FERTILE GROUND
OILERS WIN, FLAMES LOOK TO KEEP MOMENTUM
Idris Elba returns for another murder case as the Demonsbeset detective John Luther
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Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, DEC. 15, 2015
www.reddeeradvocate.com
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Drug den shuttered
HIGHWAY OF TEARS
B.C. allots $3M to boost safety BY THE CANADIAN PRESS VICTORIA — Enhanced transit routes, expanded driver-training programs and more roadside webcams make up the core of a multimillion-dollar plan aimed at improving safety along a stretch of British Columbia highway renowned for missing and murdered women. B.C.’s Transport Minister Todd Stone announced a long-awaited $3-million strategy for the so-called Highway of Tears on Monday, saying delays in government action were the result of extensive c o n s u l t a t i o n NICOLE HOAR with local stakeholders. “I would have liked to have been making this announcement many, many, many months ago, but we needed to go through this rigorous process of engagement and discussion,” said Stone. “Today is about transitioning from the discussion to action.” Eighteen women, many of them aboriginal, have disappeared or been murdered along Highway 16 or adjacent routes since the 1970s. Among the victims is Nicole Hoar of Red Deer. Hoar, 25, was working as a tree planter in B.C. when she vanished on June 21, 2002, while hitchhiking along Hwy 16 to visit her sister in Smithers, B.C. The infamous 750-kilometre span of road meanders through an isolated region of B.C.’s Interior, between Prince Rupert and Prince George.
Please see HWY OF TEARS on Page A2
Photos by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Patrick Piche and Nathan Waldner of Rite-Way Fencing erect a fence around a home in Penhold at 52 Heartland Cres. The home, a ‘notorious’ drug house, is under investigation by the RCMP and the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team. BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Heartland Crescent residents can sleep easy tonight. Police shut down a “notorious” drug house at 52 Heartland Cres. in Penhold following a string of complaints on Monday. The house, on a seemingly quiet culde-sac, was an alleged den of criminal
activity with drug use, stolen weapons, and prostitution, say neighbours. Police were called to the house for 24 separate incidents ranging from alleged drug use to assault over the last eight months. A few doors down from the drug house, resident Ryan Philip said there was non-stop activity all day long especially at night with loud music and partying.
“Christmas came early for us,” he said. Philip, who has lived on the street for three years, said about 90 per cent of his neighbours were families with young children. He said everyone is breathing a sigh of relief today. “Nothing happened to us but we were living in fear,” said Philip.
Please see DRUG HOUSE on Page A2
Hundreds of seniors registered for Christmas light tour BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF
Photos by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
One of the highlights of the Christmas Light Tour in Red Deer is a trip down Ohio Close where thousands of lights illuminate several properties on the street.
30% flurries. High -8. Low -14.
FORECAST ON A2
INDEX Two sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business . . . . . . . A6-A7 Canada . . . . . . . A5, B10 Classified . . . . . B9-B10 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Entertainment . . . . .A10 Sports . . . . . . . . . B3-B7
Please see LIGHTS on Page A2
Advisory panel weighs in on assisted-dying debate An expert advisory panel has released 43 recommendations about the practice of physician-assisted dying.
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WEATHER
You don’t have to be a senior to enjoy this year’s Christmas light tour route in Red Deer. The annual tour, sponsored by the Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs in Red Deer, takes place tonight for local seniors. But anyone else who wants to check out the same route can do so any time during the season. Lisa Martin, Kinette Club member and route mapper the past nine years, said there will be 276 seniors, in six City of Red Deer Transit buses and two Action buses, touring Christmas light displays tonight. Nine years ago when she first got in-
volved, they only had 50 seniors, Martin said. The seniors have pre-registered and will come from 18 different lodges. The cost of the buses is covered by the Kin clubs. After the seniors go around and see the lights on approximately a 45-minute trip, they all return to the Westerner for choir music, and cookies and coffee donated by local businesses. Martin said 70 per cent of the route is the same as in previous years but the rest of it is new this year. When she was roaming around designing the route this year, some light displays from previous years weren’t up. But she discovered some new displays and included them in this year’s route.