St. Albert news

• Court hears guilty plea in 'novel' domestic weapons trafficking case

  23-05-2018 23:51 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Edmonton man will be the first person sentenced in Alberta for a so-called ‘straw purchasing’ offence related to domestic weapons trafficking.
  Justin Scott Shipowich, 38, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession of restricted firearms for the purposing of trafficking.
  Court heard that straw purchasing is when a person with a non-existent or minor criminal record buys weapons and then sells the firearms to other people. 
  According to an agreed statement of facts, Sh
  
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• 'Make it so': Iveson wants Patrick Stewart to be the voice of Edmonton transit

  23-05-2018 23:30 via edmontonjournal.com
  If not Morgan Freeman, then who should be the voice on Edmonton’s transit services?
  Well, Mayor Don Iveson’s office asked that very question, and he says his wife Sarah Chan suggested — wait for it — Patrick Stewart.
  That’s right. 
  If Ms. Sarah Chan has her way, Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s soothing baritones might help LRT and bus riders journey to … well, the different parts of Edmonton.
  Iveson said he was “was all in for that. Make it so
  
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• Edmonton man who babysat charged with sexual assault, making child porn

  23-05-2018 23:06 via edmontonjournal.com
  A 50-year-old Edmonton man has been charged with sexual offences against two children who he frequently babysat, say police. 
  Alberta’s Internet Child Exploitation unit (ICE), part of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), announced Wednesday it had charged the man and investigators believe there may be other victims. 
  Police allege the man on two separate occasions over a year ago sexually assaulted two young children that he knew. Investigators say he was a friend
  
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• Alberta spurns agreement at Western Premiers' Conference over pipeline spat

  23-05-2018 22:44 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta’s signature will be conspicuously absent from a communique Canada’s western premiers agreed Wednesday to send off to Ottawa.
  Deputy premier Sarah Hoffman wanted the final letter from the Western Premiers’ Conference in Yellowknife to express support for the Trans Mountain pipeline from every premier around the table, but that didn’t happen. 
  So Alberta said “No thank you” to signing its support to shared priorities around a multitude of
  
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• City council votes to explore multiple beaches in the river valley

  23-05-2018 21:19 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton’s accidental beaches could multiply.
  City councillors voted Wednesday to further explore the feasibility of encouraging multiple beaches for public use all through the river valley, replicating last year’s accidental beach to spread out the impact. 
  But that’s going to require Edmonton beach goers to clean up their act, said Mayor Don Iveson. 
  “For me, quite frankly, the beach is a little bit on probation. … But if we can make this thing work, wh
  
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• Is Solo: A Star Wars Story one worth telling in the first place?

  23-05-2018 20:58 via edmontonjournal.com
  (First thing: this opinion piece is SPOILER FREE. I haven’t seen the new Star Wars film or read any reviews. We good? OK, read on!)
  You’re sitting there in the dark theatre this weekend, and just imagine it, the name of the movie’s main character jumps onto the big screen: LANDO! Cheers, applause and underwear-flinging all around!
  OK, it’s hard not to want to leap headfirst on the Donald Glover hover-bandwagon right now: his This Is America video performing as Childish Ga
  
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• Vancouver has Morgan Freeman. So who should voice Edmonton's transit?

  23-05-2018 20:23 via edmontonjournal.com
  If not Morgan Freeman, then who?
  That’s what Edmontonians are debating after news broke Wednesday of a partnership deal between VISA and Vancouver’s TransLink that will have transit riders listening to the soothing voice of Freeman making announcements at select SkyTrain stations.
  “Hello bus riders. This is a smoke-free bus, but I’m sure you already knew that,” says one track. “What you might not know, however, is that you can now tap your Visa to go anywhere
  
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• Can 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' live up to the hype? We discuss.

  23-05-2018 20:06 via edmontonjournal.com
  Fish Griwkowsky holds a panel discussion on his sofa with Mike Borchert, of the Borchelli Brothers podcast, and local musician Curtis Ross talking about the latest Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars story.
  The movie opens in theatres on Friday, May 25.
   
