St. Albert news

• Transformer fire slows Whitemud Drive to a crawl, lanes closed

  23-03-2018 23:56 via edmontonjournal.com
  Epcor is warning motorists to avoid Whitemud Drive between 149 Street and 156 Street as they deal with a blown transformer along one of the busiest commuter roads ahead of rush hour traffic.
  Spokesman for Epcor, Tim LeRiche, said the power line of concern was in the area of 156 Street on the southside of Whitemud Drive. 
  Crews managed to shore up the sagging powerline that was threatening the highway below.
  Traffic was slowed to one lane eastbound around Whitemud Drive and 159 Street.
  
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• PHOTO GALLERY: Hair Massacure 2018

  23-03-2018 23:51 via edmontonjournal.com
  Now in its 16th year, the Hair Massacure at West Edmonton Mall’s Ice Palace on Friday attracted people of all ages, many with pink hair, who shaved their heads in a fundraiser to support the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
  Tammy MacDonald, co-founder of the event, started Hair Massacure in 2003 as a way for her family to give back after her youngest child, Kali, survived leukemia at age two.
  The event encourages people to dye their hair pink, f
  
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• Starlight Casino betting on strong future at West Edmonton Mall

  23-03-2018 23:50 via edmontonjournal.com
  The expanded Starlight Casino will be a “Vegas glitzy” operation with restaurants and lounges designed to draw in non-gamblers as well as people keen to wager, the general manager says.
  The West Edmonton Mall development will be Alberta’s largest casino by the time construction is finished in August, growing to 15,000 square metres from the 9,300 square metre footprint of the Palace Casino it’s replacing, general manager Kevin Booth said during a tour.
  There are coloured
  
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• Council Notice of Motion Regarding Municipal Utility Corporation

  23-03-2018 22:12
  The City is undertaking a new procedure to inform residents and members of the media when Councillors provide a notice... Read Post
  
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• Cam Talbot, Ryan Strome and Adam Larsson getting their games together

  23-03-2018 21:46 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton Oilers power rankings, March 2018Connor McDavid ⇔ Always great, but his play has picked up on the attack and on defence, especially now that he’s found two linemates that click with him in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ty Rattie. He’s got 30 points in his last 20 games, since we last did power rankings here. With RNH on his wing since the March 11 game against the Wild, he’s got 13 points in 7 games. Once the team truly gets rocking on the power play — and th
  
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• Council Notice of Motion Regarding Priority Based Budgeting

  23-03-2018 21:17
  The City is undertaking a new procedure to inform residents and members of the media when Councillors provide a notice... Read Post
  
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• Edmonton poised to get its $1.5 billion for LRT: Government officials

  23-03-2018 20:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton can expect to get its $1.5 billion requested for LRT, despite lagging behind Calgary in planning its next line, said provincial officials Friday morning. 
  On budget day, the transportation minister would did not say how much of the $3 billion promised Edmonton and Calgary would come here.
  By Friday, they were crystal clear.
  “Public transit is a priority for our government, as it helps connect Albertans to essential services, education and jobs,” said a statement from Tr
  
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• Behind the scenes at new Edmonton International Airport outlet mall

  23-03-2018 20:02 via edmontonjournal.com
  One of the Edmonton region’s first new enclosed shopping malls in decades is calling all discount hounds as it prepares to open in just over a month.
  The 40,000-square-metre Premium Outlet Collection at Edmonton International Airport will have such anchors as Forever 21, the Nike Factory Store and an Old Navy outlet when the initial shoppers walk through the doors May 2.
  The $215-million facility, slightly smaller than Bonnie Doon Centre, eventually expects to house 100 retailers, and will
  
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• Re:grub has extravagant milkshakes but dry burger buns disappoint

  23-03-2018 19:44 via edmontonjournal.com
  Re:grub arrived in Edmonton last summer with significant hype. In anticipation of the lineups, the Whyte Avenue burger spot was outfitted with live cameras outside and in, just like its popular sister location in Calgary, so would-be patrons could monitor the queue on the restaurant’s website.
  The crowds came, and YEG Instagram was overrun with photos of monster milkshakes topped with doughnuts, candy floss and ice cream sandwiches.
  Fast-forward eight months or so and the crowds seem to ha
  
