St. Albert news

• Alberta is failing to meet class-size targets

  18-06-2018 22:29 via edmontonjournal.com
  More than fifteen years after Alberta’s ballooning class sizes became a flashpoint in an acrimonious teachers’ strike, tales of classes that start the year with more students than desks remain common.
  Parents speak of children competing for teachers’ attention, while teachers in turn struggle to meet dozens of students’ complex needs.
  All this is despite high-profile class-size targets on the books and at least $2.7 billion of taxpayers’ money provided since 20
  
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• Man taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after gunshots reported at 118 Avenue apartment

  18-06-2018 22:22 via edmontonjournal.com
  A man in his 30s was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries Monday morning as police responded to reports of gunshots outside an apartment building along 118 Avenue.
  Police questioned a crowd of onlookers outside the Skyview Apartment building, 12948 118 Ave., just after 11 a.m.
  An ambulance — with lights and sirens activated, along with a police escort — then left the area in the Sherbrooke neighbourhood, heading down 118 Avenue.
  Residents say they heard gunshots and a man
  
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• Rachel Notley juggles cabinet one year ahead of election

  18-06-2018 22:20 via edmontonjournal.com
  A new face now sits at Alberta’s cabinet table following a Monday mini-shuffle by Premier Rachel Notley one year out from the next provincial election.
  Calgary-Currie MLA Brian Malkinson has been catapulted from the backbench to minister of Service Alberta, taking the portfolio from the hands of Calgary-Varsity MLA Stephanie McLean.
  Current Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee, member for Lesser Slave Lake, took the other half of McLean’s file. She will pick up Status
  
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• Timeline of the new normal for Alberta classroom size

  18-06-2018 21:38 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta’s current class size guidelines come from a 2003 report by the Alberta Commission on Learning. It was the first major review of the province’s education system in three decades, prompted by an acrimonious labour dispute and 2002 strike by 22,000 teachers. After pressure from parents and teachers, the commission declared class sizes a priority. In five of Alberta’s largest school districts, more than 85 per cent of the kindergarten to Grade 3 classes are larger than gove
  
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• Community 'duped' into believing West LRT has little impact: Glenora residents

  18-06-2018 21:37 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton residents have been “duped” into accepting an LRT system that is far different than the urban-style train sold to city council, say angry Glenora residents.
  Concept designs show a train running down tracks in the middle of a tree-lined street with heritage homes.
  In reality, that urban-style LRT council voted for didn’t fit.
  So instead, with no public consultation, LRT planners have designated 1,120 trees for destruction, including all the mature American elms that cur
  
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• Sexual assault charge laid against Mountie following Christmas party

  18-06-2018 21:14 via edmontonjournal.com
  A male Wood Buffalo RCMP member has been charged with sexual assault and suspended from duties after two female Mounties alleged they were touched inappropriately at an off-site Christmas party.
  The alleged assaults, which took place on Nov. 26, 2017, were investigated by the Lloydminster RCMP general investigative section and support units in Edmonton. A report was sent to Crown prosecutors in May.
  On May 29 the Crown decided it had enough evidence to support one charge of sexual assault a
  
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• Lindsay Porter stars in Food Network's Guy's Grocery Games

  18-06-2018 18:47 via edmontonjournal.com
  There she was, just minding her own business, when the call came.
  It was Food Network in the U.S., wondering if London Local chef and owner, Lindsay Porter, was willing to audition for the popular American food challenge, Guy’s Grocery Game.
  Not only was she willing, Porter won the competition, taking home the $16,000 USD first prize.
  “Round by round, I kept squeaking by the chefs I was up against,” says Porter, 32, who has competed in major food fights such as Gold Medal Plate
  
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• Pilot uninjured as light plane crashes on Leduc County lake

  18-06-2018 18:26 via edmontonjournal.com
  The pilot of a light plane that crashed on a lake in Leduc County Sunday escaped the submerged aircraft unharmed.
  Mounties released an image Monday morning showing the plane upside down in the lake.
  When RCMP members arrived they determined the pilot escaped safely and was the only person onboard.
  The cause of the plane crash is under investigation.
  