  
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• Smoky Lake-area man charged with 23 arsons going back years: New RCMP forestry crimes unit

  23-05-2018 19:44 via edmontonjournal.com
  A Smoky Lake-area man is facing 23 counts of arson in the wake of two dozen fires dating back to 2012, say RCMP. 
  The charges come after an “in-depth” investigation by the Alberta RCMP’s forestry crimes unit, created in January to probe suspicious fires. 
  “This is a good success already for this unit,” RCMP Cpl. Laurel Scott said Wednesday. 
  The unit — with the help of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry along with Smoky Lake County Emergency Servi
  
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• 'Clothing itself isn’t a distraction': Board urges Edmonton schools to rework dress codes

  23-05-2018 19:36 via edmontonjournal.com
  Public schools should rework dress codes to remove references to girls’ or boys’ clothing and nix rules that could single out races, religions, or body shapes, the Edmonton public school board says.
  The school board voted unanimously on Tuesday afternoon to encourage school administrators to revise policies with a critical eye to language that could discriminate against any group of students.
  “It shouldn’t say, ‘Now, girls, it’s spring time. Don’t wear t
  
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• Valley Line LRT work continues after car-sized concrete slab delays construction

  23-05-2018 19:22 via edmontonjournal.com
  Construction of the Valley Line LRT bridge across the North Saskatchewan River has resumed after a partially buried concrete slab temporarily halted work in March.
  Crews discovered the car-sized piece of concrete buried nine metres deep under a berm platform where cofferdam construction was underway for the Tawatinâ Bridge on the north side of the river near Grierson Hill. 
  Trans Ed, the group building the line, released a statement Wednesday saying crews have now begun working safely
  
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• Live: Edmonton debates keeping the Accidental each

  23-05-2018 18:18 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton city councillors will get their first chance to really dig into the possibility of keeping the accidental beach in Cloverdale Wednesday. 
  The first comprehensive report on what it would take to keep the beach is going to council’s executive committee and is first on the agenda. A feasibility study by the consultant Stantec looked at six different locations for beaches in Edmonton, all along existing sandbars, and concluded the Cloverdale option is the best in terms of slope s
  
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• 109 Street bar owner says rooftop patio tied up with red tape

  23-05-2018 17:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  With summer comes patio season, but one restaurant seems to be getting some shade from the city.
  The Why Not Cafe & Bar, a small eatery on 109 Street just north of Whyte Avenue, found a notice from the city tacked to its door Tuesday morning that said it did not have a permit for a rooftop patio, and had seven days to obtain the required permit.
  “If I could get it done in seven days … I’ve been trying to get it for eight weeks now,” a frustrated sounding Levi Biddlec
  
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• Will a top young d-man prospects like Noah Dobson fall to the Edmonton Oilers? Maybe

  23-05-2018 16:17 via edmontonjournal.com
  Will Noah Dobson fall to the Edmonton Oilers? Surely this question has been on the mind of the Oilers faithful these past few days as young Dobson rips it up at the Memorial Cup championships. 
  Dobson, 18, is a skilled and strapping young d-man for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He’s not as fluid or athletic-looking as Mikhail Sergachev, but he skates well and handles the puck better than did Sergachev in his draft year. Dobson is able to make quick cuts and dekes to shake off forechecker
  
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• Permit problem puts small eatery's rooftop patio in jeopardy

  23-05-2018 16:10 via edmontonjournal.com
  Levi Biddlecombe and Adrienne Livingston, owner-operators of the Why Not Cafe & Bar in Edmonton, received a non-compliance order from the City of Edmonton that prevents them from serving customers on their rooftop patio.
  The order stated that the cafe did not have a permit for a rooftop patio, and had seven days to obtain the required permit.
  “If I could get it done in seven days … I’ve been trying to get it for eight weeks now,” said Biddlecombe. The small busi
  
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• Edmonton weather: I think it's safe to take off the winter tires now

  23-05-2018 14:21 via edmontonjournal.com
  A look at today’s Edmonton weather by Environment Canada.
  Wednesday morning temperatures at the Edmonton Blatchford station measure 15.2 C with a 4 km/h wind coming from the south. A heat warning remains in effect for Edmonton, and much of the northern portion of the the province.
  Heat Warnings are issued when very high temperature conditions are expected to pose an elevated risk of heat illnesses, such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
  Today: Sunny. Wind becoming southeast 20 km/h n
  
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• Wednesday's letters: Will council slow down LRT next?

