Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
OPEN WAR Hundreds killed as police storm camps in Egypt
D4 CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
THURSDAY, AUG. 15, 2013
POINT TAKEN
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
Alexandre Lyssov, left, from Ontario lunges into Zachary Zanussi from Red Deer during the fencing competition at the Canada Games on Wednesday in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Zanussi was knocked out of the men’s individual epee during the quarter-finals.
City fixing slippery part of spray park BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF Since Red Deer’s new spray park opened on Tuesday, hundreds of kids have been splishing and splashing, but too often they’ve found themselves slip slidin’ away. After noticing one particular trouble spot in the Blue Grass Sod Farms Central Spray and Play at Tuesday’s grand opening, the city put up barricades in the area to slow energetic
kids down when running between water features. The slipperiest section was on part of the blue-painted surface running through the park meant to represent the meandering Red Deer River. It’s a section around which there are fountains spraying up water and other features dumping down water. After some complaints and observing kids losing their footing at the section, the City of Red Deer is recalling the company that applied the epoxy colour coating to remedy the issue.
“What happened when they sealed the colour, they just put a little bit too much of the sealer on it and it took away the grip of that area,” explained city Recreation, Parks and Culture Department manager Shelley Gagnon. The company will make the fix this evening, and to allow the area to adequately dry for the work, the spray park will close early today at 3 p.m. The spray park will reopen as usual at 11 a.m. on Friday. While the city is not releasing the financial terms of the sponsorship agree-
Poachers gun down birds, muskrat near nature conservancy BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Eighty spent shotgun shells, a dead muskrat and three dead birds were found shot near a Nature Conservancy of Canada property east of Pine Lake on Tuesday afternoon. Local biologist Myrna Pearman made the discovery at about 4 p.m. at a small lake along Range Road 240 near Township Road 360 while taking a break from doing a bird count at nearby conservancy land. She didn’t know exactly how many birds or animals were shot in the area that was likely used by duck hunters in the fall. “I just couldn’t bear to launch the kayaks so we just walked up and down the ditch. We dragged out the two baby terns, which are protected migratory birds. They are never open for hunting — ever. And we found the muskrat. The coot, that was also shot, we couldn’t reach it from the shore,” Pearman said on Wednesday. She called Report a Poacher and was told an investigation would be launched. “They said this is the definition of poaching and they were sending an officer out to see the site.” Along with the spent shells, she found three high-powered rifle bullets and over two dozen .22 rifle cartridges near the scenic, winding road. She suspected the shooting happened either Monday night or Tuesday morning because a shotgun shell box that was left behind was not wet. Pearman, the biologist at Ellis Bird Farm, took photos of what she found.
PLEASE RECYCLE
ment it reached with Blue Grass Sod Farms for the park’s naming rights, the agreement is 10 years in length. The partnership represents the first of its kind under the city’s new sponsorship policy, which was instituted as a means of alternative revenue generation for the city. As part of the agreement, Blue Grass Sod Farms has committed to holding an annual family picnic at the site. mfish@reddeeradvocate.com
Central Albertans reminded to take precautions in hot weather BY ADVOCATE STAFF
abandoning, destroying or wasting animals. “Definitely in this case, whoever did this, by essentially shooting and wasting these animals — that’s poaching. You can’t just shoot it and leave it,” Kranrod said.
Hot weather that feels like the mid30s in Central Alberta has led Alberta Health to warn people to protect themselves. Red Deer on Wednesday hit a high of 27C. However, with the humidity it felt warmer, more like 32C. Warm, sunny weather is to continue this week. The humidex — a parameter that combines temperature and humidity in order to reflect the perceived temperature — could continue to be higher than what Prairie residents are used to. A combination of high moisture levels and increased air flow from the south have led to a higher than usual humidex. “We want to remind Albertans to take the proper precautions to stay healthy and safe during this stretch of hot weather,” Dr. Martin Lavoie, deputy chief medical officer of health for Alberta, said Wednesday. “It’s extremely important for people to stay hydrated and stay cool. Normal activities that you may do during cooler weather can pose serious heat-related illnesses under these conditions.” Sections of Central and Southern Alberta were expected to be hardest hit Wednesday and through the remainder of the week. To avoid sunburns and heat-related exhaustion, Alberta Health says:
Please see POACHING on Page A2
Please see WEATHER on Page A2
BUSINESS
SPORTS
Photo by MYRNA PEARMAN/Freelance
Local biologist Myrna Pearman discovered 80 spent shotgun shells, a dead muskrat and three dead birds near a Nature Conservancy of Canada property east of Pine Lake on Tuesday afternoon. “I’m just very upset people would be so irresponsible and so heartless,” Pearman said. Ken Kranrod, vice-president with Alberta Conservation Association, which is responsible for Report a Poacher promotion, said people typically think poaching is about hunting without a licence or taking more animals than allowed. But it also includes
WEATHER
INDEX
30% showers. High 27. Low 12.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D7 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C7 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6-B8
FORECAST ON A2
CROPS IN A RACE WITH DAVIS PLAYS HERO IN JACK FROST JAYS WIN Central Alberta farmers could be nervously watching their thermometers this fall — again — as crops are lagging a week to two behind their long-term averages. C3
Rajai Davis hit two doubles and scored the winning run in the 10th inning as the Toronto Blue Jays snapped a three-game slide with a 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. B6