HENDERSON WEIGHING OPTIONS AFTER WIN PAGE B1
SHOW ME A HERO Miniseries captures stakes of struggle for home
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Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, AUG. 18, 2015
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TRAIN STATION ON THE MOVE
CITY COUNCIL
Warming centre rejected BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF City council nixed a former Parks building in the Railyards District as the temporary location for a warming centre for the homeless. Councillors voted six to two against rezoning the building at 4934 54th Ave. to allow the centre to operate there for up to two years following a public hearing held Monday night. Mayor Tara Veer and Coun. Lynne Mulder voted in favour of rezoning. Last year Berachah Place closed and a temporary warming centre was set up at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in downtown Red Deer. City staff looked at different sites and determined the best location was in Railyards. Out of ten written submissions the city received about the proposed location, only one was in favour. Three of nine letters in opposition were written by the same business. Three area business owners spoke out against the location during Monday’s hearing. Devon Snideman, of Dick’s Auto and Truck Repair located directly north of the site, said property damage, panhandling, traffic disruptions from inebriated people crossing the road, and garbage from ‘urban campers’ already exist in the area. “This establishment would naturally become a hangout and would cause all these issues tenfold,” said Snideman during the hearing. Coun. Ken Johnston said a tipping point has been reached between providing services to the vulnerable homeless community and the business community. “(The business community) is now feeling they are becoming more and more marginalized, their opinions are becoming marginalized, that their visions are becoming marginalized, that their way of doing business is becoming marginalized,” said Johnston who voted against the rezoning.
Please see COUNCIL on Page A2
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate staff
Workers prepare the Benalto train station for its move to a new site on Monday morning. The move, which will see the station relocated just down from its current location on Railway Ave., will take two days, and is being overseen by McConnell Building Movers.
Ponoka man relieved lawsuit against town over grow-op moving forward BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF He may have lost the first battle in a lawsuit against the Town of Ponoka, but Robert Koteles now has a road map for moving forward with his claim. Koteles has a licence to produce medical marijuana for his own use. He has filed a claim against Ponoka after the town ordered the removal of a sea container that housed his growoperation. In Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on Monday, Koteles sought immediate judgment from the Justice Debra Yungwirth. Bradley Nattrass, representing Ponoka, sought for a dismissal of the ap-
plication, saying it was inappropriate for the matter to be heard in a morning chambers session. Yungwirth agreed with Nattrass, but said she would provide guidance to Koteles — who is self-represented — on how to properly proceed on his statement of claim. After his matter was heard, Koteles said he was relieved it was going forward and grateful for the guidance from Yungwirth on how to proceed. His next step is filing an affidavit of records, which will inform the proceedings. Koteles, a member of the Cannabis Rights Coalition, filed the statement of claim on June 5, seeking compensation for loss and medical distress. He suffers from severe arthritis pain
in his upper and lower back and is authorized to grow up to 44 marijuana plants for his use only. He had his grow-operation set up in a sea container on a driveway at a residence on 60th Avenue in Ponoka in 2012. By 2013, the town had ordered the sea can removed. After applying for a temporary structure permit, which was refused by the town and then by the subdivision and developmental appeal board, he had to dismantle the grow-operation. His statement of claim said his Charter rights have been breached because the town’s order was to remove a federally authorized medical marijuana grow operation.
Please see LAWSUIT on Page A2
Haylen ‘just wants to sell ice cream’ for charity BLACKFALDS BOY RAISES THOUSANDS FOR RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF
Contributed photo
Haylen Astalos, 5, has raised $4,400 — so far — for Ronald McDonald House and appeared on newscasts across North America.
WEATHER 30% showers. High 21. Low 9.
FORECAST ON A2
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A five-year-old Blackfalds boy would rather sell ice-cream cones for charity than be a media darling. But Haylen Astalos is learning something about fame after his Herculean feat of raising $4,400 — so far — for Ronald McDonald House made newscasts across North America. Haylen was interviewed by New York City’s Good News Network, as well as CTV’s Canada AM, a Montreal-based crew making a video for Ronald McDonald House, and other news outlets. It’s “still surreal to me,” that media people would fly across Canada just to meet Haylen, said his mother, Tabitha Astalos, who answered all the questions for this Advocate article. She believes her son learned a variety of important lessons this summer
— from the ideas of giving and receiving and “how powerful it is to share,” to math, social and communications skills. That last one was a steep learning curve. At first Haylen was excited about appearing on television, said Tabitha — until he discovered he had to wear a microphone, which he didn’t like. And then the cameras started rolling — and “he said nothing!” she added, with a laugh. Although she believes Haylen has been dealing with the media attention well enough, “to be honest,” she said, “he just wants to sell ice cream.” That’s what Haylen continues to do. He’s still fundraising for Red Deer’s Ronald McDonald House by selling $2 frozen treats from a wooden stand he helped design and build with his dad, Ryan Astalos.
Please see CHARITY on Page A2
What is a lie anyway? The definition of ‘lie’ was tossed around during Sen. Mike Duffy’s trial, all part of a scandal where words are carefully chosen. Story on PAGE A5
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