Red Deer Advocate, August 02, 2012

Page 1

SENT HOME IN DISGRACE

SCARS OF ABUSE

Teams ousted for throwing matches B6

Neglected, feeling unloved, hurts as much as a slap B1

CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

THURSDAY, AUG. 2, 2012

Guts and glory

Canada’s men’s eight rowing team members celebrate their silver medal Wednesday, after a race that featured a thrilling gut-wrenching final 500 metres that left the rowers doubled over with elation and exhaustion. The team began their Olympic quest with a disappointing opening heat, and survived a repechage event to make to the final, where they emptied the tanks for a medal win. Please see their story, and that of Brent Hayden, who added a bronze medal for Canada in the men’s 100 meter freestyle swimming event, on Page B6. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Violent offender monitoring program posting good results Too many

EFFECTS OF DROUGHT

BY JESSICA JONES ADVOCATE STAFF A pilot program that tracks domestic violence offenders with GPS ankle monitoring devices in Red Deer is halfway through and the results are encouraging. Ian Wheeliker, executive director for the Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter, says the program, ending in the spring of 2014, is promising. “So far so good,” he said on Wednesday. Work on the three-year project officially started October 2010. The shelter has partnered with the University of Calgary (U of C), police in Edmonton and Calgary, Red Deer City RCMP, the Crown Attorney’s Office and Community Corrections in Red Deer. Other jurisdictions are monitoring high-risk offenders through the GPS ankle monitoring program. But in Red Deer the program is specific to domestic violence. Seven domestic violence offenders are being tracked 24-7 by a monitoring agency through the ankle bracelets, which are equipped with a built-in cell phone and radio frequency. The offenders would have been sentenced for a domestic violence crime and required to wear the GPS bracelet as part of a probation order. Wheeliker says the victims are also working with the shelter in safety planning and emergency response should the offender breach a no-go zone. Not only does the GPS ankle bracelet act as a deterrent, Whee-

PLEASE RECYCLE

liker has noticed that it also serves as a new tool for cutting down on police calls. He says a past issue was that an offender would harass a victim by going near an area, like a home or workplace, which prompted numerous calls to the police. “But by the time the police would get on scene the offender has left and while police can take a report and sometimes compile a file, it is very hard unless police get their eyes on the offender to charge him with a breach of probation,” Wheeliker said. “From the shelter’s perspective this takes the onus off the victim.” The GPS ankle bracelet independently reports on an offender’s whereabouts and could be used as evidence to convict them for breaching a no-contact order. “We have had a couPhoto by RANDY FIEDLER/Advocate staff ple of incidents where some (offenders) have Ian Wheeliker, Central Alberta Women’s Shelter gone into a no-go zone executive director, holds one of the GPS and the police response bracelets offenders wear in the pilot project. and ability to immediately pick up where this offender has been is remarkable,” neering department is further developing a GPS prototype that will Wheeliker said. The shelter received $450,000 have more monitoring capabilities, from the provincial government’s such as detecting the offender’s alSafe Communities Innovation Fund titude or whether his body is in mofor the GPS (Global Positioning tion or relaxed. “We want to enhance the safety System) Electronic Monitoring program. Following the project, the U of victims,” Wheeliker said. The current GPS ankle braceof C will evaluate what impact the program had on offender compli- let can also detect damages if an ance, if it assisted in victim safety offender is undertaking efforts to and if the program is cost-effective remove it. To date no victims have in terms of managing domestic vio- been injured or harmed under the pilot program. lence. Wheeliker says the U of C’s engijjones@reddeeradvocate.com

WEATHER

INDEX

Risk of showers

Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5,C6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6-B8

FORECAST ON A2

dry autumns take a toll on city elms BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF They are a disturbing and unnatural sight — sort of a deciduous equivalent to Cousin Itt. Certain trees around Red Deer are resembling the enigmatic, all-over furry relative in The Addams Family TV series and movies, by growing bushy shoots everywhere where leaves shouldn’t be. Their trunks are covered in dense foliage, while the top branches are going bare. This strange bottom-heavy spectacle — especially prevalent among the elm trees around the Michael O’Brien wetlands north of Clearview — is caused by three consecutive fall droughts, City of Red Deer arborist Elaine Johnson said Wednesday. “These trees are basically in survival mode,” she added — although ‘death throes’ might be a more accurate description of some more stressed specimens. Johnson said the city is assessing these dying elms, and also some similarly distressed schubert choke cherry and green ash trees, to see if they can be saved or must be replaced. “We’re looking at what the trees will look like (after pruning the dead branches) and we’re also looking at their structure. If it’s a big tree we have to consider safety first.” City parks workers tried to do extra waterings last fall to compensate for drought conditions, but Johnson said new plantings were prioritized. The trees around the O’Brien wetland are several years old and were thought to have a better chance of survival, being near water.

Please see ELMS on Page A2

ALBERTA

BUSINESS

MORE WATER QUALITY MONITORING URGED

PM PARDONS FARMERS

More monitoring needs to be done along the Red Deer River to maintain the watershed for years to come, suggests a report. A3

4 Day Sale!

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has granted pardons to farmers who were convicted in the 1990s for taking their grain across the border to sell in the United States. C5

August 3 to 6 ALL Shrubs

Hardy Roses

50% off

20 - 50% off

Flowering Hanging Baskets

ALL Pots

3 minutes East of 30 Avenue on Hwy. 11

20 - 50% off

Mon - Wed: 9-6 Thur - Fri: 9-9 Sat: 9-6 - Sun: 10-5

50% off Sod - Available on Weekends!! (Depending on weather)

www.parklandgarden.ca

(indoor/outdoor, ceramic/plastic)

Many more in house specials! “back to the roots”

The Specialists Open Year Round

Holiday Monday: 10-5 *All items while quantities last

@ParklandGarden

42918H2

TWO YEARS INTO PILOT TEST OF ANKLE BRACELETS, ASSAULT VICTIMS HAVE BEEN FREE OF THREAT OF FURTHER HARM


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Red Deer Advocate, August 02, 2012 by Black Press Media Group - Issuu