St. Albert news

• Girls weep as charges dismissed against man in West Edmonton Mall pool sexual assaults

  06-07-2018 23:52 via edmontonjournal.com
  A man accused of sexual assault hugged his wife after learning his charges were dropped Friday. Meanwhile, a group of teen girls and their supporters left the courtroom in tears.
  Soleiman Hajj Soleiman was arrested in February 2017 after several teenagers reported being touched by a man in the West Edmonton Mall waterpark. All charges against him, six counts of sexual assault and six counts of sexual contact with a child, were dropped in a provincial court ruling Friday morning.
  Justice Joy
  
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• Hansen? Wingels? Stafford? Colborne? Hmmm. Maybe Edmonton Oilers would be better off NOT signing a vet

  06-07-2018 23:21 via edmontonjournal.com
  This in from Oilers insider Bob Stauffer of the team’s radio network: “So Duclair and Ennis have signed. … If Oilers are looking for a right shot W here are 3 names: Jannik Hansen: Played for Gulatzan in VAN. Can still skate. Character. Tommy Wingels: Played for McLellan. Physical. Drew Stafford: Streaky.”
  And this in from Dean Millard of TSN: “Been told that Chiarelli has been in contact quite a bit with free agent Joe Colborne who he drafted 16th overall in 2008.
  
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• Scrap metal train cart in southeast Edmonton leaves two pedestrians clinging to life

  06-07-2018 23:14 via edmontonjournal.com
  Two pedestrians are clinging to life in hospital after being injured by a scrap metal train cart in southeast Edmonton Friday, say police.
  Officers responded to the industrial work site near 45 Street and 68 Avenue around 11 a.m., said police a release.
  When officers arrived, they found two men on the ground in medical duress, says the release.
  The men were transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
  Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) has been notified and will investigate onc
  
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• Restored 1913 historic building opens

  06-07-2018 22:55 via edmontonjournal.com
  Plum Home and Design, an Edmonton-owned home decor & design boutique, is the first business to open its doors inside the restored historic 1913 Edmonton telephone exchange building located in downtown Edmonton.
  The building has been restored by developers Beljan and will be a hub of locally owned food and retail businesses in the Oliver neighbourhood. Jenna Pryor and Pamela Freeman, the mother-daughter owners of Plum Home and Design, decided to move their business into the space in part due
  
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• Shisha smoking ban reaction

  06-07-2018 22:54 via edmontonjournal.com
  Ghada Ghazal, co-owner of Co Co Di restaurant, comments about the City of Edmonton’s proposed bylaw to ban shisha smoking. The proposed city bylaw would prohibit shisha and waterpipe smoking in public and commercial spaces.
  The Lebanese-Mediterranean restaurant and bar in downtown Edmonton that Ghada Ghazal and her husband opened in 2001 offers tobacco-free hookahs. She claims the ban is not fair and will hurt their business.
   
   
  
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• Softer toned-down wedding dress trending after Meghan's Royal Wedding

  06-07-2018 21:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The moment Meghan Markle stepped out of her Rolls-Royce on her wedding day, the dress commentary began. Maybe you loved it — an elegant classic. Maybe you thought it was a little too plain.
  But some things were inarguable: this look was simple and stately.
  Not since Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s Narciso Rodriguez slip wedding dress had we seen such minimalist style make such maximum impact. Markle’s gown took that graceful simplicity to a whole other level — with its bateau
  
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• Excess fecal matter sours lake west of Edmonton

  06-07-2018 20:53 via edmontonjournal.com
  Provincial health officials are warning Albertans to stay out of a lake west of Edmonton due to fecal matter contamination.
  Alberta Health Services issued a water quality advisory on Friday, saying the current state of Hasse Lake represents a health hazard to swimmers and waders.
  “Elevated levels of fecal bacteria were detected via testing of the lake water, at this beach location,” the health authority said in a news release.“At current levels, gastrointestinal illness may res
  
