Red Deer Advocate, March 08, 2016

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Fighting to bring her children home MOTHER RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT HOW HER EX-HUSBAND ABDUCTED HER CHILDREN

BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF

MARY-ANN BARR BARRSIDE “I blacked out. My knees buckled and I just fell to the ground.”

Alison Azer is talking about last Aug. 21 when an RCMP officer came calling at 5 a.m., at her home in Courtenay, B.C. The officer confirmed Azer’s considerable growing fears — her four young children had not boarded a plane in Paris to return to her after being in Germany and France with their father, her former husband.

She had last spoken with them by phone on Aug. 15 and had an uneasy feeling.

At that time, Azer and ex-husband, Dr. Saren Azer, also known as Salahaddin Mahmudi-Azer, had joint custody of the children. By noon on

Flooding closes fifth operating room

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Mom Alison Azer, holds Meitan as her other children Sharvahn, left to right, Dersim and Rojevahn pose for photo in this family handout image. Police are searching for four Vancouver Island children allegedly abducted by their father overseas.

Aug. 21, her lawyer had been to court where she was awarded full custody and full guardianship of the children, and attained an order that they must be returned home.

“It was a perfect document, except I didn’t have my kids.” They had disappeared, along with their father.

Within short order, the children — Sharvahn, 11; Rojevahn, 9; Dersim, 7; and Meitan, 3 — were listed on Interpol’s website as missing and Saren

Azer was listed on the same site as a fugitive. RCMP issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest.

Since then, Azer has been focused on raising public awareness across Canada about her fight to bring her children home. She will be in Red Deer on Wednesday, speaking at 7 p.m. at Streams Christian Church at 5350 46 Ave. See ABDUCTION on Page A8

A fifth operating room was closed at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre on Sunday due to a construction-related flood at the hospital last week.

Last Tuesday afternoon, all nine operating rooms were temporarily closed after water poured down from a construction site on the second-floor of the hospital and into operating rooms below.

Four operating rooms flooded and have remained closed since Tuesday.

Kerry Bales, chief zone officer for Alberta Health Services Central Zone, said as of Monday a total of 67 surgeries have been cancelled and deferred.

Urgent surgeries, like emergencies, obstetrical cases, urgent orthopedics and cancer cases continue to be done at the Red Deer hospital. Elective and other surgeries are being deferred.

“We’ve been running longer hours so it has helped us to be able to pick up some of the procedures that we lost through the five that have been closed,” Bales said on Monday.

Depending on the availability of staff, surgery hours have been extended into the evening, along with extra day surgery and weekend surgery, he said.

See FLOOD on Page A8

Husband offers $5,000 reward to find missing wife

BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF The distraught husband of a missing Red Deer woman is hoping a $5,000 reward will bring his beloved wife home.

Lorie Joy Nichols was last seen in the Michener area around 10 a.m. on Feb. 23 and was reported missing that evening. She had visited a friend in the area and was last seen walking home.

Her husband, Greg, and their two sons are very concerned about Lorie’s well being and feel she needs immediate medical attention. Nichols said his 49-year-old wife had suffered from depression and anxiety over the years.

She had enough medication to last for two days after she disappeared, said Nichols.

“Lorie, your family doesn’t care where you have been or who you have been with,” said Nichols. “We don’t care at this point and time. We have no plans except to bring you home.”

He said his wife may not be thinking clearly because she does not have her medications.

“I don’t want to scare her but she needs help,” he said. “We want to help her put the pieces of her life back together and heal.”

The couple has been together for 27 years and will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in May. Nichols said his wife used to volunteer at RED DEER WEATHER

INDEX NEWS A2, A3, A5, A7, A8 COMMENT A4 BUSINESS A9-A10

Loaves and Fishes and was Lorie Nichols is devery passionate about helpscribed as 1.65 metres (fiveing the homeless. foot-two) tall, slender build, Nichols said their two long brown hair and hachildren, especially the zel eyes. She was last seen youngest Seth, 17, is havwearing a black ski jacket, ing a difficult time. He has ripped light-coloured blue stayed home from school jeans with black long underwhile he waits for his mothwear underneath and dark er. grey boots.

Nichols said the reward Police are continuing to will be given out for any search for Nichols and are information that leads to following up on all leads. direct contact or tangible If you have any informaleads that lead to her re- LORI NICHOLS tion on her whereabouts, covery. His wife may have contact the Red Deer RCMP changed her appearance at 403-343-5575. Greg Nichand may be staying with ols can be reached at 403people in Red Deer, said Nichols.

986-9776 or 403-596-4127.

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NEWS

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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City seeks residents for composting program

TEST DRIVE

BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

Luc Whitmore, 15, supplies the power as his friend Tanner Shoemaker, 13, take a shopping cart for a test drive around the Anders subdivision Monday afternoon. The two found the cart and could not resist giving it a run around the neighborhood.

Municipalities tweak sewer upgrade funding City of Lacombe would pay a larger share of design work for a new regional sewer line under a newly updated cost-sharing agreement.

Lacombe, County of Lacombe and Blackfalds have joined forces to bankroll just under $3 million worth of design work for a future sewage line expected to cost around $40 million.

Preliminary costs were shared based on population, future growth and other factors. Those numbers and shares changed after more detailed technical work was completed recently.

Lacombe would see its share increase from 36 per cent to 43 per cent or $1.07 million to $1.28 million.

Blackfalds’s 45.5 per cent share drops to 41 per cent or $1.22 million from $1.35 million. The county will be responsible for 16 per cent, down from 18.5 per cent or $477,920 from $552,595.

Blackfalds council will vote on the new cost-sharing split on Tuesday. It must also go to the other councils for approval.

The three communities agreed to undertake the design work so they are ready to go if provincial funding becomes available. If the project isn’t funded communities are concerned they will end up spending millions on temporary fixes to their maxed-out treatment systems.

The municipal case was bolstered by the completion of a cost-benefit analysis that confirmed a regional sewer line was the best option based on financial, environmental and sustainability factors. the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Scott has been charged with attempted murder stemming from an unrelated matter in 2014.

All of the accused are scheduled to appear in provincial court in Leduc on March 10. No additional information shall be forth coming as this matter is now before the court.

Court BRIEFS

Two child porn trials scheduled for May and September 2017

Red Deer man among four charged with murder of Camrose woman

Two men facing unrelated child porn charges have trials scheduled in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.

Gordan Anthony Murray, 60, of Blackfalds, is charged with possession of child porn, accessing child porn and distributing or selling child porn.

Murray has a three-day trial that will run May 23 to 25, 2017.

Separately charged Ronald Allan Nichols, 68, is also charged with possession of child porn and accessing child porn.

Nichols has a five-day trial that will run Sept. 18 to 22, 2017.

Four people have been charged including a Red Deer man in the 2015 murder of a Camrose woman.

Edmonton RCMP Major Crimes Unit made four arrests after a seven-month investigation on March 4 and March 6.

Mackenzie Leah Harris, 22, was reported missing by a friend on Aug. 1, 2015.

Police found her remains two days later in a wooded area in Calmar.

Charged with second degree murder are Dylan Bakke, 21, of Red Deer, Kyle Scott, 29, of Leduc, and Christopher Stein of Millet, 39. Bakke is also charged with committing an indignity to a dead body.

A fourth person was arrested and charged with second degree murder and committing an indignity to a dead body. The individual was a youth at the time of the offence and cannot be identified under

Preliminary hearing begins in firstdegree murder case A preliminary hearing began Monday for two

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A man accused of stabbing his friend in 2014 is scheduled for a three-week trial in September 2017.

Neil Cooling, 53, of Rocky Mountain House, is charged with second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Harley Smith, 57, also of Rocky Mountain House. Smith died of his injuries on Oct. 1, 2014.

Rocky Mountain House RCMP were called to a residence that evening and Smith had to be airlifted to the University of Alberta hospital in Edmonton.

The trial is scheduled to run Sept. 5 to 27.

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men accused of killing three people on a farm near Castor in 2013.

Jason Gordon Klaus, 30, and Joshua Gregory Frank, 43, both face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus.

Gordon, 61, Sandra, 62, and Monica, 40, were believed to have died in a fire at the Klaus’ farm residence near Castor on Dec. 8, 2013. The remains of Gordon and Monica — Jason’s father and sister — were found on scene. However, Sandra’s remains were never found. Police believe her remains were destroyed in the fire.

The preliminary hearing, which is held to test the strength of the Crown’s case before heading to trial, was scheduled to continue Tuesday.

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BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF

Ready to dig in?

The city is seeking 200 households for the Composting at Home program.

Participants will receive a free compost bin, kitchen catcher and compost training in return for their commitment to compost for one year.

Registration will open March 10 at 9 a.m. at www. reddeer.ca/composting or contact Lauren Maris at 403-314-5894.

More than 800 households have signed up for the program since it launched in 2012, and have helped to dispel some of the common misconceptions about composting.

“We’ve heard it all — it smells, it’s too hard to manage, just not enough time — but the reality for our participants is very positive,” said Lauren Maris, Environmental Program specialist. “They’re putting out less trash each week, it only takes about 15 minutes a week to maintain, and when you know how to compost properly, smells and pests aren’t a problem.”

The composting program aims to divert organic waste from the city’s Waste Management Facility.

Organic waste, which includes food scraps and yard waste, is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Composting these materials instead helps to improve growth in yards and gardens, and reduce the amount of water and chemical fertilizers needed.

“This program is all about setting our residents up for success in managing their waste,” said Maris.

“We provide the tools, the resources and the training to help you along the way. All we ask is that you commit to giving it a try.”

Composting at home goes hand in hand with the city’s Green Cart pilot program, which may go citywide in 2017.

Any organic materials not appropriate for backyard composting, such as pet waste, meat scraps and dairy products, would instead go in the green cart for curbside pickup.

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NEWS

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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CAMPOUT FOR MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Vader trial set to begin

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — Bret McCann hopes he’ll finally find out what happened to his parents.

It’s been nearly six years since Lyle and Marie McCann, 78 and 77 respectively, were last seen fuelling up their motorhome in their hometown of St. Albert, a bedroom community north of TRAVIS VADER Edmonton.

They were heading out for a holiday in British Columbia and Mounties believe the seniors were murdered along the way, although their bodies have never been found.

A first-degree murder trial is to begin Tuesday for longtime suspect Travis Vader. He was described as a person of interest soon after the McCanns disappeared and eventually charged.

But the charges were stayed before being reactivated in late 2014.

It’s been a “long, interrupted march to the courtroom” for the accused, as a judge in preliminary matters has said, and Vader has filed lawsuits against prosecutors and the RCMP claiming malicious prosecution.

Bret McCann doesn’t want to say much about the man accused of killing his parents.

For him, the trial means that for the first time he’ll get to hear all the evidence and the Crown’s theory as to how and why his parents were killed.

“My life’s certainly been on hold,” said the 61-year-old, who recently retired from his job as an engineer, in part, to focus on the trial. He plans to attend each day with other family members.

He knows that in the end, despite the verdict, he may not have an answer to perhaps the biggest mystery in the case: where are the bodies?

“Since Day 1, we’ve been trying to find them,” he said. “I just don’t know whether after this trial we’ll know that either.”

Lyle McCann, a former long-haul trucker, loaded up his motorhome each year to travel with his wife. They drove to the United States in the winter and explored the Praires in the summer.

Their disappearance gripped Alberta and the rest of Canada for much of the summer of 2010.

On July 5 of that year, two days after they were last seen on surveillance video at a gas station, their burned-out motorhome was found in woods near Edson, west of Edmonton. The SUV they had been towing was also found concealed in another location.

Police spent several days combing the area. A $60,000 reward “to help find our parents” is still advertised on highway billboards, with giant photos of the smiling, spectacled seniors.

A year after they vanished, a judge granted an order declaring the McCanns dead so their family could start processing their wills. A memorial service was held on what would have been their 59th wedding anniversary.

Vader was arrested on a long list of outstanding warrants on unrelated charges, but he wasn’t charged until 2012.

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

From the left, Shelby Hauck, Austin Gehl, William Slipp and Tyrone Brewster play a game of Settlers of Catan on the roof of the fire station on 67th Street on Monday afternoon. The four City of Red Deer fire-medics are taking part in the Red Deer Firefighters Rooftop Campout for Muscular Dystrophy noon today. For three nights and four days, the fire-medics have been on the roof camping out during the second annual fundraiser to raise awareness and money for the muscular dystrophy. The goal is to raise $15,000.

The Bower Ponds Pavilion will remain open for games night and private event bookings. For more information call 403-318-6298 or visit www.bowerponds.ca.

Alberta

Anglers urged to move their ice fishing huts

BRIEFS Caroline man killed in crash near Sundre A Caroline man was killed Sunday after his van crashed and burned near Sundre.

At about 5:20 a.m., Sundre RCMP received a complaint that a vehicle was on fire in the ditch just north of the town at the intersection of Hwy 22 and Township 354.

Emergency responders found a 2002 Ford Windstar containing the remains of a man. The vehicle and man were completely consumed by fire.

The man, who was 51 years old, was the only occupant of the vehicle and has been tentatively identified. RCMP said the man’s identity will not be released.

It appears that the van was travelling northbound on Hwy 22 when it failed to negotiate a turn. The van left the road and rolled into the ditch where it struck a tree and caught fire.

Speed and human error may have contributed to the collision, police said in a statement.

Chinook Arch Victim Services was requested to offer support to the witness of the event and family of the deceased.

RCMP Red Deer Traffic Services assisted the RCMP Sundre detachment with the investigation.

Outdoor ice surfaces closed for the season All outdoor ice surfaces are closed for the season.

Bower Ponds, Anders on the Lake, and West Lake skating areas are now closed due to poor ice conditions.

Crews are in the process of putting up signs around these natural bodies of water to notify public of the unsafe ice conditions. The public are asked to stay safe by obeying all signs and barricades and to keep off the ice.

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Ice fishers are being warned to remove their huts early this year.

