Red Deer Advocate, February 20, 2015

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COW PATTI THEATRE GOES STRAIGHT FOR THE FUNNY BONE

ALBERTA DROPS FIRST GAME AT SCOTTIES

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Red Deer Advocate FRIDAY, FEB. 20, 2015

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Grow-op violations growing

Fallout from BSE case temporary: Minister

DETHRONED

BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF

BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF

Police say they are finding a growing number of licensed medicinal marijuana grow-ops with violations in Alberta. Just a week ago, Olds RCMP and Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) busted a $2.5-million grow-op just north of Olds. The rural property contained nearly four times the marijuana plants permitted for medicinal purposes, police say. “This can only be a front for a trafficking operation,” said Staff Sgt. Keith Hurley, Green Team South, an Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT). “There is nothing personal about this anymore. It’s a large-scale trafficking operation.” Police said that a total of 2,137 marijuana plants were found and the owner had a licence for 543 plants. Five people were arrested and charges are expected to be laid this week. Hurley said this won’t be the last such operation the RCMP will see in Alberta. He said grow-ops can operate with impunity and under the guise of what should be legal. “They cast a dark shadow on those that legitimately need to use it,” said Hurley. “There’s nothing we could see that was medically related to this. It looks just like a large commercial growth operation. This is what the new regulations make allowances for where they are not hidden.” Last year, new medicinal marijuana legislation came into place that shifted the rules to where users must purchase from federally-approved commercialsized companies rather than grow marijuana at home. There are 15 licensed producers in Canada, of which one is in Mountain View County. Last March, a federal court judge granted an injunction allowing those who had licences to “grow their own” under the old legislation to continue on an interim basis as long as they meet the order until the court case is settled.

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

Red Deer College Queen Kennedy Burgess lays up a shot as Olds Bronco Melanie Thera defends during first-half action at Red Deer College on Thursday. See related story on page B3.

Please see GROW-OP on Page A2

Alberta is not expecting its international beef markets to start slamming shut their doors after the latest case of mad cow disease, says the province’s agriculture minister. Since the discovery of another case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered on an Alberta farm earlier this month, South Korea has banned imports of Canadian beef and Indonesia has stopped taking nonedible bone meal. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Verlyn Olson believes import restrictions on beef will be temporary and is not expecting other trading partners to impose import bans. “I think we’ve been very proactive, and the federal government has been very proactive, in terms of talking to our trade partners,” said Olson, in speaking to media ahead of an appearance at the Alberta Beef Industry Conference in Red Deer on Thursday. “We’re all subject to the same rules around the world. We follow the rules scrupulously and we have an expectation that our trading partners will have faith in the system, as we do. “Can I guarantee that a trading partner won’t take some action? Of course, I can’t. We have seen it from time to time in the past where non-sciencebased barriers are put up as a convenient excuse. “My expectation is people won’t be doing that and we’ll be watching very carefully,” he said. “I’m very pleased with the efforts that have been undertaken by both industry and agencies.” Olson was asked whether the timing was particularly bad for BSE to rear its head, considering the province’s economic pummelling from world oil markets. “It’s never great timing,” he said. “But we have to live in the real world and it’s happening now so we’ll deal with it now.”

Please see AGRICULTURE on Page A2

Green Cart pilot project to kick off in April BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Food waste will soon be picked up from selected neighbourhoods across the city as part of new organics pilot project. Janet Whitesell, City of Red Deer Waste Management superintendent, shared details and fielded questions about the Green Cart pilot at the Environmental Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday. Whitesell said the specific details

WEATHER Snow. High -6. Low -13.

FORECAST ON A2

are still being ironed out, including sealing the deal to send the waste to a private composting facility outside of Red Deer and purchasing the green carts. “We basically want the pilot to represent the city as a whole,” said Whitesell. “We were looking at age of home, lot size and zoning. We were trying to (include) a broad range of demographics.” The program is tentatively scheduled to roll out on April 13, the start of yard waste collection, and run for two years. The green carts will be picked

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up with the yard waste on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday in the selected neighbourhoods. Homes will be provided with a green cart with wheels to collect their food scraps, soiled paper and yard waste. They will also receive a kitchen catcher to collect the organics inside the home. Whitesell said residents in the pilot will receive full details about a month before the carts are dropped off. “It’s going to be a big deal for us,” said Whitesell. “It’s very exciting, too. We’re really excited to see how it goes

and receive feedback from the folks on the pilot. It’s going to be a great opportunity to refine the program and make it better for the city as a whole.” The intention is to roll out the green carts to all households after the pilot. Residential homes generate about 30 per cent of the waste entering the city’s Waste Management Facility. Up to 40 per cent of the waste are organics such as food scraps and soiled paper. Organics diversion is one of the initiatives in the city’s Waste Management Master Plan. crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com

Toronto boy found frozen outside dies A three-year-old boy who wandered outside dressed only in a shirt and diaper died Thursday hours after being found frozen.

PLEASE

RECYCLE

Story on PAGE A5

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