Veggie lovers rejoice!
KING HENRIK VERSUS THE KINGS
Deborah Madison rewrites her classic Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
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Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2014
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Colban reunion years in the making
OLDS
Skeeter control
College partners in meat education program BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR
BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF On trips to Edmonton, through B.C., even while visiting Elvis’ Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., — Wayne Colban would inevitably grab the local phone book, flip to the ‘C’s, and call up anyone who shared his surname. Wayne, now 73, wanted to find a mother, a father, siblings, anyone who might be able to tell him who he really was, where he came from. At one point, he actually did speak to a cousin over the phone, but the conversants did not realize a connection. What he needed in the quest to learn his own history was a little help, which came in the form of Calgary Community Living Society worker Jim Adamchick. Wayne walked into the society’s office one day in 2006 to pick up the book in which he had penned everything of his life story that he did know — his 22 years living at the Provincial Training School/Alberta School Hospital in Red Deer and another 34 living in the community in Calgary. The two became fast friends and Wayne asked Adamchick to help him find his family. Adamchick took the job seriously, tracking down Wayne’s birth certificate and pursuing potential family connections through military records. The search went on intermittently for a few years, with the big break coming in late 2011. There were similarities in an obituary for an Arthur Colban in New Westminster, B.C., and the records Adamchick had found, so the disability support worker who had become a friend called up one of the sons listed in the obit. “Oh my, it was shock,” said Neil Colban, one of four brothers who learned there was a fifth on Nov. 23, 2011. “It was shock. It was disbelief. And then it was excitement.” Neil, along with Roger, Murray and Brian Colban learned that day that their mother had given birth to another son in the spring of 1941. Florence Colban’s husband, Arthur, was away serving in the Canadian Army at the time, and the boys’ mother had developed a relationship with another man.
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
City of Red Deer ecological services parks labourer Aleah Ross sprays a larvicide into a wet area in Anders Victoria Park on Monday. City crews are busy after each rainfall retreating wet spots in the city to control mosquito populations.
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Canada’s first meat science graduate program could soon be turning out masters and PhD students — with Olds College’s National Meat Training Centre playing a key role. The college is one of five post-secondary institution partners behind the new Canadian Meat Education and Training Network, with the others the University of Alberta, the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Guelph and Université Laval. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has chipped in with a $1.65-million grant. The four universities will work together to develop a shared graduate studies curriculum for the program, said Heather Bruce, an associate professor in the U of A’s department of agriculture, food and nutritional science, and director of the network. “We have disparate skills across the country, but together we can certainly make a wonderful program.” Students will be able to study at any of the four universities as they work toward a graduate degree in meat science. But they will also be expected to spend time in industry settings — like Olds College’s National Meat Training Centre. “Olds College is a very important part of our program, because it’s providing the hands-on and the practical application, from using knives to handling meat to cutting meat to making sausages,” said Bruce. Brad McLeod, co-ordinator of the centre, is up for the challenge. “It’s huge for us to play a role and help bring some hands-on skills to these kids, so when they go into the plants that they’re working in they understand what they’re seeing and doing and can relate to the people who are doing the jobs. “We’re really excited by the opportunity.” Students in the program will also complete a four-month internship at a Canadian meat processing facility, said Bruce.
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Expropriation for road upgrade will result in flooding: family BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF LACOMBE — A man fighting expropriation of several acres of family farmland for a proposed ring road argued the project will lead to flooding on his property. Dr. Darrell Paul told an expropriation inquiry on Monday that the drainage plan for a project to upgrade 34th Street on the east side of Lacombe won’t be able to handle the flow during wet years. Water will pool on nearby farmland, killing crops. Long-term, repeated flooding will devalue the land, which is expected to be developed as Lacombe grows. Paul, an Airdrie surgeon, and his sister Sherron Paul represent the estate of their late father, whose family has farmed the area since the 1940s.
WEATHER 60% showers. High 23. Low 9.
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LACOMBE The Pauls contend the city and Lacombe County’s road upgrade plan takes more land than necessary from their farm, where they grow canola, wheat, barley and hay. Two narrow strips totally just under four acres are required from the Pauls as part of the project to widen, pave and create larger drainage ditches on 34th Street. They also contend a proposed access to their farmland is in the wrong place and will not be safe. Paul said in earlier negotiations an agreement had been reached to remove one of the culverts near their property. That culvert is back in more recent designs that the Pauls believe don’t adequately protect the area from flooding.
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Negotiations between the Pauls and the city failed to reach an agreement and council voted in February to pursue expropriation. That decision was premature, say the Pauls, who have pointed out negotiations are still ongoing with other landowners who haven’t been targeted for expropriation. The ring road to take industrial and commercial traffic out of downtown Lacombe has been in the planning stages for nearly a decade. It will take traffic from Hwy 2A through industrial areas and then connect to Hwy 12. Matthew Goudy, the city’s director of planning operations, told arbitrator Graham McLennan that 34th Street plans will not increase the likelihood or severity of flooding on the Pauls’ land. “Will this design cause flooding to the Pauls’ land? Absolutely not,” he
said in a response to questioning from the Pauls’ lawyer Daniela O’Callaghan. Drainage changes that are part of the project will make their land less prone to flooding, he said. Stantec Consulting engineer Todd Simenson said much of the land in the area is listed on provincial maps as flood ways or flood fringe areas. The road project will improve drainage in the area and the amount of land required to upgrade the road and provide larger drainage ditches is reasonable based on drainage needs. Proposals put forward by the Pauls to add additional and larger culverts at one spot would add $291,000 to the project’s $4.4 million construction cost and is not supported by Stantec. Once an inquiry has finished, the inquiry officer has 30 days to make his decision. pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
Rebels attack border guard camp Hundreds of pro-Russia rebels mounted a daylong assault on a key Ukrainian government base. Story on PAGE B11
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