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• Officers fatally shot man after finding him parked near Whitecourt: police watchdog

  06-07-2018 20:49 via edmontonjournal.com
  RCMP officers shot a man dead Tuesday after finding a suspect vehicle parked — with the driver appearing to be asleep — at a rest stop near Whitecourt, says the province’s police watchdog now calling for witnesses.
  Officers searching for the vehicle connected to a Monday case near Valhalla found it parked west of Whitecourt at the Chickadee Creek rest stop around noon Tuesday, said the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) in a Friday release.
  “The lone occupant
  
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• Les Misérables: I've been hearing the people sing since I was three and keep going back

  06-07-2018 20:30 via edmontonjournal.com
  Full disclosure – I’m a massive musical theatre fan. My parents met through community theatre, they got married on stage after a performance of Oklahoma! and I grew up in the theatre wings.
  One musical has always held top spot on my list of favourites.
  There’s a video out there somewhere of my three-year-old self waving a homemade red flag while singing Do You Hear the People Sing? at the top of my lungs on a mound of dirt in my fenceless backyard, which acted as my improvised
  
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• Charges dismissed against man in West Edmonton Mall pool sexual assaults

  06-07-2018 19:18 via edmontonjournal.com
  Sexual assault charges have been dismissed against a man accused of groping six teen girls at the West Edmonton Mall wave pool, a provincial court judge ruled Friday morning.
  Soeliman Hajj Soleiman was arrested in February 2017 after several teenagers reported being touched by a man in the wave pool.
  Justice Joyce Lester cited unreliable witness testimony as a reason for the decision.
  At least two of the girls in the courtroom to hear the ruling cried when it was given.
  When the trial began
  
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• Ryan Strome inks two-year extension with Edmonton Oilers at $3.1 million cap hit

  06-07-2018 18:43 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton Oilers announced Friday morning that one piece of outstanding business has been dealt with, even as they omitted a critical piece of information in the process.First Drake Caggiula, then Matt Benning, now Ryan Strome, still to come, Darnell Nurse. It seems that Peter Chiarelli is taking care of his RFA business in inverse order of difficulty, and cap hit, this summer.
  Ahh, cap hit. The critical piece of information about all of these contract extensions that the club steadfastly, resolu
  
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• Man not guilty in West Edmonton Mall pool sexual assaults

  06-07-2018 18:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  A man accused of groping six teen girls at the West Edmonton Mall wave pool has been found not guilty of sexual assault by a judge, Friday morning.
  Soeliman Hajj Soleiman was arrested in February 2017 after several teenagers reported being touched by a man in the wave pool.
  The judge cited unreliable witness testimony as a reason for the decision.
  At least two of the girls cried when the verdict was given.
  When the trial began earlier this year, court heard testimony from some of the teen c
  
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• Tremoloco makes it back for annual tour with new Alberta song

  06-07-2018 18:19 via edmontonjournal.com
  Tony Zamora jokes that the “loco” part of his southern roots band Tremoloco could reflect their stubborn tendency to sound a little different every time they show up on a record, or even on tour.
  It’s true, the band does present a diverse array of roots music genres with blues, rock, country, cumbia and zydeco all in the mix alongside echoes of Eastside Los Angeles and New Orleans.
  They have been labelled Tex-Mex, Sonoran gothic folk, and more recently Americana. Informally, th
  
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• Meet Edmonton's two plant-loving RBC Canadian Painting Competition nominees

  06-07-2018 18:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  In her Harcourt House studio, Ally McIntyre is working away on her latest painting — statuesque figures flanking a baroque table of modern food, signatures of street art and modernism flowing throughout.
  About a month ago, McIntyre learned what the rest of us just heard: that she’s one of two Edmonton artists nominated for the RBC Canadian Painting Competition.
  In her case, it’s for her kinetic, not-so-still life painting entitled Coyote, centred on a simple spider plant &
  
