St. Albert news

• Press Gallery #220: The Game Of Thrones edition

  09-03-2018 23:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta legislature throne speeches aren’t exactly known for being packed with news, but that certainly wasn’t the case with the one that kicked off the spring session Thursday. 
  Join Press Gallery host Emma Graney with guests Clare Clancy, Paula Simons and Graham Thomson to delve into the throne speech and the promise from the government that it will invoke Lougheed-era oil throttling if British Columbia keeps blocking the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. 
  The team also
  
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• Test drugs at safe consumption sites, Alberta opioid commission recommends

  09-03-2018 22:02 via edmontonjournal.com
  A provincial commission appointed to guide Alberta’s response to the growing opioid crisis unveiled 14 new recommendations Friday, including a proposal to allow testing of drugs when users visit a supervised consumption site.
  Though questions remain around how effective some of the tests are, such a service would potentially give users some indication of what is in their drugs before they are consumed, commission leaders said. 
  “They are really seen a tool for harm reduction. It
  
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• How Alberta justice system is tackling 'complete breakdown' that led to shackling, jailing of sex assault victim

  09-03-2018 21:50 via edmontonjournal.com
  An independent report into the treatment of an incarcerated, shackled sexual assault victim released by Alberta Justice in February called the Indigenous woman’s experience a “complete breakdown” of legal protections. It called for 18 changes to Alberta’s justice system. Postmedia reporters looked deeper into three of those recommendations.
  Agencies studying call for ‘complete overhaul’ of Alberta’s victim services
  Organizations that work with victims of
  
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• Rooster Cafe's mushroom toast should have you crowing

  09-03-2018 21:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Rooster Cafe & Kitchen is one of the newest spots on Whyte Avenue for someone to grab a morning nosh, providing breakfast for early risers and brunch for the slugabeds.
  The casual space in the former Artisan Resto Cafe opened a couple of months ago and is still a bit of a work in progress — finishing the concrete floor from which the old tile has been removed is scheduled to happen along with other renovations in the spring.
  The walls are decorated with such items as portraits of A
  
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• Council Briefs for March 5th

  09-03-2018 21:27
  Council Briefs are provided for the benefit of community members with the intent of giving a short, informal report on... Read Post
  
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• Chiarelli's big move this summer? My bet is he moves lottery pick of the Edmonton Oilers

  09-03-2018 21:04 via edmontonjournal.com
  I can’t see Oilers moving RNH or Klefbom. But that lottery pick? Yes, I can see that
  The Edmonton Oilers need to get faster at forward, more skilled on the blueline, and better in net.
  It will be no easy task for Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli to pull off this roster make-over, given his lack of options,  though I do see two assets that I suspect he’ll move in order to improve his team. 
  First, he can deal draft picks, including the Oilers lottery pick. Second, with the NHL&rsqu
  
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• TappCar partners with EIA to bring in fleet of pure-electric vehicles

  09-03-2018 21:03 via edmontonjournal.com
  A local ride-sharing company is bringing in a fleet of pure-electric vehicles to service the Edmonton region and the Edmonton International Airport (EIA).
  TappCar made the announcement Friday and plans to have the pure-electric fleet come online this summer. The fleet will consist entirely of BYD e6 models.
  “TappCar wants to constantly be building a more sustainable service, which we know is an important priority for our users,” said TappCar spokesperson Pascal Ryffel, in a news
  
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• Children of God shares poignant tale with Citadel audience

  09-03-2018 21:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Picture a child, standing at the edge of a field, his eyes tracking a train as it chugs by. Every day that he can, he slips away from the schoolyard to watch the train. That’s because he hopes the train is carrying his parents, and that they are coming to take him home.
  That lonely image, for me, is the most moving scene in Children of God, the Citadel’s latest production on the Shoctor stage until March 24. Written by Vancouver’s Corey Payette, the musical tells the tragic sto
  
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• St. Albert environmentalist Elke Blodgett lived for all seasons

  09-03-2018 19:41 via edmontonjournal.com
  Elke Blodgett was an unapologetic advocate for the environment in St. Albert.
  Standing at about five-foot-one, the compact woman was a force of nature. “She was a small person but also big in the sense that she had big ideas and a big heart,” her daughter, Astrid Blodgett, said last week.
  On Feb. 15, Elke Blodgett’s voice was carried on the wind. The 81-year-old died of cardiac arrest.
  She fought the City of St. Albert’s plans to use a pesticide to kill an invas
  
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• Edmonton's unemployment rate dips slightly in February: StatsCan

  09-03-2018 19:29 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton’s unemployment rate dropped slightly last month, according to Statistics Canada’s latest labour force survey released Friday.
  The February numbers showed Edmonton’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9 per cent from 7.2 per cent in January. The rate is also down on a year-over-year basis from 8.4 per cent in February 2017.
  In Calgary, however, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.9 per cent in February from 7.6 per cent in January.
  Provincially, the unemployment rate dro
  
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• NDP's $10-million plan to fight rural crime focuses on prolific offenders

