St. Albert news

• Ironworkers unfazed by construction jobs more than 50 storeys up

  02-08-2018 23:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  Working on a steel girder more than 50 storeys over Edmonton would unnerve most people, but for ironworkers building one of Canada’s tallest towers it’s another cool day on the job.
  “It takes a little nerve, but you kind of tune out the height after you have been doing it for a while,” says Keith Stevenson, business manager for Ironworkers local 720.
  About a dozen of the local’s 2,200 members are installing trusses and putting in bolts at the top of Edmonton’s
  
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• Mysterious 'underground cavity' forces closure of Allendale Road: Epcor

  02-08-2018 23:56 via edmontonjournal.com
  An unexplained underground cavity has forced the closure of Allendale Road between 106 Street and Calgary Trail while Epor tries to find out what happened and how to fix it.
  “Our technical people have discovered underground a large void, a large underground cavity, under Allendale Road,” Epcor spokesman Tim LeRiche said Thursday, adding the two right-hand lanes of southbound Calgary Trail are also shut nearby.
  “Because of that, we’re seeing indications of potential instab
  
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• Crews work around clock to restore power in flooded downtown building

  02-08-2018 23:52 via edmontonjournal.com
  Crews were working around the clock to empty an office building parkade that flooded during a water main break in downtown Edmonton.
  Forty-four Capital Blvd. — 10044 108 St. — was the only building still without power after a water main broke beneath the street Wednesday. Water poured from the break for more than an hour, flooding sections of Jasper Avenue and forcing the evacuation of several buildings.
  Darin Comrie, vice-president asset management with real estate company
  
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• Puppies rescued from tiny Manitoba island

  02-08-2018 21:45 via edmontonjournal.com
  Seven puppies named after characters from the Gilligan’s Island TV show have been rescued from a tiny island in northern Manitoba.
  Gilligan, Skipper, Ginger, the Professor, Mary Ann, Thurston Howell III and Mrs. Howell were taken by boat to the nearby community of Cross Lake on Wednesday, Aug. 1.
  Debra Vandekerkhove with Norway House Animal Rescue says two local men on the shore heard barking late Sunday and boated out the next morning.
  She says the black, Labrador retriever-mix pups were
  
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• Annual Sabor Seafood Festival launches Aug. 7 with Hawaiian punch

  02-08-2018 20:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  Sabor’s annual Seafood Festival kicked off earlier this week with a media night, providing a window to what’s upcoming from chef Lino Oliveira, starting Aug. 7.
  Running until Aug. 31, this year’s festival is Hawaiian-inspired, a collaboration with chefs from the Ka’anapali Beach Resort Association in Maui. Chefs Lyndon Honda and Tom Muromoto of Ka’anapali Beach Hotel came to Edmonton for the media launch of the festival, and to prepare a host of dishes influenc
  
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• University of Alberta dean of science resigns post, citing actions of university leadership

  02-08-2018 19:56 via edmontonjournal.com
  University of Alberta’s dean of science, artificial intelligence pioneer Jonathan Schaeffer, has resigned from his position effective Oct. 1 citing decisions made by the university’s leadership that he “cannot support.”
  In a resignation letter circulated to staff Wednesday, Schaeffer said it was a “difficult decision.”
  “The University of Alberta has changed a lot in the last three years,” he wrote.
  “The university’s leadership has made
  
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• 'Rife with errors': Contractor at centre of Grande Prairie hospital controversy fires back at province

  02-08-2018 19:03 via edmontonjournal.com
  The Calgary-based construction firm slammed by the Alberta government for delays on the $763-million Grande Prairie hospital said the province is shooting the messenger and was well aware of project details.
  The government’s stance, which led to a notice of default Monday, is “rife with errors and misstatements,” said a Wednesday news release from Graham Construction and Engineering.
  The company has dealt with continual design changes, scope increases and delays outside of Grah
  
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• Epcor making 'significant progress' in fixing broken water main that flooded Jasper Avenue

  02-08-2018 18:57 via edmontonjournal.com
  Epcor is making “significant progress” in repairing a broken water line that flooded Jasper Avenue and hopes service will be restored Thursday to all customers, a company spokesman says.
  The break reported south of Jasper at 108 Street Wednesday affected nearly 500 Epcor customers and flooded underground electrical equipment, creating power outages, Tim LeRiche said.
  The only major customer still without electricity is the 44 Capital Blvd. office building at 10044 108 St. While Epcor
  