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• Julia Lipscombe: Sometimes, arguing and making amends in front of the kids can be OK

  06-07-2018 18:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  Here’s what I’ve learned from talking to my friends about arguing with their partners.
  In many couples there is one person who yells, and another person who refuses to engage or shuts down temporarily, thereby infuriating the yeller.
  In my relationship, I’m the yeller. And I have the shorter temper. I can’t recall a time when my husband has yelled or lost his cool.
  Jesse and I don’t argue often — I’d put us in the “argues the healthy amount”
  
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• 'It’s amazing': Edmonton teen travels world with new pop group, Now United

  06-07-2018 18:07 via edmontonjournal.com
  What a difference a year makes. Last spring, St. Albert high school student Josh Beauchamp was a pretty great hip-hop dancer, but perhaps no better than thousands of young people also dreaming of fame and fortune.
  Now, as one of the members of a new, international pop group Now United, Beauchamp is travelling all over the world, learning a new skill set and garnering international attention due to the efforts of hitmaker Simon Fuller (the creative mastermind behind American Idol, the Spice Girls
  
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• Edmonton police officer guilty of harassing civilian coworker, lying to investigators

  06-07-2018 18:01 via edmontonjournal.com
  It was a Sunday morning tradition in Squad B of the Edmonton Police Service’s emergency communications branch: once a month, staff would pitch in on a communal breakfast cooked in the office kitchen. Volunteer cooks would bring around plates of eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes and fruit while other staff worked answering 911 calls.
  But one day in April 2014, a group of 911 dispatchers, including Const. Fiona Moffat, declined their breakfasts. Not long after, a patrol officer walked in with McD
  
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• New album captures Miss Rae's happy blues

  06-07-2018 17:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  Her alter ego “Wild Rose” might tell you otherwise. But for Edmonton singer Miss Rae, who taps various shades of blues song on disc and on stage, blues is a happy music.
  “Although it makes a lot of people sad,” she admits, “blues music in particular makes me happy. I found this music that I could connect to on a deeper level, that I felt understood by. Maybe it’s because I was going through a lonely period when I was younger but music was always my companion.
  
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• The rise and fall of Tyler Ennis, who just signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs

  06-07-2018 17:21 via edmontonjournal.com
  What the heck happened to the fine and promising NHL career of Tyler Ennis?
  Ennis — who was listed by Oilers insider Bob Stauffer as a possible July acquisition for the Edmonton Oilers — has fallen so far that some now see him only as a candidate for a PTO (professional try out).
  UPDATE: The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Ennis to a one-year deal at $650,000 per.
  On his 31 Thoughts podcast, league insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said of Ennis: “Tyler Ennis was a great s
  
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• City of St. Albert Releases Regional 2017 State of the Economy

  06-07-2018 16:12
  Highlighting economic indicators impacting St. Albert and region The City of St. Albert has released its full State of the... Read Post
  
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• Edmonton weather: Well you can stop complaining about the cold

  06-07-2018 15:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  A look at today’s Edmonton weather by Environment Canada.
  Friday morning temperatures at the Edmonton Blatchford station measure 19 C with a 12 km/h wind coming from the south, south-west. Looking for a  high of 31 C with winds expecting to gust up to 40 km/h this afternoon. There is a chance of showers or thunderstorms but not until tonight.
  Today: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. Wind becoming west 20 km/h gustin
  
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• Friday's letters: Arena plaza partnership promises benefits

  06-07-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  In regards to the potential city funding discussions for the future Ice District plaza, there needs to be some comment on this development’s success to date.
  It has been documented that in three years, the Ice District development has surpassed 75 per cent of the original 20-year projection with the community revitalization levy (CRL) generating almost a quarter of a billion dollars in tax revenue for new development in the downtown core.
  These plaza discussions could result in another suc
  
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• Stretch of road in Edmonton renamed to honour military

  06-07-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton city Coun. Jon Dziadyk talks about the renaming of 97 Street north of 137 Avenue in Edmonton. The road will be named Canadian Forces Trail to honour the Canadian military.
  On 97 Street from 137 Avenue north has been given a new honorary renaming, Canadian Forces Trail. This ends a 100-year effort to get the road renamed to honour our military in Edmonton.
  
