DREAM HOME WIN FOR PUI
SUTTER FEELS TEAM IS IMPROVED AFTER TRADES
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Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, JAN. 5, 2016
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Joe Bower remembered as outstanding educator BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF Joe Bower, a Red Deer teacher who used social media to express his passion about how to make education better, is now the focus of an outpouring of caring and condolence on that same social media following his sudden death. Bower, who was only 37, passed away surrounded by loved ones on Sunday after he suffered a heart attack on New Year’s Eve. He leaves behind his wife Tamara and children Kayley and Sawyer, as well as an extended family that has pioneer roots here. He also leaves behind a global community — comprised of stuJoe Bower dents, educators, politicians and many others — who knew him personally and/or followed his thought-provoking and inspiring blog “For the love of learning” located online at joebower.org. Bower was also an author, and public speaker at events such as teacher conventions. “Today we lost a great man, a husband, father, son, brother, cousin, nephew, friend, and educator. A passionate man who was committed to creating a better world. Joe Bower’s passion will be his legacy. He has touched the lives of so many and I am honored to have him as my big brother. The outpouring of love and support has meant the world to us. Keep sharing your stories and keep Joe in your heart today and always,” his sister Jennifer Bower-Hannotte said on Facebook on Sunday evening. Hundreds of responses began to be posted on social media, especially Twitter, when it first became known he had a major heart attack, and subsequently when his death was announced. Tributes continued to pour in on Monday. Bower had most recently been teaching in the Red Deer Public School District’s Alternative School Programs. He joined the district in 2000 and had taught mainly in middle school. “The staff and the students where he worked are tremendously in grief today,” public schools superintendent Stu Henry said Monday. “Joe was a terrific educator. He was really active on social media sharing his education philosophy,” Henry said. “He had a really strong vision of what he thought a classroom should be like and how it should run.” Henry said he had never seen any other teacher reach out on social media the way Bower did. For the most part, Bower’s view on education “was a message of hope,” said Henry. “Everyone in our district is thinking about Joe’s family right now.” Some of Bower’s philosophy — which focused on the student first — rejected the traditional classroom approach of homework, testing and grading. In his last blog, posted Dec. 17, the popular teacher wrote about his views on testing and grading students.
Please see BOWER on Page A2
Photo by SUSAN ZIELINSKI/ Advocate staff
Kathy Bartley with a few of horses that greeted her at feeding time at Bear Valley Rescue.
Helping horses be ‘safe for life’ BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Bear Valley Rescue has been saving horses from slaughter for almost 12 years. In mid-December, the horse rescue had taken in 10 more horses bringing the total to 160 on site at the Sundre-area sanctuary. “I’m expecting in January, February when winter actually does hit and people have to start feeding hay, things will get worse,” said Mike Bartley, who operates the rescue with his wife Kathy. The couple, and about 20 dedicated volunteers, currently tend to the horses, along with nine pigs, two llamas, six cows, three goats, a bunch of poultry, and rabbits. Another 45 horses, two donkeys and two minimules are in foster care off the property. To stand before a herd of 110 unbridled horses, gathered peacefully for their morning feed near the fence of their 20-acre paddock, is breathtaking. Amid softly falling snow, the magnificent equines in the wide open wooded area makes for a perfect western winter scene. When they spot Kathy, a few of the horses come to say hi at the fence line and wait for feed pellets she often keeps in her pocket to hand out as treats. She said unfortunately many people think horses should be put to work rather than enjoying a carefree life as part of a herd. “We don’t expect that necessarily,” Kathy said. “When they come here, we just let them be horses. That’s the first thing that we do. Some of them come from abusive situations. That’s the best recovery for them — just leave them alone. Put them in with all the other horses and they find a place in the herd. They feel safe. Some are traumatized to the point you can’t even touch them. After a while, they settle down,” said Mike after maneuvering three bales of hay into the paddock with a skid steer. In the summer, the herd is divided up and live on about 10 pastures in the area. The herd includes many quarter horses, which
are the most common breed in Alberta, along with thoroughbreds, and a few draft horses. Mike’s and Kathy’s five horses are among the leaders in the herd. “Our guys are probably the anchor and they’re so laid back that they provide good leadership,” Mike said. “They have their own little groups of herds. They hang out together. They snooze together. They do buddy scratches, chew on each others withers,” Kathy said. She said when new horses are added to the herd, everyone calms down quickly. Bad habits horses develop when they have spent a lot of time in stalls, like bobbing back and forth or chewing fences, tend to go away when they are in the herd environment. “If you go down there and watch them for awhile, you see the dynamics. And it’s a big enough area to get away from each other if they have to,” Mike said. Horses with special needs, older horses, stallions not yet gelded, or mares with a foal, are kept in smaller corrals on another area of the property. That includes Pet, their oldest horse who has spent eight of her 39 years at the rescue. Pet recently struck up a friendship with a orphan foal named Filly. “They’re inseparable,” Mike said. “(Pet) has always been very maternal. Whenever we’ve had other babies, if she sees them she gets all excited,” Kathy said. For now they are declining offers to adopt Filly because it would just crush Pet. Over the years, the rescue has re-homed well over 600 horses. Currently about half their horses are suitable for adoption. Their older, temperamental, or unsound horses will live out their lives at the rescue. “Our goal is to try and make sure they’re safe for life,” Mike said. This year, representatives with Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries did an extensive onsite inspection of Bear Valley Rescue.
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Council puts the brakes on anti-idling bylaw BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF
RED DEER
Red Deer will not introduce an anti-idling bylaw. Council dismissed administration’s recommendation to explore the option to tackle the city’s poor air quality on Monday. Mayor Tara Veer said the air quality challenges are bigger than Red Deer alone. She said the city has to work with other municipalities in the region. But it was enforcing a potential bylaw that forced council to put on the brakes. Veer said that city is currently reviewing all its bylaws, RCMP non-emergency calls and enforcement efforts. “Council may move down this road in the future but I think there was reluctance tonight because we have that enforcement review underway,” she said. Coun. Lawrence Lee said the city would be forced to spend countless dollars on hiring and training
staff and equipment in order to pursue the potential initiative. He suggested that Mayor Tara Veer proclaim Red Deer an idle-free city. “It would probably have more of an effect than any bylaw,” said Lee. Most councillors agreed that strengthening the education component of the city’s anti-idling campaign will be key to getting motorists to turn off their engines. The decision came after council heard the annual update on the idle-free public education campaign. Nancy Hackett, the city’s environmental services supervisor, said progress has been made since the program began in 2010. Hackett said the city is generally meeting its targets in the Environmental Master Plan except for the particulate matter which the city exceeds Canada-wide standards.
WEATHER A mix of sun and cloud. High -10. Low -15
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“We have been doing this for six years,” said Hackett. “We know that some people will not make that behavioural shift with education alone.” The city researched 69 Canadian examples where there are various bylaws. There are seven Alberta municipalities with anti-idling including Banff, Edmonton and Calgary. A 2014 telephone survey in Red Deer asked residents if they would support in general a bylaw to restrict vehicle idling to improve air quality. Council heard that 68.9 per cent were in support while 80 per cent also supported restricting idling around schools and hospitals. Hackett said the city wants to develop a policy that works for Red Deer for the climate. She told council that cities further north of Red Deer including the Yukon and Edmonton have adopted a bylaw. The city is waiting for the province’s action plan that includes scientific data to deal with the poor air quality in the Red Deer region. The report is expected sometime this year.
Local companies make Alberta Venture list Three local companies have made the Alberta Venture list of 50 fastest growing companies in Alberta. Story on PAGE A6
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