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• Thursday's letters: Outlaw smoking in multi-family buildings

  02-08-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Another building has been destroyed by smoking and another 90 households are homeless. It is time for the government to enact legislation banning all smoking in multi-unit residences.
  Smoking at home is not a private matter when you share your home with a hundred other people. Condo boards do not have the power to enact smoking bylaws. They must abide by majority rule and residents can have all kinds of reasons for opposing a smoking ban — even those who do not smoke themselves. Another pr
  
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• Opinion: Man who died in recycling bin had a name and a story

  02-08-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  When we learned about a man being crushed in a recycling bin on July 5, our minds were both distraught and sympathetic. We thought about the life that was lost. We thought about the workers who found him — how awful to have that happen on your workday. Many of us would have come to some quick conclusions about the man and his tragic death: homeless, drugs, alcohol, mental health, and more.
  The news stories that followed identified him as an unnamed man with no fixed address. We learned tha
  
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• Editorial: Snuff out smoking-related fires

  02-08-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  No matter how many times firefighters issue warnings about the danger of butting out smoking materials in flower pots, smokers continue stubbing cigarettes into plastic planters filled with highly flammable peat moss.
  Just as inevitably, disaster ensues.
  It happened most recently on Sunday when someone left a smouldering butt in a potted plant on the deck of a fourth-floor suite of a 90-unit apartment building in Blue Quill. The resulting fire caused $14 million in damage and rendered the comple
  
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• 10 things to do in Edmonton this week: Big Valley Jamboree, Heritage Fest, and Sissy Fits

  02-08-2018 12:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Big Valley Jamboree
  Florid Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, and Alabama are among the headliners for this year’s edition of Big Valley Jamboree. The long-running country festival out in Camrose also features a fair number of Canadian acts in the 2018 edition, notably Dallas Smith, Paul Brandt, Jess Moskaluke, George Canyon, and Edmonton’s Own Ken Stead, to name just a few. Check the website for more details on performers and set times.
  When: Thursday, Aug, 2 to Sunday, Aug. 5
  Where: Camro
  
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• Small-town girl Jess Moskaluke set for main stage at Big Valley Jamboree

  02-08-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Jess Moskaluke is beginning to discern a bit of a pattern in recent interviews.
  The Langenburg, Sask., born singer-songwriter is among the very few Canadian country artists to opt out of moving to Nashville to further their careers. While she understands that this sets her apart from many of her peers, Moskaluke really doesn’t get why journalists keep pointing this out.
  “It’s so funny, because it feels like in the past year it’s been brought up so much,” she says fr
  
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• Paula Simons: American tweet prompts Canadian love-in for public health care

  02-08-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  This is a lesson in medical anatomy. The anatomy of a viral tweet.
  Our story starts in Brooklyn, N.Y., on the morning of Thursday, July 26.
  It starts with Nathan Rubin.
  Rubin, 28, is the founder of Millennial Politics, a website and podcast aimed at young American progressives. The digital media company started as a reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s election.
  Last Thursday morning, Rubin tweeted this:
  “Millennials don’t hear socialism and think about the USSR or the Col
  
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• Paul Brandt bringing his high energy and good heart back to Big Valley Jamboree

  02-08-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  If you’re in the mood for a very real cry, please head to Paul Brandt’s recent, Joel Stewart-directed video, All About Her.
  Woven through Brandt’s chart-topping new love song run interviews with the 46-year-old country singer and his longtime life partner Liz, and a good-looking husband and wife — the Brandts’ friends Kim and Al.
  It’s these two who share about the hardest story you can fathom. Kim, you see … well, maybe Brandt, a one-time nurse, ca
  
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• Love it or hate it: Residents get another week to sound off on Stony Plain Road's future

  02-08-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  West Edmonton residents are concerned their voices aren’t being heard on the fate of Stony Plain Road after a technical glitch stymied some people’s attempts to weigh in on converting the busy street to one-way traffic.
  The city shared five possible design options for Stony Plain Road — four of them converting the thoroughfare to one-way traffic — at a public meeting on July 26 focused on making room for the future Valley Line West LRT.
  Officials made an online
  
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• Fans can sip special whiskey while tapping toes with Florida Georgia Line at Big Valley

