MORE CHEERS THAN TEARS AT B.B. KING MEMORIAL PAGE C4
Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, MAY 25, 2015
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‘A new chapter in Alberta’ NOTLEY, CABINET SWORN IN BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
became a lake without sport fish and instead became a recreational lake, Tchir said. “It’s an extremely popular water ski, jet ski, boating lake. It’s quite a small lake, so you can imagine there’s not much room if you would want to go for a quality angling experience, then you’ve got conflict with the user group that’s already there.” The Fish and Wildlife division of ESRD never saw to restock Crimson Lake because of the potential for conflict and the low probability of a good fishery taking off because the lake is so shallow — two to three metres throughout. Then someone put yellow perch in the lake. Only the provincial government can stock public waters. No one has been charged. Tchir said people do illegal stocking because “they believe it’s going to improve their fishing opportunities without thinking about the long-term implications, or effects on other user groups for that matter.”
EDMONTON — Rachel Notley ushered in Alberta’s first change of government in almost 44 years Sunday, being sworn in on the steps of the legislature as the 17th premier while thousands who jammed the grounds cheered her on. “My friends, it is springtime in Al- A LOOK AT THE CABINET SWORN berta, and a fresh IN SUNDAYA2 wind is blowing,” the NDP leader told the crowd after she and her 11 cabinet ministers took their oaths. “Today we open up a new chapter in the story of Alberta.” It was a festival atmosphere under sunny skies amid sticky heat alleviated only by the occasional gust of wind. There were kids and adults. Some stood in the reflecting pool to watch. They came in shorts, swimsuits and sunhats. They ate free ice cream, chanted “Rachel! Rachel! Rachel!” and roared in approval when it was announced former premier Jim Prentice and his Progressive Conservative government had resigned. Afterward, the New Democrat elected members and cabinet ministers waded into the crowd to shake hands and pose for pictures. “It really is about opening up this legislature and ... making the government of Alberta meaningful to Albertans again,” Notley told reporters. Former Calgary alderman Joe Ceci was named the new finance minister at the ceremony. Former teacher and school administrator Marg McCuaig-Boyd was posted to energy. Former NDP leader Brian Mason is the new minister of infrastructure and transportation. The ceremony brought to a close 43 years, eight months, and 15 days of Progressive Conservative rule. It is the longest stretch of power by one party in Canadian history. Notley’s team made its own history on May 5, capturing 54 of 87 legislature seats to dethrone the Tories. It’s the first NDP government in Alberta. It is also a passing of the torch. Notley’s father, Grant Notley, was the leader of Alberta’s NDP during lean years for the party in the 1970s and early 80s. He died in a plane crash in 1984, just two years before the NDP made an historic breakthrough, winning 16 seats and forming official Opposition in 1986. Notley ran on a plan that includes higher income taxes for the wealthy and rolling back many of Prentice’s proposed tax and fee hikes. She has promised a review of oil royalties, to hike the minimum wage to $15 by 2018, to fund thousands of new grade-school students arriving this fall, and to balance the budget by 2018-19.
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Contributed Photo by Donna Rystephaniuk, ESRD
ESRD does some trout stocking by helicopter at Birch Lake, southwest of Caroline, a few years ago.
Perch often illegally stocked in lakes BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF
CRIMSON LAKE
Someone decides they want a better fishing experience so they dump live yellow perch into the waters of a nearby Alberta lake. The fish eventually do grow big and become plentiful but there can be serious ramifications. And in the end that fishing experience isn’t much of anything. Even though against the law, illegal stocking happens quite a bit, said John Tchir, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development resource manager for the Red Deer/North Saskatchewan region. Tchir, who is based in Rocky Mountain House and was senior fisheries biologist for the Rocky area before a promotion, said Crimson Lake has been illegally and deliberately stocked with yellow perch. The lake is in the Rocky area. Years ago, Crimson Lake was stocked with trout by the province. But the small, shallow, warm lake turned out to be a poor fishery, as the fish were dying off from lack of oxygen (winter kill). Eventually it
Bone marrow donation might save boy’s life BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF Ten-year-old Liam Larratt went from healthy to critically ill boy over just a few short months — and no one knew what was wrong. Eventually the diagnosis was aplastic anemia, a rare disease where the body stops producing new blood cells. It’s life-threatening. Blood transfusions have kept him going, and if a bone marrow stem cell transplant takes place, he could be cured. But there are many ifs for Liam and his family who are now facing the difficulties that come with having a seriously ill child. Liam’s mother, Evonne Larratt, was by his side at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, when she spoke to the Red Deer Advocate late last week. “He’s not doing great,” the 38-year-old single-parent of four children said. Last November they started noticing blood showing under Liam’s skin, a condition know as petechiae. Tests showed his blood platelets were low. A month later they were even lower. Two weeks after that, with more and more petechiae, and even lower platelets, he was transported from Red Deer to the Stollery in critical condition, said Evonne. When he got there, bone marrow tests led to the aplastic anemia diagnosis in March. The cause of his illness is unknown. “He’s really sick but he’s really smart so he knows exactly what’s going on,” Evonne said as her son was receiving intensive treatment aimed at stopping cells, known as T cells, from attacking his bone marrow. He is given potent drugs that come with sideeffects, such as high blood pressure.
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Liam Larratt, 10, is in the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton receiving treatment for the rare lifethreatening illness aplastic anemia. After four days of treatment, Liam was to be in recovery, which could mean 10 more days in hospital. “If it works, he can go into remission. It doesn’t mean he’s free and clear, it just means he’s in remission,” said Evonne.
If it doesn’t work, the next step for Liam would be a bone marrow transplant. It could cure him, said his mother, but the catch is they will need to find a matching donor. Already Evonne, and other family members, including Liam’s father and siblings, have been tested but they are not a match. Evonne’s other children include Ethan, 12; Enya, 8; and Euan, 4. The family lives in the Pine Lake area and the children attend school in Delburne. The youngest attends daycare in Delburne. Evonne is a Sunday school leader at St. Leonard’s On The Hill Anglican Church in Red Deer. People from her church have been tested but they don’t match either. Not everyone can be a bone marrow stem cell donor as there are age and other restrictions. If the present treatment doesn’t work (they’ll know in within six months), and if he does have a transplant, Liam will be in the Alberta Children’s Hospital for three months. Liam has had to have blood transfusions twice a week, which meant he and his mother had been travelling back and forth to Edmonton. And once he’s out of hospital for the current treatment, there will be continual travel back and forth. Evonne works at Turple Brothers in Red Deer and her employer has been “amazing”, she said. But she can only work here and there right now. The financial and practical aspects of the lives have been challenging. Her church has been helping as much as it can with everything from groceries, to meals, to helping out with gas.
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Ireland passes same-sex marriage referendum Ireland became the first country in the world to approve gay marriage by a popular vote. Story on PAGE D3
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