  09-03-2018 18:53 via edmontonjournal.com
  The NDP’s plan to fight rural crime will focus on arresting prolific offenders and adding dozens of new RCMP officers, staff, and Crown prosectors, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Friday.
  The price tag comes in at $10 million, with $8 million earmarked to hire 39 new RCMP officers and 40 new staff.
  The remaining $2 million will be for hiring up to 10 crown prosecutors who will focus solely on rural crime.
  Here are some specifics. There’s a seven point plan. pic.twitter.com/dnnx
  
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• Weapons complaint delays service at McKernan-Belgravia LRT station

  09-03-2018 17:07 via edmontonjournal.com
  LRT trains were briefly stopped Friday morning as police responded to a weapon’s complaint on a train at the McKernan-Belgravia station.
  Edmonton police took a male and a female into custody but found no weapons, spokeswoman Carolin Maran said. The complaint came at around 8:30 a.m. 
  “For the safety of all transit riders the trains travelling on the line were stopped while police responded and investigated,” Maran said.
  Trains resumed service about 15 minutes later. &
  
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• Edmonton weather: It's beginning to feel a bit like spring

  09-03-2018 14:23 via edmontonjournal.com
  It looks as though the weather has finally taken a turn toward the warmer side of life with above zero temperatures forecast for the next week, including an ambitious 12 C forecast for Wednesday.
  Temperatures this morning at Environment Canada’s Edmonton Blatchford station measured -7 C with a -12 C wind chill. Mercury levels are expected to reach 0 C this afternoon but a nasty wind may make things feel a bit cooler.
  Today: Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of flurries this morning and
  
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• Friday's letters: Gondola would fail like the funicular

  09-03-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Help me understand why we would want to embark on the idea of a gondola ride across the North Saskatchewan.
  Our newest money pit, the funicular, missed a couple of key design issues: it snows and is cold in Edmonton. The snow prevents doors from opening and the cold bogs it down. Idiotic joyriders jump up and down to break it, and others cannot tell an emergency-stop button from the first-floor button.
  City council will undoubtedly sweep those concerns aside as we pour more money into maintenanc
  
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• NDP promises beefed up funding in fight against rural crime

  09-03-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Alberta government is set to announce new funding Friday to combat a growing concern around rural crime. 
  Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley was scheduled to host a news conference in Calmar to unveil the new initiatives. 
  Alberta RCMP deputy commissioner Todd Shean was slated to appear with Ganley.
  The announcement comes a day after the NDP government’s throne speech highlighted rural crime as a priority issue.
  “The focus will be to act on the advice of our police and la
  
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• DOWNWARD DOG: NAIT puppy yoga class fundraiser photo gallery

  09-03-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
   
  A puppy runs through yoga practitioners during a puppy yoga class at NAIT.
  NAIT students Megan McGouey, left, Paulina Hauf, centre, and Simer Jod visit with foster dog Hank during a puppy yoga class at NAIT.
  Second year NAIT Forestry student Brittany Beaudry is surrounded by puppies as she takes part in a puppy yoga class at NAIT.
  A puppy runs through yoga practitioners during a puppy yoga class at NAIT.
  Puppies wander through yoga practitioners during a puppy yoga class at NAIT.
  First ye
  
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• David Staples: How hotel employee Brad Smoley won his own personal Stanley Cup

  09-03-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  If you work hard and smart enough, you might one day win the Stanley Cup in your chosen line of work.
  That’s what just happened with Brad Smoley, 38, a guest services specialist at Edmonton’s downtown Westin Hotel. 
  Smoley’s accomplishment — winning an international employee excellence award at the world’s biggest hotel chain, J.W. Marriott, with 5,000 hotels and 1.1 million rooms — won’t get the attention that will come if Connor McDavid ever wins
  
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• Councillor pushes for LRT to Griesbach in light of rapid bus costs

  09-03-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premium bus service with dedicated lanes and a shortcut bridge over the Calder rail yards would give north-side residents quicker access downtown — but at almost the same cost as full light rail transit, says a new report for city council.
  The update is one in a series of reports this year planning out the future expansion of the LRT. North-side councillors pitched a bus bridge shortcut last term as a possible interim step as their residents wait for the LRT to come. 
  But Ward 2 Coun.
  
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• Player grades: Connor McDavid puts on a show, leads Oilers to comeback win over Isles

  09-03-2018 10:05 via edmontonjournal.com
  Islanders 1, Oilers 2 (SO)
  Sleepy early, scintillating late. That pretty much sums up Edmonton Oilers’ 2-1 shootout victory over New York Islanders on Thursday night.
  For 40 minutes neither team could light the lamp, but the Islanders capitalized early in the third. As the clock ticked down into the game’s 59th minute it looked for all the world like the Oilers were going to drop yet another one at home to an Eastern Conference foe. Not just lose, but get shut out — by the wors
  
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• Alberta throne speech: NDP threatens to reduce flow of oil to B.C.

  09-03-2018 02:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta won’t hesitate to throttle back oil and gas production if British Columbia continues to stand in the way of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, Premier Rachel Notley said Thursday.   
  The tough talk in Alberta’s throne speech signalled a hardened resolve by the government to fight for pipelines and the billions of dollars in revenue that expanded market access would add to the economy.
  In the speech delivered by Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell, the province doubled down o
  
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• Graham Thomson: Premier Rachel Notley threatens to go nuclear in pipeline war with B.C.

