St. Albert news

• 'Weeks, not months': Notley says Ottawa promised plan to resume Trans Mountain construction

  06-09-2018 23:58 via edmontonjournal.com
  Ottawa has promised to lay out a clear and reliable timeline to resume Trans Mountain pipeline construction within “weeks, not months,” said Premier Rachel Notley Thursday, speaking in Calgary.
  “We and the industry are trapped on a regulatory merry-go-round,” she told reporters after meeting with her market access task force and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “Only the federal government has the tools and the authority to bring it to a permane
  
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• Warning's over: Cyclists to get $100 fines for riding on Groat Road bridge in September

  06-09-2018 23:40 via edmontonjournal.com
  A crackdown is coming for cyclists riding through the construction zone atop the Groat Road bridge, say City of Edmonton peace officers.
  They’ll start handing out $100 fines this month.
  But that’s sure to inflame frustrations for those using the corridor to commute by bike. Getting off a bike to walk across the 325-metre stretch adds roughly four minutes to the journey.
  Edmonton is in the first year of a three-year construction project to rehabilitate one of Edmonton’s key rive
  
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• 'We have to do better': More than 600 speeding violations in playground zones on first two days of school

  06-09-2018 22:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  The City of Edmonton is pleading for drivers to slow down around schools after 674 photo radar speed violations were recorded in 30 km/h playground zones in two days.
  One driver was clocked going 100 km/h in a playground zone on Tuesday, the city’s Vision Zero department tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
  This violation happened on 76 Street between 38 and 40 Avenues and in the area of several schools, city traffic safety spokesman Gary Dyck said.
  “We have to do better,” the tweet re
  
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• Notley meets with task force and industry to discuss Trans Mountain after Trudeau's visit

  06-09-2018 21:13 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premier Rachel Notley is slated to provide an update on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion Thursday after meeting with her market access task force and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
  It follows a meeting Wednesday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who touted the importance of the project during a busy Edmonton tour.
  The two held a joint photo op at Hotel Macdonald, where they promised to work on solutions that will restart construction on the pipeline as quickly as possibl
  
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• All Edmonton Mac's locations rebranded as Circle K stores by 2019

  06-09-2018 19:37 via edmontonjournal.com
  Same place, different name.
  As part of a global effort to combine a number of brands into one, all Mac’s convenience store locations in Edmonton are trading in the customary blue and red company colours for the yellow and red of the Circle K brand.
  All Mac’s locations in western Canada are expected to be rebranded as Circle K stores by the end of 2018.
  “The new Circle K brand aspires to become the world’s preferred destination for convenience and fuel where on-the-go gues
  
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• Annual food swap shares surplus garden vegetables and fruits

  06-09-2018 19:01 via edmontonjournal.com
  Michael Kalmanovitch of Earth’s General Store is hosting his fifth annual Harvest Swap. The event, held Sunday, Sept. 9 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., takes place in the parking lot at the store, located at 9605 82 Ave. Participants are invited to bring their extra garden produce for sharing.
  “The idea is that anyone that has surplus can drop off their surplus on the tables we put out in the parking lot, and people that want or need those items can take them away for free,” says Kalma
  
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• Police recover 83 stolen bikes, launch campaign to deter bike theft

  06-09-2018 18:53 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton police recovered 83 stolen bikes in a recent investigation and are urging cyclists to be diligent in preventing bike theft.
  Jimmy Markortoff, 57, has been charged with two counts of possession of stolen property under $5,000 with additional charges pensing, police said in a news release Thursday morning.
  Many of the bikes and parts have been reunited with their owners after they were found in a south side residence, the release said.
  Owners are only able to reclaim their bikes if they c
  
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• Mondo mushrooms at Sorrentino's during annual fungi festival

