St. Albert news

• West LRT will take out businesses, heritage homes, trees and clog roads, say residents

  21-03-2018 23:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  Nearly 50 public speakers signed up Wednesday to protest a west LRT plan most say will hurt neighbourhoods and businesses far more than it will help.
  The line as proposed could shutter more than 35 businesses and a dozen private homes along the line. That’s in addition to roughly 20 more businesses expected to be impacted by a proposed underpass at 149 Street. Those numbers are according to a city map, with specific lots marked out.
  “I believe in progress, but not at this cost,&
  
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• Police converge on apartment building near Whyte Avenue

  21-03-2018 23:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton police converged on an apartment building near Whyte Avenue around lunch time Wednesday, after reports of a shooting that turned out to be a false alarm.
  Officers were called to the area around 11 a.m. and surrounded the building near 81 Avenue and 99 Street minutes later. 
  The city police tactical unit later arrived. A man was taken away in handcuffs but later released.
  Police left the area around 12:20 p.m. 
  Edmonton police responded to an incident near 81 Avenue and 99 Stre
  
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• Savings weren't big enough to share all school buses, says Catholic schools chair

  21-03-2018 23:35 via edmontonjournal.com
  The savings were too meagre and the risks too great for Edmonton Catholic Schools to create a joint busing authority with the public school board, says Catholic board chairman Terry Harris.
  The Edmonton public school board’s push to strike a joint agency to manage student transportation has fizzled, with the two districts agreeing to share 20 school buses next school year — a move that will save each board around $250,000, public board chairwoman Michelle Draper said Tuesday. A handf
  
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• Youths facing 460 charges for crimes around LRT, malls, rec centres

  21-03-2018 23:27 via edmontonjournal.com
  A 46-year-old woman is violently kicked in the back and sent flying down the stairs at Belvedere LRT station in a random early morning attack.
  Two youths are beaten after being swarmed by a group of nearly three dozen assailants at Century Park LRT station.
  A 16-year-old is jumped by a group of six youths while walking home from school in a failed personal robbery.
  All three cases are part of an Edmonton city police investigation that has resulted in more than 460 charges being laid against
  
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• Veteran firefighter Shirley Benson becomes Edmonton's first female district fire chief

  21-03-2018 23:19 via edmontonjournal.com
  Shirley Benson has had a career of firsts. 
  In 1988, she was the first woman to become an Edmonton firefighter. That made her the first female firefighter in Western Canada, and just the second in the country. Last month, she became the first woman in department history to be promoted to district chief. 
  As much as Benson is proud of her pioneer status, part of her still chafes at the words “female firefighter.”  
  Actually, all of her, she said with a laugh.
  &ldqu
  
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• NDP hands down nearly $9 million to highway contractor

  21-03-2018 21:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  The province will continue paying troubled company Carillion Canada for highway maintenance until the end of April.  
  The government confirmed Wednesday it will pay Carillion $8.9 million, but Transportation Minister Brian Mason said the cash will only cover operations and won’t allow the company to turn a profit. 
  The United Kingdom-based parent company Carillion PLC announced in January it had gone into compulsory liquidation due to a crushing debt load. 
  The Canadian
  
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• Other shoe drops early on Patrick Maroon trade as Oilers acquire prospect Cooper Marody from Philly

  21-03-2018 20:07 via edmontonjournal.com
  Remember the Patrick Maroon trade, when the Edmonton Oilers sent the Big Rig to join forces with Taylor Hall in Jersey for a pick and a prospect? As of today, that trade is effectively for two prospects, as the Oilers sent Jersey’s third-rounder in the 2019 draft to Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for college centre Cooper Marody. A sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft, the 6’0, 190-lb Marody has just completed his junior season with University of Michigan. And a good season it wa
  
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• Police converged on apartment building near Whyte Avenue

  21-03-2018 19:54 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton police converged on an apartment building near Whyte Avenue around lunch time Wednesday, after reports of a shooting that turned out to be a false alarm.
  Officers were called to the area around 11 a.m. and surrounded the building near 81 Avenue and 99 Street minutes later. 
  The city police tactical unit later arrived. A man was taken away in handcuffs but later released.
  Police left the area around 12:20 p.m. 
  Edmonton police responded to an incident near 81 Avenue and 99 Stre
  
