St. Albert news

• Police seize $20,000 worth of fentanyl being passed off as heroin

  06-04-2018 23:50 via edmontonjournal.com
  Close to 134 grams of fentanyl worth approximately $20,000 on the street has been seized and a 44-year-old Edmonton man has been charged.
  The Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit charged the man Wednesday, after an investigation found he was passing off fentanyl as heroin to his clients, a news release Thursday said.
  Investigators executed a search warrant at a residence near 99 Avenue and 101 Street around 7 p.m. on Wednesday where they found the fentanyl, as well as 5.7 grams of compre
  
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• Going to St. Ives tackles themes from motherhood to colonialism

  06-04-2018 23:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Big issues are on the table in Going to St. Ives, the new two-hander that debuted Thursday at the Varscona, care of the Varscona Theatre Ensemble.
  The audience is no sooner settled in their chairs, coats comfortably draped around their shoulders, that the thorny topics of colonialism, torture and racism make themselves awkwardly present. What’s astounding is the way playwright Lee Blessing constructs the conversation between May N’Kame (Patricia Darbasie) and Dr. Cora Gage (Belinda C
  
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• Press Gallery #224: The Bills, Bills, Bills edition

  06-04-2018 22:29 via edmontonjournal.com
  This week was all about bills in Alberta politics, from a bill outlawing demonstrations outside abortion clinics to the real cash money bills partisans threw at their parties in 2017.
  Join Press Gallery host Emma Graney with guests Clare Clancy, Graham Thomson and Paula Simons to talk legislative bills and dollar bills, as well as a quick update on Premier Rachel Notley’s latest travel plans. 
  Good stuff from the Gallery
  Clare’s pick: Clancy has yet another outstanding podcast t
  
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• Former co-owner of Needle Vinyl Tavern charged with sexual assault

  06-04-2018 21:53 via edmontonjournal.com
  The former co-owner of a now defunct Jasper Avenue bar and music venue has been charged with sexually assaulting an employee. 
  Thirty-seven-year-old James Leder, who co-owned Needle Vinyl Tavern, faces a single count of sexual assault. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in Edmonton provincial court April 24. 
  According to court documents Leder is accused of assaulting a woman on or about March 10, 2017. The identity of the alleged victim is protected by a publicatio
  
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• Expert warns Edmonton a lucrative target as city goes mum on cyber security

  06-04-2018 20:54 via edmontonjournal.com
  City governments are right now some of the best, most lucrative targets for cyber attacks, say experts, but Edmonton is not saying if it’s prepared.
  The city auditor released its assessment this week of how well the city could recover if its information technology resources were taken out by a flood, fire or deliberate hacking attack.
  But don’t look for it online. The report is confidential. It will be debated in private next Wednesday — with city officials arguing disclosure w
  
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• Sheriffs tighten rules at rooming house, scene of two homicides

  06-04-2018 20:35 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta sheriffs have placed new restrictions on a notorious Alberta Avenue rooming house that was the scene of two homicides last year — the first action against such a property in the city. 
  Two people — Blayne Burnstick and Nexhmi Nuhi — were found slain at 11119 94 St. in September in what investigators called drug-related homicides. Earlier that year, a woman died of an overdose at the same house. 
  A community safety order announced Friday will now restrict the n
  
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• Amateur athletes given chance to show raw talent to Olympic officials

  06-04-2018 19:45 via edmontonjournal.com
  If you reckon you’ve got what it takes to be an Olympian, you might want to head down to University of Alberta’s Foote Field Dome this Sunday.
  Officials from 14 Olympic sports will be in the city as part of the program searching for hidden gems and potential cross-over talent across Canada.
  The RBC Training Ground initiative is giving amateur Edmonton athletes the chance to test their strength, speed,  power and endurance in a bid to bring new blood into Cana
  
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• Dining Out: One has to arrive early to get some wonderful soup at Tokiwa Ramen

  06-04-2018 19:43 via edmontonjournal.com
  “No soup”
  Day after day, I would attempt to visit Tokiwa Ramen only to be sent away by the dream-crushing neon sign hanging on the door.
  I’d heard rumours of folks who’d managed to get in before the last drop of broth was slurped up, but never anyone I knew personally.
  Was it an urban legend? A ramen pipe dream? Did anyone actually ever manage to eat at Tokiwa Ramen?
  Never one to give up easily when it comes to food, I persevered and finally figured out that if I wanted a
  