Town of Sylvan Lake announced on Monday it was closing its lake rink and will shut the gates as of 7 a.m. today.

It is recommended that ice huts be pulled off the lake because of the sloppy conditions with no forecasts for significant cooling in sight.

In a typical year, the deadline for removing huts isn’t until the end of the month.

Those who must venture out on to the ice are advised to use extreme caution.

Jury trial begins for southern Alberta parents accused in toddler’s death LETHBRIDGE, — The Crown says the parents of a toddler who died of meningitis should have got him medical attention long before he stopped breathing.

David Stephan, who is 32, and his wife Collet Stephan, who is 35, have pleaded not guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life for 19-month-old Ezekiel, who died in March 2012.

The trial in Lethbridge is being heard by a jury of eight women and four men.

RCMP said at the time that the boy had been ill for a couple of weeks but his parents only called for an ambulance when he stopped breathing.

He was airlifted to a hospital in Calgary and, after five days, doctors took him off life support machines.

The trial is scheduled to continue until March 24.

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COMMENT

THE ADVOCATE Tuesday, March 8, 2016

High time for high-speed rail DOUG FIRBY OPINION

M

y recent tour of the remarkable Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook, B.C., got me wondering why all of Canada cannot once again have a viable rail passenger service.

The museum contains a collection of dozens of rail cars from the past 100+ years in various states of repair.

Collectively, they deliver a powerful glimpse into what life must have been like during the glory days of rail travel. Some of the partially restored cars (which show the catastrophic results of attempts to “modernize”) also provide a pretty clear sense of why passenger rail travel went into decline.

Today, Via’s passenger rail in Canada primarily serves the Ottawa-Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto-Windsor corridors. It makes sense to have it concentrated there because the area’s relative population density makes it easier to get enough paying passengers

to make a profit. In less dense areas – such as the sprawling prairies or even the twisting, winding interior of B.C. – finding enough riders to make a buck is a much tougher task.

Unless, that is, you market the train as a high-end product. In the West, you can take a passenger train through the mountains on the Rocky Mountaineer.

Trouble is, the luxury rail service is beyond the reach of us mere commoners. The seven day/six night Canadian Rockies Highlights tour, for example, starts at $2,999 on the company’s website. Prices go up — way up — from there. It may be a fair deal for tourists, but doesn’t work so well for us locals.

I haven’t used the train a lot in my life but it seems each time I did it turned into a pleasant, and at times even memorable, experience. I remember one long ride with a co-worker from Windsor to Ottawa years ago.

It was a chance to relax, catch up on reading, gaze out the window and generally chill out. It was restorative.

I also remember recently taking an old communist-era train from Berlin to Warsaw. Although the train was dated and dowdy, the ride had a magical quality to it as I chatted with my spouse and friends, ate, dozed and

watched the scenery roll by outside the window.

Via’s President and CEO, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, is pushing the idea of a revived national rail passenger service. Via is doing not too badly, running on 12,500 kilometres of track and transporting about four million passengers a year. But could it do better?

From an environmental perspective, it seems to make sense. By Via’s calculations, when a train is running with a full passenger load its carbon footprint per traveler is about 40 per cent of what it would be if they were in a car. And that same footprint is just one-tenth what it would be if that person chose to ride a plane.

Ha! You may respond — planes are faster. In fact, that’s not always true.

For example, many people I know make frequent business trips between Calgary and Edmonton. Figuring the time it takes to get to the airport, park, check in, clear security, wait to board and then take a $60 taxi to downtown at the other end, you can drive to your destination faster.

Even a standard passenger train could beat a plane on that route. However, there is growing interest in exploring a high-speed version, like that

those found in parts of Japan and Europe. The catch is the cost: Most recent estimates put construction costs somewhere between $2.6 and $7 billion, depending on the type of technology used. Annual operating costs of a highspeed rail line are put between $88 million and $129 million.

For a proposition like that to make sense, you need to find a lot of passengers willing to pay fares that are not far removed from airfare. Let’s face it – a modern train won’t be as cheap as bus fare.

Would you be willing to pay that much? For business travel, paying a higher fare but getting to enjoy the benefits of a modern train, with such amenities as WiFi connectivity that lets you use your time well, could actually improve productivity. At the same time, think of the stress you would spare those same employees from, not having to empty their pockets at security and getting to step off a training downtown, rather than 25 kilometres away from a city’s core.

Green. Chill. Business friendly.

Maybe the renaissance of the passenger train is nigh.

Doug Firby is Editor-in-Chief and National Affairs columnist for Troy Media.

Advocate letters policy

T

he Advocate welcomes letters on public issues from readers. Letters must be signed with the writer’s first and last name, plus address and phone number.

Pen names may not be used.

Letters will be published with the writer’s name. Addresses and phone numbers won’t be published.

Letters should be brief and deal with a single topic; try to keep them under 300 words.

The Advocate will not interfere with the free expression of opinion on public issues submitted by readers, but reserves the right to refuse publication and to edit all letters for public interest, length, clarity, legality, personal abuse or good taste.

The Advocate will not publish statements that indicate unlawful discrimination or intent to discriminate against a person or class of persons, or are likely to expose people to hatred or contempt because of race, colour, religious beliefs, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, source of income, marital status, family status or sexual orientation.

Due to the volume of letters we receive, some submissions may not be published.

Mail submissions or drop them off to Letters to the Editor, Red Deer Advocate, 2950 Bremner Ave., T4R 1M9; or e-mail to editorial@ reddeeradvocate.com.

Lessons in coping with change from ‘Downton Abbey’ ROBERT MCGARVEY OPINION

H

ow could Downton Abbey be so popular? The season six grand finale, which aired on PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre recently, closed the final chapter of the TV program’s remarkable run.

This starchy Edwardian soap opera has appeal in North America that is nothing short of amazing.

Downton has millions of loyal followers. Its audience peaked for season four’s finale at 15.3 million viewers. Incredibly, it accomplished this feat while competing head to head with the Olympics.

And so, after six seasons of crisp upper-crust spectacle, this program will go into the books as one of the most popular dramas in television history.

The show opened with a bang — the aristocratic Crawley family tragically losing their heir apparent on the Titanic. This threw the family into convulsions, as the succession for the title and the grand house wore on. The storyline, which spanned more than a decade, began in the quiet pre-First World War period. It managed to enthrall audiences with subdued drama over one of the most turbulent periods in history.

Naturally, the plot had its share of twists and turns, with plenty of love interests, sibling rivalries and iconic characters. But the back-story was also compelling, rooted in societal transformation. As the story unfolded, upstairs and downstairs characters

dealt with the terrors of the Great War, the introduction of new technology and the social revolution that swept through Britain’s class structure in the Roaring Twenties.

Downton was stunning visually and captured the essence of the period masterfully. But its real appeal was its ability to model values and standards of civilized behaviour for us all, as we too experience a social hurricane driven by forces not dissimilar to those at work in the early 20th century.

So, what’s changing today? Like the massive changes of the Edwardian Era, the answer to that is … almost everything. We are at long last fully entering the post-industrial era.

Changes on this scale begin in the economy.

These days, it’s not traditional factories and machines that drive national economies. Today, ideas, network applications, software and other forms of creative assets transcend all boundaries. What we see around us is a world of technology; it has galloped into our lives aided by mobile communication devices, the Internet and exponential growth in the performance, speed and power of computers.

The Industrial Revolution is important because, although it happened a long time ago, it’s the closest thing we in the West have to the kinds of economic forces impacting the world today. However, the creation of industrial society is so distant that we’ve forgotten what a social hurricane it unleashed.

But look around and you’ll see boundaries of all sorts falling and the rules of the game changing. Who could imagine Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders a decade ago? So just when we needed a refresher course on social transformation, enter Downton Abbey, stage right.

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How did Downton pull it off? It cleverly employed an old theatrical device. It was quite common in the 18th century for operas to place their story lines and characters in other countries or in the past to remove any potential criticism of the author when his characters challenged the powers that be. It was a safe way to deal with dangerous subjects. After all, the setting was so long ago and far away, who could get too upset?

Downton provides a relatable message: as in the lives of many viewers, the Crawleys saw economic and political changes that threatened established privileges. That’s not very far from what’s happening to the traditional elites of the Western world today.

We smile at the Dowager (Maggie Smith) and the butler Carson as they grapple with changing social norms. Why? They’re modelling circumstances and behaviours for modern audiences who are grappling with their own social revolutions. Today it’s not overly ambitious footmen or votes for women, but it is similarly serious issues like galloping inequality, and the rights of formally unseen and under-represented groups in society like immigrants and the LGBT community.

We learn two important lessons from Downton that comfort us in these turbulent times: one, there is a civilized way to deal with change; and two, it’s going to be all right. All these changes may seem like chaos at the moment but there is a greater logic to it all — and the world is slowly getting better.

Troy Media columnist Robert McGarvey is an economic historian and co-founder of the Genuine Wealth Institute, an Alberta-based think tank dedicated to helping businesses, communities and nations build communities of wellbeing.

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NEWS

A5

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

NDP to unveil carbon tax details

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

POLITICS

EDMONTON — Details of who pays what when Alberta brings in a new $3-billion a year carbon tax are to be released in the upcoming legislature session, says government house leader Brian Mason.

Mason said the session, which begins Tuesday, is to see the government bring forward legislation as the next step toward implementing the carbon tax.

The tax is set to begin next Jan. 1.

“It will enact the (carbon) levy. It will provide for rebates to individuals and to small business. It will create a new energy efficiency agency and it will empower the allocation of money to other (funds),” Mason said Monday at the legislature.

Legislation will give regulatory teeth to the climate change plan announced by Premier Rachel Notley

in the fall. The plan aims to reduce carbon emissions through new and increased taxes and by phasing out coalfired electricity generation by 2030.

The carbon tax is to be on everything from gas at the pumps to home heating and electricity bills.

The government has promised to provide rebates to low- and middle-income earners and small businesses.

It’s estimated that 60 per cent of Albertans will get at least some financial relief.

The tax is to collect an estimated $3 billion a year when it is fully implemented by 2018.

In November, the government predicted the changes would cost the average household $320 in 2017 and rise to $470 in 2018.

Some of the tax is to be redirected to green technology and efficiencies.

Wildrose house leader Nathan Cooper said the tax is making things worse for a province losing tens of thousands of jobs due to the continuing low price of oil.

“This carbon tax is and will directly harm Alberta’s families, seniors and businesses that are already struggling,” said Cooper.

The Wildrose estimates the carbon tax will cost families $1,000 a year more.

The NDP has already hiked personal income taxes for higher income earners and boosted the corporate tax to 12 per cent from 10.

Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark said he wants to see the carbon tax be “as close to revenue neutral as possible” to encourage people to buy in to fixing climate change.

“What I’ve seen so far is not in any way a revenue-neutral carbon tax,” said Clark.

Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell is to open

the session Tuesday afternoon with a speech from the throne, which outlines government plans and intentions.

The session is expected to go until early June.

Finance Minister Joe Ceci is to unveil the budget in early April and has already estimated the deficit for the 2016-17 fiscal year at $10 billion.

Mason said there will also be legislation to reduce and streamline the government’s 301 agencies, boards and commissions.

The government will also amend the law to fix an issue it has never confronted before — pregnant politicians.

The law will be changed so that legislature members having children or on maternity leave are not sanctioned for missing sitting days in the house, he said.

Service Alberta Minister Stephanie McLean gave birth last month and associate health minister Brandy Payne is due in July.

Threat Ex-boyfriend jailed for life for on-campus murder shutters school

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS MEDICINE HAT — Police in southern Alberta say they are in contact with a person of interest after students at high schools received an anonymous text threat.

Medicine Hat police said in a news release Monday afternoon that another police service in Alberta has also received similar complaints of threatening texts.

Police say more people came forward Monday saying they’ve received similar threats in the past weeks or months.

They also say the texts are coming from a single source outside Alberta, but won’t say where or who the person of interest is.

Staff Sgt. Brian Christmann said three students at a school in Medicine Hat and another at a high school in the nearby town of Dunmore received text messages on Sunday night that threatened to shoot them and anyone with them.

A news release says officials with Monsignor McCoy High School voluntarily chose to close the school Monday and students were sent home as a safety precaution.

All schools in the city’s public and Catholic districts were in partial lockdown and students were not allowed outside and extra officers were posted at all city high schools.

“It appears that the originating phone numbers used in the threats are “ghosted” or “spoofed” numbers that can be obtained via the Internet,” the release said.

“Unfortunately these types of threatening spam messages are becoming more prevalent with an increased use of social media and Internet-based communications.”

Police say the threat may be a hoax because it is nearly identical to one sent in the United States three years ago.

“We take these threats seriously although … the one from the U.S. was considered a prank at the time,” Christmann said Monday. “We’re investigating it.”

Police said the originating phone numbers used in the threats are “ghosted” or “spoofed” numbers that can be obtained via the Internet.

“Unfortunately these types of threatening spam messages are becoming more prevalent with an increased use of social media and Internet-based communications.”

Police say parents should tell their children to not accept requests from contacts they don’t know.

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — A combination of poor judgment, immaturity and ready access to weapons led a young man described by his lawyer as both jealous and obsessive to gun down his ex-girlfriend on a university campus, says a British Columbia Supreme Court judge.

Justice Terence Schultes sentenced Gurjinder Dhaliwal, 24, to life in prison on Monday with no chance of parole for 21 years, partly in recognition of the “incalculable loss” he MAPLE BATALIA caused to those who knew Maple Batalia.

“I’ve heard and understood the magnitude of what the family and friends suffer,” Schultes told a packed New Westminster courtroom after a morning of listening to emotional victim-impact statements.

“There is no remedy for their pain.”

Dhaliwal pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last week, admitting to killing his 19-year-old former girlfriend in the parking lot of Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus after he saw her studying with a male classmate in September 2011. He was originally charged with first-degree murder.

