Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
FIVE REBELS ATTENDING NHL TRAINING CAMPS
Maturity wins
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Diana Nyad joins a growing group of aging athletes dominating their sports
Red Deer Advocate WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 4, 2013
www.reddeeradvocate.com
Central Alberta’s daily newspaper AIR CANADA
Tour de force
Daily service takes flight BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
The terminal building at Red Deer Airport got a lot busier on Tuesday, as Air Canada started scheduled passenger service out of the Springbrook-based aviation facility. Nearly 100 people — including officials from Air Canada, the City of Red Deer, Red Deer County and the provincial and federal governments — gathered for a ceremony before the departure of an Air Canada Express Beechcraft 1900D for Calgary. The new schedule consists of three such flights every day: at 5:30 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 2:10 p.m., with return flights from Calgary arriving at 9:12 a.m., 1:47 p.m. and 9:57 p.m. These 42 new weekly departures and arrivals more than double the number of scheduled passenger flights previously available at the Red Deer Airport through Northwestern Air, which flies west to Kelowna and Abbotsford, and north to Fort McMurray. “To think that a little over a year ago we started with four scheduled departures and arrivals from this airport per week,” said RJ Steenstra, CEO of the Red Deer Regional Airport Authority. “Today we grow to 60 scheduled departures and arrivals per week from Red Deer Airport.” More significant is the fact those new flights dovetail with Air Canada’s national and international schedule out of the Calgary International Airport. “It connects Central Albertans to the rest of the world through direct service out of Red Deer,” said Steenstra. Angela Mah, Air Canada’s manager of media relations for Western Canada, stressed this connectivity as well. “You are now one step away from going to London Heathrow, to Frankfurt, to Toronto, to Washington, to all these other places worldwide that Air Canada takes you to,” said Mah, who grew up in Red Deer. “It’s one ticket and one purchase price.” She added that Air Canada has priced its Red Deer flights so that they’re an attractive alternative for passengers who might otherwise drive to the airports at Calgary or Edmonton. “You will find that it’s very compelling to fly out of Red Deer, compared to flying out of Calgary.” Steenstra said Air Canada’s new service should also raise the region’s profile. “You can go to any travel site, see Red Deer on that travel site, and get to fly into Red Deer. It just puts Central Alberta on the map for everybody inbound.” Mah said her company’s decision to expand its operations to the Red Deer Airport was motivated by the economic strength of the area.
Please see FLIGHTS on Page A2
WEATHER Sunny. High 29. Low 9.
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Kevin Pipp Frank with Team Bissell Pro Cycling during the Tour of Alberta cycling race time trials in Edmonton on Tuesday.
SLOVAKIAN PETER SAGAN WINS PROLOGUE OF TOUR OF ALBERTA; RYDER HESJEDAL IN TOP 10 BY BOB WEBER THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — Pre-race favourite Peter Sagan made a little bit of history Tuesday night when he became the first man to wear the yellow jersey in the inaugural stage of the Tour of Alberta cycling race. The Cannondale team rider took a commanding 13-second lead over his nearest competitor in the opening 7.3-kilometre time trial. Victoria’s Ryder Hesjedal sits in 10th, 30 seconds back of Sagan. “I was trying to do well here,” said Sagan, a 23-year-old Slovak rider. “It’s the first stage and it’s important. I felt very very good.” Sagan, not normally known as a time triallist, completed the stage in eight hours 28 minutes one second. Sagan said he was surprised by the hundreds of people who lined the route and crowded the downtown Edmonton square where the race begins. “In Alberta, I am here for the first time and I am surprised at how many people were watching,” said Sagan. “It was very good.” Hesjedal echoed Sagan’s praise for the race. “As I hoped, it was phenomenal. We’re very used
to big-time bike racing all over the world, and it felt just like it always does here,” said Hesjedal. “The fans were incredible, the course was incredible. It was a pleasure.” BMC Racing’s Cadel Evans, the 2011 Tour de France champion and another rider considered to have a chance at the first-ever Tour of Alberta podium, also finished in the top 10, about 20 seconds back of Sagan. Hesjedal’s Garmin-Sharp teammate Rohan Dennis, 23, came in second at 8:41:65. The prologue was laid out over a twisty, up-anddown loop linking Edmonton’s downtown, the provincial legislature and the city’s leafy river valley neighbourhoods. Margins are expected to be tight and battles for time bonuses will be crucial. With the race’s lone mountain stage cancelled due to road damage from floods early in the summer, there will be no epic climbing stages to string out the peloton and separate contenders. Most stages are expected to end in bunch sprints, in which all riders in the first group to cross the finish receive the same time.
Please see CYCLING on Page A2
Black bear alarms campers BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF Two families were trapped in their trailers as a black bear strolled into their campsite during their Labour Day weekend getaway near Rocky Mountain House. The furry predator wandered into their site Saturday when Derek Fuchs was camping with his wife and two children and another couple with two children at Crimson Lake Provincial Park. “We heard something walking in the woods and there are lots of deer there, so I grabbed my flashlight and started scanning the forest to see what is
out there and couldn’t find anything,” said Fuchs. “Then I scanned the flashlight down right in front of us and there is a bear right there, at the edge of the trees. About 10 or 15 feet away.” The adults, who were outside at time, ran into the nearest camper. This left Fuchs’ sleeping sons in the other trailer about 50 metres away from where the parents were holed up waiting for the bear to wander out. Experienced campers, Fuchs said they had no food or garbage left out and the only food they had was what was in their hands.
Please see BEAR on Page A2
France to wait until U.S. vote on Syrian strike France will not carry out missile strikes against Syria on its own and is awaiting a decision from the U.S. Congress. Story on PAGE A7
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