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• City police officer guilty of harassing civilian coworker, lying to investigators

  06-07-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  It was a Sunday morning tradition in Squad B of the Edmonton Police Service’s emergency communications branch: once a month, staff would pitch in on a communal breakfast cooked in the office kitchen. Volunteer cooks would bring around plates of eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes and fruit while other staff worked answering 911 calls.
  But one day in April 2014, a group of 911 dispatchers, including Const. Fiona Moffat, declined their breakfasts. Not long after, a patrol officer walked in with McD
  
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• Cause of baby girl's death in foster care still a mystery: fatality inquiry

  06-07-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  A fatality inquiry into the sudden death of a baby girl in Edmonton eight years ago could not find any additional explanation for how the toddler died.
  Twenty-month-old Shylee Kasokeo died at the Stollery Children’s Hospital on March 2, 2010, hours after her foster mother found her in sudden, severe medical distress at their Morinville home.
  Christine Laverdiere, the foster mother, was acquitted in 2014 of manslaughter in the baby’s death after Justice M.T. Moreau found there wa
  
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• Liquor store employee stabbed while trying to stop theft

  06-07-2018 06:46 via edmontonjournal.com
  A north Edmonton liquor store employee was in serious but stable condition Thursday evening after being stabbed twice while trying to stop a theft.
  Officers had taped off the scene outside the Liquor Depot at 97 Street and 160 Avenue around 9:30 p.m. The police helicopter circled overhead and a canine unit was on scene.
  Staff Sgt. James Vanderland said a clerk followed a male suspect out of the store after noticing he had stolen liquor. There was an altercation and the employee was stabbed twice
  
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• The rise and fall of Tyler Ennis, possible wildcard signing for the Edmonton Oilers

  06-07-2018 06:27 via edmontonjournal.com
  What the heck happened to the once fine and promising NHL career of Tyler Ennis?
  Ennis, who is listed by Oilers insider Bob Stauffer as a possible July acquisition for the Edmonton Oilers, has fallen so hard that some now see him only as a candidate for a PTO (professional try out).
  On his 31 Thoughts podcast, league insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said of Ennis: “Tyler Ennis was a great story. I don’t know what happened there. I don’t know what happened there. And I hop
  
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• Plaques celebrating Indigenous success stolen from downtown Edmonton

  06-07-2018 05:41 via edmontonjournal.com
  Five plaques honouring Indigenous artists have been stolen from a downtown Edmonton park.
  The Aboriginal Walk of Honour at Beaver Hills House Park on Jasper Avenue and 105 Street is a tribute to Indigenous success stories in the entertainment industry, featuring concrete steps with the honouree’s handprint and a description of their work. But the metal plaque descriptions for filmmakers Gil Cardinal, Barry Barclay, Wil Campbell, actress Tantoo Cardinal and journalist, photographer and prod
  
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• Police seek public's assistance in identifying dead man

  06-07-2018 05:39 via edmontonjournal.com
  Police have released composite sketches of a dead man whose identity has remained a mystery for more than one year.
  On June 1, 2017, police found a body on the bank of the North Saskatchewan River just south of Dawson Bridge, said a Thursday news release. In the last year, investigators have worked unsuccessfully with the missing persons unit and the office of the chief medical examiner to determine his identity. They are now turning to the public for assistance.
  The man is described as being si
  
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• 'Too early to tell' if opioid deaths have plateaued in Alberta, say health officials

  06-07-2018 05:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  The number of fentanyl-related deaths continues to rise in Alberta, but health officials say the latest data could show the first signs of a plateau in the unrelenting crisis.
  From Jan. 1 to May 6, 228 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses, according to the newest government data released Thursday.
  It means this year Alberta is on track to average 12.6 deaths per week, higher than the 11.2 deaths per week in 2017, when a total of 583 people died.
  “What’s changed is from the fou
  