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• Nearly 50 public speakers protest expropriation, traffic impacts from west LRT

  21-03-2018 19:50 via edmontonjournal.com
  Nearly 50 public speakers lined up Wednesday to raise concerns with Edmonton’s proposed west LRT extension for the Valley Line.
  The line would impact more than 35 businesses and a dozen private homes, in addition to those expected to be impacted by a proposed underpass at 149 Street. 
  Speakers are also expected to raise questions about the traffic impacts and the design of the line.
  “Our collective vision is to create an environment that is walkable and human scale,” said
  
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• NDP announces pilot project for rural buses

  21-03-2018 19:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  Thursday’s budget will include funding for a rural bus project to connect small towns and municipalities with medium-sized cities around the province.
  Transportation Minister Brian Mason announced the pilot at Wednesday’s Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) spring convention in Edmonton.
  He was mum on a dollar figure attached to the project, saying more details will be included in Budget 2018.
  The plan makes good on part of the NDP’s 2015 election pl
  
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• David Staples: Edmonton gets new tallest building, four-star hotel

  21-03-2018 19:32 via edmontonjournal.com
  The new epicentre of Edmonton’s downtown? It’s located in what used to be a rundown area of cheap buildings and dusty parking lots. The new JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District hotel, Edmonton’s tallest building, has finally topped out at its full height, 56 storeys. 
  For now, it’s Edmonton’s tallest skyscraper. When it opens early in 2019, it will also be a four-star hotel.
  “There’s no better real estate than that,” says JW Marriott executive St
  
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• Sometimes you just need to get away

  21-03-2018 19:18 via edmontonjournal.com
  Any other parents wake up as soon as their baby makes the tiniest move or coo in his crib? I’m a light sleeper, I can hear him from the other room, and more often than not, my sleeps are interrupted several times each night.
  I’m tired.
  In many ways this past winter has been wonderful — watching my two older stepsons continue to nurture their baby brother, Indiana; big career check-marks for both my husband, Jesse, and I.
  But in many ways, it’s been really hard, too. The b
  
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• Fitness column: Welcoming customer service personnel more important for gyms than ever

  21-03-2018 19:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  A number of years ago, we headed into the Canadian wilderness, young kids in tow, for some time off the grid. With life’s comforts heaped into a wobbly canoe, we left the portage store hoping nothing vital was missed in all the chaos.
  After a wonderful week of sun, we packed up the canoe for a three-hour paddle in the rain — my wife at the bow, me at the stern and the kids playing under a makeshift tent in the middle.
  With the main dock in sight I mentally prepped for unpacking and t
  
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• Edmonton youths facing 460 charges for crimes around LRT, malls, rec centres

  21-03-2018 18:43 via edmontonjournal.com
  Nearly three dozen youths and two adults are facing hundreds of charges connected with crimes at city malls, recreation centres and along Edmonton’s LRT corridor, say police. 
  Those accused collectively face 460 charges for crimes committed between January 2017 and March 2018, said police in a Wednesday news release.
  The accused are facing charges for everything from aggravated assault to possession of stolen credit cards to shoplifting and mischief. 
  
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• Nearly 50 public speakers turn out for big debate on west LRT

  21-03-2018 17:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  Nearly 50 public speakers lined up Wednesday to raise concerns with Edmonton’s proposed west LRT extension for the Valley Line.
  The line would impact more than 35 businesses and a dozen private homes, in addition to those expected to be impacted by a proposed underpass at 149 Street. 
  Speakers are also expected to raise questions about the traffic impacts and the design of the line.
  “Our collective vision is to create an environment that is walkable and human scale,” said
  
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• David Staples: Edmonton gets new tallest building, first four-star hotel

  21-03-2018 15:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  The new epicentre of Edmonton’s downtown? It’s located in what used to be a rundown area of cheap buildings and dusty parking lots. The new JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District hotel, Edmonton’s tallest building, has finally topped out at its full height, 56 storeys. 
  For now, it’s Edmonton’s tallest skyscraper. When it opens early in 2019, it will also be Edmonton’s first four-star hotel.
  “There’s no better real estate than that,” says JW
  
