Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
Blue Jays win
TORONTO BACK IN WINNING FORM AGAINST TAMPA B6
HHIGH IGH RIVER RIVER
A TOWN ADRIFT
RETURN OF EVACUEES TO FLOODED COMMUNITY STILL DAYS AWAY A3
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013
Residents on the move BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF
MICHENER CENTRE
The first relocation of a Michener Centre resident could take place by the end of the month. The team in charge of transitioning 125 Michener residents into community group homes and seniors
care facilities has met with the guardians of at least 20 residents to set in place transition plans, according to a letter that has been sent to the guardians of residents. According to the letter, “The first person to leave Michener could go to Edmonton as early as
this month if everything gets put in place.” Of the guardians who have met with the team, six have expressed their preference to have their loved one move to Calgary, two prefer Edmonton, one prefers Lethbridge, and the rest are hoping for communities in Central Alberta.
Please see MICHENER on Page A2
FUN AND GAMES
HOMECOMING WEEKEND
Light show will give sense of the river on land BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Fort Normandeau is the place to take in the flagship event of Red Deer’s Homecoming Weekend. Originally planned as a finale on the Red Deer River, the River of Light production featuring illuminated rain barrels will now be held on land because of the unsafe conditions on the Red Deer River. Sheila Bannerman, chairman of the Red Deer Centennial Committee, said the new production will be a revised version of the U.K.-based Creatmosphere creation that will still give a sense of the river on land. The installation is expected to be completed and ready to go starting at 10 a.m. until sometime after dark on both Saturday and Sunday. Bannerman said the lights will be turned on as soon as it gets dark. “I think it is going to be quite spectacular,” said Bannerman. “I think people will enjoy this. ... It’s going to be really great but we have to wait to see how big it is going to be.” There will be no vehicle access to Fort Normandeau after 7 p.m. so the committee is asking people to park at CrossRoads Church (38105 Range Road 275, Red Deer County, or west on 32nd Street on the west side of Hwy 2) on both days. Free shuttle buses will run from 8 p.m. to midnight. The last bus back to CrossRoads is at midnight.
Please see HOMECOMING on Page A2
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Pulling for all they are worth, Geraldine Longno, left, and Helleina Goli and their classmates compete in a tug-of-war Wednesday afternoon. The Grade 3 St. Patrick’s Community School students joined other students in the school yard for an afternoon of fun and games to end the school year.
Red Deer unlikely to need major flood mitigation plan BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Developing a major flood mitigation plan is likely not needed for Red Deer because it has limited development right along the Red Deer River. “If it was about protecting a number of new homes or commercial or industrial developments, yes, there would be a need to do something. From what we saw this year, I’m not sure there is. We’ll debrief as far as areas we need to look at. That will happen over the next few weeks,” said Paul Goranson, Red Deer’s director of development services, on Wednesday. There was no reported damage to private property in the city after last week’s flood. Minor damage was
RECYCLE
WEATHER
INDEX
Sunny. High 23. Low 10.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5,C6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A7 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D5 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6-B8
FORECAST ON A2
plan. The river comes to a certain level, you’re going to have problems.” Flooding would have to be very, very significant before downtown Red Deer would be affected, he said. Planning and the pace of development could have both played a role in the low amount of development in Red Deer’s flood danger zone, Goranson said. George Groeneveld, former Highwood MLA and chair of the Provincial Flood Mitigation Committee, said both urban and rural flooding problems have to do with building in fringe areas and in some cases on flood plains.
Please see MITIGATION on Page A2
CANADA
WORLD
CANADA HIGHLY EDUCATED: SURVEY
LANDMARK DAY FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Canada has become a perplexing nation of high education — one in which women have dramatically surpassed men in their schooling, but remain congregated in traditional pink ghettos when it comes to work. A5
A marriage made in Toronto was at the heart Wednesday of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act on a historic day that also cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California. D4
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“back to the roots”
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limited to parks and trails. The 2006 Provincial Flood Mitigation Report, that is now making waves, recommended limiting future development in flood-prone areas and flood mitigation for existing developments in flood-prone lands. So far the province has pledged an initial $1 billion for flood cleanup in areas hard hit by last week’s flooding. The federal government has yet to announce how much money it will give. Goranson said some municipalities developed in areas for probably good reasons in the past that now would be avoided. Some communities were less fortunate last week just because of the extreme level of water they had to deal with, he said. “Some of that, it doesn’t matter how good you