Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
SECOND CHANCE
NO-COOK COOKING
Girl to receive potentially life-saving drug A3
Four courses, no sweat
A11
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
SPRAY PARK OPEN
Plug pulled on music festival
TUESDAY, AUG. 13, 2013
Police hunting for carjacking suspects JEEP STOLEN AT KNIFEPOINT FROM CHAPTERS’ PARKING LOT BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Poor ticket sales and a lack of volunteers has forced the cancellation of the Central Music Festival. Set to take place this Friday to Sunday, the seventh annual music festival was to have featured Bill Bourne, Amos Garrett, Captain Tractor and Randi Boulton among 27 acts. In a letter posted to the festival’s website on Monday, Mike Bradford, Central Music Festival Society president, said he cannot in good conscience move forward with this year’s festival. Reached around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Bradford declined to answer any questions until Tuesday afternoon. Bradford said it has been a “difficult 24 hours” and needed some time. Boulton said she was “completely shocked” when she heard the show would not go on, especially since other events in the arts are doing well. “The province has been hurt so hard by storms this year,” said Boulton. “I know a lot of people who are spending their time this year donating to relief that way. I think the priorities have shifted to helping out our fellow neighbours.” Bradford said on the website this was the first event he’s ever had to cancel an event in more than 25 years. “I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you,” he said. With just four days until the festival was to start only 100 advanced tickets were sold. About 800 tickets and twice as many volunteers were needed to put on the festival. “I can’t see any benefit in thinking that we’ll have 700 people ‘walk up’ to the gate — we need to sell that amount of tickets in order to cover the expenses for the weekend,” said Bradford in the letter. There was no mention of refunds for those who have already purchased advance tickets. Early-bird tickets were $50 a person for the entire three-day festival and were available for the month of May. Regular single ticket prices varied depending on the day and the buyer. In the same letter, Bradford said the committee will regroup this fall to put together a festival for 2014 with a similar lineup. In 2012, an estimated 700 concert goers went to the festival each day. crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Marley Paulsen squeals as her mother Krista moves towards the a spray tower at the new Centennial Spray Park in Red Deer on Monday. The park, located near the Golden Circle and Recreation Centre in Red Deer officially opens today. See related video at www. reddeeradvocate.com. Please see related story on page B1.
A witness to a mid-day carjacking in Chapters Red Deer parking lot believed the two suspects were approaching people for money before they stole a man’s Jeep at knifepoint on Sunday. “They came right up to my window. But they didn’t talk to me. They walked away. I’m very thankful,” said the woman, who had her six-year-old daughter in the backseat. “They were talking to a woman right behind me and they upset her so I was keeping an eye on them and I called the police. Something just didn’t feel right,” said the witness, who didn’t want to be identified. She thought she saw something in one man’s hand, possibly a tool to break into vehicles, and she followed the pair in her vehicle. She was a few rows away when the carjacking occurred. Red Deer City RCMP say that at about 2 p.m., a man was sitting in his Jeep when two men approached the driver’s side window, produced a knife and demanded he get out. When the owner got out, the two men got in the vehicle and fled the parking lot, located at 5250 22nd St. “He was very shaken up. I think he was in shock,” said the witness about the carjacking victim. Several people went over to help him before police arrived, she said. “We were all on the phone with police.” Red Deer RCMP Cpl. Sarah Knelsen said the last carjacking in the city was in the spring. “This is not a normal situation for Red Deer and we are treating it as a high priority and we’re investigating it still,” Knelsen said. One suspect was described as in his 20s, aboriginal, tall, and skinny. He had long dark hair in a ponytail and wore a baseball cap. The other suspect was also in his 20s, aboriginal, with short dark hair. He wore jeans and a T-shirt. The vehicle that was stolen was a 2012 Jeep Patriot with the Alberta licence plate SCC 344. Anyone with information to assist police in identifying the suspects is asked to call the Red Deer City RCMP at 403-343-5575, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
Expense audit ‘flawed’, ‘unfair’: Wallin BUT SENATOR VOWS TO PAY BACK, WITH INTEREST, ANY DISALLOWED EXPENSES BY THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — Sen. Pamela Wallin struck a defiant tone Monday after what she called a “fundamentally flawed and unfair” audit flagged more than $140,000 worth of travel claims dating back to her earliest days in the upper chamber. But Wallin, citing her desire to get back to her work representing the people of Saskatchewan, promised to pay back — with interest — any disallowed expenses “out of my own resources” once she is asked to do so. Sources familiar with the 95-page Deloitte audit say it recommends that the embattled former Conservative pay
PLEASE RECYCLE
back $121,000 in travel costs, and that an additional $21,000 worth of claims be more closely examined But Wallin made no apologies for traversing the country t o c h a m p i o n Pamela Wallin causes. “When appointed to the Senate in 2009, I was determined to be an activist senator — one who saw it as her job to advance causes that are important to Canadians,” she told a hastily assembled
WEATHER
INDEX
A few showers. High 23. Low 12.
Two sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A7,A8 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B8-B10 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B11 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B12 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5-B7
FORECAST ON A2
news conference. “When invited to appear publicly and speak ... I saw it as my duty to accept whenever I was able to do so. Travel to these public speeches and appearances was — and is, in my continuing view — a legitimate Senate expense.” Wallin took issue with the way accounting firm Deloitte, which conducted the audit, used more recently established rules governing Senate travel and expenses to assess the validity of earlier claims. “It is my view that this report is the result of a fundamentally flawed and unfair process,” she said.
OLDS
New trial ordered in death at bar CALGARY — A new trial has been ordered for a man convicted of killing a college student when a pickup truck rammed a group of people outside a bar in Central Alberta. Jeffrey Leinen of Calgary was convicted in December 2011 of seconddegree murder and aggravated assault in a crash outside the Texas Mickey Bar in Olds. He was sentenced to life in prison for the death of Nicholas Baier, an 18-year-old student at Olds College, and the injuring of a second student.
Please see AUDIT on Page A2
Please see TRIAL on Page A2
BUSINESS
WORLD
CHICKEN WINGS DONE SINKHOLE SWALLOWS DIFFERENT FLORIDA RESORT Emmanuel David has cooked for royalty and earned medals for culinary competitions around the world. So it might surprise some that the chef has been focusing on chicken wings in recent weeks. A7
It sounded like a thunderstorm as windows broke and the ground shook, but vacationers who were awakened from their rooms at a villa near Orlando, Fla., soon realized that the building was starting to collapse. A9