The year in books Colouring, Harper Lee hottest trends
C3
GROCERY SHOPPING FOR ONE FOOD — PAGE D3
Red Deer Advocate THURSDAY, DEC. 17, 2015
www.reddeeradvocate.com
Your trusted local news authority
Nightmare before Christmas THIEVES LOOT HOME WHILE MOTHER AND TWO CHILDREN SLEEP
Contributed photo
A series of photos of a suspect.
As a young Red Deer mother and her two children slept, an unknown number of thieves crept into her home sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. The culprits were so brazen after entering through the garage and going into the main floor living room, they actually opened wrapped Christmas presents under the tree, took the ones they wanted MARY-ANN and left behind BARR the ones they didn’t want. BARRSIDE And when they left, they stole the mother’s 2103 grey Toyota Corolla, complete with a child’s car seat in it. The thieves would have been quite stupid not to know there was a child in the house but it didn’t matter to them, obviously. The car was a graduation gift that the woman’s parents had given her when she competed nursing school two years ago.
The thieves also took other items including an iPad and things from the garage. And keys too. On Wednesday, Red Deer RCMP put out a short press release to the media that included photos of a woman suspect using a stolen debit card following the break-in. The victim told me the details of the break-in that weren’t in the press release. Brigitta (I am not using her last name for obvious reasons) was awakened at 7 a.m. Saturday morning by her cell phone buzzing. She and her children had all been in bed sleeping upstairs. The recently single mother of two children — a 12-year-old and one-yearold — said at first she was still half asleep. Each time her debit card is used she gets a text message, alerting her to the transaction and how much is being spent. She had three text messages in rapid succession, and she’s thinking: “What the heck is going on? Who is using my card? I thought maybe I had lost it or something. I couldn’t figure it out.”
Please see THEFT on Page A2
Business association looks to Festival of expand revitalization zone Trees pulls FUNDRAISING
BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF
WEATHER Sunny. High -15. Low -22.
FORECAST ON A2
in $1.06M BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Amanda Gould, executive director of the Downtown Red Deer Business Association, at her office in the old train station building. to retain the existing businesses and bring new businesses into the core. Once businesses are part of the BRZ they will be subject to a levy depending on the size of the business. Earlier in December, council endorsed the DBA’s $632,595 budget for 2016. The BRZ levy will bring in $375,845, about 59 per cent of the DBA’s budget
INDEX Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business . . . . . . . D7-D8 Canada . . . . . . . . A5, C2 Classified . . . . . . D1-D2 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Entertainment . . . . . . C3 Sports . . . . . . . . . B1-B5
in 2016. The rest of the budget is generated through the city environmental contract to keep the downtown looking beautiful, event sponsorship, office space subletting and advertising.
Please see DOWNTOWN on Page A2
Reducing expenses, condensing some activity space and eliminating three events helped Festival of Trees raise $1.06 million for Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. Not bad during a struggling economy. In 2014, the annual event pulled in $1.07 million. “Not only were we able to raise the same amount of money, but we did it with less events,” said Alaine Martin, project officer with Red Deer Regional Health Foundation, on Wednesday. Money raised by the 22nd annual festival, that ran Nov. 25 to 29 at Stockmen’s Pavilion and Prairie Pavilion at Westerner Park, will go to medical specialty clinics at the hospital for Central Albertans living with the following chronic conditions — multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, heart failure, anticoagulation therapies, specialized geriatric services, stroke prevention and complex medical conditions. Martin said Central Albertans consistently support the festival because the money raised goes towards local health care.
Please see FESTIVAL on Page A2
‘Tremendous concern’ for jailed pastor Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed ‘tremendous concern’ at the sentence handed to a pastor in North Korea.
PLEASE RECYCLE
Story on PAGE C2
Give
BONUS!
Members get $20 in reward dollars to use at AMA.†
AN AMA MEMBERSHIP FOR $82 A YEAR.* ama.ab.ca/GiftAMA | 1.800.222.6400 or visit an AMA Centre *Plus a one-time $20 new member fee and GST. †Available to members purchasing a new Primary gift membership only.
7354752L14-23
A designated downtown area where businesses pay a levy to further their common interests may be expanding in 2016. The DBA is considering broadening the Business Revitalization Zone to include the businesses within the Greater Downtown including Riverlands and Railyards. Amanda Gould, DBA executive director, said the downtown has grown significantly over the last few years but the DBA only reflects a small part of the growth when looking at the downtown’s footprint. “The DBA is almost like the hole in the middle of a donut,” said Gould. “Are we actually reflecting the needs of the entire downtown … when we advocate and talk about the the things that a downtown needs? … That is the big question.” A total of 497 businesses currently fall within the BRZ. Gould said they do not know how many businesses are within the potential expanded borders. The DBA held a number of open houses to connect with the different businesses this past year. But Gould said they haven’t had too much feedback. Gould said by expanding its borders, the DBA would ensure it was fully representing all the businesses in the downtown. It would allow the DBA