  06-09-2018 18:49 via edmontonjournal.com
  Sorrentino’s has been paying homage to mushrooms every fall for the past 24 years. This year, the celebration continues with a host of special dinners and foraging events at various Sorrentino’s locations in the Edmonton area.
  For detailed information, visit the restaurant’s website at sorrentinos.com. Tickets are available online, or by calling 780-474-6466.
  Here are a few highlights:
  SORRENTINO’S WEST — MUSHROOM WALK, COOK AND EAT
  On Sunday, Sept. 16 at 12:30
  
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• MAP: Outlaw motorcycle gangs in Alberta

  06-09-2018 18:12 via edmontonjournal.com
  Law enforcement officials say Alberta has seen an explosion of outlaw motorcycle gang activity over the past five years, particularly in the number of Hells Angels support groups. Below is a map of outlaw motorcycle gangs in Alberta.
  
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• 'You could see cylinders flying': Explosive blaze rocks Nisku industrial area

  06-09-2018 17:33 via edmontonjournal.com
  Pressurized containers and chemical products fuelled a massive outdoor fire in a Nisku industrial area Wednesday night.
  A crew of more than 40 firefighters from Nisku, Calmar, Leduc and the Edmonton International Airport responded to the fire in the area of 9 Street and 15 Avenue around 10 p.m., Leduc County Fire Services said in a news release Thursday morning.
  The fire is currently under control, but crews will remain on scene Thursday to control minor flares. There have been no injuries repor
  
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• Candlelight Vigil in St. Albert

  06-09-2018 17:33
  World Suicide Prevention Day: September 10 The City of St. Albert is encouraging residents to attend an upcoming candlelight vigil... Read Post
  
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• Downtown Edmonton hotel loses Hyatt branding

  06-09-2018 16:42 via edmontonjournal.com
  A downtown hotel in Edmonton’s burgeoning Quarters district has lost its Hyatt branding and is no longer affiliated with the worldwide brand, the company confirmed Thursday.
  The decision to pull the Hyatt Place branding comes two weeks after the hotel failed an Alberta Health Services health inspection, though Hyatt is not confirming whether the decision was directly linked to the failed health report.
  The 255-room hotel at 9576 Jasper Ave. was flagged on Aug. 24 after inspectors discovere
  
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• Edmonton weather: Summer's last hurrah

  06-09-2018 14:41 via edmontonjournal.com
  A look at today’s Edmonton weather by Environment Canada.
  Thursday morning temperatures at the Edmonton Blatchford station measure 9.7 C with 17 km/h winds out of the east.
  Yesterday was great. Today will be fine. But tomorrow – well – let me tell you about tomorrow. Picture this: The sun is out, the air is warm and you actually feel the need to take off your favourite fall sweater in lieu of a t-shirt or a tank top because the sun is so darn hot you actually want to suntan in
  
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• Thursday's letters: Every bike is one less car on the road

  06-09-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Re. “Why not clog up all downtown streets?,” Letters, Sept. 4
  Jim Holowchak worries a proposed 109 Street bike lane would “(Cripple) motorized traffic beyond belief in order for a couple hundred bikes daily to dawdle back and forth.”
  Let’s set aside the dubious assertion that 109 Street lacks adequate capacity to accommodate a bike lane, or that daily bike traffic on that route amounts to “a couple hundred” (in fact, thousands of bikes traverse the High
  
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• Editorial: Washroom project promises relief

  06-09-2018 14:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  Cities are remarkably adept at catering to the wants and needs of citizens. They build roads, transit systems and bike lanes to move people around. They fund police and fire services to keep residents safe while recreation centres, parks and libraries exercise and enrich bodies and minds.
  Yet when it comes to the most basic of bodily functions — urination, defecation and menstruation — cities too often pretend that these biological needs don’t exist at all, at least not away fr
  
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• ‘Never-ending war’: How Alberta is cracking down on the Hells Angels and the outlaw biker gangs that support them

