedding anniversary vacation

  08-09-2017 00:05 via edmontonjournal.com
  “When I put my foot on Edmonton soil, the exact day of our anniversary, it was without my wife,” Pat L’Hirondelle said Thursday, hours before he said his last farewell to his wife, Debbie, at her funeral in Edmonton.
  He takes a deep breath. “I’ve never cried so hard.”
  The L’Hirondelle’s Hawaiian holiday last month to celebrate 30 years of marriage had started serenely, but ended in the ultimate tragedy. 
  Crisp August air, the type that reminds
  
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