  23-05-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  So, a pedestrian was struck and killed by the LRT south of the Clareview Station. Will our over-reactive city council consider reducing the speed limit of trains to further impair the movement of traffic in our city?  
  Perhaps it makes more sense to educate people about the dangers from traffic, trains and other distractions such as electronic device usage. Reducing speed limits and punishing the masses is not a sensible safety measure.
  Dale Hrdlicka, Edmonton
  NDP capping more crash in
  
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• Opinion: Affordable rent not just a big-city problem

  23-05-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Despite a significant public focus on the issue, affordable rental housing continues to be an issue across Canada and Alberta.
  The 2018 www.rentalhousingindex.ca, a comprehensive database of rental housing statistics based on 2016 census data from Statistics Canada, provides information for over 800 cities and regions.
  We need to pay attention to rental housing trends because for the first time since 1971, there has been an increase in rental households across Canada compared to home owners
  
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• Enjoy safe swimming in the North Saskatchewan River

  23-05-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  While columnist David Staples is a big booster of the river valley, he wants you to be very careful when swimming in the North Saskatchewan this summer. The physical hazards of the current and the river’s water quality should not be taken for granted. It’s recommended swimmers wear a lifejacket and never swim alone.
  
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• David Staples: Accidental Beach needs to become Permanent Beach

  23-05-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Local politicians and government administrators face a major test of their competency and flexibility.
  Out of nowhere and completely by accident, Edmonton was handed a great gift in Accidental Beach last year, which owed its existence to berms built for LRT bridge construction. Thousands flocked to the beach in the river valley after word got out of its existence.
  But will we squander this opportunity?
  Will bureaucratic complexities, red tape and risk aversion stop the beach from becoming perman
  
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• Alberta seeks 'creative disrupters' to drive digital innovation in government

  23-05-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The province will launch a new digital innovation office this summer, and is searching for someone to lead it.  
  That someone will be paid up to $241,410 per year as chief of an office dedicated to “driving digital innovation across government.”
  According to the job posting, the office’s goal is to “deliver simpler, efficient and better services for the citizens of Alberta in the digital age.”
  It will be composed of a small team of “progressive think
  
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• Firefighters douse grass fire near oil facility in east Edmonton

  23-05-2018 05:46 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton firefighters extinguised a grass fire near an oil tank farm in the city’s east Tuesday evening. 
  Fire spokeswoman Suzzette Mellado said crews were alerted to the fire at 8:06 p.m. They arrived four minutes later and found a grass fire burning near Imperial Oil Marketing, which she described as a tank farm. 
  The facility, at 3910 92 Ave., is in the Eastgate Business Park north of the Sherwood Park Freeway. Eleven fire units were on scene. 
  Fire crews at the
  
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• GALLERY: Edmontonians contend with the heat of the moment

  23-05-2018 05:45 via edmontonjournal.com
  Odai Halabi (1-year-old) plays in the wading pool outside the Alberta Legislature on Tuesday May 22, 2018.
  Children play in the fountains outside the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, May 22, 2018.
  The water fountains on the Legislature grounds were a popular place to beat the heat on Tuesday, May 22, 2018.
  City parks worker Rob MacDougall watering a garden bed in preparation for a variety of vegetation to be planted at Hawrelak Park in Edmonton, May 22, 2018.
  People take in the Kinsmen Spray Par
  
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• Cafe owner hit with rooftop patio non-compliance order

