St. Albert news

• Alberta auditor general stresses need for long-term fiscal projections in final report

  19-04-2018 23:33 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta’s auditor general says decades-long fiscal projections are imperative to create a sustainable path for the province, but he stopped short of making official recommendations. 
  It’s the final report from Merwan Saher, who has held the position of auditor general since 2010 and is ending his term on April 28. 
  “A surplus of $3 billion per year every year for 25 years would be needed to pay off the debt expected to be accumulated by 2021,” said the report ta
  
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• New legislation fines electricity providers up to $10,000 a day for billing errors

  19-04-2018 23:03 via edmontonjournal.com
  New legislation will penalize electric companies for billing errors instead of forcing consumers to go through a lengthy legal process, says Alberta’s energy minister. 
  “There was just no mechanism,” said Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd at a Thursday news conference. “It’s going to make companies take notice.”
  If passed, Bill 13 — An Act to Secure Alberta’s Electricity Future — gives the Alberta Utilities Commission the ability to fine
  
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• 'I'm very interested in staying': Police Chief Rod Knecht confirms contract extension talks

  19-04-2018 22:01 via edmontonjournal.com
  After months of will-he or won’t-he speculation, Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht told reporters Thursday that he is discussing a contract extension with the police commission and wants to stay on as chief. 
  “I’m anticipating something any day now,” Knecht said at a police commission meeting Thursday. “What’s being discussed is maybe some tweaking of the contract and an extension.”
  “I’ve said I’m very interested in staying.”&
  
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• Former Camp fYrefly employee involved in privacy breach

  19-04-2018 21:44 via edmontonjournal.com
  A former employee with the University of Alberta’s Camp fYrefly summer camp downloaded and shared personal information about camp participants, volunteers, youth leaders and facilitators who attended between 2014 and 2018.
  “We are deeply dismayed about this occurrence, and we recognize that this news will be troubling to many members of our Camp fYrefly community,” university provost Steve Dew said in a news release Thursday.
  Dew said the former employee co-operated with the un
  
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• Male youth charged with human trafficking after teen girl found confined

  19-04-2018 21:06 via edmontonjournal.com
  A male youth has been charged with human trafficking for sexually exploiting a teen girl for profit, say city police. 
  Officers in March received a tip that the young girl may have been involved in the sex trade, said a Thursday news release from city police. 
  Officers found the female youth April 5 at a south Edmonton location where she had reportedly been forced into the sex trade and “confined” for over a week.
  Police quickly had the girl apprehended under the Prote
  
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• Sweeping of Edmonton streets to start Monday

  19-04-2018 20:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  The city has officially declared spring has arrived.
  Crews will begin cleaning the streets of sand and debris on Monday.
  “Spring season came late this year, creating some unique challenges,” said Andrew Grant, the city’s general supervisor for infrastructure field operations at a news conference Thursday. “Our crews have a concrete work plan and are confident it will be a success.” 
  Crews will first sweep boulevards and push debris onto major roads, then road c
  
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• Progress Hall Re-Opens After Renovations

  19-04-2018 18:07
  Federal funding allows for much needed upgrades to improve the use of Progress Hall After the completion of extensive renovations,... Read Post
  
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• Paula Simons: Wrong lights in the wrong place couldn't save Chloe Wiwchar

  19-04-2018 17:08 via edmontonjournal.com
  Chloe Wiwchar was 16 on the Sunday night she died, struck by a pickup truck in a marked crosswalk near her home. 
  Like many teens, she’d documented her life on Facebook and Instagram.
  That digital diary tells us that she was beautiful. And funny. On Facebook, she described herself as a born-again Christian. She called herself  “Hennessy in a teacup” — soft on the outside but strong on the inside — a line from Instagram poet  r.h. Sin.
  “You wonde
  
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• Two sent to hospital after Mill Woods house fire

  19-04-2018 16:50 via edmontonjournal.com
  Two people were sent to hospital after flames ripped through a Mill Woods home Thursday morning.
  Firefighters were called to the home near 40 Street and 22 Avenue at 3:20 a.m. Upon arrival at 3:25 a.m., the house was found fully involved with flames and eight people, including one infant, had self evacuated from the home, said Edmonton Fire Rescue spokesperson Maya Filipovic
  Two people were transported to hospital as a precaution for smoke inhalation. Filipovic said three people in the house wer
  
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• Today's Top Three: 30 km/h speed limits; Ponzi scheme fraudster jailed; soccer or football at Clarke Stadium?

