SENATE SHOCKER Trudeau turfs Liberal senators from caucus
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SWEET SUCCESS Today’s Sweet Cakery in Castor is using social media to boost cupcake sales
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Red Deer Advocate THURSDAY, JAN. 30, 2014
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Child’s death a mystery FATALITY INQUIRY UNABLE TO SAY HOW JAMES ANDREW STAHL DIED BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF An inquiry into the death of a newborn child at Stettler Hospital was unable to determine how he died. Born a few week prematurely, at 36 weeks gestation, James Andrew Stahl
died on Aug. 9, 2011, at 6:40 a.m., within 12 hours of his birth. A two-day public fatality inquiry was held on Sept. 19 and 20, 2013, in Stettler provincial court before Judge Jim Mitchell. The final report to the minister of justice and the attorney general released on Wednesday said the medi-
cal cause of death was sudden unexplained death in infancy, but the manner is undeterminable. Matilda Stahl, 31, was admitted to the Stettler hospital at 6:18 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2011. At 7:41 p.m., she gave birth to the child. At 6:41 a.m. the following morning, a nurse entered the mother’s private room and found the infant and
the mother sharing the bed. Their was a space between the two. It was then that the infant was noted to be bluecoloured and no vital signs were apparent. Attempts were made to resuscitate the infant but they were unsuccessful.
Please see INQUIRY on Page A2
THRESHING TIME
SYLVAN LAKE
Thin ice prompts warning EVENTS RELOCATED, CANCELLED BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF This year’s wacky winter has not been kind to Sylvan Lake. Snow loads have been largely blamed SAFETY TIPS A2 for the collapse of one of the town’s two arenas and the cancellation of a bonspiel at the curling rink. And now snow is ruining the fun on the lake itself. A deep layer of snow has insulated the lake from freezing to its usual thickness in many places — a situation not helped by the recent freeze-thaw cycle. After an inspection from the fire department, the town has decided to close the provincial park gate and stop doing any maintenance on the rink on the lake. Town communication officer Joanne Gaudet said the lake is not freezing in a uniform pattern, leaving dangerous thin spots. “In some areas you can get 24 inches of ice and it’s great. You walk maybe three or four feet and you’ve got six inches of water and it’s not freezing.” It would be impossible to monitor the area closely enough to ensure people only went where the ice was safe so the decision was made to close the gates. “By not maintaining the ice surface we’re hoping that is a strong message to the residents it’s not suitable for us and it shouldn’t be for them either.” The rink that had been cleared was on a safe stretch of ice, but the town is worried people might stray into unsafe areas. A small rink was built this year on the pier, which will be maintained for skaters.
Please see ICE on Page A2
WEATHER
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Red Deer Rebel Aspen Sterzer sends Brandon Wheat King Taylor Green crashing to the ice during second-period action at the Centrium Wednesday. The Rebels defeated the Wheat Kings 4-3 in a shootout. See related story on page B4.
Homelessness strategy on the right track: research BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Early results from a Red Deer youth homeless research project indicate service providers are on the right track to provide better co-ordination of services and programs, and to create more collaboration. Yale Belanger, a University of Lethbridge associate professor of Native
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American Studies, is analyzing the data on a research study involving youth living on the streets in Red Deer. Interviews were recently conducted with stakeholders, politicians and homeless youth. He said co-ordination of services and circulation of information in order to respond to issues were two issues that came up frequently. “We have to respond to the youth more effectively,” said Belanger. “They were asking us the same ques-
tion: how do we do that when they have the answer right now? It’s simply more collaboration, more interaction and start to develop programs that youth really need as opposed to simply putting programs in place we think will help them.” There are an estimated 80 to 100 homeless youth living in Red Deer.
Please see HOMELESSNESS on Page A2
Winter storm paralyzes the Deep South Highways-turned-parking lots iced over when a winter storm slammed Atlanta, creating a treacherous traffic jam.
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