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• South Korea follows Japan's lead to ban Canadian wheat imports

  18-06-2018 18:25 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta farmers are facing a second wheat import ban after South Korea blocked the product following the discovery of an unauthorized clump of genetically modified wheat in southern Alberta. The move followed a similar decision by Japan last week.
  Federal government officials confirmed Monday both countries have initiated a temporary suspension of Canadian wheat.
  Japan is one of Canada’s biggest customers for the grain and bought $203 million worth of wheat last year from Al
  
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• Notley adds Calgary MLA to cabinet, shuffles out Stephanie McLean

  18-06-2018 18:07 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premier Rachel Notley added a new face to her cabinet Monday morning, moving Calgary-Currie MLA Brian Malkinson into the Service Alberta portfolio.
  Malkinson is replacing Calgary-Varsity MLA Stephanie McLean who is being shuffled out of cabinet.
  McLean’s status of women portfolio is being absorbed by Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee.
  McLean is not running in the 2019 election.
  Associate Health Minister Brandy Payne, who is also not running in 2019, will similarly be
  
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• New music venue opening in former Needle Vinyl Tavern space on Jasper Avenue

  18-06-2018 17:43 via edmontonjournal.com
  A new Jasper Avenue music venue is set to open later this month, filling a space left empty by another popular venue that closed under a cloud of controversy.
  Greg Scott, new owner of the former Needle Vinyl Tavern space, announced Monday that a revamped venue named The Station on Jasper will open June 29.
  Scott said in a news release that the Station aims to be the best mid-size live music venue in Western Canada.
  “Every great city has a memorable live music venue in its core,” Scot
  
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• It's more likely a top scoring winger will fall to the Edmonton Oilers with 10th pick

  18-06-2018 16:31 via edmontonjournal.com
  It’s looking more like a top-ranked attacking winger will fall to the Edmonton Oilers, who draft 10th overall.
  The hunger for a first line centre or a top-pairing d-man appears to be driving teams to consider drafting players like Finnish centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi, or d-men like Adam Boqvist, Noah Dobson, Evan Bouchard and Quinn Hughes ahead of wingers like Oliver Wahlstrom and maybe even the highly-rated wingers Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk.
  For example, here is Montreal insider Eric En
  
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• Edmonton weather: Heat warning in effect; 30 C temperatures expected all week

  18-06-2018 14:38 via edmontonjournal.com
  A look at today’s Edmonton weather by Environment Canada.
  Monday morning temperatures at the Edmonton Blatchford station measure 12.9 C with a 2 km/h wind coming from the southwest.
  A heat warning is in effect for the city of Edmonton, and much of northern Alberta. “A prolonged period with maximum daily temperatures reaching near 29 C or above and minimum overnight temperatures near 14 C or above is expected to begin Monday and continue through the week,” reads the warning from
  
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• Fifteen years and $2.7 billion later, Alberta is failing to meet class-size targets

  18-06-2018 11:02 via edmontonjournal.com
  In the booming south Edmonton neighbourhood of Rutherford, library shelves have been pushed into the atrium and hallways of Monsignor Fee Otterson Catholic School to make room for its youngest students.
  When the school ran out of classrooms, principal Marie Whelan’s fix was to gather about 40 kindergartners in one large space with plenty of supervision — two teachers and an educational assistant.
  “Everybody would appreciate a smaller class size; I think that’s just human
  
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• 'Treat people like people': A little paint, shade cuts conflict at Boyle Street

  18-06-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  It turns out “when you treat people like people, they act like people.”
  That’s what Elliott Tansi said struck him during the three-day Welcome Mat event at Boyle Street Community Services. Staff at the outreach centre set out chairs, shade umbrellas and planters, plus painted the sidewalk in front of the soup kitchen and community centre.
  It went far better than workers imagined, said Tansi, a Boyle Street spokesman who led the project. They initially worried the chai
  
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• Timeline: The politics of class sizes in Alberta

  18-06-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Alberta’s current class size guidelines come from a 2003 report by the Alberta Commission on Learning. It was the first major review of the province’s education system in three decades, prompted by an acrimonious labour dispute and 2002 strike by 22,000 teachers. After pressure from parents and teachers, the commission declared class sizes a priority. Here’s how the debate around class size has evolved.
  Thousands of striking Alberta teachers, joined by parents, students and mem
  
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• Showing our work: Why we wanted to report on Alberta class sizes and how we did it

  18-06-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The initial question seemed simple: Just how big are Alberta’s K-12 classes today, 15 years after a high-profile, special commission into classroom conditions called for a serious investment in smaller class sizes.
  Last fall, conversations between teachers and parents, social media campaigns and phone calls to the newsroom pointed to an ongoing class crunch.
  But anecdotes are one thing; Journal reporters and editors wanted to know if large classes were commonplace, or merely exceptions?
  Al
  
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• Complex new composting project over budget but almost ready to go

  18-06-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton’s new trash digester was first pitched to actually make money from the city’s organic waste.
  The first capital profile approved by city council in 2013 said it would cost $30 million, partially funded with a $10-million provincial grant to experiment with new-to-Alberta technology. It would have opened in 2016, expanded Edmonton’s capacity to produce compost and netted $300,000 more in revenue than expenses in the very first year.
  That’s not what happened.
  Today&
  
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• Nick Lees: New force at Fort Edmonton right man for the job

