RIGGERS FALL TO FORT SASKATCHEWAN PAGE B4
Red Deer Advocate WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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Traffic court move hits bumps
$50-MILLION WINNERS
BUT FABULOUS FOR HOTEL BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
William and Andrea Groner pose at the Western Canada Lottery Corporation in Edmonton, Tuesday. The Groners managed to keep their lottery windfall in the immediate family for seven months. But the Edmonton couple’s exciting news is now out — they are the mystery winners of the $50-million Lotto Max jackpot from Dec. 20. See story on page A2.
Stantec golfers ace it, twice BY ADVOCATE STAFF
BFF LADIES GOLF TOURNAMENT
Two is better than one, although one is exceptional all on its own. The first Stantec BFF (Best Friends Forever) Ladies Golf Tournament on Monday at River Bend Golf Course featured two holes in one. Golfers Paulette Hanson of Rocky Mountain House and Kim Lee of Red Deer won $25,000 each to go towards a new vehicle at Ponoka Dodge Chrysler, pending insurance verification of their holes in one. The aces occurred at the eighth and 16th holes (par threes). “It was crazy. Gord Bamford’s annual golf classic has never even seen holes in one for the big prizes,” said Tera Lee Flaman, one of the main organizers behind the event. “It’s very, very rare. Most golf tournaments
never see a hole in one. ... We were very excited. At one of our early meetings, Lyn Radford said, ‘I’d sure love if someone won one of these hole in ones,’ and we had two!” Radford, a longtime well-known volunteer in the community, was also one of the organizers. Flaman added that hole in one winner Lee hadn’t played golf in over eight years. The tournament was held in support of women’s athletics through Red Deer College and the Red Deer Games Foundation. A number of well-known female athletes from Central Alberta participated, including Olympian Mellisa Hollingsworth. The final fundraising total was not available at press time on Tuesday but organizers are calling it a success and already planning for next year.
Efforts to free up courtroom space in Red Deer are getting a thumbs down from people involved in traffic court. Effective April 1, a variety of non-criminal matters that had been heard in the Red Deer Courthouse were moved to a meeting room in the Red Deer Lodge Hotel, about four blocks away. The idea behind the move was to create more space for criminal and family court in Red Deer’s 30-year-old courthouse, which now covers a wider area and serves a much larger population than it did in 1982 when it was built. With prospects for a larger building still in the discussion stages, Alberta Justice has made a number of moves to increase efficiencies in Red Deer, including moving traffic court out altogether. Red Deer Lodge Hotel manager Kevin Ritchie said earlier this week that the move has been “fabulous” for his facility, which has an ongoing booking for traffic court on Mondays and Tuesdays, when there is less demand for meeting rooms than later in the week. There’s plenty of parking, it’s free, and access to the room used for court is right inside the front entry so the dozens of people coming to deal with their tickets do not get in the way of the hotel’s customers, said Ritchie. Hosting traffic court has not brought much extra business into the hotel, but that’s not an issue, said Ritchie. But people at the sharp end
of the justice systems have identified a number of “inconveniences” involved with the move, including a reduction in the level of security available in the courthouse. “We anticipated there were going to be some difficulties, and certainly, there are,” said Crown prosecutor Rob Gregory, a paralegal who has been looking after traffic court in Red Deer since last year. The commissioner presiding over traffic court deals with offences under a variety of provincial statutes and municipal bylaws, including traffic, wildlife, gaming and liquor and occupational health and safety infractions. Sentences may include jail time. That can be a problem, because the hotel room is covered by private security guards who do not have the authority to arrest or detain people, said Gregory. Sheriffs must be called to the hotel whenever someone is to be taken into custody and Sheriffs must also be called anytime there is someone in the court who is known to be violent or non-compliant, he said. Lack of screening at the front door is less of an issue, said Gregory. There is no screening in circuit court, either, but security is provided by Alberta Sheriffs, he said. Additionally, Alberta Justice court services did not make allowances for a private interview room, so there is always an issue of finding a private place to interview witnesses, said Gregory.
Please see COURT on Page A2
Surveillance catches flagrant idling in city DRIVE-THROUGHS, SUMMER IDLERS AMONG WORST CASES BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF In just about any community, drive-through restaurants are the biggest source of vehicle idling. Red Deer is no different. Last July, 26 out of 30 vehicles in the McDonald’s Restaurant (3020 22nd St.) drivethrough lineup kept their vehicles running for a total of 182 minutes, over the course of one hour. But the worst offenders aren’t necessarily just at drivethroughs A driver of an SUV in the Sobeys South parking lot kept his motor running for 26 minutes that same summer. Another driver of an SUV idled his vehicle for 27 minutes at St. Teresa of Avila School while presumably waiting for his children.
WEATHER A mix of sun and cloud. High 25, low 20.
FORECAST ON A2
IDLE-FREE FACTS A2 “For me it was a little bit surprising to see the length of time that people idle,” said Nancy Hackett, the city’s Environmental Initiatives supervisor. “Some vehicles were idling for 19 or 26 minutes. That is really a long time to leave your vehicle running while you are in a grocery store or in a public building.” Hackett referred to some of the findings of the city’s first informal idling monitoring campaign conducted last summer. The city is now in the fifth year of its idle-free awareness campaign designed to encourage residents to turn off the key. There are nine businesses or institutions and 28 schools in the coalition. Signs are up at the sites en-
INDEX Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . C6 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B8
couraging motorists to turn the key off. Six locations around the city were under surveillance by a summer student paid through a Volunteer Alberta program. The student was tasked with recording several observations, including the number of vehicles idling, the time spent idling and time of day. Hackett said this is part of the community-based approach in which they want to understand what is happening in the community. A sample of locations were monitored — the Collicutt Centre, downtown Red Deer, McDonald’s, Sobeys (2110 50th Ave.), Normandeau School and St. Teresa of Avila School, at different times of the day.
Please see IDLE on Page A2
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate staff
Idle Free Zone signs have been placed in various places throughout the city, including in front of the Collicutt Centre and school zones. Despite this, some vehicles are still left idling.
Quebec needs Alberta’s oil, gas expertise Business and municipal leaders from Quebec have come to Alberta to learn about the oil and gas industry. Story on PAGE B1
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