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• Rachel Notley's approval up single point to 33 per cent: Angus Reid

  21-03-2018 14:37 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s approval rating went up ever so slightly, according to a latest Angus Reid poll.
  Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and British Columbia Premier John Horgan topped the quarterly poll with each scoring a 52 per cent approval rating. Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne emerged as Canada’s least liked premier with just a 19 per cent approval rating.
  Notley went up one point compared to last quarter’s poll results with a 33 per cent approval rating, making he
  
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• Edmonton weather: Chance of snow flurries and freezing rain overnight

  21-03-2018 13:49 via edmontonjournal.com
  A look at today’s Edmonton weather forecast by Environment Canada.
  Morning temperatures at the Edmonton Blatchford station measured at -0.7 C with a 7 km/h northwesterly wind.
  Forecast
  Today: Cloudy. 30 per cent chance of flurries this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 3 C.
  Tonight: Cloudy. 30 per cent chance of flurries overnight with risk of freezing drizzle. Wind east 20 km/h gusting to 40. Low -3 C.
  Tomorrow: Cloudy with 60 per cent chance of flurries. Wind southeast
  
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• Wednesday's letters: Edmonton can't afford to host FIFA World Cup

  21-03-2018 13:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Our mayor is suggesting we pay up to $25 to $30 million just to submit a bid for soccer games to be held in Edmonton, the U.S. and Mexico.
  We just cannot afford this on top of the $2.4 billion for an LRT which will be forever in debt.
  Maybe they should spend some money on items like new equipment, maybe even a snowplow. I just wonder what one of these looks like because I live in North Edmonton  and I have never seen one of those in my area.
  Call y0ur councillor and mayor and tell them
  
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• Opinion: Protecting caribou doesn't jeopardize jobs

  21-03-2018 13:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  In 1978, I was hired as provincial caribou specialist. Five years later, I became the first casualty in the long battle to save Alberta’s caribou, a conflict heating up again.
  Advocacy for caribou, although my job, soon put me offside with the government of Alberta and the industries with whom it had a cozy relationship. I succeeded in 1982 in ending caribou hunting but achieving land-use changes was much harder. By 1983, I was pushed out the door.
  While I was privileged to spend the follo
  
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• Bite Size: Zwick's Pretzels

  21-03-2018 13:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Even as the food scene in Edmonton gets bigger and more complex, some restaurant owners have decided to go small and simple.
  There’s a growing trend toward focusing on a single dish or concept, seen in eateries devoted to menu items such as pretzels, sausages and schnitzel. In this video, David Bloom takes us to Zwick’s Pretzels  in Edmonton located at 12415 07 Ave., (on the west side of 124 Street and the south side of 107 Avenue).
  Darren Zwicker and fellow baker, Maria Ch
  
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• Paula Simons: Justin Trudeau's new gun bill, C-71, arrives at a timely political moment

  21-03-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  On Tuesday, Ralph Goodale, the minister of public safety, introduced Bill C-71, the Liberal government’s new gun control bill.
  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has insisted that this bill is nothing like the old, hated long-gun registry. But even if C-71 doesn’t turn into the sort of billion-dollar boondoggle the registry did, there’s always a political risk in riling up the Canadian gun lobby.
  So why is Trudeau making this choice now? In her video essay, Edmonton Journal columnis
  
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• Meal kit companies duke it out to deliver time in a box

  21-03-2018 10:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  It is, on one level, the most basic of tasks. And yet, people in this time-squeezed culture are finding it increasingly difficult to simply feed themselves.
  Just ask Edmonton’s Leanne Bramm. Though Bramm likes to cook, both she and her husband Colin Bramm work full-time. With two girls, age five and seven, their lives mirror the stressful juggling act playing out in households across the western world. The witching hour — that pressure cooker between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. when ever
  
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• Cannabis legalization unlikely to make every grower 'a billionaire': University of Alberta professor

