Red Deer Advocate, November 07, 2012

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TRUTH IN FICTION

POINTLESS IN PORTLAND

‘The Real Inglorious Bastards’ C4

Winterhawks feast on Rebels B6

CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 7, 2012

Father jailed five years JULIAN THOMSON KILLED INFANT DAUGHTER IN A FIT OF RAGE BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF Julian Oliver Thomson has been sentenced to five years for killing his baby girl in a fit of rage. Zaria McCall, four months old, died of severe head trauma in the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton a few hours after her father shook her violently, crashing her head against the side of an exercise saucer, and then threw her to the floor.

The attack occurred at about supper time on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. Thomson, 22, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Monday and was sentenced before Justice Earl Wilson in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench shortly after 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Court heard that Thomson became enraged after being unable to calm his crying baby. Wilson, overcome by tears once while delivering his verdict and again after he was finished, admonished Thomson for trying to cast blame on the baby’s

mother, Victoria McCall. The two had broken off their relationship but still lived together in a basement apartment in Red Deer so they could share parenting duties. Wilson defined Thomson’s statement to police concerning McCall’s behaviour as a “gutless” attempt at shifting pressure to a grieving mother “beyond what she has had to endure with the death of her child.”

Please see SENTENCE on Page A2

Obama re-elected

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Supporters of President Barack Obama react to media outlets predicting his reelection in New York’s Times Square, Tuesday. Obama avoided a pink slip Tuesday, marching to victory against Republican challenger Mitt Romney despite a slow-as-molasses economic recovery and a bitterly contested election that had the U.S. president’s supporters fearful he was doomed to the indignity of a single term. See stories on page A6.

Council backs $107.5M capital budget BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer city council hammered out a $107.5-million capital budget that addresses core infrastructure demands while making provisions for community projects in 2013 after nearly nine hours of debate on Tuesday. The 88 or so budgetary items range from a $16,000 downtown off-leash dog park to $4.2 million in pothole reconstruction. Mayor Morris Flewwelling said the budget struck a good balance dealing with core infrastructure, centennial expenditures and small community projects. “Sitting in this chair I have never felt so much unity in the presentation of the budget from our staff and the response to the questions and the way the council looked at it,” said Flewwelling. “I felt there was a wonderful collaboration between staff and council. I never felt that in other budgets. There was always some grinding off to the side.” Coun. Chris Stephan said he did not agree with all budgetary items but he

PLEASE RECYCLE

felt council showed the most restraint that it has in any budget that he has been part of in five years. Council adopted the budget unanimously.

boils in the city. “Taking care of it early will save us a ton of money down the road,” said Stephan. “It’s just a smart investment.” Flewwelling, Coun. Paul Harris,

‘. . . I HAVE NEVER FELT SO MUCH UNITY IN THE PRESENTATION OF THE BUDGET FROM OUR STAFF AND THE RESPONSE TO THE QUESTIONS AND THEY WAY THE COUNCIL LOOKED AT IT. I FELT THERE WAS A WONDERFUL COLLABORATION BETWEEN STAFF AND COUNCIL.’ — MAYOR MORRIS FLEWWELLING

One of the key changes in the staffrecommended budget was consolidating the funding for the multi-year frostboil (large potholes) reconstruction project. City staff had recommended spending $2.1 million in 2013 and another $2.2 million in 2014. Stephan said it would make more sense to get the job done in one year and be ahead of the game. City staff said there are currently about 36 frost-

WEATHER

INDEX

Freezing rain or snow.

Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6-B8

FORECAST ON A2

Coun. Dianne Wyntjes and Coun. Cindy Jefferies did not support the reallocation. Jefferies said she supports a good road but was concerned with the rush to make the decision. She wanted to delay discussion to hear more “asks” in the budget. “I needed to hear a little more about what we might be saying no to in saying yes to a $4.2 million increase in that budget line,” said Jefferies. “I

wanted to make sure there weren’t more pressing needs before us.” The multi-year Taylor Drive and Alexander Way intersection project received $5.78 million that will ultimately create a direct link between the downtown, Riverlands and the Red Deer River. Coun. Frank Wong, Stephan and Coun. Buck Buchanon did not support the request. Although the three councillors said it’s important to have a connection, they said the current designs would cause traffic backlog and there needs to be more work. Harris said he was pleased with the changes to Riverlands and Taylor Drive in the capital budget because it opens up the land to re-development and cultural vision that has been in the works for about 15 years. Red Deer College received $1.4 million for capital initiatives. Stephan said he did not support the request because of the increasing frequency of community requests that are being passed down to the city because of provincial cuts.

Please see BUDGET on Page A2

ALBERTA

BUSINESS

NEW MLA RETIREMENT PAY PLAN APPROVED

SECRECY THWARTS WATCHDOG

The Progressive Conservatives have scrapped their plan to have taxpayers cover off the maximum RRSP contribution for all politians, implementing instead a new plan opponents say is still a cash grab. A3

Canada’s budget watchdog will not issue a mid-year report on the Harper government’s finances, citing lack of co-operation from the vast majority of departments. B1


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