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• Tale of two cities: Edmonton jobless rate down, Calgary's up

  06-04-2018 19:25 via edmontonjournal.com
  The unemployment rate in Edmonton continued its long-term decline in March, but Calgary’s jobless figure rose for a fourth month, the latest Statistics Canada data shows.
  In Edmonton, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down last month to 6.7 per cent from 6.9 per cent in February, while in Calgary the rate went up to 8.2 per cent from 7.9 per cent, according to figures released Friday.
  At the same time, Alberta’s overall jobless level dropped slightly to 6.7 per cent, part
  
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• Sheriffs limit number of tenants at rooming house, scene of two homicides

  06-04-2018 18:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta sheriffs have placed new restrictions on a notorious Alberta Avenue rooming house that was the scene of two homicides last year — the first action against such a property in the city.  
  Two people — Blayne Burnstick and Nexhmi Nuhi — were found dead at 11119 94 Street in September in what investigators called drug-related homicides.
   
  A community safety order will restrict the number of tenants on the property for a period of five years. The landlord wil
  
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• Player grades: Connor McDavid puts a vise grip on Art Ross as Oilers top Golden Knights

  06-04-2018 18:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  Golden Knights 3, Oilers 4
  Some loosey goosey hockey on display at Rogers Palace on Thursday night in what Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant called a “nothing game for both teams”. The result was a fast-skating if light-hitting affair that featured plenty of action around both nets. In the end the Edmonton Oilers hung on through a tense and mildly controversial finish to edge the division champion Golden Knights 4-3 in regulation. 
  More important than the win was the per
  
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• Edmonton looking to make space available for child care

  06-04-2018 18:39 via edmontonjournal.com
  The city is looking to make space available for early learning and child care services.
  The executive committee Wednesday made two recommendations to council — to develop guidelines for child care in city-owned buildings and to look at whether existing city buildings might be appropriate for child care.
  “We may have surplus buildings that can be leased out, ex-schools that we acquired that we don’t have a use for and that don’t have a market for whatever reason, so we cou
  
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• Uber reaches deal to start serving Edmonton International Airport

  06-04-2018 18:36 via edmontonjournal.com
  Uber has reached a deal allowing it to pick up and drop off passengers at Edmonton International Airport, the two sides announced Friday.
  Customers can collect their luggage and use the Uber app to request a ride, meeting drivers on the outer curb outside ‘Door 10’ on the arrivals level, according to a news release.
  The location has banners with the logos for Uber and TappCar, another ride-sharing company that has been serving the airport for more than a year.
  “E
  
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• Today's Top Three: Abortion clinic protest ban; Peter Pocklington charged; E. coli cases climbs to 19

  06-04-2018 15:09 via edmontonjournal.com
  Today’s Top Three is a daily online feature highlighting a few of the most interesting and newsworthy stories you can expect to see on edmontonjournal.com.
  Proposed rules ban protests outside abortion clinics
  NDP legislation tabled Thursday forces protesters to stay at least 50 metres away from Alberta abortion clinics and prohibits them from taking unwanted photos or videos. 
  If approved, Bill 9 — called the Protecting Choice for Women Accessing Health Care Act — would br
  
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• Edmonton weather: It's April and I can't feel my face

  06-04-2018 14:18 via edmontonjournal.com
  A look at today’s Edmonton weather by Environment Canada.
  Friday morning temperatures at the Edmonton Blatchford station measure -17.3 C with a 6 km/h wind contributing to a -22 wind chill.
  Today:  Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Wind becoming southeast 20 km/h gusting to 40 this afternoon. High -10 C. UV index 4 or moderate.
  Tonight: Partly cloudy. Becoming clear this evening. Wind southeast 20 km/h gusting to 40 becoming light this evening. Low -19 C with a
  
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• Trudeau in Alberta to visit Fort McMurray oilsands facility

  06-04-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is visiting Fort McMurray Friday as part of a Western Canada road show.
  His itinerary includes a visit to Suncor’s new Fort Hills oilsands facility, as well as discussions with energy sector representatives and leaders from local First Nations and Metis communities. 
  On Thursday, Trudeau was met by pipeline protesters during a stops in B.C.. Around 100 protesters chanted “leave it in the ground” during his tour of a Canadian Coast Guard ship i
  
