Papaya Your ticket to a
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BID TIME Red Deer will go head to head against Lethbridge to host the 2019 Canada Winter Games
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Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, JAN. 28, 2014
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Cut the red tape PANEL URGES HARMONIZING RAIL, ROADS, PIPELINES FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH BY THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — A joint study group says it will work to identify the best way to harmonize roads, rail, pipelines and permits in Alberta and British Columbia to get the most value for energy exports. The cross-provincial working group, in a report released Monday, says getting more oilfield equipment moved from the ports through B.C.’s mountainous interior to the oilfields is an emerging issue.
Alberta Energy Minister Diana McQueen said it’s further evidence that the energy sector has multiple ripple effects. “If there’s opportunities for that (shipment of equipment) to happen, Alberta is fine with that as well,” McQueen said. “We’ve always said there’s lots of benefits for both provinces, and certainly for the nation as a whole.” Port authorities in Vancouver have been working to get more oilsands equipment shipped through their facilities, but have been hamstrung by permit delays, red tape and the perception that oversized
Lodge staff trained to handle emergencies
loads aren’t allowed on mountain roads. The study group was set up last summer as part of the two provinces’ mutual interest in Calgary-based Enbridge’s (TSX:ENB) proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would take Alberta crude through B.C. to ports in Kitimat. B.C. Premier Christy Clark and her Alberta counterpart, Alison Redford, set up the group, chaired by deputy ministers, to look not only at expanding energy exports but at markets for other exports as well.
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THESPIANS IN THE MAKING
BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF A devastating blaze at a Quebec seniors facility shows how deadly fires can be. Ten people are confirmed dead and another 22 people are missing and presumed dead in L’IsleVerte, Que. Crews are still digging through the rubble and ice at the scene of the tragedy. In Red Deer, a local operator is confident that the training his staff is given and the response local emergency services personnel can provide can keep seniors safe. Piper Creek Foundation executive director Geoff Olson said his organization does 10 fire drills per lodge each year. “We do a lot of work with the residents on fire evacuation,” said Olson. “The residents know what our expectations are of them in an emergency, but even more so the staff are well trained to handle an emergency.” Older lodges operated by Piper Creek do not have sprinkler systems throughout. However, newer wings like that built at the Pines Lodge in 2005 do have sprinkler systems. “We’re pretty lucky in Red Deer,” said Olson. “The response time to our lodges by emergency services is really minimal. Any time we’ve had to have an ambulance or even a fire truck stop by, even for a false alarm, the lag time is absolutely minimal. The fire is not going to get very far before those folks are onsite.” Olson said they work closely with Red Deer Emergency Services. All seniors care facilities built in recent years must have sprinkler systems. Since 1990, the province has required any new residence taller than four storeys to have a sprinkler system. “Our (Red Deer) newer construction, by newer I mean in the last 10 to 15 years, retirement homes are fully sprinklered and fully fire-alarmed,” said Wes Van Bavel, Red Deer Emergency Services fire prevention officer.
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Quest Theatre’s Sarina Sorenson leads a group of elementary students through some theatre games at Fairview Elementary School. The Grade 2-3 students in Crystal Noble’s class will be joining the all other students at the school during the production of cultural stories. All this week the students are working with Quest Theatre to develop the stories, make costumes and produce the music for the production, which will take place Friday in the school.
Vacant nursing homes too costly to modernize: AHS BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF Two vacant Red Deer nursing homes are not worth upgrading to meet current senior care standards, Alberta Health Services has determined. Red Deer North MLA Mary Anne Jablonski said Monday that this means the buildings now go to Alberta Infrastructure for repurposing or disposal. The Valley Park Manor in Riverside Meadows, across the street from Fairview School, and the Red Deer Nursing Home, on 30th Street, were closed in 2010. Valley Park Manor was a 116-bed facility while
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the Red Deer Nursing Home had 99 beds. They were closed in favour of Michener Hill Extendicare, which opened in 2010. The two nursing homes have been vacant ever since, although the power remains on and the buildings are regularly checked and basic maintenance is done. And that has cost the province as much as $600,000. “AHS had intended to use these buildings,” said Jablonski. “As they have gone through their process of investigating the buildings, reviewing and inspecting, they have concluded it would be too costly to modernize these buildings. “They are now giving up these buildings for disposal.”
She said disposal means every provincial department has a chance to see if it could use the buildings. Cabinet would then be required to approve a department’s proposed use. Should no department have a need for the buildings, it would then be Alberta Infrastructure’s responsibility to dispose of them. Jablonski said she doesn’t know what the policy is for selling vacant seniors facilities and having a private company modernize them. “There are people who think they might want to use those buildings,” she said.
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Anti-protest law scrapped in Ukraine Ukraine’s president agreed to scrap harsh anti-protest laws, and Stephen Harper expressed concerns about the country. Story on PAGE A5, A9
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