  18-06-2018 03:35 via edmontonjournal.com
  He’s had executive and leadership experience in the private and public sectors and was headhunted in Ontario for his Edmonton job.
  He dresses casually but his build tells you he’s fit and has played in the front row of a rugby scrum.
  “We’re going to make Fort Edmonton the premier cultural tourism attraction in Western Canada,” said Darren Dalgleish, 47, the father of two hired last August to become president and CEO of the Fort Edmonton Management Company.
  He knows
  
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• 2018 FIFA World Cup: Expectation high on England to top Group G

  18-06-2018 03:33 via edmontonjournal.com
  Four years ago England crashed out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, managing just a scoreless tie with Costa Rica on their way to a last-place finish in their group.
  England head into this year’s tournament full of promise and looking to redeem themselves. The Three Lions are grouped with Belgium, Panama and Tunisia.
  Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun sports reporter Derek Van Diest brought together a group of local World Cup enthusiasts to preview the tournament.
  Former Canadian Under
  
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• DNA could crack 45-year-old cold case of Edmonton missing couple

  18-06-2018 02:44 via edmontonjournal.com
  If DNA evidence related to an Edmonton couple who seemingly vanished 45 years ago en route to Eastern Canada is ever discovered, that may crack the case, say city police.
  Ron and Terry Yakimchuk disappeared 45 years ago this month. The popular couple set off from Edmonton in an old beat-up Volkswagen Beetle, planning to attend a wedding in Montreal before settling in the Maritimes.
  The last anyone reportedly heard from them was a postcard sent from Dryden, Ont.
  Sgt. Kevin Harrison with the
  
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• Father’s Day Show and Shine Car Show held at Celebration Church

  18-06-2018 02:26 via edmontonjournal.com
  Families flocked to check out out classic, rare and vintage cars and trucks during the 17th annual Father’s Day Show and Shine Car Show at Celebration Church in Edmonton on Sunday, June 17, 2018.
  The show brings together car aficionados from across the city, who compete for prizes all the while celebrating Father’s Day.
  Fathers and their kids check out cars during the 17th annual Father’s Day Show and Shine Car Show at Celebration Church in Edmonton, on Sunday, June 17, 2018.
  E
  
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• Edson mosque set on fire in Saturday night arson

  18-06-2018 02:20 via edmontonjournal.com
  A mosque in Edson was scorched late Saturday in what RCMP are calling a case of arson.
  The mosque was set on fire at about 11 p.m. near its south entrance and burned for about 15 minutes. No one was injured in the blaze. Edson RCMP deemed the fire suspicious and are investigating it as a case of arson, RCMP said in a news release Sunday.
  The fire did not cause extensive damage since the mosque was constructed with concrete to be fire-resistant. Islamic Society of Edson board member Jocelyn Petti
  
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• Judge tosses out lawsuit by intoxicated man who leaped off WEM parkade ramp

  18-06-2018 02:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Alberta judge has dismissed a man’s attempt to take action against West Edmonton Mall over injuries he sustained following a fall from a vehicle ramp on one of the mall’s parkades.
  Yannick Hache argued he suffered “catastrophic injuries” after a roughly six-metre fall from a parking lot ramp, and that he must now live with his parents in New Brunswick and has limited ability to work.
  According to the original decision dismissing the mall’s attempt to have Hache&r
  
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• Edmonton World Cup fans share their passion for the beautiful game

  18-06-2018 01:52 via edmontonjournal.com
  World Cup soccer fans flocked to Edmonton restaurants and pubs over the weekend to celebrate o jogo bonito, a.k.a. the beautiful game.
  They sung out their support for their teams by wearing colourful jerseys, singing patriotic songs and cheering until their voices were hoarse.
  In Edmonton, fans said that soccer, and especially the World Cup, is a time once every four years that unifies sports fans from diverse backgrounds in a love of a sport played virtually everywhere on Earth. O jogo bonito,
  
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• Notley to shuffle cabinet Monday for first time since October 2017

  18-06-2018 00:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premier Rachel Notley is expected to shuffle the NDP government’s cabinet on Monday.
  A swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at Government House, said a news release Sunday from the premier’s spokeswoman, Cheryl Oates.
  Notley addressed NDP supporters Saturday in Calgary, labelling the opposition United Conservative Party as self-serving and determined to take the province backward. She suggested that health care may become a wedge issue in the upcoming provincial elect
  
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• Inspiring graduates: Two transplanted high schoolers find their roots in Edmonton

  18-06-2018 00:51 via edmontonjournal.com
  Graduating high school can be an arduous journey with semesters filled with peaks and valleys, but extracurricular activities can sometimes smooth out the rough patches.
  Postmedia spoke with two graduating students from Edmonton Public Schools who embraced community work, all while adjusting to life in a new city.
  Tyson Keddie, 18, Old Scona Academic High School
  After moving 17 times across Alberta while growing up, Tyson Keddie had to take a moment to count the number of schools he attended sin
  
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