  19-04-2018 14:58 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.
  30 km/h on all local, residential roads
  City officials said 72 per cent of residents they surveyed want speeds reduced on local roads, and support for that reduction was consistent, from mature neighbourhoods to suburbs.
  Community members turned out to argue both sides of the debate at council’s community services meetin
  
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• Edmonton weather: It's nice, go outside and kick a ball or something

  19-04-2018 14:33 via edmontonjournal.com
  A look at today’s Edmonton weather by Environment Canada.
  Thursday morning temperatures at the Edmonton Blatchford station measure -0.8 C with a 7 km/h wind coming from the southwest contributing to a -3 windchill.
  Today: Mainly sunny. Wind becoming south 20 km/h near noon. High 11 C. UV index 7 or high.
  Tonight: Increasing cloudiness this evening. Wind south 20 km/h becoming light this evening. Low 2 C.
  Tomorrow: A mix of sun and cloud. High 11. Cloudy with 40 per cent chance of show
  
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• Thursday's letters: U of A wrong to honour David Suzuki

  19-04-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The idea that the University of Alberta would honour David Suzuki simply reflects the sorry state of Canadian universities.
  His tactics in speaking to elementary school children and urging them to go home and insist to their parents that they (the parents) must take action to save the planet, echoes the approach of the Taliban.
  To honour a man who would stoop so low as to use children to advance his cause — no matter what the cause — speaks volumes about the current state of the U of
  
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• Opinion: Lengthy wait times constitute a medical crisis

  19-04-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  For over two years, a group of seniors and professionals representing seniors’ care, health policy, community services, and seniors’ organizations have been working with different stakeholders to ensure that growing numbers of seniors can count on a comprehensive, integrated seniors’ care program.
  It would result in more effective and personalized care, more effectively address the chronic and complex medical needs of seniors, especially those with frailty and dementia; and wou
  
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• Spending up on Alberta credit and debit cards, new report shows

  19-04-2018 12:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Spending on credit and debit cards rose in Alberta for the first three months of the year, although more slowly than in most provinces, a new report shows.
  Alberta consumers spent 2.5 per cent more in the first quarter than they did during the same period in 2017, well under the national average increase of five per cent, according to figures released Thursday by transaction processing company Moneris.
  British Columbia led the way among provinces with a spending rise of 6.6 per cent, while Saska
  
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• This isn't Solon McDade's first rodeo

  19-04-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Solon McDade
  Murals
  (Independent)
  You don’t expect anyone’s solo debut to sound this accomplished, but then, it’s not as if Solon McDade started making music yesterday. Growing up in Alberta in the McDade Family Band and taking off with the award-winning McDades seems to have fostered a natural versatility for playing across genres. Check his extensive work as a sideman for many shades of roots and jazz acts.
  Still, this quintet session suggests that the Montreal-based bassist
  
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• Spring inspires fresh visions of dance for Citie Ballet end of season

  19-04-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The essence of spring inspired a program of three varied, new dance works for the final show of Citie Ballet’s current season, as artistic director Jorden Morris explains.
  “Spring is a time for fresh growth, fresh ideas and new voices. I wanted Lydia (Redpath) and Matthew (Klippenstein) to be those fresh voices, while my own piece really celebrates the actual season. I think it’s a really strong show with some fascinating movements.”
  Citie Ballet has long encouraged its d
  
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• Pretty Goblins serves dark tale with side of funny bones

  19-04-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton is blessed with funny women. Not just strange-funny, although we like them, too — but laugh-out-loud funny. Think on-stage talents such as Hey Ladies, with the outrageous comic stylings of Leona Brausen, Davina Stewart and Cathleen Rootsaert.
  But the city is also home to women with comic chops who often dwell behind the scenes. These are the writers who pen stories that bubble with laughter, and may even deliver a thoughtful message, if you can stop peeing your pants long enough t
  