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• NDP announces 20 school infrastructure projects on the heels of budget

  23-03-2018 19:17 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Alberta government announced 20 school infrastructure projects Friday, including seven new schools.
  The move comes the day after the NDP released its 2018 budget, which allocated $393 million for the projects across the province. 
  Almost all of the schools are set to begin construction in 2019, said Alberta Education Minister David Eggen. 
  “We choose the schools based on site readiness and so forth,” he said at a news conference held at Edmonton’s Ecole &agra
  
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• Man killed in two-vehicle crash near Devon

  23-03-2018 19:16 via edmontonjournal.com
  A man is dead following a two-vehicle crash on Highway 19 near Devon Friday morning, RCMP said. 
  Mounties said two pick-up trucks crashed near Range Road 260 at about 8:44 a.m. 
  Two of the three occupants of one of the trucks have been transported via ambulance to a hospital with undetermined injuries.
  The two occupants of the other truck were treated locally for unknown injuries.
  Traffic flow in the area is restricted but the area is expected to be fully open within the next
  
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• Edmonton's Ryan Ford is taking the fight to Russia

  23-03-2018 18:14 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton boxer Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford will take his 14-1 record into Russia Saturday to fight Andrey Sirotkin for the World Boxing Association (WBA) Intercontinental Super Middleweight Championship.
  The 36-year-old will be taking on Sirotkin, 33, a Russian southpaw who holds a perfect 14-0 record, with a total of four knockouts, respectively.
  In 2015, Ford made the switch from mixed martial arts, where he held a 22-5 record, to boxing where he has scored nine knockouts in 15
  
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• University of Alberta-founded LGBTQ Camp fYrefly moves to Canmore for 2018

  23-03-2018 18:13 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Edmonton leadership camp for LGBTQ youth is consolidating with Calgary to host provincial retreats, with this summer’s to be held in Canmore. 
  But the consolidation of Camp fYrefly — founded at the University of Alberta in 2004 — means the program has effectively been shut down in Edmonton and the Edmonton Youth Action Committee (YAC) dissolved, says YAC member Damien McAndrews. 
  The University of Alberta is set to put out a statement on Friday.
  A letter from
  
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• Re:grub has extravagant milkshakes but dry buns disappoint burgers

  23-03-2018 17:05 via edmontonjournal.com
  Re:grub arrived in Edmonton last summer with significant hype. In anticipation of the lineups, the Whyte Avenue burger spot was outfitted with live cameras outside and in, just like its popular sister location in Calgary, so would-be patrons could monitor the queue on the restaurant’s website.
  The crowds came, and YEG Instagram was overrun with photos of monster milkshakes topped with doughnuts, candy floss and ice cream sandwiches.
  Fast-forward eight months or so and the crowds seem to ha
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Debt to climb to $96 billion by 2023

  23-03-2018 16:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta faces five more years of deficits and billions of dollars in mounting debt before it sees its balance sheet back in the black. 
  The 2018 provincial budget, tabled in the legislature Thursday afternoon by Finance Minister Joe Ceci, tells the story of an economy still recovering from a lingering oil price shock and struggling with market access problems for its crude.
  The spending plan forecasts debt ballooning from $54 billion this year to $96 billion by 2023 — a level of
  
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• Rabbit hoarder denied application to live with animals

  23-03-2018 16:33 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Edmonton woman banned for life from owning more than one pet after a rabbit hoarding case in 2011 had an application to live with animals denied Thursday.
  Shelley Zenner, 50, pleaded guilty in Provincial Court in 2012 to a charge under the Animal Protection Act of causing distress to an animal. She was fined $8,500.
  More than 1,100 rabbits were either removed or surrendered from her Terwillegar-area home over a three year period in what the Edmonton Humane Society (EHS) describ
  
