Vegas bound
ROCK’N
RED DEER
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill announce run of shows
Car show photos Page B1
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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 8, 2012
Bronze leap High jumper Derek Drouin earns Canada’s 11th medal Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canada’s Derek Drouin wraps himself in the Canadian flag as he celebrates bronze in the men’s high jump finals at the Olympic Stadium during the Summer Olympics in London on Tuesday.
Olympic coverage on Page B4
A hard-fought escape from life on the streets This is the third in a five-part series on the homeless in Red Deer. On Thursday, we hear first-hand from the city’s homeless. BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF
Photos by JERRY GERLING/Advocate staff
Floyd Powder relaxes at an outside table after having supper at Loaves and Fishes.
Floyd Powder changed his life because he didn’t want to be handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit when he visited his parent’s grave site. At a picnic table outside of Red Deer’s Loaves and Fishes on 54th Street, Powder shared his “get clean” story to listeners recently. Loaves and Fishes is a non-profit organization that offers programs and services such as hot meals in the community. His story is like so many others who battled addictions and struggled to carve out an existence on the streets. Powder, 50, did time in Stony Mountain Institution in Manitoba, Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, Sask., and Drumheller Institution for trafficking cocaine and other related offences. Three years ago, he spent 28 days in treatment at a detox centre in Fort McMurray after he finished his parole. It was there he met Elder Lynn Jonasson, who was an inspiration to Powder. Powder began following Jonasson’s teachings and learning about his Cree culture. The newfound knowledge helped Powder find light in his dark tunnel. And after his stint in detox, he found housing through Safe Harbour and secured a job pushing hogs at Olymel. “My father is 81 and my mother is 82,” said Powder. “I have been in jail all this time and losing friends. I said to myself if I don’t sober up I am going to be in jail when my parents pass away. I wouldn’t want to be in handcuffs and orange overalls standing there watching my parents being buried.” He was tired of living on the streets and looking out from behind prison bars. In 2010, Powder became a mentor or facilitator in
A standard meal at Loaves and Fishes. one of Safe Harbour’s supported recovery houses. Powder is there for support and to ensure the four tenants follow the house rules. He gets paid an honourarium and his rent is covered by Safe Harbour. But Powder still takes his meals at the soup kitchens and spends time in the areas frequented by the homeless in the city. He gets around the city on foot or on his bicycle. At Olymel, he makes about $15 an hour, which he is saving for his own place. In the future, Powder hopes to be a paid employee at either Safe Harbour or People’s Place. As he looked around at the people spread out on the lawns at Loaves and Fishes, Powder understands where they are coming from. He applauds the city’s focus on ending homelessness. But he cautions that in order to get the people off the street, the homeless need to want to do it for themselves. “You just can’t say, ‘Come on get off the street,’ ” said Powder, who has been in Red Deer since 2008. “My family and other people used to tell me why don’t you just smarten up and get a job and go to work. I wouldn’t listen. Nobody wants to listen, right. If you don’t do it for yourself, it isn’t going to work.” crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com
Concrete pour marks progress of Curling Centre renovation ‘IT’S A BIG DAY HERE’ BY JESSICA JONES ADVOCATE STAFF The modernization and addition to the 60-yearold Red Deer Curling Centre started to take shape with the pouring of 26,000 square feet of concrete on Tuesday. Renovations on the $8.8-million project, which will add four new ice rinks to the building at 4725 43rd Street, officially began on Feb. 6 — while the popular Scotties Tournament of Hearts women’s national curling championships was being played at the Centrium. Project manager Rich Roberts said that numerous loads of concrete were trucked in at 7 a.m. on Tuesday to give the centre the ability to have 12 curling sheets. “It is a big day here,” he said. After the crews have finished pouring the concrete, it will be flattened and levelled. It takes approximately 28 days before the concrete is cured enough to install the lights, Roberts said.
Please see RINK on Page A2
PLEASE RECYCLE
Photo by RANDY FIEDLER/Advocate staff
A Cen-Con Concrete crew smooths pumped in concrete on the nearly 38,000-square-foot slab crisscrossed with flooding pipes in the Red Deer Curling Centre on Tuesday. The slab is the cornerstone of an $8.8-million modernization that also adds more seating and new change rooms to the 60-year-old building.
WEATHER
INDEX
Sunny
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C6 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
LOCAL
CANADA
THOUSANDS OF TRAFFIC TICKETS ISSUED
PARENTS CARING FOR SICK KIDS CAN GET EI
Reckless driving and other infractions over the long weekend in Alberta resulted in officers issuing 5,140 tickets. A3
Canadian parents caring for critically ill children will be eligible for a special Employment Insurance benefit under a proposed change announced Tuesday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. B3