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• Opinion: Alberta's resource-first policies put woodland caribou on path to extinction

  06-04-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  It’s a weird feeling waking up to news that humans have driven yet another species to the edge of extinction.
  The world recently learned the heartbreaking news that the northern white rhino is officially on death’s door. What species is next?
  If we don’t do anything now, woodland caribou in Canada are on the same path as the northern white rhinos. They’re on a steep slide to extinction due to relentless resource extraction in the heart of their habitat. But unlike the nor
  
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• Friday's letters: City supports U.S. firm instead of local business

  06-04-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Although we are not golfers, we regularly ate at both Riverside and Victoria golf courses because of the food quality that Brad Lazarenko brought to these establishments. It’s so disappointing that the city has no understanding of supporting a local entrepreneur.
  Choosing an American company that will be like every other fast food outlet is short-sighted and anti-Canadian.
  John Black, Edmonton
  Golf course patrons losing a good thing
  Brad Lazarenko’s Culina at Victoria improved t
  
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• Editorial: Limits to urban noise

  06-04-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Most Edmontonians understand the city can be noisy. It’s part of the bargain of living in a bustling urban environment.
  While screaming emergency vehicles, beeping heavy equipment and rumbling garbage trucks can be unpleasant, they are the sounds of the city at work that most people tolerate as the price of big-city living.
  But there are limits to the noise that Edmontonians will put up with — and should have to put up with. For many, it’s excessively loud vehicles that most of
  
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• Player grades: Connor McDavid puts a vice grip on Art Ross as Oilers top Golden Knights

  06-04-2018 13:27 via edmontonjournal.com
  Golden Knights 3, Oilers 4
  Some loosey goosey hockey on display at Rogers Palace on Thursday night in what Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant called a “nothing game for both teams”. The result was a fast-skating if light-hitting affair that featured plenty of action around both nets. In the end the Edmonton Oilers hung on through a tense and mildly controversial finish to edge the division champion Golden Knights 4-3 in regulation. 
  More important than the win was the per
  
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• City wasted up to $8.5 million for online system where conflict of interest alleged: audit

  06-04-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton officials wasted up to $8.5 million in a failed attempt to put building permit applications online, only to discover “conflict of interest” allegations between city staff and contractors when they went to cancel the contract. 
  On top of that, officials swept those 2015 allegations under the rug, according to an audit released Thursday. City staff members did not report them to corporate security or the city auditor, choosing instead to move on and start the project agai
  
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• EDGE Unit seizes $20,000 worth of fentanyl being passed off as heroin

  06-04-2018 03:41 via edmontonjournal.com
  Close to 134 grams of fentanyl worth approximately $20,000 on the street has been seized and a 44-year-old Edmonton man has been charged.
  The Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit charged the man on Wednesday, after an investigation found he was passing off fentanyl as heroin to his clients, a news release issued Thursday evening said.
  Investigators executed a search warrant at a residence near 99 Avenue and 101 Street around 7 p.m. on Wednesday where they found 134 grams of fentanyl, as
  
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• Alberta's opioid crisis shows no signs of relenting in 2018

  06-04-2018 03:02 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta’s opioid crisis started the new year on the same tragic path as it ended the previous one, with dozens of new overdose deaths and continued questions for a government struggling to contain the growing calamity.
  A total of 74 Albertans died from an accidental fentanyl-related overdose during the first six weeks of 2018, show new provincial statistics released Thursday.
  That’s up substantially from the 56 deaths recorded in the same time period last year, although also an impro
  
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• Scenic Route to Alaska happy to call Edmonton home base

  06-04-2018 02:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  When Edmonton-based indie-rockers Scenic Route to Alaska opted to work once again with producer Howard Redekopp on their latest album, Tough Luck, it was less to do with familiarity and more to do with a particular shared sensibility.
  “It’s always nice to have a producer who speaks your language,” notes guitarist-vocalist Trevor Mann, taking his ease poolside in Los Angeles after a morning radio interview. “If you tell Howard that you want something in the song to so
  
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• Judge cancels jury selection ahead of 'paper terrorism' trial