An agreed statement of facts describes how Dhaliwal became enraged and shot Batalia three times in the back before slashing her head with a knife and fleeing in a rental vehicle.

Both the Crown and defence jointly recommended the 21 years of parole ineligibility.

Batalia was an aspiring actress and model who moved with her family to Canada from India when she was six months old. She dreamt of becoming a doctor and was studying health sciences at Simon Fraser University at the time of her death.

The sound of sobbing filled the courtroom as friends and family described living with the constant pain of Batalia’s absence.

“She was the baby of our family but also the glue that held us together,” said her father, Harikat Batalia.

“March 4th would have been her 24th birthday. I still write her a card, though I will never be able to express to her how much I love her and how much joy she brought our lives,” he said.

“No father should have to lose a daughter in such a gruesome way.”

Sarbjit Batalia told court through an interpreter she wishes she had died in her daughter’s place.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Maple Batalia’s sister Roseleen Batalia pauses while speaking to reporters after Gurjinder “Gary” Dhaliwal was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility of parole for 21-years in relation to her sister’s death, at B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, B.C., on Monday.

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A6 RED DEER ADVOCATE Tuesday, March 8, 2016

T TAL HEALTH SOME SURPRISING HEALTH BENEFITS OF CAFFEINE

T

hat new coffee bar opened up just around the corner and you have been eager to sample one of their signature blends. But you consistently resist the urge to venture inside. Caffeine is not so healthy for you, right?

Caffeine, the most widely consumed stimulant on the planet, has garnered a bad reputation.

Some people fear caffeine and it’s potentially jittery and addictive side effects. However, many medical professionals attest that, when consumed in moderation, caffeine actually can have a number of health benefits. Before you skip that morning cup of Joe or choose an herbal blend instead of black tea, consider the following health benefits of caffeine.

• Caffeine boosts brain and central nervous system function. Caffeine mimics the shape of another compound in the body called adenosine, which helps the body calm down and become sleepy. Caffeine can fit in adenosine receptors and cause a jolt of energy rather than sleepiness. Harvard researchers have found that blocking adenosine may slow the buildup of a toxic brain plaque that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Furthermore, caffeine may help keep dopamine molecules active in the brain and prevent the onset of Parkinson’s disease.

• Caffeine can help improve mood. The stimulant effect of caffeine may help boost people’s moods, and thus reduce the propensity for suicidal thoughts. In 2013, Harvard’s School of Public Health found that respondents who drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day cut their suicide risk by 45 percent.

• Caffeine may lower risk of stroke. Studies conducted in both the United States and Sweden found that older women who drink more than a cup of caffeinated coffee each day

have between a 2 20 0 and 25 percen percent lower risk of stroke. Similar findings were discovered in older men.

• Caffeine boosts memory. Studies from Johns Hopkins University showed that a 200mg caffeine pill helped boost memory consolidation.

• Caffeine offers pain reliefCaffeine is often paired with other pain relievers to bring about faster relief. The Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that when caffeine was combined with other pain relievers, patients required 40 percent less of the other drug to bring the same amount of relief experienced when using just the noncaffeine drug alone. Caffeine on its own can also relieve pain. Consuming caffeine before or after a workout can help reduce muscle soreness.

• Caffeine may help to prevent cancer. A recent study from Rutgers University pointed out that caffeine prevented skin cancer in hairless mice.

• Caffeine could open up air passages. People with asthma may find caffeine can improve their breathing. A study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine determined that caffeine seems to open airways and help asthmatics breathe easier, providing a similar benefit to theophylline, a current asthma medication.

Although caffeine can prove beneficial in various ways, individuals should realize that it remains a potent and potentially addictive stimulant. Caffeine also can aggravate anxiety symptoms and interact with certain medications. People concerned about caffeine should discuss their caffeine consumption with their physicians.

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NEWS

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

A7

Unlikely allies push for national dementia strategy Doctor IDs to stay ASSISTED DYING

secret in Ontario

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — Two members of Parliament with dramatically different political affiliations have joined forces in an effort to establish a national strategy to deal with dementia.

Former Conservative cabinet minister Rob Nicholson is the architect of a private member’s bill that, if passed, would establish a Canada-wide framework for dealing with mental-health conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

He has the support of an unlikely ally: Liberal MP Rob Oliphant.

The pitch for a national dementia strategy has been on Nicholson’s mind ever since former NDP MP Claude Gravelle brought forward an unsuccessful proposal on the same topic. Nicholson said he had specific issues with Gravelle’s legislation but always thought the idea had merit.

“I’ve been thinking about it, believe it or not, ever since,” Nicholson said. “I’ve decided to go ahead with it.”

Alzheimer’s also hits close to home for the former minister. His father struggled with the disease before he died in 1997.

“I am, in many ways, no different than millions of other Canadians who are either related to or know somebody that has (Alzheimer’s),” Nicholson said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

Nicholson’s bill calls for specific national objectives to improve scenarios for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, as well as more investment in research, particularly in biomedical and clinical work.

Nicholson said he was careful to ensure the legislation would not extend into areas of provincial jurisdiction — an issue to which he is particularly sensitive, given his previous experience as a justice minister.

“That’s one of the things I thought about right from the start,” he said.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

File photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Conservative MP Rob Nicholson, right, and Liberal MP Rob Oliphant take part in an interview on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. They are coming together on a bipartisan bill on Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“I don’t want to be associated with any bill that looks like we are taking over an area of provincial jurisdiction because I’m very aware of the constitution of this country and there’s a reason why there are splits in the different areas of jurisdiction.”

The Alzheimer Society is now encouraging all MPs to get behind the bill.

The number of Canadians living with Alzheimer’s and similar conditions is expected to soar to 1.4 million by 2031, nearly twice the 747,000 people diagnosed in 2011 —14.9 per cent of Canadians 65 and older.

Part of the goal of the legislation is to raise awareness, Nicholson noted.

“This is a huge problem and it is not just seniors who are getting this,” he said. “In the end, this is not a partisan thing. This is about trying … to move forward on something that is going to get worse according to all of the statistics.”

TORONTO — The identities of any doctors who might help a terminally ill man kill himself can be kept secret, an Ontario court ruled Monday.

In agreeing to the man’s request for anonymity, Superior Court Justice Thomas McEwen said confidentiality orders in this case were needed to avoid unwanted publicity and media attention for the man, his family and the doctors involved.

The man, 80, identified only as A.B., will be seeking a constitutional exemption later this month for a doctor-assisted suicide in the first such request in Ontario.

A.B. and his family did not ask for the hearing itself to be held in secret. They only wanted anonymity for themselves and the doctors.

“Cases involving physician-assisted suicide warrant such restrictions,” McEwen said in his written ruling. “The (man’s) proposal is a reasonable compromise.”

At a hearing last week, a group of news outlets agreed the identities of the man and his relatives should remain private but opposed secrecy for the doctors who help him die.

McEwen said the man’s position struck a balance between the open-court principle and the right of the man and his family to maintain their privacy and dignity.

There are also good reasons to black out the names of the physicians as well, the justice said.

“The physicians wish to maintain anonymity because of personal and professional implications,” McEwen said. “Their wish and concerns are entirely reasonable, in my opinion, given the publicity and controversy surrounding physician-assisted death.”

McEwen said adverse publicity might dissuade doctors from helping others.

Children’s advocate calls for inquiry to probe suicides

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s children’s advocate says an alarming number of indigenous girls are committing suicide — a disturbing trend which should be included in the upcoming inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Darlene MacDonald says she made the suggestion to federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett in a letter last week but hasn’t received a reply.

Of 33 suicides MacDonald has investigated in the last three years, 17 were indigenous girls.

“We just have to stop this,” she said in an interview Monday. “Whether youth go missing or die at the hands of others, or whether they feel so much despair that they die by their own choice, the loss of these youth is a tragedy. It needs to be included in the scope of national dialogue.”

The Liberals have said they want an inquiry into Canada’s approximately 1,200 missing and murdered indigenous sitting by the summer. Bennett and other ministers have been holding consultations across the country to determine the scope of the inquiry, but MacDonald said she wasn’t invited to the Winnipeg meeting.

Her comments come after several suicides by members of Manitoba’s Cross Lake First Nation. The youngest was a 14-year-old girl.

Canada wants to prevent indigenous girls from dying as a result of violence, but MacDonald suggests the country “will be doomed to fail if we do not remember those who continue to die by suicide.”

Some of the reasons why some girls take their own lives are the same as factors that lead them to be exploited and vulnerable, she said. Many don’t feel they have family or support, MacDonald said, or they have friends or family members who have committed suicide and it becomes an acceptable choice similar to drugs or alcohol.

“That is so concerning. We need to come together as a society, as a community, to give these kids some alternatives and to look at the stories and learn from them.

“Children need to be offered hope.”

A spokesperson for Bennett said she wasn’t available for an interview and issued a statement calling the loss of human life through suicide “tragic.”

The statement didn’t address the call to include suicides in the inquiry.

Canada BRIEFS Woman speaks out about alleged sexual abuse on Halifax bus HALIFAX — Alix Parker says her “nightmare” began with a jolt on a city bus.

The young mother, groggy from a day that started at 4 a.m., says she woke up as her Halifax Transit bus came to a sudden stop on busy Joseph Howe Drive.

The 19-year-old says she looked down and was stunned to see a strange man moving his hand on her thigh between her legs on a bus packed with people heading home at the height of rush hour on Feb. 25.

Now, she’s telling her story — and using her full name — to encourage others to come forward.

“Women are expected to just deal with this,” she said in an interview Monday. “I so want more women to step forward and say, ‘This happened to me on this date what are you going to do about it’ and not back down until something is done. This isn’t right.”

Parker, who was on her way to pick up her son at daycare, said she got a slight glimpse of the man before he stood up and walked off the bus. She described him as having a tattoo of a name on his neck and pierced ears, with a slim build and wearing a green wind breaker.

Police spokeswoman Const. Dianne Woodworth said they are investigating the allegation and

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

A photo posted on the Instagram account travelwithcody shows a man in Dubai posing with a yellow Ferrari and the caption reads: “Just landed into Dubai picked up the Ferrari! Don’t worry I won’t speed ;)” Other photos show the same man skydiving and off-roading in Aruba and preparing to scuba dive in the Dominican Republic. The account shares several of the same photos as a Facebook page belonging to a Cody Nixon, where friends posted condolences as news of a fatal crash involving Nixon in the United Arab Emirates spread.

Two Canadians killed after Ferrari hits pole

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A newspaper in the United Arab Emirates says two Canadians, one of them a Toronto boxer, were killed after their rented Ferrari struck a pole and was split in two.

The National newspaper says two others also died in the crash in Dubai, which happened early Sunday local time.

It says one of the Canadians has been identified as Cody Nixon of Toronto and the other is believed to be his cousin.

The Motor City Boxing Club in Oshawa, Ont., posted a tribute to Nixon on its Facebook page, saying he had died “while vacationing overseas.” reviewing footage from the bus.

A spokeswoman for the Halifax Regional Municipality, Jennifer Stairs, confirmed that Halifax Transit received a complaint from a woman on Feb. 25 and that the transit service is co-operating with the police investigation.

New guidelines back CT scans for lung cancer screening in longtime smokers TORONTO — For the first time, national guidelines are recommending that high-risk adults be screened for Canada’s deadliest cancer, and the tool of choice is a technology known as low-dose computed tomography, or CT scanning.

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care says adults aged 55 to 74 with a history of significant tobacco use should be tested for signs of lung cancer annually over three consecutive years using the sensitive radiological imaging device.

The guideline applies to current smokers and those who have quit within the past 15 years, who have at least a so-called 30 pack-year history of smoking — defined as smoking one pack a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years.

“Screening for lung cancer aims to detect disease at an earlier stage, when it may respond better to treatment and be less likely to cause serious illness or death,” said Dr. Gabriela Lewin, chairwoman of the task force’s working group on lung cancer screening.

The guideline is based on recent studies, primarily a U.S. clinical trial that assessed patients after seven years of followup and found a 15 per cent reduction in lung cancer deaths among participants screened via CT scans for three years in a row, compared to those tested with chest X-rays.

A photo posted on the Instagram account travelwithcody shows a man posing with a yellow Ferrari and the caption reads: “Just landed into Dubai picked up the Ferrari! Don’t worry I won’t speed ).”

Other photos show the same man skydiving and off-roading in Aruba and preparing to scuba dive in the Dominican Republic.

The account shares several of the same photos as a Facebook page belonging to a Cody Nixon, where friends posted condolences as news of the crash spread.

A spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada confirmed two Canadians had died in the United Arab Emirates but said no further details could be released due to privacy concerns.

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NEWS

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

A8

Obama to lift shroud of secrecy UNITED STATES TO DISCLOSE CASUALTY COUNT FROM COUNTERTERRORISM STRIKES

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will disclose how many people have been killed by U.S. drones and counterterrorism strikes since 2009, the White House said Monday, lifting one element of secrecy shrouding the controversial counterterrorism program.

Both combatants and civilians the U.S. believes have died in strikes from the skies will be included in the report, which covers the period since President Barack Obama took office.

It won’t cover areas of “active hostilities” like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, but will instead focus on the shadowy regime of strikes the U.S. launches against terrorist targets in other parts

of the world such as North Africa, where U.S. strikes on Saturday killed more than 150 people in Somalia.

In recent years, the U.S. has conducted counterterrorism strikes in Pakistan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia, among other places.

Lisa Monaco, Obama’s counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, said the assessment would be released “in the coming weeks,” casting it as part of a commitment to transparency for U.S. actions overseas. Monaco said the figured would be disclosed annually in the future, although it will ultimately be up to Obama’s successor to decide whether to continue the practice.

“We know that not only is greater transparency the right thing to do, it is the best way to maintain the legiti-

macy of our counterterrorism actions and the broad support of our allies,” Monaco said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.