  09-03-2018 02:58 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta bumper stickers in 1980: “Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark.”
  How the stickers would look today: “Let the Western Bastards Freeze in the Dark.”
  If somebody hasn’t already started making them, they should.
  The NDP government of Premier Rachel Notley is taking a page from the playbook of Peter Lougheed’s Progressive Conservative government.
  It is threatening to reduce the flow of oil to British Columbia if its government keeps standing in the w
  
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• Stabbing in Grande Prairie leads to attempted murder charges

  09-03-2018 02:41 via edmontonjournal.com
  RCMP have filed attempted murder charges against a man and a woman in connection to a stabbing incident Tuesday in Grande Prairie.
  Police said exterior surveillance cameras recorded the attack in which a man was stabbed multiple times in the area of 98 Street and 100 Avenue in the northwestern Alberta city.
  Emergency Medical Services and RCMP were called to the scene around 6 p.m. Tuesday, police said Thursday. The victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while police qui
  
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• Activists take Lucy the elephant fight to appeal court

  09-03-2018 02:21 via edmontonjournal.com
  The province’s appeal court heard arguments Thursday that the elephant in the room during an application related to the Edmonton Valley Zoo’s permit is an actual elephant. 
  Activist groups Voice for Animals Humane Society and Zoocheck Canada are seeking a judicial review of 2017 decision Alberta’s environment and parks minister to issue a permit to the Edmonton Valley Zoo.
  The organizations allege the City of Edmonton — which owns the zoo — is breaking the law
  
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• Talk Back: A bridge or a cup of coffee: New councillor lobbies for clear cost breakdown on city projects

  09-03-2018 01:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton should include clear cost estimates whenever it brings road, bridge and other capital project ideas out for public comments, argues city Coun. Jon Dziadyk.
  The new Ward 3 councillor is lobbying for increased financial transparency, both during city budget debates and at public open houses.
  He wants each new bridge or other public infrastructure to be calculated in terms of cost to the typical homeowner, whether that’s two cents or $5. That should be presented — along with th
  
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• Alberta throne speech: NDP threatens to turn off oil to B.C.

  09-03-2018 00:43 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta won’t hesitate to throttle oil and gas production if British Columbia continues to stand in the way of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, Premier Rachel Notley said Thursday.   
  The tough talk in Alberta’s throne speech signalled a hardened resolve by the government to fight for pipelines and the billions of dollars in revenue that expanded market access would add to the economy.
  In the speech delivered by Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell, the province doubled down on the
  
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• Alberta throne speech: Read the full text here

  09-03-2018 00:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  The following is the full text of the Alberta Government’s throne speech given on March 8 by Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell. Read our coverage here.
  International Women’s Day
  Fellow Albertans, welcome to this, the first day of the new session of your legislature.
  We gather today on the traditional territory of Treaty Six and acknowledge the Métis people of Alberta, who share a deep connection with this land.
  I also want to acknowledge that today is International Women’s Day.
  In
  
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• 'We're serious': NDP bill aims to boost confidence in energy projects

  09-03-2018 00:38 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Alberta government introduced its first bill of the spring session Thursday, rolling out the second phase of an energy diversification program. 
  But Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said more details — including the price tag — will be released in coming weeks. 
  “Today really is about the vision and signalling to investors we’re serious about … making Alberta the destination of choice,” she told a news conference after the throne speech. 
  
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• Developer donates entire building to house pregnant homeless women

  09-03-2018 00:25 via edmontonjournal.com
  As far as donations go, this one is large and heavy.
  Developer Gene Dub has donated an entire four-storey building to give homes to some of the estimated 100 pregnant woman who find themselves homeless in Edmonton each year.
  He heard about the need on a radio show, then thought about what he could do.
  “I just happened to have a building,” said the local developer, speaking Thursday after his gift was celebrated at the 2018 housing awards. 
  Dub specializes in rehabilitating histo
  
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• Editorial: Throne speech talks tough

  09-03-2018 00:24 via edmontonjournal.com
  If British Columbia thought the ban on its wine was punishing, Alberta’s speech from the throne Thursday had a message: If you continue to obstruct the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, things could get much worse.
  The speech, read by Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell on behalf of Premier Rachel Notley’s government, was part-battle cry to Albertans and part-ultimatum to British Columbians. It will raise eyebrows from Ottawa to Victoria by invoking officially for the first time the option of wi
  
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• Everything you need to know about this weekend's Crashed Ice event

  09-03-2018 00:17 via edmontonjournal.com
  Have you noticed something unusual under construction on the North Saskatchewan River’s north bank near downtown?
  It’s an obstacle-filled, 455-metre ice track that plunges 40 metres and, this weekend, adrenalin-craving athletes will skate down it, sailing off jumps and banking around hairpin turns.
  The sport is called ice cross downhill, and the Edmonton competition is the world championship event of the season.
  Like all major city festivities, this weekend’s Red Bull Crashed I
  
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