  02-08-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  You might not be able to have a drink with Florida Georgia Line this weekend at Big Valley Jamboree but you can definitely have a drink made by them.
  The pop-country duo have been spreading the word about their own flavoured whiskey, a tipple they’ve named Old Camp Peach Pecan. It’s a back-road beverage, perfect for sipping on the back of a tailgate while listening to one of the band’s many chart topping hits.
  “It seemed like we were drinking everyone else’s wh
  
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• Alberta doctors to be repaid $90 million that was held back by government

  02-08-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  The NDP government is returning $90 million to Alberta doctors for helping the province cool the growth of health costs last year.
  The repayment is required under the terms of a deal with the Alberta Medical Association in which a portion of doctors’ compensation was held back until the province was sure overall spending on physicians stayed on budget.
  Had spending gone over budget, the province would have kept the money.
  “We recognized that spending was going up and up, and tha
  
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• Summer storm hits Edmonton with wind gusts, heavy rain, as it blows through

  02-08-2018 08:54 via edmontonjournal.com
  Wind gusts and heavy rain rolled into Edmonton Wednesday night as the city was under a severe thunderstorm warning.
  Environment Canada, the national weather watchdog, issued the warning at 10:11 p.m. It was downgraded it to a watch about an hour later and all watches and warnings for the city ended around 11:45 p.m.
  Epcor reported outages around 10:40 p.m. in Edmonton’s Glengarry and Killarney neighbourhoods north of Yellowhead Trail, affecting 87 customers. Firefighters in the 9
  
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• Storm hits Edmonton with wind gusts, heavy rain, as it blows through

  02-08-2018 08:11 via edmontonjournal.com
  Wind gusts and heavy rain rolled into Edmonton Wednesday night as the city was under a severe thunderstorm warning.
  Environment Canada, the national weather watchdog, issued the warning at 10:11 p.m. It was downgraded it to a watch about an hour later and all watches and warnings for the city ended around 11:45 p.m.
  Epcor reported outages around 10:40 p.m. in Edmonton’s Glengarry and Killarney neighbourhoods north of Yellowhead Trail, affecting 87 customers. Firefighters in the 9
  
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• Sniping centre Cameron Hebig represents a smart, low-risk bet by Edmonton Oilers

  02-08-2018 08:02 via edmontonjournal.com
  2018 Edmonton Oilers prospects#17 Cameron Hebig
  Previously: Unranked, signed as UFA during 2017-18 season
  That the Edmonton Oilers’ development system is in desperate need of some younger talent can be starkly displayed in a single table, in fact a single column of that table. Check out the following list (adapted from hockeydb.com) of the Top 10 scorers from the Oilers’ top minor league affiliate,  Bakersfield Condors, last season:That right-most column is enough to send a chil
  
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• American tweet prompts Canadian love-in for public health care

  02-08-2018 05:55 via edmontonjournal.com
  This is a lesson in medical anatomy. The anatomy of a viral tweet.
  Our story starts in Brooklyn, N.Y., on the morning of Thursday, July 26.
  It starts with Nathan Rubin.
  Rubin, 28, is the founder of Millennial Politics, a website and podcast aimed at young American progressives. The digital media company started as a reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s election.
  Last Thursday morning, Rubin tweeted this:
  “Millennials don’t hear socialism and think about the USSR or the Col
  
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• Beloved opera Carmen goes to Drumheller Badlands Amphitheatre

  02-08-2018 04:36 via edmontonjournal.com
  With its towering hoodoos and dry desert climate, the Drumheller Badlands are a far cry from the cobbled courtyards of southern Spain. But on Saturday, for one night only, the Drumheller Badlands Amphitheatre will transform for an international production of Georges Bizet’s beloved opera Carmen.
  The sandstone open-air theatre will lend a timeless quality to the tale of lawlessness, morality and death as naive soldier Don José is seduced by the wild Gypsy Carmen, only to lose ev
  
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• Prosecutors argue murder of son-in-law was vigilante act, call for tough sentence

  02-08-2018 03:27 via edmontonjournal.com
  Prosecutors argued Wednesday that it was an act of vigilante justice in the face of frustration with the family court process when a 75-year-old Edmonton man murdered his son-in-law.
  In June, a jury convicted Roberto Robles of second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Armando (Mandy) Aspillaga. Prosecutors argued at trial that Aspillaga was in the midst of a bitter divorce with Roberto Robles’ daughter Flavia Robles when the older man ambushed Aspillaga with a pellet gun and two knives.
  &l
  
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• Lawsuit claims guards shot pepper-spray up inmate's backside, forced him to fight