U.S. lawmakers and human rights groups have long pressed for more transparency about civilians killed by U.S. drones, but those calls for more disclosure have traditionally faced opposition from the U.S. intelligence community. U.S. officials say few civilians have died from drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere over the last decade, though unofficial tallies by human rights groups cite higher figures that run into the hundreds.

In 2014, lawmakers from both parties demanded an annual report as part of the main intelligence bill, but later dropped the demand amid assurances that the Obama administration

was seeking ways to shed more light on the program. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said at the time that the administration was balancing transparency interests with the need to protect classified information and confidential sources.

The casualty report marks the latest attempt by Obama to shore up credibility for the drone program, which has attracted fierce criticism from civil rights advocates but plays a key role in Obama’s strategy of targeting extremists without encumbering the U.S. in massive on-the-ground military operations. In 2013, Obama tightened rules for drone attack, requiring that a target pose a continuing and imminent threat and that the U.S. must be near-certain no civilians will be killed.

Turkey demands more money to help EU tackle migrant crisis

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BRUSSELS — European Union leaders hoped early Tuesday they reached the outlines for a possible deal with Ankara to return thousands of migrants to Turkey and said they were confident a full agreement could be reached at a summit next week.

After months of disagreements and increasing bickering among the 28 EU nations, French President Francois Hollande said that “the summit has created hope that the refugee question can be dealt with through solidarity in Europe, and efficiency in co-operation with Turkey.”

All eyes centred now on March 17 and the start of a two-day summit to finalize the commitment and clinch an iron-clad deal which the leaders hope would allow for a return to normalcy at their borders by the end of the year.

Turkey said it would be willing to make greater efforts to contain irregular migration. “The truth is that Turkey came to the summit with attractive proposals, and I believe that surprised many,” said Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras.

EU President Donald Tusk said that after a week of shuttle diplomacy in and around Turkey, “we have a breakthrough now.”

During 12 hours of negotiations, Turkey insisted that any agreement would require Europe to advance Turkey’s long-delayed hope of joining the bloc. As an additional step, Turkey said it expects EU nations to ease its visa restrictions on Turkish citizens within months.

Turkey, home to 2.75 million refugees chiefly from neighbouring Syria, surprised EU counterparts Monday by demanding a much more funding beyond the 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) already pledged. “Turkey is ready to work with the EU, and Turkey is ready to be a member of the EU as well,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davatoglu told reporters in Brussels.

Davutoglu did not disclose how

STORIES FROM PAGE A1

ABDUCTION: Believes children are in Kurdistan The meeting is open to the public.

Azer, 47, has several relatives in Red Deer — nieces and nephews who are cousins to her children. Alison’s sister, Liz van Egteren, taught in Central Alberta for almost 30 years before retiring to the Calgary area.

“I need Canadians to stand with me and to join my voice in saying that these are Canada’s kids,” Azer said.

Recently in the House of Commons, Courtenay-Alberni NDP MP Gord Johns asked the Liberal government about what actions they are taking to ensure the safe return of the children.

Azer also met with the parliamentary secretary to Global Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion.

Saren Azer is originally an Iranian Kurd who came to Canada in 1994. He had been practising as a doctor in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island before disappearing with the children.

Azer believes her children are now in Northern Iraq, in Kurdistan.

“This is not a family dispute … this is a story about an international fugitive who’s taken four Canadian kids to the epicentre of global conflict. Two weeks ago a bomb dropped five kilometres from my kids’ heads.”

Azer said she spent $300,000 in legal fees over three years trying to do everything she could to stop her ex-husband from travelling internationally with the children. “Because I saw very clearly that my ex-husband was a flight risk.”

“System after system after system that as Canadians we think are there to protect kids, failed those kids.”

much money Turkey was seeking but he said that the funds would only go to Syrian refugees. “Not one euro will go to Turkish citizens. Every penny will be spent for Syrian refugees.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron said that “we do have the basis for a breakthrough which is the possibility that in future all migrants who arrive in Greece will be returned to Turkey.” The sides will now reconvene at a two-day summit starting March 17.

For its part, the EU sought to gain stronger commitments from Turkey to take back refugees who have reached European shores and ease a crisis that has left an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 souls encamped in the wintry cold on the Greece-Macedonia border.

“To stop refugees arriving in Greece, we have to co-operate with Turkey,” French President Francois Hollande said. Even though many saw the outlines of a deal, it was still too early to clinch it.

In Ankara, the Turkish capital, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the EU of failing to provide enough of the already pledged funds.

He also criticized Europe for refusing to accept asylum seekers more readily, linking that policy to needless deaths as thousands opt to cross illegally by sea from the Turkish coast to offshore Greek islands.

“We are not sending them. They are going by sea and many of them are dying. We have rescued close to 100,000 from the sea,” Erdogan said in a speech.

Turkey is seeking a new EU commitment to take Syrians and other high-percentage refugee applicants via safe travel routes, such as at the land border between Turkey and Greece, to reduce drowning deaths in the Aegean Sea. Overshadowing the summit diplomacy is Turkey’s questionable human rights record. On Friday, Turkish police stormed the headquarters of an anti-government newspaper to enforce a court order placing the paper and its sister outlets under new management.

Last April, Saren Azer, who is 49, did get court consent to take the children on a spring break to Germany. As soon as they returned, he applied for and was granted permission to take them to France and Germany for a summer vacation.

In October, Azer went to Kurdistan to try and find her children. She said while she was able determine where they are, she did not see them. She returned to Canada in January.

She said that since the Canadian government has considerable investment in that region — militarily, diplomatically, and in humanitarian aid — it should be saying to the Kurdistan government: “This can’t go on. For the kind of support we are giving you, we need those kids back.”

“Every single morning I’ve been able to talk myself into getting up and doing the best fight I can that day to get my kids home. I don’t know how much longer I can continue to do this.

It is a nightmare beyond proportions.” barr@reddeeradvocate.com

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tunisian police officers take positions during clashes with militants in Ben Guerdane, 650 km away from Tunis, Monday. At least 45 people were killed Monday near Tunisia’s border with Libya in one of the deadliest clashes seen so far between Tunisian forces and extremist attackers, the government said.

Dozens killed in clashes near Libyan border with Tunisia

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TUNIS, Tunisia — Exceptionally deadly clashes between Tunisian forces and extremist attackers left at least 53 people dead Monday near Tunisia’s border with Libya, the government said, amid growing fears that violence from Libya could destabilize the whole region.

Gunmen attacked the city of Ben Guerdane at dawn Monday and fighting continued past nightfall. Tunisia closed its border with Libya and the Tunisian interior and defence ministers travelled to the town to oversee the operation, according to a joint statement from their ministries.

Tunisian Prime Minister Hassid Essid said on Wtaniya television that the attack was an Islamic State attempt to carve out a stronghold on the border. No group claimed immediate responsibility, but two IS-affiliated websites said Islamic State group militants were engaged in the fighting.

“This is an unprecedented attack, planned and organized. Its goal was ating room ceilings, walls and in some cases floors is expected to begin this week.

“It’s a complete reclamation of the interior of those operating theatres.

“Once that demolition has been done we’ll have a much better sense of exactly what needs to occur to reconstruct and to rebuild. From that we’ll have a timeline as to how long we think it will be before we get those five ORs up and running.”

Flooding sprang from construction underway to build two operating rooms for scheduled caesarean sections and emergency obstetrical procedures.

“It’s definitely unfortunate and we regret the impact that this has on patients and families. We are working to bring these ORs back on line as soon as possible.”

Bales thanked staff and physicians who have worked so hard to minimize the impact on patients.

“The response and the collaboration that has come out of this at Red Deer, amongst people in the zone, and even outside the zone, has been absolutely phenomenal.” szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com

Newspapers IN EDUCATION

SERGES HOMES LTD.

FLOOD: Demolition expected to begin this week Normally, an average of 48 surgeries per day are performed at the hospital.

“As we’re rescheduling surgeries, we are looking to increase our capacity at outlying sites like Innisfail and Olds and we will also be giving consideration in the longer term to having to possibly reschedule surgeries outside of the zone, possibly Calgary or Edmonton.”

Operating rooms still in use are three theatres used for general surgery and a smaller operating room that has always and will continue to be used only for urology surgery.

He said demolition work on oper-

probably to take control of this area and to announce a new emirate,” Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack and reiterated the UN’s commitment “to stand with the people of Tunisia as they confront the scourge of terrorism and work to preserve the gains of the revolution,” his spokesman said.

At dawn Monday, gunmen targeted a police station and military facilities in Ben Guerdane, Tunisian Interior Ministry spokesman Yasser Mosbah told The Associated Press. A night curfew was ordered in Ben Guerdane until further notice.

The attack and ensuing fighting left 35 attackers, seven civilians and 11 members of Tunisia’s security forces dead, according to the joint government statement.

A 12-year-old girl was among those killed.

Corpses lay in the street and gunmen hid in homes as darkness fell, gunfire sporadically ringing out, according to resident and local journalist Raoudha Bouttar.

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BUSINESS

THE ADVOCATE Tuesday, March 8, 2016

WORK CAMPS GETTING QUIET OIL SLOWDOWN PUTS SQUEEZE ON OPERATORS OILPATCH

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS CALGARY — A slowdown in oilpatch activity means fewer tradespeople on site, putting a squeeze on businesses that house and feed workers in remote locations.

Before the downturn, when the oil and gas sector was chugging along, it was a challenge to entice enough skilled labourers to work for weeks on end far from home. Fat paycheques were one draw, but quality lodging was also key.

Many camps more closely resemble hotels or resorts, complete with Wi-Fi, fitness centres, ice rinks and meals prepared by Red Seal chefs.

They’re quieter places nowadays, with oil and natural gas prices too weak to justify most new projects.

Black Diamond Group CEO Trevor Haynes figures the company’s lodges are at about half occupancy these days.

A few years ago, when times were better, it was more like 80 per cent.

The workers who remain are settling in for longer stays, as frequent shift turnovers eat into productivity at the mine or drill site, Haynes said.

Black Diamond is responding by tackling costs. Administrative expenses were down by 23 per cent during the last three months of 2015 compared to

FILE PHOTO BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

The interior of a Black Diamond Group lodge in Horn River Basin, British Columbia is shown in this photo. A slowdown in oilpatch activity means fewer tradespeople on site, putting a squeeze on businesses that house and feed workers in remote locations. the fourth quarter of 2014, while capital expenditures were 97 per cent lower.

One of the more “painful” measures has been to reduce the workforce last year by around 130 to 140.

“It’s really hard to turn an organization around from being fast-growth to being very cost-conscious,” he said.

“It was a very difficult year in that respect.”

It’s a similar story for another big

camp operator, Horizon North Logistics.

CEO Rod Graham told a recent conference call that he’d like to say the pain is over, “but I know that would be a falsehood.”

“Horizon North’s traditional energy markets in Western Canada are under extreme duress.”

As of mid-February, Horizon North had a workforce of just under 1,200 —

down 700 from the same time a year earlier, said Graham.

Jim Seethram, chief operating officer at Orissa Software, said the earliest signs of distress in the resource sector can be witnessed at work camps.

Orissa’s system helps companies manage the comings and goings of their workers, processing more guest stays than some of the world’s biggest hotel chains.

The decline has been most dramatic in open camps — ones that house workers for quick drilling jobs, as opposed to ones owned by oilsands operators, for instance.

Some regions have felt more pain than others. Shale oil rigs in North Dakota, for instance, “dried up in an instant” as it only takes a few days to wind down one of those operations, said Seethram.

But in the oilsands, the sunk costs are considerable and it takes years to build a project that will operate for decades.

Operators are loath to stop construction partway through. When activity does eventually pick up again, Seethram said he’s not expecting to see camp operators pull back much on the bells and whistles for new projects.

“I don’t think we can go backward from that,” he said.

“I think the camp operators have recognized that’s what their guests are demanding and that’s what draws them to the work site and that’s just a necessary cost of business.”

TransCanada to terminate coal power contracts CITING HIGHER EMISSIONS COSTS

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

Contributed photo

This graphic shows the proposed refinery designed by Cielo Waste Solutions

Local company plans to build waste-to-energy refinery

BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer-based Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. has announced plans to build a $10-million waste-to-energy refinery in Edmonton.

Last Friday, the company signed a long-term lease on two acres and a right of first refusal on eight more acres in an industrial park near Anthony Henday Drive and Yellowhead Hwy in west Edmonton.

Cielo CEO Don Allan said the company plans to construct a 1,000-litre-per-hour refinery that can be expanded to 20,000 litres per hour with additional refinery “modules.”

Allan said the refinery will use waste, such as wood shavings, contaminated plastic and other typical municipal garbage to produce a renewable diesel. The product will meet both provincial and federal green mandates when blended with petroleum diesel.

In 2014, Cielo had announced it was working with Red Deer County on an agreement to build a 200-litre-per-hour plant, to be upgraded to 700 litres per hour at the Horn Hill Waste Transfer Site.

Cielo said the county was supportive but the company ran out of time in getting all of the necessary planning steps completed.

“We spent a lot of time working with Red Deer County. They were a pleasure work to work with.

“I would love to have done business at the Horn Hill facility,” he said, adding the county’s plans for the area were going to take too long to come together for Cielo’s project timelines. “(It) was going to take them years to develop, and we just didn’t have that type of time to work with them.”

The City of Red Deer had also

S&P / TSX 13,383.60 +171.10

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TSX:V 571.44 +9.06

been approached, but showed little interest, he said.

Allan said they looked at many other sites, as far as the U.S. and Ontario before choosing Edmonton.

“The site in Edmonton, is by far, the best location for us in North America,” he said. “There are lots of available waste streams for us there.

Our clients to buy the fuel are close by. There were just a lot of synergies with that location.”

It also has good transportation links and Cielo received a warm welcome at the Eco Industrial Business Park.

Mohammed Farooq, Eco Park’s chief operating officer, issued a statement expressing support for Cielo and what it represents for Alberta.