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• Edmonton weather: Snowfall warning lifted for city region

  23-03-2018 13:49 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Environment Canada snowfall warning for Edmonton and area was lifted Friday morning but remains in place for areas north and east of the city.
  The national weather watchdog estimates a total of 2 centimetres of snow fell in the city overnight. The snow is expected to end later this morning. However, snowfall amounts of 10 to 15 centimetres are still expected in areas including Cold Lake, Fort Saskatchewan, Grande Prairie, High Level, Lloydminster, Peace River, Slave Lake and Athabasca.
  Strong
  
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• Timeline: Lengthy wrangling over former Domtar site has been increasingly nasty

  23-03-2018 10:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Property owners in Edmonton’s Homesteader community were likely startled last week by letters from Alberta Environment announcing enforcement action on lands that formerly housed a wood treatment plant.
  What they may not know is that the government’s move is just the latest development in an increasingly nasty, multi-year legal fight involving lawsuits and counterclaims, enforcement orders, judicial reviews and environmental appeals — none of which has yet been resolved.
  Recent
  
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• Police scanners set to go silent as Alberta moves to centralized radio system: police chief

  23-03-2018 10:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Radio scanners that media and members of the public use to listen in on police and other first responders are set to go silent as the province moves to a centralized radio system, Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht said Thursday. 
  The province’s goal is for “every police service in the province to be on that radio system, every EMS, every fire department, every emergency services, will all be on that radio system,” he said. 
  “It’s going to be a closed system
  
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• Police officer who works with students named Kiwanis Top Cop of 2017

  23-03-2018 10:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton’s 2017 top cop is a volunteer who works with junior high outdoor education students, search and rescue teams, and sheltering Edmontonians facing homelessness.
  The Kiwanis Club of the Edmonton Oil Capital will name Const. Michael Zacharuk as the “Top Cop” at a ceremony on Friday at the Edmonton Police Service Headquarters, and will present a $1,000 cheque to the Londonderry Junior High Parents Association to help run the school’s outdoor education program.
  “
  
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• Player grades: Connor McDavid seizes opportunity, scores 4 points as Oilers abolish Senators

  23-03-2018 08:07 via edmontonjournal.com
  Oilers 6, Senators 2
  On Tuesday, the middle six was the story as the Edmonton Oilers rolled over the Carolina Hurricanes 7-3. On Thursday, Connor McDavid and his friends on the first line returned the favour. McDavid sniped a pair of goals and set up each of his linemates, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ty Rattie, for one apiece as the Oilers pounded the short-staffed Ottawa Senators 6-2. 
  It was a disjointed and dispirited group of Senators who took the ice minus their captain, emotional leader,
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Edmonton claims $1.5 billion in LRT funding

  23-03-2018 03:25 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton laid claim to west LRT cash Thursday and immediately reached for more.
  Alberta’s 2018 budget includes $3 billion over 10 years for light rail transit in Calgary and Edmonton. That includes a $1.53-billion commitment to Calgary for its Green Line, a new route running through the city’s south side. 
  Mayor Don Iveson did the quick math.
  “The government will provide $1.5 billion to Edmonton, which will more than cover the west LRT with dollars left over to work toward
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Post-secondary students applaud continued tuition freeze

  23-03-2018 02:52 via edmontonjournal.com
  Thursday’s budget contained few surprises for universities, colleges and post-secondary students since the province delivered on its promise to freeze tuition in Alberta for a fourth consecutive year.
  Provincial government coffers will soften the blow of lost revenue for universities and colleges by handing over $17 million to backfill the cost of the freeze. They’ll also continue with a promised two per cent funding increase to post-secondary institutions.
  “Affordability of po
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: NDP chops maintenance spending by nearly $1 billion

  23-03-2018 02:44 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Alberta government will spend nearly $1 billion less than planned over the next three years on fixing hospitals, post-secondary institutions, roads, bridges and other public infrastructure.
  Budget documents released Thursday show the province still plans to spend $2.7 billion on its capital maintenance and renewal program by 2020-21, but that’s down $969 million from what the NDP government promised. That’s a decline of more than 25 per cent.
  “We certainly see a reduction t
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Opposition slams NDP for 'reckless fiscal plan'