  21-03-2018 10:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  One of Canada’s first legal cannabis growers says success in the recreational pot business will require many of the same skills farmers need to produce any crop.
  “I’m probably a bit more skeptical with respect to everyone becoming a billionaire,” Stan Blade, dean of the University of Alberta’s faculty of agricultural, life and environmental sciences, said Tuesday.
  “As with every other agricultural commodity, it’s probably the people who best know how to
  
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• Player grades: Middle six, secondary scorers take charge as Edmonton Oilers blow away Hurricanes

  21-03-2018 06:36 via edmontonjournal.com
  Oilers 7, Hurricanes 3
  It was Opposite George Night in Raleigh on Tuesday, as Edmonton Oilers survived a rare off game from offensive linchpin Connor McDavid, while the secondary scorers found the back of the net seven times to blow out the Carolina Hurricanes 7-3.
  Granted, that “secondary scoring” was led by one Leon Draisaitl, who erupted out of a personal slump to score once and add three primary assists, in the process turning a second line featuring Drake Caggiula and Pontus Abe
  
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• Edmonton school boards unveil construction priority lists

  21-03-2018 04:02 via edmontonjournal.com
  A new public high school in the Meadows and a new Catholic elementary-junior high school in Windermere top Edmonton school boards’ construction want lists this year.
  With their requests now prioritized, Edmonton’s public and Catholic school boards will lobby the provincial government in earnest for money and approval to build, modernize and replace schools they say are urgently needed.
  Edmonton Catholic school trustees said at a Tuesday meeting they were frustrated allotment of new s
  
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• Survey asks public for opinions on councillor code of conduct

  21-03-2018 02:26 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Edmonton community survey is giving people a chance to comment on what they would like to see in a council code of conduct.
  “The code of conduct subcommittee has directed administration to seek direct feedback from city council on the development of the council code of conduct,” reads the introduction to the survey. “A code of conduct provides rules and expectations for members of an organization. In this case, the council code of conduct would apply to the mayor and city co
  
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• Coun. Tony Caterina balks at finality of Coliseum vote

  21-03-2018 02:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  It’s a last-ditch attempt to save the Coliseum.
  Coun. Tony Caterina dug in his heels Tuesday, asking council to hold off signing a deal with the Katz Group until after the city formally canvasses developers and entrepreneurs for ideas for the shuttered northeast arena. 
  The Katz Group says it will rip up the city’s sponsorship agreement for Rogers Place — which would be worth $17 million to the city — if council commits to permanent closure of the Coliseum. 
  Cou
  
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• Female patient who stole ambulance found not criminally responsible

  21-03-2018 01:24 via edmontonjournal.com
  A patient who stole an ambulance from an Edmonton hospital and sped out of the city was found not criminally responsible Tuesday.
  According to an agreed statement of facts, the 29-year-old woman was a voluntary psychiatric in-patient at the Royal Alexandra Hospital on Jan. 19, 2016, when she was allowed to go outside for an unsupervised smoke break. 
  At about 6 a.m., the woman climbed into an ambulance, started it and drove it through a set of garage doors, which were only partially opened.
  
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• David Staples: Edmonton gets new tallest building, first five-star hotel

  21-03-2018 00:42 via edmontonjournal.com
  The new epicentre of Edmonton’s downtown? It’s located in what used to be a rundown area of cheap buildings and dusty parking lots. The new JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District hotel, Edmonton’s tallest building, has finally topped out at its full height, 56 storeys. 
  For now, it’s Edmonton’s tallest skyscraper. When it opens early in 2019, it will also be Edmonton’s first five-star hotel.
  “There’s no better real estate than that,” says JW
  
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• City approves one-time funding increase for low-income transit pass

  21-03-2018 00:17 via edmontonjournal.com
  City council approved a one-time funding increase Tuesday of $450,000 for low-income riders as part of a Ride Transit program pilot update.
  “We need to go back to (the province) and say, OK, we need to modify our budget, we’d like to confirm your partnership, we’d like to see if this pilot can be converted to something that doesn’t just expire at the end of 2018,” Mayor Don Iveson told reporters.
  The Edmonton Transit Service’s 2018 operating budget will be inc
  
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• Council Briefs for March 19th

  21-03-2018 00:05
  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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