“This is what the province needs — value-added businesses in our own province to rejuvenate the economy and what better place to locate than our Eco Park site, a success story in itself,” Farooq says.

A garbage supply has been lined up with private providers and the process has begun to line up necessary permits and provincial approvals.

Allan said he hopes to be operating by late 2016 or first quarter 2017.

Over the last 12 years, millions has been spent developing the technology behind Cielo’s processes that are unique, he said.

“There’s nothing else in the world that does what we do today.”

All types of plastics, rubber tires, anything wood-related or typical household garbage, as well as compost, grass clippings and blue box items can be used.

From that they can make aircraft-rated kerosene, naphtha gas and renewable diesel. Cielo is listed as CMC on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

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NASDAQ 4,708.25 -8.77

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CALGARY — TransCanada Corp.

(TSX:TRP) plans to end its agreements to buy power from three coal-fired plants in Alberta, saying the contracts are continuing to hurt their bottom line.

The Calgary-based company said Monday costs associated with carbon-dioxide emissions from the plants have risen and are forecast to increase further over the remaining term of the agreements.

The power purchase contracts can be terminated under a provision where a change in provincial law makes them unprofitable, TransCanada said. The decision affects 913 megawatts of generating capacity at TransAlta’s Sundance A and B plants west of Edmonton, and 756 MW at the Sheerness power plant near Hanna, Alta., owned by Atco Power and TransAlta.

The purchasing agreements now go back to the provincial regulator, which can continue to buy and distribute the power itself, resell the capacity to another distributor, or end the agreement entirely by paying the owner the net book value of the contract.

TransCanada said it expects to write down the remaining value of the power purchase agreements for a total non-cash charge of $235 million before taxes and $175 million after taxes, representing the remaining book value of the company’s investment.

Bill Taylor, president of TransCanada’s energy business, said the company continues to see investment opportunities in the Alberta energy market, citing new wind projects and the need for gas-fired power capacity.

“The company does not view this action on the (power purchase agreements) as a full retreat from the Alberta power market,” Taylor said in a statement.

The NDP government of Rachel Notley announced in November that it planned to impose a carbon tax and phase out coal-fired power plants in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, a contributor to global warming.

The next month, utility company Enmax ended its power purchase agree-

BRIEF Quebec environmental hearings on Energy East Pipeline begin LEVIS, Que. — Quebec’s environmental regulation agency began hearings on the Energy East Pipeline project Monday despite recent opposition.

Last week, a Quebec court refused an environmental coalition’s request

DOW JONES 17,073.95 +67.18

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NYMEX CRUDE $37.90US +1.98

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“

The power purchase agreements for those coal plants have gone, I think to everyone’s surprise, out of the money.”

-David Gray Electricity market analyst

ment to buy up to 663 MW from Atco Power’s 689-MW, coal-fired power plant.

AltaGas president David Harris said on a Feb. 25 conference call with investors that the company was evaluating the impact of the new climate regulations and considering terminating its power purchase agreement with the Sundance B plant.

But while companies are looking at the impact of new climate regulations, Ben Thibault, electricity program director at the Pembina Institute, says current electricity prices that are close to half the five-year average are having a much bigger effect on profitability.

“That difference is much larger than any impact of the actual carbon price,” said Thibault.

David Gray, an electricity market analyst, said the relatively low cost of buying natural gas and the increasing efficiency of gas-fired power plants have helped erode the profitability of coal contracts.

“The power purchase agreements for those coal plants have gone, I think to everyone’s surprise, out of the money,” said Gray.

Gray said Enmax’s decision to cancel its power purchase agreement marked the first time a company had done so. to suspend the hearings.

The coalition was seeking the injunction because it believes the process will not be complete without impact studies from TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., which is behind the $15.7-billion project.

Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel also announced last week the province will be going to court to ensure the plans for the Quebec portion of the project respect the province’s laws and regulations.

TransCanada says it is committed to participating in the hearings, which will take place in Levis, across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City.

Energy East would carry more than a million barrels a day of crude from Alberta as far east as Saint John, N.B.

NYMEX NGAS $1.71US +0.04

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CANADIAN DOLLAR ¢75.32US +0.27

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BUSINESS

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

MARKETS

A10

D I L B E R T

COMPANIES OF LOCAL INTEREST

Monday’s stock prices supplied by RBC Dominion Securities of Red Deer. For information call 341-8883.

Consumer Canadian Tire . . . . . . . . 132.41 Gamehost . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.06 Leon’s Furniture . . . . . . . 14.97 Loblaw Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . 71.07 MARKETS CLOSE TORONTO — Crude prices that hit their highest level this year helped lift the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday to its eighth straight gain.

The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 171.10 points, or about 1.3 per cent, rising to 13,383.60.

The recent rally shows that investors have realized that market losses earlier this year did not accurately reflect economic conditions, said Canadian market strategist Craig Fehr.

“It had felt like sentiment had become far more sour than the economic reality would’ve supported,” said Fehr, who works at Edward Jones in St. Louis.

He said economic data over the past couple of weeks has shown that the global economy is on a positive path and worries about a possible recession, particularly in the U.S., don’t appear imminent.

The Toronto stock market found support from all sectors except one: real estate. Health care stocks led the pack by advancing four per cent.

Shares in Valeant Pharmaceuticals (TSX:VRX) helped boost the sector, with the embattled Quebec-based drug company seeing its stock grow by 6.75 per cent, or $5.51 to $87.15.

Valeant announced earlier in the day that it will release its fourth-quarter results on March 15 after a two-week delay.

Markets in New York were much more tepid as the Dow Jones industrial average added 67.18 points at 17,073.95.

The broader S&P 500 composite index was barely changed, up 1.77 points at 2,001.76. The Nasdaq composite index lost

Maple Leaf Foods. . . . . . 26.20 Rona Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.69 Wal-Mart . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67.89 WestJet Airlines . . . . . . . 18.88 Mining Barrick Gold . . . . . . . . . . 18.44 Cameco Corp. . . . . . . . . 16.76 First Quantum Minerals . . 7.29 Goldcorp Inc. . . . . . . . . . 21.16 Hudbay Minerals. . . . . . . . 5.22 Kinross Gold Corp. . . . . . . 3.99 Labrador. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.63 Potash Corp.. . . . . . . . . . 24.84 Sherritt Intl. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.010 Teck Resources . . . . . . . 10.75 Energy Arc Resources . . . . . . . . 19.52 Badger Daylighting Ltd. . 27.85 Baker Hughes. . . . . . . . . 46.58 Bonavista . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.00 Bonterra Energy . . . . . . . 21.23 Cdn. Nat. Res. . . . . . . . . 34.69 Cdn. Oil Sands Ltd. . . . . . 9.66 Canyon Services Group. . 4.24 Cenovus Energy Inc. . . . 16.96 CWC Well Services . . . 0.1500 Encana Corp. . . . . . . . . . . 8.07 Essential Energy. . . . . . . 0.710 8.77 points at 4,708.25, dragged down by falling shares from the biggest tech companies — Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google.

The Canadian dollar was at 75.32 cents US, up 0.27 of a U.S. cent.

Commodities were mostly higher, with the April crude contract gaining $1.98 to US$37.90 per barrel, its highest price this year. The last time oil closed above that level was on Dec. 24, 2015, when it settled at US$38.10.

Fehr classified the recent spike in crude as a “short-term bounce,” cautioning that the commodity has yet to find a bottom.

“There’s still a lot of challenges to the oil environment that can suggest that oil can remain fairly low — somewhere in the 30s — for some time to come,” he said.

The April natural gas contract was up two cents at US$1.69 per mmBtu, while May copper was unchanged at US$2.28 a pound.

Investors shied away from bullion as the April gold contract fell $6.70 to US$1,264 an ounce.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Highlights at the close Monday at world financial market trading.

Stocks: S&P/TSX Composite Index — 13,383.60, up 171.10 points Dow — 17,073.95 up 67.18 points S&P 500 — 2,001.76, up 1.77 points Nasdaq — 4,708.25, down 8.77 points Currencies: Cdn — 75.32 cents US, up 0.27 of a cent

Exxon Mobil . . . . . . . . . . 84.46 Halliburton Co. . . . . . . . . 35.84 High Arctic . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.29 Husky Energy . . . . . . . . . 16.84 Imperial Oil . . . . . . . . . . . 44.64 Pengrowth Energy . . . . . 1.350 Penn West Energy . . . . . 1.720 Precision Drilling Corp . . . 6.31 Suncor Energy . . . . . . . . 34.58 Trican Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.560 Trinidad Energy . . . . . . . . 1.94 Vermilion Energy . . . . . . 41.66 Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1600 Financials Bank of Montreal . . . . . . 76.32 Bank of N.S. . . . . . . . . . . 60.53 CIBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94.03 Cdn. Western . . . . . . . . . 23.59 Great West Life. . . . . . . . 34.87 IGM Financial . . . . . . . . . 36.52 Intact Financial Corp. . . . 87.14 Manulife Corp. . . . . . . . . 18.50 National Bank . . . . . . . . . 40.06 Rifco Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.370 Royal Bank . . . . . . . . . . . 72.22 Sun Life Fin. Inc.. . . . . . . 40.56 TD Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.25 Pound — C$1.8940, down 0.11 of a cent Euro — C$1.4621, down 0.39 of a cent Euro — US$1.1013, up 0.10 of a cent Oil futures: US$37.90 per barrel, up $1.98 (April contract) Gold futures: US$1,264.00 per oz., down $6.70 (April contract) Canadian Fine Silver Handy and Harman: $21.806 oz., down 11.9 cents $701.06 kg., down $3.83 ICE FUTURES CANADA WINNIPEG — ICE Futures Canada closing prices: Canola: March ‘16 $4.90 higher $455.20 May ‘16 $4.90 higher $457.20 July ‘16 $4.90 higher $462.40 Nov. ‘16 $4.00 higher $470.20 Jan. ‘17 $4.00 higher $475.00 March ‘17 $4.00 higher $477.50 May ‘17 $4.00 higher $476.80 July ‘17 $4.00 higher $476.30 Nov. ‘17 $4.00 higher $469.90 Jan. ‘18 $4.00 higher $469.90 March ‘18 $4.00 higher $469.90.

Barley (Western): March ‘16 unchanged $174.00 May ‘16 unchanged $176.00 July ‘16 unchanged $176.00 Oct. ‘16 unchanged $176.00 Dec. ‘16 unchanged $176.00 March ‘17 unchanged $176.00 May ‘17 unchanged $176.00 July ‘17 unchanged $176.00 Oct. ‘17 unchanged $176.00 Dec. ‘17 unchanged $176.00 March ‘18 unchanged $176.00.

Monday’s estimated volume of trade: 222,500 tonnes of canola 0 tonnes of barley (Western Barley). Total: 222,500.

Pipe breaks off, falls to ocean floor as rig moved during storm

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS HALIFAX — Two kilometres of pipe that connects an offshore drilling rig to a wellhead deep under the ocean broke off and sank in a storm off Nova Scotia’s coast Saturday, prompting concerns from an advocacy group over the risks of deepwater accidents caused by harsh ocean conditions.

Shell Canada (TSX:SHC) says there was no drilling fluid or hydrocarbons leak because the pipe had already been drained of fluids and a blowout protector remained in place over the well.

The Scotian Shelf includes some of the province’s richest fishing grounds for haddock, and a huge spawning area for lobster.

John Davis, director of the Clean Ocean Action Committee, said Monday the incident is a reminder of the enormous power of huge offshore waves on the Scotian Shelf — and the risks of an offshore accident in one of North America’s most productive fishing grounds.

“It’s another indicator to us that we need a regulatory regime that makes sense, and … basically takes notice of the fact we’re at the edge of our technological ability,” he said in a telephone interview.

Environmentalists and fishermen

have questioned the amount of time it would take the multinational company to bring a vessel and a capping system to the Shelburne Basin offshore site, about 250 kilometres off the southwestern coast of Nova Scotia, in the event of a blowout.

A Shell spokesman said in an email that in this instance the company was taking a precautionary measure ahead of a storm and there was no risk of a leak nor is there any need to bring in additional equipment.

Cameron Yost wrote that as the drill ship moved away from the well site, high and heaving waves caused the “riser tensioner system” to break off and fall to the bottom of the ocean.

“The well was successfully shut in prior to the disconnect and the blowout preventer is in intact so there is no risk of a leak,” he wrote in an email.

He said the drilling ship Stena IceMAX had safely disconnected from the company’s Cheshire well, a step that had been taken without incident in the past at the location, about 225 kilometres east of the coast.

Yost also said that for the time being operations were suspended A spokeswoman for the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board says the regulator isn’t doing its own investigation because there was no health, safety or environmental issue involved in the incident.

Kathleen Funke says the board has sent two safety inspectors to the ship and will monitor the investigation carried out by Shell.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO — When humans set out to colonize other planets, they’re going to need resources to build their settlements.

That’s the pitch Chris Lewicki, the president and CEO of a U.S. asteroid mining company, delivered Monday at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto.

Shipping raw materials from Earth into space would be an expensive endeavour, says Lewicki, the head of Planetary Resources, who pegs the cost of sending water into orbit at $10 million per tonne.

“In order for them to do that sustainably, and to do that indefinitely, they’re going to need to use resources they can find nearby,” Lewicki said.

Once the stuff of science fiction novels, asteroid mining could soon become a reality, says Lewicki.

“This is something that is going from theoretical to practical,” he said.

“The next resource frontier is outer space.”

Planetary Resources has already begun testing technologies that could be used to extract metals such as iron, nickel and cobalt from resource-rich asteroids close to Earth. The Redmond, Wash.-based company deployed its first spacecraft last July and plans to launch another one this year.

The A6, as it’s called, will have an imaging system that can measure temperature differences of the various objects it encounters, as well as gather data relating to the presence of water.

Planetary Resources expects to

Alberta downturn eats into Pizza Pizza’s sales but Ontario feeds growth TORONTO — The downturn in Alberta has taken a bite out of sales growth at Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp.