  23-03-2018 02:23 via edmontonjournal.com
  The government is gambling with Alberta’s future by depending on pipeline revenue to balance the budget, says United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney. 
  “We haven’t got an inch of pipeline in the ground, thanks in part to the NDP’s incompetence,” he said, reacting to the provincial budget Thursday. “They’re banking their entire fiscal plan on a pipeline that’s already been delayed by a year.”
  Finance Minister Joe Ceci unveiled a pat
  
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• David Staples: Residents know a better route for west-end LRT, even if council doesn't

  23-03-2018 02:14 via edmontonjournal.com
  We need LRT to run from the downtown to West Edmonton Mall. There’s no serious debate about that. Almost everyone agrees on this goal; certainly, everyone on city council and almost everyone who spoke at a public hearing Wednesday about the proposed LRT line down Stony Plain Road.
  What has become increasingly clear, though, is that nine years ago when the city abandoned the fastest, shortest route to the west end, one that would have had the most passengers and caused the least disruption
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: NDP vows restraint as health budget hits record $22 billion

  23-03-2018 02:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  The NDP government pushed its efforts to rein in the growth of health costs Thursday, unveiling a budget that calls for modest annual increases along with significant new investments in addictions services, home care and continuing care.
  Total spending on health services is set to rise three per cent to a record $22.1 billion this coming year, followed by additional three per cent hikes in 2019 and 2020 — keeping health as the government’s most expensive responsibility.
  The projected
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Funding announced for 20 new school construction projects

  23-03-2018 02:07 via edmontonjournal.com
  Students and parents will hear Friday if a new or modernized school is coming to their community.
  Thursday’s provincial budget contained $393 million for 20 new school construction projects across the province — projects that school boards have been pleading for as some classrooms become increasingly crammed.
  “I’m so proud to be part of a government that is again making historic contributions to education here in the province of Alberta,” Education Minister David Eg
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Child intervention services receives funding boost

  23-03-2018 01:51 via edmontonjournal.com
  Child intervention services received a funding boost in Thursday’s provincial budget, with $826 million allocated toward the system in 2018-19.
  “We definitely could always invest more … but I think this is an incredible step forward,” said Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee in an interview, adding the funds will go toward prevention efforts and intervention programs. “We want to do as much as we can in that front-end work.
  “Sometimes it&rsquo
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Edmonton's city-building grant takes a $61-million hit

  23-03-2018 01:49 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton will see an immediate drop in its basic infrastructure grant from the provincial government.
  But Mayor Don Iveson was smiling anyway, hoping this is the last time Edmonton will have to stand at the table with its hand out for grants.
  Alberta promised in Thursday’s budget to write a new funding formula to give the city a dedicated share of provincial revenue in the future. 
  “We want to get to something stable and predictable that’s isn’t going to be torqued d
  
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• Edmonton homicide unit called to scene linked to missing person case

  23-03-2018 01:41 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton police continued Thursday to process a scene in the city’s northeast that has been linked to a missing person investigation.
  Investigators were first called to the scene Tuesday in the area of 162 Avenue and 51 Street, where they located a vehicle associated with a missing person.
  Police said “evidence found in the vehicle led investigators to determine there were suspicious circumstances surrounding the missing person investigation,” which prompted the involvement of
  
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• Alberta budget 2018: Cannabis industry will lose $90 million first two years

  23-03-2018 01:16 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta’s fledgling cannabis industry isn’t expected to turn a profit for the provincial government in the two years following legalization while the province sets up sales and distribution.
  The NDP’s budget, tabled Thursday, included the first peek at how much it will cost to bring bud to market.
  Alberta projects a loss of $90 million over two years, but the bottom line will make it into the black in 2020-21. That’s when the province estimates it will pull in a net incom
  
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