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• Superintendent of Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools wins national award

  06-07-2018 03:28 via edmontonjournal.com
  The head of the St. Albert Catholic school district has been named Canadian Superintendent of the Year for exemplary leadership in the school district.
  David Keohane, superintendent of Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools since 2009, received the EXL Award at the Canadian Association of School System Administrators annual conference Wednesday in Ottawa.
  “His leadership is exemplary,” said school board chairwoman Serena Shaw about Keohane in a news release. “He is a leader w
  
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• City to explore reversible lanes on Jasper Avenue to deal with looming congestion

  06-07-2018 03:19 via edmontonjournal.com
  City councillors voted to explore reversing lanes and smart traffic signals downtown Thursday as a way to try to ease traffic congestion while still constructing LRT and pedestrian improvements.
  “It’s a big deal for anyone that’s going west out of downtown,” said Coun. Tim Cartmell, worried the combination of West LRT and Jasper Avenue enhancements will frustrate commuters.
  West Jasper Avenue is scheduled to go to four lanes from six lanes and lose a dedicated bus lane wh
  
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• Edmonton firm joins legal challenge to Canada Summer Jobs funding over abortion question

  06-07-2018 02:58 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Edmonton business denied Canada Summer Jobs funding for not agreeing to respect access to abortion has filed for a judicial review with the Federal Court.
  Saturn Machine Works Ltd., an industrial manufacturing company in Edmonton’s southeast, did not agree to the “core mandate” introduced this year to the Canada Summer Jobs program, and learned it was denied funding June 1.
  The company applied for a judicial review of the application’s rejection with the Federal Court
  
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• Landline access to 911 service restored in Drayton Valley, nearby counties

  06-07-2018 02:47 via edmontonjournal.com
  Drayton Valley residents were asked to keep their cellphones close while their landline 911 service went offline Thursday.
  A 911 service line was cut Thursday, taking out landline access to the emergency line in areas of Drayton Valley, Brazeau County and Breton at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Service was restored by 5:30 p.m. Thursday, according to an Alberta Emergency Alert update.
  Cellphone access to 911 remained available during the outage.
  Denis Poulin, Drayton Valley’s emerge
  
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• David Staples: Popular movement to honour Canadian military finally pays off

  06-07-2018 02:35 via edmontonjournal.com
  Eleven thousand Edmontonians have finally and quite rightly got their way.
  Ten years after a popular push to have a major Edmonton north-side road renamed to honour the Canadian military, the Edmonton Naming Committee has bestowed the honorary name of “Canadian Forces Trail” on 97 Street north of 137 Avenue.
  The title comes one decade after city dentist Randall Crowell pushed hard to get the road officially renamed, going so far as to amass a petition with 11,000 names on it in
  
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• Spruce Grove senior charged with second-degree murder in May death of wife

  06-07-2018 01:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  RCMP released details Thursday about a 74-year-old Spruce Grove man who is charged with killing his wife more than one month ago.
  RCMP were called to investigate the sudden death of a woman at a Spruce Grove home on May 27.
  Cpl. Ronald Bumbry said RCMP did not release details about the case until Thursday due to a court-ordered publication ban on the victim’s identity. The ban, which was granted on “compassionate grounds,” has since been lifted, Bumbry said.
  A day after th
  
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• Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools' superintendent wins national award

  06-07-2018 00:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  The head of the St. Albert Catholic school district has been named Canadian Superintendent of the Year for exemplary leadership in the school district.
  David Keohane, superintendent of Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools since 2009, received the EXL Award at the Canadian Association of School System Administrators annual conference Wednesday in Ottawa.
  “His leadership is exemplary,” said school board chair Serena Shaw about Keohane in the release. “He is a leader who place
  
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