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Red Deer Advocate FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015
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180 more continuing care beds on the way
COUGARS VS RAIDERS
ZEBRA MUSSELS
Province’s new plan welcomed BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF
BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
Alberta’s plan to step up the defence against zebra mussels is welcomed by Sylvan Lake Mayor Sean McIntyre. Sylvan Lake and Alberta’s other water bodies are free of zebra and quagga mussels, and McIntyre said every effort should be made to keep it that way. The mussels proliferate rapidly once introduced by boats travelling from a contaminated lake to another water body. They clog water intakes, befoul docks and boats, increase algae blooms and generally play havoc with the environment. Zebra mussels have caused millions of dollars in damage in the Great Lakes and have been found as far west as Lake Winnipeg. In the U.S., the Colorado River basin — a popular spot for Alberta snowbirds — is infected with quagga mussels. McIntyre said there has been extensive discussion about how to respond to the mussel threat at meetings of the Sylvan Lake Management Committee, which includes representatives from the town, neighbouring counties and five summer villages. What makes the mussels so dangerous is their hardiness. “Once they infest a body of water, there has not been a way proven to get them out of there,” he said. Even Canadian winters don’t kill off the harmful crustaceans. Given the difficulty — if not impossibility — of getting rid of infestations, prevention is the best defence, he said. The province’s Clean, Drain, Dry information campaign is a start, but mandatory checks of boats travelling into the province from other lakes will add another layer of defence. Lacombe County Coun. Keith Stephenson said the municipality hosted an information session at Sunbreaker Cove last summer and plans to be back again this summer.
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Notre Dame Cougar Tony Bornyi lays up a shot over Lindsay Thurber Raider Jarrett Zilinski during high school boys basketball action at Lindsay Thurber Thursday. See coverage of both the boys and girls finals on page B1.
Please see MUSSELS on Page A2
Red Deer is getting 180 more continuing care beds as part of the province’s plan to help fund the construction of 31 housing projects for seniors in 18 communities across Alberta. On Thursday, the province announced it will put $180 million in Affordable Supportive Living Initiative grants towards the projects that will create a total of 2,612 continuing care beds. The Red Deer beds will be split between two projects. A 120-bed facility called The Hamlets at Red Deer will be built and operated by H&H Total Care Services Inc., of Surrey, B.C. Andre Van Ryk, chief financial officer of H&H Total Care Services, said he expects the beds will be supportive living Level 4 beds, but the province is still finalizing those details. Level 4 is one level below long-term care, which is the highest care level for seniors. H&H has been operating in Alberta since last year, when it took over The Hamlets at Cedarwood Station in Airdrie, a private seniors facility. “I’m excited about being in Red Deer. We know that the seniors are definitely served well and will continue to be so,” Van Ryk said on Thursday. He could not disclose the location of the project yet, but hoped construction would start in the fall. It will take about 18 months to build. Sixty long-term care beds will also be added to Covenant Care Villa Marie in Clearview Ridge. Villa Marie opened in January with 24 supportive living Level 4 beds for people with dementia, and 76 regular supportive living Level 4 care beds, including six one-bedroom suites for couples.
Please see CARE on Page A2
Brian Malley appealing his murder conviction INNISFAIL MAN WAS CONVICTED OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER LAST MONTH The man convicted in a bombing death is appealing his conviction. Brian Andrew Malley, 57, of Innisfail was convicted by a jury on Feb. 24 of first-degree murder in the bombing death of Victoria Shachtay. His appeal of the conviction was filed on March 6 at the Calgary Court of Appeals. It will be heard on May 12 during the court’s scheduled sitting to speak to criminal matters. Shachtay was killed on Nov. 25, 2011,
WEATHER A mix of sun and cloud. High 13. Low 2
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when she opened a Christmas gift left on the doorstep of her Innisfail home. That gift disguised a pipe bomb, which detonated when the 23-year-old quadriplegic single mother opened it. After a five-week trial in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench, a jury of eight women and four men deliberated for six hours before convicting Malley. Malley was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility for parole for 25 years. At the conclusion of the trial, Crown prosecutor Anders Quist said he expected an appeal to be filed. During the trial, Quist said the mo-
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tive for the bombing was financial. Shachtay had invested $575,000 with Malley, money she had received as a settlement from the 2004 crash that left her paralyzed from the neck down. From 2007 to 2011, Shachtay had an investment account that Malley managed. By April 2011, the money was gone. Much of it was lost in 2008 when the shares of the largest portion of the investment (92 per cent) were cut in half due to market pressures. From 2007 to Oct. 15, 2011, Malley made payments to Shachtay totalling $44,000 from his personal accounts.
Quist said Malley killed Shachtay to cut his losses. Malley’s defence counsel Bob Aloneissi called the conviction a miscarriage of justice, comparing it to the convictions of David Milgaard and Guy Paul Morin. Both were convicted of murder, but were later acquitted or exonerated. “Malley’s credentials are that he was accused of a horrific murder, and he suffered the injustice of a tunnel vision investigation which skewed the facts to fit their suspect,” Aloneissi wrote in an email to the Advocate.
Anow is changing real estate appraisal Red Deer company develops software that simplifies administrative duties for appraisal.
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