  06-09-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  An orange glow on the horizon burnt off a light July fog on as a surveillance unit with the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) monitored the movements of Shane Lance Daly early one morning.
  For close to a year, police had been keeping tabs on the 39-year-old, a man they allege is a full-patch member of the Dirty Few Motorcycle Club, a known Hells Angels support club.
  But on July 25, police were ready to take action.
  Daly pulled his dusty charcoal-coloured Lincoln Navigator out of the
  
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• Antlers aweigh! Artist Paul Freeman's gallery@501 show makes a number of points

  06-09-2018 11:00 via edmontonjournal.com
  A half-dozen mutant deer hang from gallery beams like Christmas ornaments, frozen in a contorted ballet. Each pinkish creature sprouts a dozen sets of antlers along its length, branching from unexpected places. In the words of one great Canadian poet, it’s hard to tell if the creatures are yawning or snarling — or screaming, perhaps.
  Welcome, then, to Paul Freeman’s latest exhibition, Antlers of a Dilemma, in Sherwood Park’s gallery@501.
  Like all sorts of worthy work
  
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• Notley wants the pipeline workers back to work

  06-09-2018 06:01 via edmontonjournal.com
  Premier Rachel Notley said she’ll speak with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the best way to fulfill the need for additional consultations while getting the people building the pipeline back to work.
  Meaningful consultation with parties affected by the pipeline should accommodate their concerns, not give them veto power over the project, she said.
  “I reject a scenario that has us talking until everybody says ‘yes.’ That’s not how it can work.”
  Both Trudeau
  
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• 'It’s not refugee-centred health care': Mayor to pen letter to health officials with concerns

  06-09-2018 05:02 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton’s mayor plans to write a letter to health officials after city council heard concerns that health care for refugees in the city is suffering since a specialized clinic closed last year.
  Alberta Health Services (AHS) says the clinic for government-assisted refugees was never closed — its services were just “transitioned and enhanced.” But council, after hearing about the issue at a recent committee meeting, voted Tuesday to seek more details.
  “If best practi
  
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• 'This really hurt': Trudeau tells Notley that Ottawa is seeking solutions on Trans Mountain project

  06-09-2018 03:44 via edmontonjournal.com
  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had reassuring words for Albertans as he met with Premier Rachel Notley Wednesday to discuss the turbulent Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
  But while the two joined forces and promised to find a solution to the ongoing saga, Trudeau fell short of agreeing to the demands laid out by Notley following the recent court ruling that cast the project into doubt.
  “Albertans were disappointed, as were many Canadians, with the decision. It was a hard blow to a provinc
  
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• Court ruling would have 'killed' privately held Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, Trudeau says. Others aren't so sure

  06-09-2018 03:32 via edmontonjournal.com
  Last week’s court ruling on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would have “killed” the project outright if it were still in private hands, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
  Trudeau defended his government’s decision to buy the pipeline in remarks to reporters during a visit to Edmonton Wednesday.
  His appearance comes one week after the Federal Court of Appeal reversed a cabinet decision allowing construction to begin on the pipeline expansion between Strath
  
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• Former MP Brent Rathgeber named Edmonton's first ethics adviser

  06-09-2018 03:17 via edmontonjournal.com
  A former MP who made his name standing for transparency was appointed Edmonton city council’s first ethics adviser Wednesday.
  Brent Rathgeber made national news when he resigned from former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative caucus in 2013.
  That was after caucus withdrew support for Rathgeber’s transparency bill.
  The former St. Albert representative is now using that parliamentary experience and his legal background to help local officials.
  He and Edmonton’s new
  
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• Former Pembina Hills Public Schools superintendent charged with fraud

  06-09-2018 02:42 via edmontonjournal.com
  A former Alberta school superintendent has been charged with defrauding more than $18,000 from Pembina Hills Public Schools in Barrhead.
  Colleen Symyrozum-Watt, 55, was arrested on June 25 and charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of fraud under $5,000 and criminal breach of trust related to a time period when she was employed by the school board, said Barrhead RCMP in a Wednesday news release.
  The two charges over $5,000 were for excess vacation days and expenses claimed
  
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• Woman tells court she was held captive and sexually assaulted for days

  06-09-2018 02:21 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Edmonton woman testified Wednesday that she was locked in a closet for days while being repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted by a man alleged to have kidnapped and extorted her.
  Ryan Raymond Dechambre, 30, is on trial for a series of charges related to the abduction and weeklong captivity of a woman in July 2016.
  The 52-year-old woman, whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, was walking to a north Edmonton home where she was staying at about 2:30 a.m. 
  