  23-05-2018 04:51 via edmontonjournal.com
  With summer comes patio season, but one restaurant seems to be getting some shade from the city.
  The Why Not Cafe & Bar, a small eatery on 109 Street just north of Whyte Avenue, found a notice from the city tacked to its door Tuesday morning that said it did not have a permit for a rooftop patio, and had seven days to obtain the required permit.
  “If I could get it done in seven days … I’ve been trying to get it for eight weeks now,” a frustrated sounding Levi Biddlec
  
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• Edmonton public school bus fees rising for next four years

  23-05-2018 04:36 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton public school bus fees are going up five per cent each year for four years — but families won’t feel the pinch until fall 2019.
  A majority of board trustees voted Tuesday to cover the cost of a five per cent hike in September 2018 through an expected budget surplus.
  The delayed pain for parents will buy the board more time to push the province to change school transportation funding and find more cost-savings by hopefully sharing more buses with Edmonton’s Catholic sch
  
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• Looking for a sign: Edmonton to overhaul digital display rules

  23-05-2018 02:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  Concerns about light pollution, traffic safety and a really confusing bylaw led city officials to pitch a complete overhaul of Edmonton’s sign regulations Tuesday. 
  Digital signs are proliferating and the existing sign bylaw is one of the hardest on the books to understand, much less enforce, said city planner Anne Stevenson.
  At the same time, the rules limit many schools and community leagues from adding changeable signs to share news of potlucks, gardening events and school activiti
  
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• Deputy premier Sarah Hoffman to attend western premiers’ conference

  23-05-2018 01:52 via edmontonjournal.com
  Deputy premier Sarah Hoffman will attend the western premiers’ conference in Premier Rachel Notley’s place to explain Alberta’s position that if Canadians want cheaper drugs and health care, they need a strong, functioning, national economy — and that’s why Alberta will continue to fight for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
  Notley said she needs to remain in Alberta to attend briefings on Bill 12, the legislation that gives her energy minister final say over c
  
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• Rachel Notley slams B.C. over Trans Mountain 'legal rope-a-dope,' says pipeline agreement close

  23-05-2018 01:13 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premier Rachel Notley says Alberta is “very close” to making decisions to keep the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion alive.
  Defending her decision to skip this week’s Western Premiers’ Conference in the Northwest Territories, Notley said Tuesday she will stay in Alberta to instead work on those “very important decisions.”
  Speaking with reporters in Edmonton, Notley accused the B.C. government of trying to “play legal rope-a-dope until the cows come
  
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• Landrex Water Play Centre to Close for Annual Spruce Up

  23-05-2018 00:55
  Annual shut down of Servus Credit Union Place pool scheduled from May 22 to June 10 The annual Spruce Up... Read Post
  
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• Volunteers Needed for St. Albert Celebrates Canada Day

  23-05-2018 00:51
  PRESENTED BY TRUE NORTH HEATING AND COOLING The City of St. Albert needs volunteers for the Canada Day celebrations on... Read Post
  
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• Open lottery system will dictate who gets prime spots to sell cannabis in Edmonton

  23-05-2018 00:31 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton city councillors endorsed an open lottery system for cannabis permits Tuesday despite concerns from some established retailers.
  City officials expect 200 applications for development permits in Edmonton this spring, with business people racing to get prime spots and avoid the city’s blackout zones — within 200 metres of another cannabis store.
  They say a lottery is the best way to handle that.
  If a shop owner who gets a development permit can’t get a Alberta Gaming and
  
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• Bissell Centre seeks bottled water as heat hits Edmonton

  23-05-2018 00:17 via edmontonjournal.com
  During hot spells on the Alberta prairies, it’s commonplace for people to escape to cooler domains: public swimming pools, spray parks, the basement.
  But what do you do when you have no place to go?
  For Edmonton’s homeless population, a significant rise in the mercury can be a matter of life or death.
  That’s why the Bissell Centre is calling on Edmontonians to donate up to 2,000 water bottles to help keep Edmonton’s homeless population hydrated after Environment Canada de
  
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