  02-08-2018 02:51 via edmontonjournal.com
  A former inmate claims he suffered a cycle of abuse while incarcerated in federal and provincial correctional facilities across Alberta, including having pepper spray unleashed into his rectum by correctional officers at the Edmonton Remand Centre, according to a lawsuit.
  Gavin Annett, who was serving time on drug charges, is seeking $1 million in damages from the federal and provincial governments, Alberta Health Services, and several correctional staff members and managers.
  Annett’s alle
  
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• Graham Thomson: Kenney should listen to his own advice against 'overheated rhetoric'

  02-08-2018 02:13 via edmontonjournal.com
  United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney is quick to give advice.
  He just doesn’t seem so keen to take it. Not even when the advice is his own.
  A few days ago, Kenney sent a memo to party members who are hoping to become party candidates in the 2019 provincial election.
  “Don’t go over the top in attacking the NDP,” said Kenney. “By all means, critique the NDP’s failed policies, but let’s not stoop to the NDP’s level with nasty ad hominem attac
  
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• Police investigate 'pallet-sized' drone after near miss with WestJet aircraft

  02-08-2018 01:59 via edmontonjournal.com
  After a near miss between a drone and WestJet aircraft readying to land at the Edmonton International Airport, police are reminding drone users to fly within Transport Canada rules.
  The Edmonton Police Service was contacted by Navigation Canada officials at about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday after WestJet pilots reported seeing a drone flying near their plane’s left wing, a news release from police said Wednesday.
  The drone was described as “pallet-sized” in the news release.
  The plane wa
  
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• Office buildings evacuated after water main break floods stretch of Jasper Avenue

  02-08-2018 01:58 via edmontonjournal.com
  A water main break and power outage in downtown Edmonton Wednesday morning triggered a cluster of evacuations, traffic snarls and affected close to 500 Epcor customers, say officials.
  Epcor spokesman Tim LeRiche said the break was reported shortly after 9 a.m., south of Jasper Avenue at 108 Street and the flooding of underground electrical equipment caused power outages.
  A foot-high geyser of water could be seen bubbling up from a hole in the middle of 108 Street behind Blvd Bar and Kitchen. Epc
  
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• Grande Prairie drug bust nets guns and cocaine

  02-08-2018 01:30 via edmontonjournal.com
  Four people are facing numerous drug and gun charges after being arrested in Grande Prairie by members of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams’ (ALERT) organized crime and gang team.
  More than $62,000 worth of cocaine, cannabis resin and marijuana was seized in the July 26 bust at a home in the Country Club West subdivision of the city, police said Wednesday.
  Six unsecured firearms, including two semi-automatic pistols, three rifles and a shotgun, were also seized. A set of bras
  
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• Highway contractors turn to court for review of government's sale of contract

  02-08-2018 00:46 via edmontonjournal.com
  Five Alberta companies will square off against the province in court over the sale of highway maintenance contracts worth more than $480 million to a B.C. firm.
  The contractors want a judicial review of the province’s role in the sale of Carillion Canada’s operations in Alberta and Ontario to Emcon Services Inc. Carillion was responsible for about 43 per cent of Alberta highway maintenance.
  “The Alberta government really just didn’t stand up for the Al
  
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• Water main break floods a corner of Jasper Avenue

  02-08-2018 00:32 via edmontonjournal.com
  A water main break and power outage in downtown Edmonton Wednesday morning triggered a cluster of evacuations, traffic snarls and affected close to 500 Epcor customers, say officials.
  Epcor spokesman Tim LeRiche said the break was reported shortly after 9 a.m., south of Jasper Avenue at 108 Street and the flooding of  underground electrical equipment caused power outages.
  A foot-high geyser of water could be seen bubbling up from a hole in the middle of 108 Street behind Blvd Bar and Kitche
  
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• Woman faces 46 charges after alleged thefts from seniors' residences

  02-08-2018 00:19 via edmontonjournal.com
  A 52-year-old woman faces 46 charges relating to a number of thefts from seniors’ residences across the city and surrounding area.
  Catherine McAlinden is charged with theft under $5,000, break and enter and commit theft, and use of a stolen credit card, said the Edmonton Police Service in a news release Wednesday.
  Police located McAlinden at about 3 p.m. Tuesday at a northeast Edmonton address and took her into custody, the release said.
  Police laid 33 of the charges while the other 13 oth
  
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