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• Peppa Pig Live! gives children chance to connect with beloved TV characters

  19-04-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Canada’s most popular porcine family is coming to Edmonton for one night only.Peppa Pig Live! Peppa‘s Surprise! is on a whistle-stop tour of 33 cities in North America including Edmonton, where it will play at the Jubilee Auditorium on Sunday, April 22, at 4 p.m.
  The target audience for Peppa Pig Live! is preschoolers and their families, and past tours of these live musical adventures have sold upwards of 500,000 tickets.
  Jonathan Shank, the tour producer for Peppa Pig Live!, says t
  
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• 'Not putting lipstick on a pig': University of Alberta's largest residence requires $117-million overhaul

  19-04-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The University of Alberta’s largest residence will require a $117-million overhaul if it is to avoid a “significant failure of major building systems,” the institution’s finance committee was told Wednesday.
  Citing the age of the Lister Centre and the fact the facility has not undergone any substantial building retrofit or renewal since its construction in the 1960s, initial design work is already underway, with construction expected to begin in late 2018 with “subs
  
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• Edmonton Poetry Fest: Eight days of 'one of the most accessible art forms'

  19-04-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  In the greatest X-Files episode, Jose Chung’s From Outer Space, Charles Nelson Reilly’s titular character leads us through a seductive idea.
  “As a storyteller,” says Darrin Morgan’s dialogue for Chung, “I’m fascinated how a person’s sense of consciousness can be so transformed by nothing more magical than listening to words. Mere words.”
  While it’s hypnosis Chung’s on about, poetry summons these same powers as one of the most raw
  
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• Columbus Blue Jackets not making the same mistake with Mark Letestu as Edmonton Oilers did

  19-04-2018 09:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  One grave and repeated mistake made by the Edmonton Oilers coaching staff this year was over-using veteran players in situations where they were having little or no success.
  This happened with winger Milan Lucic on the top line with Connor McDavid and on the top power play unit. It happened with Andrej Sekera as he struggled mightily after his return to the line-up, and it also happened with Mark Letestu, one of Edmonton’s heroes of the 2017 playoffs.
  Letestu was unable to replicated his 2
  
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• Premier Rachel Notley stands by pipeline confidence despite Kinder Morgan CEO comments

  19-04-2018 03:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premier Rachel Notley has waved aside comments by Kinder Morgan CEO Steve Kean, who said late Wednesday he has seen nothing to change his mind over his company’s suspension of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. 
  Kean told an earnings conference call that events in recent days have reinforced his concerns about the $7.4-billion project’s viability.
  His company suspended work on the project earlier this month because the investment may be “untenable for a pr
  
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• Slave Lake gathers to mourn 21-year-old killed in Humboldt bus crash

  19-04-2018 03:56 via edmontonjournal.com
  Conner Lukan was one of 16 people who died after a Humboldt Broncos team bus collided with a double-trailer semi truck April 6 on a rural highway south of Nipawin, Sask., where the team had a playoff game that evening. Another 13 people were injured.
  A crowd of 600 mourners gathered in Slave Lake for a memorial Wednesday for the 21-year-old hockey player, who moved to Spruce Grove at age 13 to pursue hockey, eventually playing for the Spruce Grove Saints between 2014 and 2017.  He 
  
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• Unusually high water bills result in expanded role for Alberta’s utilities consumer advocate

  19-04-2018 03:54 via edmontonjournal.com
  A host of complaints about skyrocketing water bills from many Alberta residents last year was a “catalyst” for the NDP government to beef up the responsibilities of Alberta’s utilities consumer advocate, the Service Alberta minister said Wednesday.
  “Many Albertans have recently shared stories of feeling powerless when they were hit with unusually high water bills, and had nowhere to turn for help. Today, we empower consumers by giving them a helping hand to resolve their
  
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• WATCH: Uncle of fatal hit-and-run victim speaks about family's loss

  19-04-2018 03:46 via edmontonjournal.com
  Quentin McGie, Chloe Wiwchar’s uncle, speaks about his family’s loss at the intersection where his niece was hit by a vehicle around 11 p.m. Sunday, April 15, at the crosswalk at Tower Road and Kingsway near her home in Edmonton.
  A woman places flowers for Chloe Wiwchar who was hit by a vehicle around 11 p.m. Sunday, April 15, at a crosswalk with lights activated at Tower Road and Kingsway in Edmonton, on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Flowers were displayed at the intersection on Wednes
  