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• River valley funicular to close for two days to repair $47,000 in vandalism damage

  06-09-2018 01:55 via edmontonjournal.com
  Residents hoping to visit one of the city’s newest river valley attractions will be out of luck for the next two days.
  The 100 Street funicular will be closed Thursday and Friday to replace broken glass as a result of vandalism, the city said in a tweet Tuesday.
  Shutdown Notice: Glass Replacement
  The funicular will be closed on September 6 and 7 to replace broken glass found after acts of vandalism. Please remember to report vandalism behaviour if you witness it.
  — City of Edmonton (
  
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• Former Pembina Hills Public Schools superintendent faces fraud charges for $18K

  06-09-2018 01:48 via edmontonjournal.com
  A former Alberta school superintendent has been charged with defrauding more than $18,000 from Pembina Hills Public Schools in Barrhead.
  Colleen Symyrozum-Watt, 55, was arrested on June 25 and charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of fraud under $5,000 and criminal breach of trust related to a time period when she was employed by the school board, said Barrhead RCMP in a Wednesday news release.
  The two charges over $5,000 were for excess vacation days and expenses claimed
  
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• Victim speaks out again as sexual assault conviction appealed

  06-09-2018 01:26 via edmontonjournal.com
  An Edmonton lawyer who successfully fought to have a publication ban removed from his identity so he could speak out about being a victim of a childhood sexual assault attended his attacker’s appeal hearing Wednesday.
  “Regardless of the decision, you have to speak out, you have to say things, because things happen in the darkness and the silence,” said Pierre Asselin, speaking outside the courthouse after hearing arguments in Bitupu Mufuta’s appeal of his conviction.
  In 2
  
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• Mountain Man: Soldiers race through river valley for gruelling Thursday event

  06-09-2018 00:54 via edmontonjournal.com
  Edmonton trail users may spot a military presence in the river valley Thursday as soldiers compete in the annual Mountain Man race.
  About 300 area soldiers will be pushing through the gruelling 50-kilometre course, set to start around 5 a.m.
  The trek includes a 31.6-km run where competitors are loaded down with a 15 kilogram rucksack, a 3.2-km canoe portage, a 10-km canoe trip on the North Saskatchewan River and a 5.6-km march to the finish line.”Trail users should be aware of the increase
  
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• 'This really hurt': Trudeau and Notley meet as Ottawa promises solutions for Trans Mountain pipeline

  06-09-2018 00:30 via edmontonjournal.com
  Pipeline allies Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Rachel Notley said they are looking for a solution to the turbulent Trans Mountain saga at their first in-person meeting since a court ruling last week quashed the project’s approval.
  Trudeau said that he understands the ruling was a tough blow to Alberta, but said earlier in the day that the court had offered a path forward.
  “I understand how, after difficult years because of oil prices and the beginning of optimism about get
  
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• Edmonton Oilers prospect series wrap: Welcome to the Rightorium!

  06-09-2018 00:15 via edmontonjournal.com
  2018 Edmonton Oilers prospectsSeries wrap
  Edmonton Oilers fans who value the musings of local radio host Allan Mitchell and his fabulous blog Lowetide (and really, folks, who doesn’t?) will be all too familiar with his description of the Edmonton Oilers’ defence group as “The Leftorium” due to the vast imbalance of left-hand vs. right-hand shots on the back end.
  How extreme was it? When Peter Chiarelli took over as General Manager in the spring of 2015, the extended depth
  
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