(TSX:PZA).

The Toronto-based company says sales at its Pizza 73 locations in Alberta were down, partly offsetting gains at its main banner — primarily in Ontario.

Same-store sales — those at restaurants open for at least a year — grew by 3.4 per cent overall. Pizza Pizza’s same-store sales were up 5.3 per cent

start extracting water from nearby asteroids by the early 2020s.

Water is important not only to human life but also to industries, Lewicki says. It can also be broken down into its components — oxygen and hydrogen.

“In space, the oxygen becomes quite important,” Lewicki says. “The hydrogen becomes rocket fuel.”

The concept of tapping asteroids for resources is so novel that there are few regulations determining who has a right to the harvested materials.

The U.S. recently signed a law that legalizes commercial asteroid mining and deems any resource extracted from a space rock the property of whoever mined it. No such law exists in Canada.

While regulations are often blasted for stymying progress, Lewicki says rules will be necessary as the space mining industry takes off.

“We often talk about the challenge of regulations,” Lewicki says. “But regulations create an important framework.”

Lewicki says there are a number of existing models that could be used to determine asteroid jurisdiction. Countries could lay claim to specific asteroids, lease the land or apply for the rights to harvest minerals.

“The only thing that is new about the industry of asteroid mining is it doesn’t happen within what we are familiar with as the national territory of any country, and that’s the item that the United States has taken the first step on,” Lewicki said.

“Maybe we’ll see the beginning of the national federation of planets start out of this.” and Pizza 73’s were down 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with a year earlier.

The figures were included with Pizza Pizza’s financial report for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31.

Total system sales from all restaurants grew by 5.6 per cent to $533.8 million in 2015, up from $505.4 million in 2014. Fourth-quarter system sales grew by 4.4 per cent to $141.4 million in the fourth quarter from $135.5 million.

Royalty income for Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp. was $34.8 million for the year, including $9.2 million in the fourth quarter.

That compared with $33 million in 2014, including $8.7 million in its fourth quarter.

VISION NEXT 100

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Harald Krueger, third from left, CEO of German carmaker BMW, and members of the board present the ‘Vision Next 100’ concept car during the 100th anniversary celebrations in Munich, Germany.

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Diversified and Industrials Agrium Inc. . . . . . . . . . . 116.92 ATCO Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . 38.25 BCE Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57.57 BlackBerry . . . . . . . . . . . 10.95 Bombardier . . . . . . . . . . . 1.260 Brookfield . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.23 Cdn. National Railway . . 79.75 Cdn. Pacific Railway. . . 174.86 Cdn. Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 34.93 Capital Power Corp . . . . 18.36 Cervus Equipment Corp 12.25 Dow Chemical . . . . . . . . 49.76 Enbridge Inc. . . . . . . . . . 50.00 Finning Intl. Inc. . . . . . . . 20.00 Fortis Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.54 General Motors Co. . . . . 31.59 Parkland Fuel Corp. . . . . 21.53 Sirius XM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.47 SNC Lavalin Group. . . . . 46.82 Stantec Inc. . . . . . . . . . . 30.85 Telus Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . 39.46 Transalta Corp.. . . . . . . . . 6.00 Transcanada. . . . . . . . . . 49.42

B1

SPORTS

THE ADVOCATE Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Adjusting to play at the next level DAWSON WEATHERILL IS SOAKING IN AS MUCH AS HE CAN DURING HIS TIME AS REBELS BACKUP GOALTENDER

BY DANNY RODE SPECIAL TO THE ADVOCATE In the middle of February Dawson Weatherill was excited to be heading into the Alberta Midget Hockey League playoffs with the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs.

Little did he know he wouldn’t make it.

At the same time the Red Deer Rebels lost starting goaltender Rylan Toth with a lower body injury and Weatherill was the next in line on their depth chart.

“I was really surprised and it was a shock to me and my family,” said the 16-year-old native of Red Deer. on being called up “I was excited, but at the same time it was tough leaving my team as we were heading into the playoffs.”

Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter had no choice but to call Weatherill up.

“It was a tough position for everyone,” he said.

“Unfortunately we lost our goalie for the rest of the regular season and who knows how long in the playoffs. Dawson was the next player on our list. Unfortunately he had to leave his team and it was the AAA midgets in town. So it was tough on them as well … a tough situation for everyone. But it gave someone else in the minor system a chance to replace Dawson.”

Weatherill joined the Rebels on their western road swing and not only did he back up Trevor Martin, but he got his first start on Feb. 19 in Prince George. He turned in a solid performance in a 3-1 loss, allowing two goals with the third into an empty net.

“That first game it was tough to adjust, but I thought it went well,” Weatherill said. “I found a spot on the team and the guys accepted me. The second game didn’t go as well.”

He started his second game March 1 in Swift Current and the first period was a breeze with the Rebels up 4-0. However, the Broncos scored twice in the first 3:34 of the second period and Sutter went to Martin.

“It was something I will learn from,” said Weatherill, who has a 2.88 goals-against-average and a .905 save percentage.

“That first period in Swift Current he didn’t have much work and we had a substantial lead,” said Sutter. “In the second period they scored twice early and both goals he’d like to have back. But that’s the mental part of the game. A young player has to learn to stay in the game when there’s not much work.”

Weatherill was selected in the second round, 37th overall, in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft by the Rebels and signed later that year. Last year he attended the Rebels rookie camp but hoped to make the AAA Chiefs. That wasn’t the case and he ended up with the Notre Dame Argos in Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League.

The Argos were the B team at Notre Dame and it was a tough season for everyone.

“We didn’t win many games, but I got a chance to see a lot of rubber,” he said.

He finished the year with a 4.87 gaa and a .877 save percentage.

This year there was no doubt Weatherill would be on the Optimist Chiefs. He eventually took over as their No. 1 netminder and posted a solid 2.33 gaa and

Photo by DAVE BRUNNER PHOTOGRAPHY

Dawson Weatherill left the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs at the worst possible time but it was to take the next step in his hockey career and fill in for the injured Ryan Toth for the Red Deer Rebels. Now the Red Deer native has been doing what he can to get better and knows the more he learns the better it will make him going forward. a .905 save percentage.

“It was a good season,” he said. “I thought I developed throughout the season and matured.”

The six-foot-three Weatherill sees himself as a technically strong goalie, but needs to improve in terms of reactions and strength.

“I need to mentally focus for 60 minutes,” he said.

‘It’s important for me to keep pushing every day and hope for the best.”

Sutter talks with Weatherill about continuing to push in practice and get better every time he’s on the ice.

“This level is quite a few notches of play higher,” Sutter said. “We feel he has a tremendous upside.

There are things Taylor (goaltender coach Dakers) can work with him on daily but he has a bright future and it will come down to how hard Dawson works to make himself better both on and off the ice.

“He’s a tall, lanky kid and needs to get stronger.

He needs to work on both the physical and mental side and those things have to start getting in place of he wants to grow and get to the next level, which is pro hockey.

“He does have a great attitude and it’s exciting to have a local boy on the team. But he will be challenged and he will be pushed to be the No. 1 guy. It

won’t happen this year or possibly the next but by the time he’s 18 we want him pushing to play 40 or 50 games. We want him to push not only to be the No. 1 goaltender on the team, but the best in the league.

‘Buy the time he’s 18-19 there will be expectations on him and he has to have those expectations as well and with those expectations comes hard work and someone who is committed to be all in.”“ The time Weatherill will spend with the Rebels this season will only benefit him, as did his time with the midgets.

“It was important as a 16-year-old, especially a goalie, to return to midget and play a lot and in every situation,” said Sutter. “His time back there helped him a lot. He’s a different player today than he was last September. That’s a credit to Brandin (Chiefs head coach Cote), who gave him the opportunity to grow.”

Weatherill has worked with Dakers for several years and also credits him with his growth.

The rookie netminder will be on the bench tonight as the Rebels host the Prince Albert Raiders at 7 p.m. at the Centrium.

Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter who can be recahed at drode@reddeeradvocate.com. His work can also be seen at www.rdc.ab.ca/athleticsblog.

Gushue hopes 13th Brier appearance will bring elusive title

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones, right, dives for the puck as Calgary Flames’ Sean Monahan reaches for it during second period NHL action in Calgary, Monday.

Flames fall prey to Sharks in overtime

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS Sharks 2 Flames 1 (OT) CALGARY — Don’t mind Martin Jones if he catches a bit of sleep on the post-game flight from Calgary to Edmonton.

The San Jose goaltender made a career-high 47 saves Monday night and Joe Pavelski scored the overtime winner as the Sharks beat the Calgary Flames 2-1.

“I’m feeling okay. I’ll probably be a little tired later,” said Jones, who played four seasons of junior hockey in Calgary.

Jones was on the verge of his sixth shutout when Joe Colborne deflected in a point shot from Mark Giordano after the Flames defenceman gloved down a clearing attempt from Nick Spaling.

The power-play goal at 18:38 came on shot 48, seven more than Jones had faced before in an NHL game.

But the Sharks made sure he still got the win.

Brent Burns curled towards the net and centred a pass that Pavelski one-timed past Joni Ortio 19 sec-

onds into overtime.

“He was on. He was reading all the plays. You could see him anticipating everything. It was just one of those performances,” Pavelski said.

Jones improved to 33-17-4 on the season. He is third in the NHL in wins behind Braden Holtby (40) and Corey Crawford (35).

“He was unbelievable, huge save after huge save and he was there for the routine ones. He’s been playing amazing,” said Burns, who also had a goal giving him eight points (four goals, four assists) in his last four games.

Burns’ goal was his 24th, making him the first defenceman to reach that total since Washington’s Mike Green scored 31 in 2008-09.

It was the league-leading 24th road win for San Jose (36-23-6).

Calgary (27-34-5) has won just one of their last seven at the Scotiabank Saddledome (1-5-1). The Flames’ 48 shots on goal was their highest in a game since Nov. 18 2008, when they had 51 against Colorado.

See FLAMES on Page B2

Greg Meachem, Sports Editor, 403-314-4363 E-mail gmeachem@reddeeradvocate.com

OTTAWA — Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue appears to have everything in place to make a run at capturing that elusive Tim Hortons Brier title.

He has picked up some big wins this season and is skipping the top-ranked team in the country. Gushue is off to a great start at the national men’s curling championship and looks primed to be in the mix come playoff time.

His 13th career Brier appearance might just prove lucky. Gushue improved to 3-1 on Monday with a 7-5 victory over Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock.

“I think whoever wins is going to get some breaks and obviously play well,” Gushue said.

“It would be really nice to win with a field like this because you know you’ve beaten all the best teams.”

This year’s field is considered one of the most stacked in recent memory.

Gushue opened with a 5-4 victory over Manitoba’s Mike McEwen before dropping a 4-3 decision to Ontario’s Glenn Howard. Gushue bounced back with a 6-3 win over Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories before topping Laycock.

There are no easy draws in round-robin play this year.

“In my career in the Brier, you always get two or three games where you may not have to play your best to win. We don’t have that this week,” Gushue said. “It’s more like a (Olympic) Trials or a Canada Cup in that every game is going to be a grind. It’s going to be a really exhausting week I think, mentally, physically and emotionally.

“You’re going to have some losses and you’ve got to deal with those and just try to come out at the end of the week.”

Gushue reached the curling pinnacle in 2006 by winning Olympic gold at the Turin Games. He has come close at the Brier on occasion, taking silver in 2007 and bronze in 2011.

Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker are finishing their second full season together as a foursome.

“He’s just got that fire to go and be the best,” Nichols said. “There’s no fear to play against any teams. He knows that he’s good enough to keep up with anyone out there and he knows that our team is good enough to keep up with any other team out there too.

See BRIER on Page B2

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SPORTS

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

B2

Sharapova fails drug test, penalty unknown

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRING TRAINING

Dickey has solid outing in Jays win over Braves

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DUNEDIN, Fla. — R.A. Dickey tossed three scoreless innings, Michael Saunders hit his third homer in as many games and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Monday.

Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed one hit to Gordon Beckham to open the third. The knuckleballer threw 31 pitches and walked one.

“I think the No. 1 thing that I care about at this point is having a repeatable mechanic,” Dickey said. “Are my pitches in the strike zone? Are all three of the pitches that I mainly throw coming out of my hand in the strike zone and staying a strike for a long amount of time? And the answer to that is yes right now.”

“I just want to keep building that end to my foundation, and then I’ve got about three more weeks to build up a little more arm strength and be ready to go,” he said.

Saunders, who homered twice and drove in five runs during Saturday’s victory over Philadelphia, connected for a long solo shot to right field in the third off reliever Alexi Ogando.

“He’s confident, (and) that’s big,” manager John Gibbons said. “He feels good and he’s got something to prove here.”

After dropping 12 pounds and undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his right knee during the off-season, the 41-year-old Dickey said he’s feeling better than he has in a long time.

“I’m not necessarily a body image guy, but I want to feel good,” he said.

“I want to wake up out of bed and have those first five or six steps not kill me when I get up. Right now, I feel great. … Before, it wasn’t so much that way.”

STORIES FROM B1

FLAMES: Breaks your heart a little

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tennis star Maria Sharapova speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday. Sharapova says she has failed a drug test at the Australian Open. the change, neglecting to click on the link.

“I take great responsibility and professionalism in my job, and I made a huge mistake,” Sharapova said. “I let my fans down. I let the sport down that I’ve been playing since the age of 4, that I love so deeply.”

Meldonium, also known as mildronate, is a Latvian-manufactured drug popular for fighting heart disease in former Soviet Union countries. Meldonium treats ischemia, or lack of blood flow, but can be taken in large doses as a performance-enhancer.

Sharapova said she began taking

since childhood, Sharapova won a silver medal and served as Russia’s flag-bearer at the London Olympics four years ago.

“I think it’s all nonsense,” Shamil Tarpshchev, the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, told the state Tass agency. “Athletes take what they’re given by physiotherapists and doctors. I think that Sharapova will play at the Olympics anyway. But we have to see how events develop.”