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• WATCH: FC Edmonton appeals to city council for Clarke Stadium upgrades

  19-04-2018 03:42 via edmontonjournal.com
  FC Edmonton and many in Edmonton’s soccer community are asking city hall to give Clarke Stadium to soccer as the primary users, help them build more seating and allow them to create their own food and beverage contracts in the facility.
  The Canadian Premier League (CPL) begins play in April 2019, and FC Edmonton would like to bring professional soccer back to Edmonton, but a league requirement is a stadium that seats 7,000.
  Frustrated football leaders pushed back against the proposal to gi
  
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• WATCH: St. Albert man sentenced to seven years for Ponzi scheme

  19-04-2018 03:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  A St. Albert man was sentenced to seven years in prison for a Ponzi scheme that bilked $6 million from investors.
  Wade Closson earlier pleaded guilty to 53 counts of fraud over $5,000, related to an $11-million mortgage investment scheme in which he lost millions for over 50 investors — including his own friends and family.
  A number of Closson’s victims sat in the court gallery Wednesday as court heard victim impact statements that detailed the financial devastation many experie
  
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• Graham Thomson: Good news for Rachel Notley on Trans Mountain pipeline controversy quickly evaporates

  19-04-2018 03:26 via edmontonjournal.com
  For Alberta’s NDP government, it must have been nice while it lasted.
  For a few hours Wednesday, the government was basking in a bit of good news.
  According to a new public opinion poll, Premier Rachel Notley has come out on top in the fight over the expansion plans for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline. Well, she’s come out on top as compared to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan.
  But, hey, these days the NDP will take what good news it can get on
  
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• Several councillors support 30 km/h speed limits on local, residential roads

  19-04-2018 03:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  School zones, playground zones — now several councillors are lobbying to reduce speed limits to 30 km/h on all local, residential roads.
  “There’s a strong desire to do something on those local roads,” said Ward 8 Coun. Ben Henderson, suggesting council should act now and study speed limits on larger collector roads (such as bus routes) later.
  City officials said 72 per cent of residents they surveyed want speeds reduced on local roads, and support for that reduction was c
  
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• 'Predatory' St. Albert fraudster going to prison for Ponzi scheme

  19-04-2018 02:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  A judge found a St. Albert man was motivated by “greed” when he sentenced him to seven years in prison Wednesday for a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of about $6 million. 
  Wade Closson, 47, earlier pleaded guilty to 53 counts of fraud over $5,000, related to an $11-million mortgage investment scheme in which he lost millions from dozens of investors — many of whom were his friends and family.
  “It’s one thing to be taken advantage of by a stranger, but many
  
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• Prayers for Southgate mall beating victim as police seek suspect

  19-04-2018 02:08 via edmontonjournal.com
  As police continue to search for a male suspect in a violent robbery, friends and strangers alike were praying for the man hospitalized after the Southgate Centre attack.
  Police said there were no updates about the 61-year-old’s condition as of Wednesday afternoon. The man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after he tried to stop a thief at a nearby kiosk just after 10 a.m. Tuesday.
  Meanwhile, a Facebook page titled “Pray for Iain Armstrong” said Armstron
  
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• 'Just tighten your skates': Slave Lake gathers to mourn 21-year-old killed in Humboldt bus crash

  19-04-2018 02:05 via edmontonjournal.com
  Slave Lake — Kevin Garinger, standing before a crowd of 600 mourners, remembers a particularly punishing shift his Conner Lukan played as a Humboldt Bronco. 
  During a game, the centreman blocked a flurry of shots — including a particularly nasty puck to the ankle. As he hobbled to the bench, then made his way back on the ice, Garinger, the Broncos president, wondered how he did it. 
  “I knew if I took my skate off, it would swell up,” Garinger recalled Lukan tel
  
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• Notes from the Dome: Scott Cyr plans to bow out, legal aid expands

