MASTER OF MISERY Ottawa’s Jeremy Hotz comes up with new laughs C5
UKRAINIANS CELEBRATE Orthodox Christmas C1
RED DEER ADVOCATE CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
MONDAY, JAN. 7, 2013
NHL LOCKOUT ENDS WITH TENTATIVE DEAL BETWEEN LEAGUE, NHLPA BY CHRIS JOHNSTON
PLAYERS GET READY B1
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this image from video, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman talks to media as Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHLPA, looks on in New York, early Sunday. A tentative deal to end the 113day NHL lockout was reached early Sunday morning following a marathon 16-hour negotiating session.
NEW YORK — An agonizingly long series of negotiations needed one final push. Spurred on by a tireless mediator, the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association worked through the night to finally set aside their differences and return hockey to the place it belongs. On the ice. It almost seemed too good to be true when word started to leak out early Sunday morning that a marathon 16-hour negotiating session had produced a tentative deal to end the 113day lockout. But then Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr ap-
peared together to share the news. “Hopefully, within a very few days the fans can get back to watching people who are skating — not the two of us,” said Fehr, the NHLPA’s executive director, looking as exhausted as everyone else in the bargaining room. There is still plenty to do in a short period of time. In fact, the sides continued hammering out the final details of the players’ new defined benefit pension plan even after the tentative deal was reached around 4:45 a.m. in a secondfloor conference room at a Manhattan hotel.
Please see NHL on Page A2
URBAN WILDLIFE
Wildlife helping keep city healthy DESPITE COMPLAINTS OF DAMAGE BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF From the snowy imprint of moose hooves to tiny zipper-like bird tracks, winter hiking trails in Red Deer offer plenty of visible reminders that we share our city with urban wildlife. “The tracks are a good indication of a healthy environment,” said Ken Lehman, the city’s parks planning and ecology specialist, who believes the more biodiversity we maintain, the better our ecosystem. However, “you don’t necessarily want those tracks in your yard,” he conceded — for no matter what time of year it is, Lehman regularly hears from residents with animal nuisance concerns. Coyotes are sometimes blamed in the disappearance of small pets, noisy crows for strewing alleyways with household garbage. A growing hare population can be held responsible for damaging trees and ornamental shrubs, and skunks can discomfort homeowners by breeding under porches and decks. “We have actually gotten requests from people to remove all the skunks from the city — and first of all we can’t do that,” said Lehman. The city only deals with beaver problems — provincial Fish and Wildlife officers handle the rest on a priority basis.
‘THE (ANIMAL) TRACKS ARE A GOOD INDICATION OF A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT.’ — KEN LEHMAN, THE CITY’S PARKS PLANNING AND ECOLOGY SPECIALIST
“But I also have to remind people that even skunks have their place.” He tells complainants that the musky mammals keep down the numbers of mice, voles and insect pests within city limits — as do crows and magpies. “They have an essential role,” said Lehman, who likes to educate residents through the city’s website, which lists what homeowners can do to help preserve a natural balance. For instance, many different shrubs can be planted that won’t draw large ungulates into yards. Trees can be wrapped with wire mesh to prevent rabbit damage. Bird feeders can also be caged off to stymie the unwelcome appearance of magpies. And pets can — and should — be kept on a leash so they do not threaten wildlife. “There’s a proper way to keep these animals wild and not feed them so they are better adapted to survive,” he said.
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Photo by RANDY FIEDLER/Advocate staff
A mule deer doe bounds along Fountain Drive. It’s part of a small herd that makes its home between the Red Deer Golf and Country Club and Great Chief Park.
A community with heart helps family with cardiac troubles
2012 IN WEATHER
Prairies’ seventh warmest summer since ‘49 recorded
GENETIC CONDITION AFFLICTS SUNDRE FAMILY BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF
‘THE LOVE AND SUPPORT AND DONATIONS HAVE BEEN AMAZING.’
A Sundre family struggling with genetic heart problems has found much to be grateful for as the community rallies to its aid. “The love and support and donations have been amazing,” said Tracy Pusey, who has received tons of help after her husband, Chris Pusey, became disabled by a genetic condition that caused one side of his heart to expand
PLEASE RECYCLE
placed by another, with Chris’s heart worsening since May. The 48-year-old was only able to work intermittently at his job as an electrician throughout the summer and fall, and finally had to stop work in November.
If Canadians love anything, it’s talking about the weather. So let’s take a walk down the meteorological memory lane and look back at 2012. Canada-wide, last year ranked among the 10 warmest summers since 1948 in all but one of the country’s climate regions. The Prairies, which includes Red Deer, ranked seventh warmest. It was also wetter than normal across the country (four per cent above the 1961-90 normal).
Please see HEART on Page A3
Please see CENTRAL on Page A3
— TRACY PUSEY
and lose strength. The same condition previously afflicted their young son, Carter, who had to have a heart transplant at the age of four months in 2010. The three-year-old is now, thankfully, doing well. But Tracy said one worry had been dis-
WEATHER
INDEX
Sunny. High -4, low -8.
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FORECAST ON A2
BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF
CANADA
WORLD
NEW $20-BILL THWARTING VENDING MACHINES
WILDFIRES RAZE HOMES IN TASMANIA
Thousands of vending machines still can’t digest those plastic $20 bank notes the government released two months ago. A6
Officials are searching for bodies among the charred ruins of more than 100 homes and other buildings destroyed by wildfires in the island state of Tasmania. A3