  06-04-2018 01:47 via edmontonjournal.com
  A self-proclaimed Freeman on the Land will go to trial before a judge alone after jury selection in the case was cancelled Thursday.
  Allen Nelson Boisjoli is the accused in a so-called “paper terrorism” case scheduled to begin Monday, related to allegations he intimidated a peace officer through a legal campaign.
  But when Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Eldon Simpson attempted to begin the jury selection process Thursday, Boisjoli began what would become a series of interruption
  
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• David Staples: Edmonton area's Physician of the Year on life, death and a career in family medicine

  06-04-2018 01:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Physician of the Year award for the Edmonton area this year belongs to Dr. Melanie Currie of Spruce Grove, who can tell you a great deal about life, death and making a career as a family doctor.
  Currie has practised medicine for 20 years. She likes how varied her work is, a mix of family health, obstetrics, acute-care hospital work and palliative care.
  “It’s from womb to tomb, from conception to cremation,” Currie, 47, says. “In family practice, you get to know your p
  
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• Killer complains about 'cheap shots' before being handed life sentence

  06-04-2018 01:35 via edmontonjournal.com
  Aileen (Gina) Robinson’s friends and family went to a downtown pub Thursday to toast the deceased woman on what would have been her 58th birthday.
  Then they returned to an Edmonton courtroom to see her estranged husband, Gilbert Paul Robinson, sentenced to life in prison with no chance to apply for parole for 13 years.
  Earlier this year, the 62-year-old was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder in Aileen Robinson’s 2014 death. The couple was going through an acrimonious divorce
  
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• City failing to reach its emission-reduction goals, councillors told

  06-04-2018 01:31 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton is not close to reaching its greenhouse emission-reduction targets, city council’s executive committee heard Thursday.
  To achieve the goals within the next four years, officials will have to consider different methods, including major retrofits to buildings and even demolitions, councillors were told. The energy transition committee is expected to report in May a recalibrated greenhouse gas management plan and new targets, action and the related financial details.
  Jason Meliefste,
  
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• Independent religious schools, parents challenge gay-straight alliance bill

  06-04-2018 01:05 via edmontonjournal.com
  A group of 24 private religious schools, eight parents and a pair of non-profit groups have launched a constitutional challenge of a law that protects the privacy of students who join gay-straight alliances.
  Education Minister David Eggen said Thursday he’s confident a court will uphold the law that grants students a right to start a school club and to join one without being “outed” to their family without their permission.
  An application filed Thursday in Medicine Hat Cou
  
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• Proposed rules ban protests, photos and video within 50 metres of abortion clinics

  06-04-2018 00:55 via edmontonjournal.com
  NDP legislation tabled Thursday forces protesters to stay at least 50 metres away from Alberta abortion clinics and prohibits them from taking unwanted photos or videos. 
  If approved, Bill 9 — called the Protecting Choice for Women Accessing Health Care Act — would bring Alberta in line with other jurisdictions including British Columbia and Ontario. 
  Women shouldn’t be subject to intimidation, harassment or bullying when they access legal health-care services, said H
  
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• Notes from the Dome: Olympians honoured and bills, bills, bills

  06-04-2018 00:52 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premier Rachel Notley welcomed 26 Albertans who represented Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games to the legislature Thursday. The athletes were later acknowledged in the public gallery with a standing ovation.
  Alberta sent 66 athletes to the games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Canada brought home 57 medals, including 31 medals that were won by athletes who live and train in this province. 
  The games might be over, Notley said, but “the achievements of our athl
  
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• E. coli cases linked to Edmonton restaurant climbs to 19; two hospitalized

  06-04-2018 00:29 via edmontonjournal.com
  The number of people sickened with E. coli after eating at a southeast Edmonton restaurant has climbed to 19, including two who have developed symptoms serious enough to be admitted to hospital, Alberta Health Services said Thursday.
  That’s a jump of 13 cases from a week ago, when the health authority announced the discovery of the first cluster of infections among people who ate at Mama Nita’s Binalot restaurant.
  It’s believed at least some of those new cases are among restaur
  
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• Former Oilers owner Peter Pocklington charged with securities fraud

  06-04-2018 00:28 via edmontonjournal.com
  Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington has been accused of securities fraud in the United States for allegedly hiding his criminal history and misappropriating investor funds.
  Pocklington pleaded guilty to perjury in 2010 for lying under oath in a bankruptcy case and was sentenced to two years probation and community service, according to allegations released Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
  Three years later, he was ordered to pay more than US$5 million as part
  
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