  19-04-2018 01:47 via edmontonjournal.com
  Scott Cyr, United Conservative Party member for Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, will not be pursuing re-election in the 2019 election. 
  Cyr didn’t give a hard and fast reason for his decision, saying in a Facebook post it’s “a complex answer.” 
  “Ultimately it is good to re-evaluate the direction that your career is going in from time to time,” he wrote.
  “I am at one of those crossroads in life and over the next couple of months will pray fo
  
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• 'Sheeplike' drug trafficker who helped beat man to death in Grande Prairie sent to prison

  19-04-2018 01:42 via edmontonjournal.com
  A Grande Prairie drug trafficker who helped beat a man to death with a pipe was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison for manslaughter Wednesday.
  Tommy Paul, 33, pleaded guilty in Edmonton earlier this month to the 2015 killing of Adrian Snider. Paul was one of four people charged in the death.
  Court of Queen’s Bench Justice John Gill granted Paul enhanced credit for 53 months already spent in custody, leaving him about three years to serve. 
  According to an agreed statement of facts, Pa
  
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• Graham Thomson: A majority of Canadians — and British Columbians — support Trans Mountain expansion

  19-04-2018 00:55 via edmontonjournal.com
  Perhaps Premier Rachel Notley should go to war with British Columbia more often.
  According to a new public opinion poll, she has come out on top in the fight over the expansion plans for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline. Well, she’s come out on top as compared to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan.
  The Angus Reid survey indicates 42 per cent of Canadians think Notley is doing a good job handling the dispute, compared with 36 per cent for Trudeau and 31
  
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• Cappies reviews: A Few Good Men

  19-04-2018 00:46 via edmontonjournal.com
  Jasmine El-issa
  Archbishop MacDonald High School
  Could you bear the guilt of lying to save yourself? Could you handle the consequences of preaching the truth, for the sake of. . . what? Personal honour? Patriotism? Austin O’Brien’s production of A Few Good Men, written by Aaron Sorkin, was a thrilling journey from start to finish, due to superb acting and a crew rooted in professionalism.
  Produced on Broadway in 1989 by David Brown, A Few Good Men was so well received it was adapted
  
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• 'Tighten your skates': Slave Lake gathers to mourn 21-year-old killed in Humbolt bus crash

  19-04-2018 00:37 via edmontonjournal.com
  SLAVE LAKE — Kevin Garinger, in front of a crowd of 600 mourners, remembers a particularly punishing shift his billet son Conner Lukan, 21, played as a Humboldt Bronco. 
  During a game, the centreman blocked a flurry of shots — including a particularly nasty puck to the ankle. As he hobbled to the bench and then made his way back on, Garinger, the Broncos president, wondered how he did it. 
  “I knew if I took my skate off, it would swell up,” Garinger recalled Lu
  
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• Police hand out capes to help homeless take cover

  19-04-2018 00:14 via edmontonjournal.com
  Rain, snow and drizzle can take its toll on those struggling to find shelter. 
  So Edmonton city police have created Project Cape, where members of the Community Action Team (CAT) hand out bright red ponchos to anyone in need. 
  “Warmer weather with wet snow and freezing rain renders most blankets and winter clothing useless once it becomes saturated with moisture,” Const. Mike Zacharuk said in a Wednesday news release. “Hypothermia can occur in temperatures as warm as
  
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• Edmonton firefighters find body at house fire

  19-04-2018 00:14 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton police were investigating after firefighters found a body Wednesday at a residential fire.
  Officers were called about 9 a.m. after fire crews discovered a male body inside a multi-unit structure near 113 Avenue and 29 Street, police said.
  An autopsy was pending. No further information was immediately available.
   
  
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• Speed demons: RCMP nab motorists clocked at 190 km/h on Anthony Henday

  19-04-2018 00:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  Hey Vin Diesel, this isn’t The Fast and The Furious.
  Over the past few weeks, Strathcona County RCMP members have received several complaints about excessive speeding on Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216). So much so, that this past weekend, officers dedicated six hours of enforcement on the highway where they clocked more than 70 vehicles exceeding the 100 km/h speed limit, with a few drivers reaching over-the-top speeds.
  Police said two vehicles were recorded exceeding 190 km/h, two othe
  
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