Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
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BOOK ’EM DANNO Hawaii Five-O honors original series C6
Take 2-1 series lead B4
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013
SAFE AT SECOND
ASOOAHUM CENTRE
Flood fears prompt second thoughts BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Concerns over potential flooding at the Riverside Drive site earmarked for the Asooahum Centre did not fall on deaf ears. Tanya Schur, executive director of the Red Deer Native Friendship Centre, said one day after Red Deer city council approved the site that challenges have emerged and the society will need to ensure it is the best spot for the development. “It’s a good site,” said Schur. “We chose it together with the information we had after a long and very powerful process of us sitting together. We made the best decision with the information we had at the time. I think we need to do some more work before we move forward in the development phase.” On Monday, Red Deer city council unanimously approved the rezoning of the 3.5 acres of land at 4615 Riverside Drive to start the process for the society’s long-awaited integrated affordable housing and cultural centre. The location was narrowed down from 20 looked at by a joint committee made up of city councillors, administration and members of the aboriginal community. A public hearing at council drew more than 30 speakers who mostly offered support for the project but in some cases, not the location. Nearby business owners in the Riverside Light Industrial Area recalled the impact of the 2005 flood and questioned the logic of building residences on a floodplain. But council stood by the two Stantec Engineering studies that concluded the development area is above the floodplain. Schur said there are definitely some challenges and concerns by both businesses and the aboriginal community. “This is a good site but we have to continue doing our due diligence as we move into the development phase,” said Schur. Mayor Morris Flewwelling said this was not a tough decision for council because the joint-committee tasked with finding a site worked diligently and with care over the last few months. He said the perspectives heard at the public hearing were valid, including those who opposed the site because of potential flooding, tree loss and setback from the landfill site.
Please see ASOOAHUM on Page A2
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Red Deer Rigger Jaret Chatwood slides safely into second base as Parkland Whitesox Brad Michaleski makes a throw to first during men’s Sunburst Baseball League second inning action at Great Chief Park Tuesday. Please see related story on page B6.
School bus changes will force students to wait for a ride BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF Some Red Deer public school students will arrive for class up to 40 minutes early next fall, due to bus route changes being fuelled by provincial funding cuts. At schools such as Grandview Elementary, only one school bus, instead of two, will do all routes to save money. This means the one bus will make two trips, so students will either have to wait for a ride to school, or wait in the school yard for a ride home. “I’m extremely upset by this ridiculous decision,” said Laura Freeman, mother of a Grandview Elementary School student, in an email she sent to the Red Deer Public School Board. Freeman compared it to unnecessarily extending an already full work day for adults. “I would like to see you arrive 40 minutes prior to work (after a . . . 25-40 minute bus ride) and hang around outside “playing” before you can start your job.” How could productivity not be impacted, ques-
tioned Freeman, who believes the outcome will be more parents opting to drive their kids than subjecting them to this extra wait time for busing to or from school. Cody McClintock, associate superintendent of business services of the public school district, said this was not a decision administrators made lightly. But given the loss of the provincial fuel funding grant, he said it was considered a better option than taking money out of the classroom to put towards busing. The Red Deer Public School board opted to change the busing patterns for Grandview, as well as Mattie McCullough Elementary Schools, West Park Elementary and Middle School, Mountview and G. W. Smith Elementary Schools because of the loss of a fuel subsidy grant from the province. Some students will not have to wait for a ride as long as others, because the district was able to “pair” some school bus routes for better efficiencies.
Please see BUS on Page A2
Beaver caught in oil spill released back into the wild BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
Contributed photo
Oily the beaver is released at the site of an abandoned beaver lodge near Sundre.
PLEASE RECYCLE
A one-week old baby beaver, which was caught in the Plains Midstream Canada oil pipeline spill last June on the Red Deer River, is back in the wild. On June 7, 2012, up to 3,000 barrels (475,000 litres) of light sour crude oil was released into the river from a ruptured pipeline about one km north of Sundre and oil travelled as far as Gleniffer Lake. The kit named Oily was found coated in oil close to the original spill site and was taken to Medicine River Wildlife Centre. “Oily was a teeny, weeny little guy, about 500 grams or so, when he came to us. Soaked in oil and sitting in a shoe box,” said Carol Kelly, executive director of the centre, on Tuesday. He was released at the site of an abandoned beaver lodge near Sundre on Sunday night weighing about 25 pounds. “He’s grown and thrived. Hates people. Totally a lovely wild beaver.” Oily was the first victim of the oil spill. Members of the Sundre Petroleum Operators Group met Kelly in a parking lot near James River to hand him over for treatment.
WEATHER
INDEX
Mainly sunny. High 17. Low 8.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D5 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C6 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
The centre also took in a baby muskrat and adult beaver from the oil spill that were released back into the wild last summer. A Canada goose and baby crow did not survive. “When we did the autopsies on them, their lungs were filled with oil. The birds got their feathers soaked that they weren’t able to swim. They tended to inhale oil as they were drowning. It was the mammals that did better.” Kelly said she will be returning to Oily’s lodge Wednesday to check up on him. He was swimming around having a good time the last time she saw him — a big difference from when he arrived at the centre. “He was pretty bad. For the first couple months we had him he’d gain weight and then he’d lose weight. I think he’d inhaled stuff so he had compromised lungs.” Oily required antibiotics and a dedicated staff member helped him pull through, she said. By the time he was released he was eating huge amounts of poplar and willow. He was also fed vegetable scraps and a small amount grain and seeds. “He’ll probably live by himself down there until a female comes his way.” szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
CANADA
BUSINESS
REPORT SHEDS LIGHT ON JAILHOUSE BRUTALITY
HIRING OUTLOOK APPEARS LESS ROSY
Some jail guards are brutalizing inmates and covering up the abuse by destroying or falsifying records and intimidating colleagues, Ontario’s ombudsman warned Tuesday. A5
The latest Manpower Employment Outlook survey found that Canadian hiring prospects for the third quarter are slightly less positive than a year ago. B1