Two Ukrainian biathletes and Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov have tested positive for meldonium since it was banned. Earlier Monday, Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova, a European champion ice dancer, told local media she had tested positive for meldonium.

Sharapova said she took the test shortly before she lost to Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Jan. 26. Sharapova hasn’t played since then while recovering from a forearm injury, and she had already dropped out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which begins this week.

“She is very organized and she takes her career very seriously,” Haggerty told the AP. “When she first started to take this back in 2006, she made sure it was approved, that it wasn’t on the banned list, and checked in future years. Because she had taken it for so many years, and it was OK year after year, it just got off the radar.

“When she got the letter, she was shocked, completely stunned. She takes great pride in her integrity and how she approaches the game, and she immediately wanted to come forward and take responsibility.”

Bret Hart: ‘It was really scary’ FORMER WRESTLER REFLECTS ON CANCER AND FUTURE RECOVERY

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS CALGARY — Canadian professional wrestler Bret Hart may have won the biggest bout of his life.

The grappler known as “The Hitman” spoke Monday about surgery he received for prostate cancer on Feb. 10 and said he’s feeling pretty good.

“I like to think, at least for right now, I’m cancer free. I’ve still got all of the followups and I’ve got to be checked regularly for the next couple of years,” he said at a news conference at the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre.

“You never know if the cancer is going to come back, but for the most part I’m through the hard part.”

The 58-year-old disclosed his cancer diagnosis on social media last month, but had known it was coming since last year.

“I kept it to myself for a long time, about six months. I debated on saying anything to anybody,” said Hart, who sat next to his urologist, Dr. Eric Hyndman.

“It was really scary for me, and the more I talked to people who had prostate cancer, it scared me more,” he added.

“Part of me went through the process to find some sort of Hail Mary. I had a lot of people recommend everything from baking soda and ozone therapy and all of these different things, but in the end I learned all my lessons from Steve Jobs (about) you can wait too long.”

Jobs, a co-founder of Apple, died of pancreatic cancer in 2011.

Hart underwent a robotic prostatectomy.

“That’s surgical removal of the prostate,” explained Hyndman. “I’m happy to report his margins were negative.

That means all the cancer should be out … and we’ll see how he does down the road.

“He’s got an excellent chance of being cured at this time.”

Hart was born into a legendary “That might be some of the best power-play zone time and chances that we’ve had all year. Could have had three or four easily,” said Colborne.

“Give them credit, sometimes you need a goalie to go out and steal you a game.

It was a pretty incredible game by Jonesy.”

Notes: Calgary D Jakub Nakladal (eye) did not play. He was replaced

by Tyler Wotherspoon, recalled from Stockton (AHL)… Sharks C Melker Karlsson (undisclosed) returned after missing two games due to injury…

Johnny Gaudreau entered the night second in the NHL in home points (2124-45) and tied for 97th in road points (3-15-18).

“Coming back with a minute left and then a quick goal in OT, that breaks your heart a little,” said Ortio, who had 21 stops to fall to 1-6-3.

The Flames entered the game 29th overall, only ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I’m very proud of our team,” said Flames coach Bob Hartley. “We’re a young team and sometimes it doesn’t always go our way but the one thing that we have to respect from our team is the effort. The commitment to leave everything on the ice, to play with energy, to play with passion and we’re getting this and that’s step one in the right EGGS BENEDICT direction.”

Burns opened the Two eggs on a grilled English Muffin with your choice of one of the following: ham, scoring 1:56 into the game bacon, sausage or tomato; topped with when he snapped a shot hollandaise sauce plus your choices from the blue line that of hashbrowns, pancakes went through a crowd of or fruit cup. bodies in front and found Available All Day the top corner.

Calgary took over the game from that point, bolstered by getting six of the game’s seven power plays.

Flames rookie Garnet Hathaway, who made his NHL debut a week ago, drew four of the penalties.

BRIER: Big difference

9

$ 95

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Former professional wrestler Bret Hart, right, and surgeon Dr. Eric Hyndman discuss the importance of PSA testing for men at a news conference in Calgary, Monday. wrestling family led by his father Stu Hart, founder of Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling.

The younger Hart made his in-ring debut in 1978 and took part in nearly 3,000 matches before his retirement.

The Calgarian gained popularity and championship success throughout the 1980s and ’90s in the World Wrestling Federation, where he headed The Hart Foundation.

He has had serious health issues before, including a significant stroke in

2002 that left him partially paralyzed, but from which he made a successful recovery.

He credits regular medical check ups and blood tests for the early diagnosis and said he was ordered to get in shape before his surgery.

“I think I went into this surgery about as prepared as you can get for my condition, being a broken down old horse ready for the glue factory.”

Full recovery is expected to take about six months.

“That makes a big difference.”

After seven draws, Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs was the lone unbeaten team at 4-0 after a 10-6 win over Canada’s Pat Simmons. Alberta’s Kevin Koe beat brother Jamie Koe 8-7 in the afternoon and then topped McEwen 9-4. The Alberta skip was alone in second place at 4-1 while Gushue was in third at 3-1.

Howard defeated New Brunswick’s Mike Kennedy 9-6 to move into a tie at 3-2 with Simmons, who dropped a surprise 6-4 decision to Prince Edward Island’s Adam Casey earlier in the day.

“In this Brier, if you give an inch — and we gave a few out there — they’re going to bite you,” said Canada third John Morris. “It doesn’t matter what team you’re playing.”

McEwen and B.C.’s Jim Cotter were at 2-2 while Laycock moved to 2-3 after topping Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard

7-3 in the evening.

Round-robin play continues through Friday morning.

“I think we’re one of the favourites, one of a group of four, five, six or seven teams,” Gushue said. “It’s nice to be in that but I don’t think we’re coming in here with people gunning for us. I think they’re gunning for everybody.”

Quebec, New Brunswick and P.E.I. were at 1-3 and Jamie Koe remained winless at 0-4.

The playoffs start Friday night and the medal games are scheduled for Sunday. The Brier champion will represent Canada at the men’s world curling championship next month in Basel, Switzerland.

Team Canada wore camouflage uniforms for both draws on Support Our Troops Day at TD Place. Many fans wore red clothing to show support for the Canadian Armed Forces.

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LOS ANGELES — Maria Sharapova’s tennis career and Olympic hopes are in jeopardy, and she claims it’s all because she failed to click on a link in an email that would have told her to stop taking meldonium.

The five-time major champion says she failed a doping test at the Australian Open in January for the little-known drug, which became a banned substance under the WADA code this year. The former world No. 1 took full responsibility for her mistake when she made the announcement at a news conference Monday in Los Angeles.

Sharapova could face a lengthy ban from the International Tennis Federation, possibly ending her season and preventing her from competing for Russia at the Rio Olympics.

“I know that with this, I face consequences,” Sharapova said. “I don’t want to end my career this way, and I really hope I will be given another chance to play this game.”

The 28-year-old Sharapova received notice last week that she tested positive for meldonium, a blood flow-promoting drug she has been taking for 10 years for numerous health issues.

Meldonium was banned because it aids oxygen uptake and endurance, and several athletes across international sports have already been caught using it.

Sharapova and all players were notified of the changes in the WADA banned substances list in December.

Sharapova claimed she simply missed

meldonium for “several health issues I had back in 2006,” including a magnesium deficiency, regular influenza, “irregular” heart test results and early indications of diabetes, of which she has a family history.

Sharapova’s penalties could range from a multiyear ban to a minimal sanction with no suspension if officials believe she made an honest mistake.

WADA President Craig Reedie told The Associated Press that any athlete found guilty of using meldonium would normally face a one-year suspension.

The ITF’s anti-doping program announced in a statement that Sharapova will be provisionally suspended starting this weekend while her case is examined. WADA spokesman Ben Nichols said the organization won’t comment until the ITF makes a decision.

Sharapova and her attorney, John J. Haggerty, declined to say where Sharapova was put on the drug or where she gets it now, citing the ongoing process with the ITF. Meldonium is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“I understand the drug is sold particularly in Eastern Europe,” Reedie told the AP in a telephone interview.

“You can almost get it over the counter. For stronger versions, you might need a prescription. There has been a whole rash of these cases since the 1st of January when it appeared on the banned list. This might not be happening if athletes would be taking more care of the things that are on the list.”

Reedie said meldonium can be “very strong medicine.”

Although she has lived in the U.S.

SPORTS

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

B3

Manning says goodbye to the game JOKES, CHOKES UP DURING RETIREMENT REMARKS

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Peyton Manning got through the weekend thanks to hundreds of texts and calls from men he played against or alongside over his unparalleled 18-year NFL career.

He had to crack a few jokes to help fight back the tears at his retirement news conference Monday, when the words didn’t always come as easy as the emotions.

His voice cracking, especially when he mentioned his hero, Johnny Unitas, Manning said goodbye to the game he loved in an auditorium packed with friends, family and laughter.

Manning, who turns 40 this month, said the timing was simply right to call one last audible one month after winning his second Super Bowl trophy.

“I thought about it a lot, prayed about it a lot … it was just the right time,” Manning said. “I don’t throw as good as I used to, don’t run as good as I used to, but I have always had good timing.”

Manning came to Denver on March 20, 2012, for the chance to win another title in the twilight of his career.

General manager John Elway had the blueprints.

Four years later, he hobbles away a champion, just like his boss did 17 years ago.

Manning is going golfing later this week with brothers Cooper and Eli — whose trip to Denver Monday morning was scuttled by a stomach bug.

Manning plans to travel to Indianapolis later this month for a lower-key goodbye, nothing like this one, and said he’ll still participate in his family’s annual passing academy this summer.

Aside from that, it’s anybody’s guess.

Maybe a front office or a broadcast booth beckons. He hasn’t ruled out anything other than this: he and his wife and 5-year-old twins won’t be moving out of Denver. They love it here.

“I’m totally convinced that the end of my football career is just the beginning of something I haven’t even discovered yet,” Manning said. “Life is not shrinking for me it’s morphing into a whole new world of possibilities.”

Monday wasn’t a day to ahead but a time to take stock.

“When I look back on my NFL career, I’ll know without a doubt that I gave everything I had to help my teams walk away with a win,” Manning said.

“There were other players who were more talented, but there was no one could out-prepare me, and because of that I have no regrets.”

Elway thanked Manning for coming to Colorado, saying he made his own job easier, noting that with Manning living here, free agents were basically asking Elway “where do I sign?”

It was through the eyes of a former QB and not those of a GM that Elway really enjoyed watching Manning, however.

“Peyton Manning revolutionized the game,” Elway said. “We all used to think a no-huddle was a fast pace, get to the line of scrimmage and get people off-balance. Peyton revolutionized it, and you know what, we’re going to get to the line of scrimmage, take our time, I’m going to find out what you’re doing and then I’m going to pick you apart.

“I can’t tell you how many times I said, ‘Dang, why didn’t we think of that?”’

Manning went 50-15 in Denver, leading the Broncos to four AFC West titles, two Super Bowl trips, one championship, and in 2013 guided the highest-scoring offence in league history.

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning speaks during his retirement announcement at team headquarters Monday, in Englewood, Colo. Manning, who has been in the NFL for the past 18 years, is retiring after winning five MVP trophies and two Super Bowl championships, the most recent last month against the Carolina Panthers.

All after retraining himself to throw following a series of neck fusion surgeries forced him to miss the 2011 season and he was cut by the Colts.

Former Colorado Rockies slugger Todd Helton, Manning’s teammate at Tennessee in the 1990s, once told the story about how Manning’s right arm was so shot after his neck operations that he thought Peyton was goofing around when he threw a football and it fluttered like a wounded duck.

“He had nothing,” Helton recounted. “But I knew he’d come back and be Peyton Manning again because nobody else works that hard.”

Manning revealed last summer he still had no feeling in the fingertips of

his right hand, and yet he threw 140 of his NFL-best 539 TD passes for the Broncos, including a record 55 in 2013.

Team president Joe Ellis told Manning, “If there is a list of achievements needed to attain greatness, you’ve checked every box.”

Elway was equally emotional when he walked away from the game after winning his second championship in 1999, and on Monday he said, “Having been through it, I know it’s a hard day for him.”

Indeed, Manning choked up several times, especially when he listed all the things he’d miss about football: deciphering defences the flights home after a big win his teammates.

Teams get ready to fill holes with free agents NFL

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — NFL free agency is about filling holes. In some cases, Grand Canyons.

While the draft often comes down to who is the highest-rated player overall when a team’s turn comes — even when the draftee doesn’t necessarily fill a huge need — the spending spree that begins Wednesday is a much different marketplace.

First off, not everyone initially eligible winds up available. Did anybody really think the Broncos would let Super Bowl MVP linebacker Von Miller get away?

Second, the price tags for rookies pretty much are set. There’s virtually no ceiling on how much free agents will cost, particularly when there are multiple bidders.

Plus, many teams prefer to re-sign their guys, who have been schooled in their schemes, especially when they’ve had success in that system.

“That kind of goes back to my philosophy, with one-year contracts and not being so active in free agency and guaranteeing large numbers,” Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim says. “Because when you get in that position, you have cap casualties,

you have dead money that follows.

And I think it’s one of those situations where you always have to be in a winnow mode. You can never say, ‘We’re building for the future.’ Fans don’t want to hear that. Organizations don’t want to hear that. Our expectations are to win and win now.

“So, again, you have to draft well and you have to supplement through free agency. It’s a difficult task because you have to have a tough balance, but at the same time, in free agency, it can be fool’s gold. You see these guys, why do they hit the market, No. 1? And No. 2, the money that comes attached to those players.

“My philosophy has always been to somewhat sit back, let the market play itself out, see where the numbers go and find the guys who are the right people, passionate players to fill in your locker room.”

Such thinking doesn’t run rampant throughout the NFL. So here’s what team owners, GMs, personnel directors and coaches will be looking at in free agency.

