RAIDERS ROLLING TO START HOOPS SEASON
FORD PROMISES OLDER, WISER HAN SOLO
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Red Deer Advocate WEDNESDAY, DEC. 9, 2015
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Masyk jailed for hit-andrun crash BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF In the end, a judge decided Jessica Lynn Masyk’s sentence wouldn’t be measured in months, but in years. Masyk, 26, was sentenced to one year in custody for the fatal hit and run of a Red Deer teen last May. Trystan Sorensen was killed after being struck by the car Masyk drove. At the time, Sorensen was longboarding on Hwy 592 west of Penhold with a friend. Masyk had recently had her driver’s licence suspended. Crown Prosecutor Ed Ring and de-
fence counsel Kaitlyn Perrin, of Calgary, had suggested Masyk serve a sentence of six to eight months. But in his ruling on Tuesday, judge John Holmes said the sentence should be one year. Masyk sat beside defence counsel. She wore a red sweater, black skirt and black tights with holes in them. She waived goodbye to her family as the sheriffs escorted her into custody. Masyk pleaded guilty to driving while unauthorized, failing to remain at the scene of a collision and public mischief for filing a false police report on Aug. 19 in Red Deer provincial court. Holmes said Trystan was an excep-
File photo by MURRAY CRAWFORD/Advocate staff
Amy Sorensen and Harry Midgley pose with photos of Trystan Sorensen, their son and brother, respectively. tional young man who overcame many obstacles in his life and had a loving family. Amy Sorensen, Trystan’s mother, said she was relieved the lengthy matter had come to a conclusion. Trystan was killed on May 20, 2014.
Holmes called Masyk’s actions in the four days after the crash “callous in the extreme. She was only concerned with herself at the time.”
Please see MASYK on Page A2
SANTA GOES GREEN
Experts alarmed by rise in suicides BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF A 30 per cent rise in suicide in Alberta in the first six months of 2015 has to be addressed now, says a mental health expert. “If we do nothing, the worst is yet to come,” said Mara Grunau, executive director of the Centre for Suicide Prevention in Calgary. New statistics from Alberta’s medical examiner’s office show 327 suicides from January to June 2015 compared to 252 in the first six months of 2014. Last year suicides totalled 547. “Our rate in Alberta is high. More Albertans die by suicide then they do in fatal car collisions every year so we’re starting at a nasty spot, and now we’ve gone up,” Grunau said on Tuesday. “All of a sudden we’re seeing this climb. That to me is alarming.” She said blaming the increase strictly on job loss in Alberta’s oil-focused economy is not supported by research. “For every one per cent rise in unemployment, we get a .79 per cent uptake in suicide, however it’s usually a two-year delay until we get to that point. I’m not saying there aren’t people who have lost their jobs and killed themselves. I know there have been, on an individual level. But on a population level, it seems too quick to be that.” She said two years ago, Southern Alberta experienced massive flooding and Fort McMurray also suffered a huge flood deemed a natural disaster which could help explain the increase, but the data is not broken down. Grunau hoped the province can turn things around with the report from Mental Health Review. “It will be presented in January. I’m optimistic suicide prevention will be identified as a priority area. If we do something, we can curb what will happen two years from now with this latest catastrophe.”
Please see SUICIDE on Page A2
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Students from Annie L. Gaetz Elementary School in Red Deer took to the stage at the CrossRoads Church Tuesday evening for their schools Christmas concert. The students from all grades at the school performed the musical Santa Goes Green. Some of the songs performed included It’s Our World, Power to the People, Recycle the Fruit Cake, the Greenhouse Effect, and Turn Off the Pump and Plug in the Sleigh. Family and fiends of the school in attendance were encouraged to bring a food donation for Loaves and Fishes.
Frustrated pool advocate steps down from board BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Pool advocate Jack Cuthbertson is passing the torch in the fight to build an aquatic centre in Red Deer. Cuthbertson stepped down in frustration recently as board chair of the Central Alberta Aquatics Centre group after eight years. “It gets a bit frustrating to deal with a council that won’t do anything,” said Cuthbertson. Cuthbertson is not convinced the pool will become a reality until the money is on the table. The city has the pool inked in the capital plan for construction starting in 2020 and completion in 2022. Some $93.9 million is
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‘WE NEED TO HAVE A COMMITMENT FROM CITY HALL BEFORE WE CAN GO OUT AND SAY TO PEOPLE WE ARE (FUNDRAISING).’ — JACK CUTHBERTSON allocated in funding over three years. “How much more will the price go up five years from now?” said Cuthbertson. Coun. Lynne Mulder asked about the financial implications of moving the project ahead four years so it would be ready in time for the 2019 Canada Winter Games during the
10-year capital plan debate in November. Roughly $83-million would have had to be added to the 2016 budget in order for the pool to be ready for the games. It was not something council wanted to tackle in 2016 without a clear funding plan. Cuthbertson said it is time council stopped using cost as the veto for moving ahead. The group will likely start fundraising for a pool once it is solidified in the city’s plan. Cuthbertson said there is no guarantee that it will start in 2020 because it is in the 10-year plan. The city funds projects in the first year of the 10-year plan.
Please see POOL on Page A2
Canadians prepare for refugees’ arrival Canadians are preparing to welcome thousands of Syrian refugees set to arrive in the coming weeks. Story on PAGE A5
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