HEAD OF THE CLASS A year ago, Ndamukong Suh, DeMarco Murray and Julius Thomas were near the top of the ratings. How did that work out for Miami, Philadelphia and Jacksonville?

Still, there are plenty of prime candidates to help teams, even at a steep

Redskins announce they have released QB Robert Griffin III WASHINGTON — The Redskins have released Robert Griffin III, four years after trading a bevy of draft picks to take the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback with the No. 2 overall choice.

The NFC East champions announced the move Monday. They had made clear it was coming.

The Redskins had until Wednesday to part ways with Griffin and prevent his 2016 contract worth about $16 million from becoming guaranteed. Griffin becomes a free agent and can sign anywhere.

The release closes the book on Griffin’s tumultuous tenure in Washington, which included 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honours but also injuries and clashes with coaches Mike Shanahan and Jay Gruden.

Working to free up space under the salary cap, the Redskins also released safeties Dashon Goldson and Jeron Johnson, as well as defensive end Jason Hatcher on Monday.

Taking that trio and Griffin off the books removes nearly $30 million from Washington’s spending toward the cap and brings the team below the ceiling.

In addition, fullback Darrel Young and nose tackle Terrance “Pot Roast” Knighton indicated on Twitter that they would not be brought back by Washington.

The day’s most noteworthy — if not unexpected — move by Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan involved Griffin, who wrote on Instagram: “After 4 years, my days as a part of this team have come to an end.”

Griffin’s departure is the culmination of a sudden rise and stunning fall for the QB, who didn’t play last season for the NFC East champions as Kirk Cousins took over as the starter.

RG3 arrived via a draft pick that came from the Rams at the high price of three first-round selections plus a second-rounder — and he immediately became a star and national sensation.

price. Such as: Kelechi Osemele, OG, Baltimore — He’s a Pro Bowl-caliber guard but has also proved to be a more than capable starting tackle for significant stretches of his four-year career, including the Ravens’ 2012 Super Bowl season.

Doug Martin, RB, Tampa Bay — An All-Pro in 2015, Martin has sandwiched two 1,400-yard rushing performances around two injury-plagued seasons. At 27, and with versatility, he should have plenty of value, albeit not likely for more than a four-year deal.

Alex Mack, C, Cleveland — One of the league’s best at any position despite playing in a losing situation throughout his career. If he leaves Browns, his new team gets a dependable, smart leader.

Malik Jackson, DL, Denver — The first of a trio of champions available, Jackson can play end or tackle, depending on the alignment, and will be a major contributor regardless.

Danny Trevathan, LB, Denver — Miller and DeMarcus Ware deserved the fanfare they got. But who was the most active tackler in the Mile High city? This guy.

Brock Osweiler, QB, Denver — Yes, the resume is short, but with so many quarterback-famished clubs in a passing league, Osweiler will get plenty of love if the Broncos don’t quickly ante up. They had better with Peyton Manning retiring.

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING EDMONTON — The Red Deer Synchronized Swim Club turned in a strong performance at the Wildrose provincial qualifiers during the weekend.

The entire Red Deer team qualified for the provincials, which will be held in Lethbridge in April.

Kia Risling won silver in the 13-15 year-old figures, solo routine and Championship Mark.

Risling teamed with Haley Poole to finish fourth in the 13-15 duet routine and sixth in the Championship Mark.

Risling, Poole, Piper Jackson, Olivia Moreau and Hailey Oliver were sixth in routine and Championship Mark in the 14-15 team competition.

Moreau also finished 10th in the 11-12 year-old figures.

CA KINGS VOLLEYBALL The Central Alberta Kings Volleyball Club U18 Black team captured third place in the second Volleyball

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NEXT IN LINE These players are not far behind the half-dozen above, but some come with significant questions marks. Listed alphabetically: Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Arian Foster, RB, Houston Damon Harrison, DT, New York Jets Janoris Jenkins, CB, Los Angeles Terrance Knighton, DT, Washington James Laurinaitis, LB, Los Angeles Chris Long, DE, Los Angeles Lamar Miller, RB, Miami Reggie Nelson, S, Cincinnati Russell Okung, OT, Seattle Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, New York Giants Mitchell Schwartz, OT, Cleveland Sean Smith, CB, Kansas City Eric Weddle, S, San Diego.

SECOND WAVE Some of these players might get quick deals more because of the position they play than their overall production. Listed alphabetically: Robert Ayers, DE, New York Giants Kelvin Beachum, OT, Pittsburgh Anquan Boldin, WR, San Francisco Alex Boone, OG, San Francisco Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, New York Jets Tamba Hali, LB, Kansas City Jaye Howard, DT, Kansas City George Iloka, S, Cincinnati Richie Incognito, OG, Buffalo Bruce Irvin, LB, Seattle Chris Ivory, RB, New York Jets Derrick Johnson, LB, Kansas City Marvin Jones, WR, Cincinnati Donald Penn, OT, Oakland

The novice duet of Andi Tiechroeb and Taylor Van Langen captured gold for their routine and silver in the Championship Mark. Tiechroeb received a bronze in her novice figures.

Tiechroeb and Van Langen swam on the novice team with Rylee Melenychuk and Olivia Miller and earned bronze in the team routine and Championship Mark.

The 11-12 team of Jolie Chavarria, Kaetlyn Fuller, Anna Gordon, Koda Reeleder, Sophie Schmidt, Chloe Vandenhurk and Mia Wright placed eighth for routine and ninth in their Champion Mark.

Red Deer Rebels

Alberta Premier tournament during the weekend.

The Kings defeated the Edmonton NOOKS U17 team 2-0 to maintain their third-place provincial standing.

Overall 27 teams competed in the two-day event.

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THE ADVOCATE B4

SCOREBOARD TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

Local Sports

Hockey

Today

● WHL: Prince Albert Raiders at Red Deer Rebels, 7 p.m., Centrium.

Thursday

● Senior high basketball: 4A Central zone finals — Girls: Hunting Hills Lightning at Lindsay Thurber Raiders, 6 p.m.; Boys: Notre Dame Cougars at Lindsay Thurber Raiders, 7:45 p.m. ● College women’s hockey: NAIT Ooks at RDC Queens, third game of best-of-five ACAC final, 7 p.m., Arena. ● College men’s basketball: RDC Kings at Canadian championship at New Westminster, B.C.

Kings at Canadian championship at New Westminster, B.C.

Saturday

● College women’s hockey: NAIT Ooks at RDC Queens, fifth game of best-of-five ACAC final, if necessary, 2:30 p.m., Arena ● Major midget girls hockey: Spruce Grove Saints at Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs, 4:45 p.m., Collicutt Centre. ● College men’s basketball: RDC Kings at Canadian championship at New Westminster, B.C. ● WHL: Lethbridge Hurricanes at Red Deer Rebels, 7 p.m., Centrium.

Sunday

Friday

● WHL: Red Deer Rebels at Lethbridge Hurricanes, 7 p.m. (The Drive). ● College men’s basketball: RDC

● Major midget girls hockey: Spruce Grove Saints at Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs, 2:15 p.m., Collicutt Centre.

Curling 2016 Tim Hortons Brier OTTAWA — Results Monday following the seventh draw at the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, to be held through Sunday in TD Place at Lansdowne Park: ROUND ROBIN Team (Skip) Northern Ontario (Jacobs) Alberta (K.Koe) Nfld. & Labrador (Gushue) Canada (Simmons) Ontario (Howard) B.C. (Cotter) Manitoba (McEwen) Saskatchewan (Laycock) Quebec (JM Menard) New Brunswick (Kennedy) P.E.I. (Casey) Northwest Territories (J.Koe)

W 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 0

L 0 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4

Monday’s results Sixth Draw Alberta 8 Northwest Territories 7 (extra end) B.C. 9 Ontario 5 Newfoundland & Labrador 7 Saskatchewan 5 P.E.I. 6 Canada 4 Seventh Draw Alberta 9 Manitoba 4 Northern Ontario 10 Canada 6 Ontario 9 New Brunswick 6 Saskatchewan 7 Quebec 3

Fourth Draw Alberta 10 P.E.I. 4 Canada 6 Northwest Territories 3 Ontario 4 Newfoundland & Labrador 3 (extra end) Saskatchewan 8 B.C. 4 Fifth Draw Manitoba 6 New Brunswick 3 Newfoundland & Labrador 6 Northwest Territories 3 Northern Ontario 5 B.C. 3 Quebec 4 P.E.I. 2 Tuesday’s games Eighth Draw, 7:30 a.m.

Manitoba vs. Northwest Territories, New Brunswick vs. Newfoundland & Labrador, P.E.I. vs. Northern Ontario, B.C. vs. Quebec.

Ninth Draw, 12:30 p.m.

Saskatchewan vs. P.E.I., B.C. vs. Canada, Newfoundland & Labrador vs. Alberta, Northwest Territories vs. Ontario.

Draw 10, 5:30 p.m.

Quebec vs. Ontario, Alberta vs. Northern Ontario, Manitoba vs. Canada, New Brunswick vs. Saskatchewan.

Wednesday’s games Draw 11, 7:30 a.m.

B.C. vs. Alberta, Ontario vs. P.E.I., Northwest Territories vs. Saskatchewan, Newfoundland & Labrador vs. Canada.

Draw 12, 12:30 p.m.

New Brunswick vs. Canada, Saskatchewan vs.

Manitoba, Alberta vs. Quebec, Ontario vs. Northern Ontario.

Draw 13, 5:30 p.m.

Northwest Territories vs. Northern Ontario, Newfoundland & Labrador vs. Quebec, New Brunswick vs. P.E.I., Manitoba vs. B.C.

Sunday’s results Third Draw Alberta 10 New Brunswick 4 Canada 5 Saskatchewan 4 Manitoba 6 Ontario 2 Northern Ontario 5 Quebec 4 (extra end)

Basketball

Cleveland Indiana Chicago Detroit Milwaukee

Southeast Division W L Pct 37 26 .587 35 28 .556 34 28 .548 30 32 .484 27 34 .443

GB — 2 2 1/2 6 1/2 9

Central Division W L Pct 44 18 .710 34 30 .531 32 30 .516 32 31 .508 26 38 .406

GB — 11 12 12 1/2 19

WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pct GB x-San Antonio 53 10 .841 — Memphis 38 25 .603 15 Dallas 33 31 .516 20 1/2 Houston 31 32 .492 22 New Orleans 24 38 .387 28 1/2

Oklahoma Portland Utah Denver Minnesota

Northwest Division W L Pct City 43 20 33 31 .516 29 33 .468 25 38 .397 20 44 .313

GA 191 197 221 236 287 227

Pt 92 80 76 70 54 54

GF 276 234 214 188 199 137

GA 198 189 202 213 263 293

Pt 88 85 76 63 57 26

WESTERN CONFERENCE B.C. DIVISION GP W LOTLSOL GF x-Victoria 67 45 16 3 3 256 x-Kelowna 65 44 18 3 0 234 Prince George 67 36 27 3 1 232 Kamloops 66 32 25 5 4 216 Vancouver 68 23 37 5 3 192

GA 154 194 206 209 251

Pt 96 91 76 73 54

x-Lethbridge x-Red Deer x-Calgary Edmonton Medicine Hat Kootenay

CENTRAL DIVISION GP W LOTLSOL 66 43 21 1 1 66 41 22 1 2 65 36 25 2 2 66 28 31 6 1 66 26 35 3 2 66 10 50 6 0

U.S. DIVISION GP W LOTLSOL GF GA Pt x-Seattle 66 40 23 3 0 211 177 83 Everett 65 36 22 4 3 170 152 79 Portland 65 33 28 4 0 209 203 70 Spokane 65 30 26 5 4 202 220 69 Tri-City 66 31 32 2 1 216 232 65 x — clinched playoff berth Note: winning team is credited with two points and a victory in the W column a team losing in overtime or shootout receives one point which is registered in the respective OTL or SOL column.

Monday’s results Edmonton 5 Saskatoon 2 Moose Jaw 6 Swift Current 4 Sunday’s results Brandon 8 Regina 1 Red Deer 4 Calgary 3 Seattle 4 Tri-City 0 Tuesday’s games Lethbridge at Kootenay, 7 p.m.

Prince Albert at Red Deer, 7 p.m.

Saskatoon at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Portland at Everett, 8:05 p.m.

Kamloops at Tri-City, 8:05 p.m.

St. Louis 4, Minnesota 2

Wednesday’s games Regina at Swift Current, 6 p.m.

Prince Albert at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.

Kamloops at Spokane, 8:05 p.m.

Prince George at Kelowna, 8:05 p.m.

Monday’s Games Buffalo 4, Toronto 3, SO Philadelphia 4, Tampa Bay 2 Boston 5, Florida 4, OT Colorado 3, Arizona 1 San Jose 2, Calgary 1, OT Washington at Anaheim, late Vancouver at Los Angeles, late

Thursday’s games No Games Scheduled.

National Hockey League EASTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts Washington 65 48 13 4 100 Tampa Bay 66 39 23 4 82 N.Y. Rangers 66 38 22 6 82 Florida 66 36 21 9 81 Boston 67 37 23 7 81 N.Y. Islanders 63 36 20 7 79 Pittsburgh 65 34 23 8 76 Detroit 65 32 22 11 75 Philadelphia 65 31 23 11 73 Carolina 66 29 26 11 69 New Jersey 67 31 29 7 69 Ottawa 67 31 29 7 69 Montreal 66 30 30 6 66 Buffalo 67 27 31 9 63 Columbus 66 27 31 8 62 Toronto 65 21 33 11 53

GF 212 185 188 181 207 184 179 164 167 161 148 193 179 160 173 155

GA 150 159 171 161 184 158 166 172 174 178 170 208 185 181 205 194

Tuesday’s Games N.Y. Rangers at Buffalo, 5 p.m.

Pittsburgh at N.Y. Islanders, 5 p.m.

Ottawa at Carolina, 5 p.m.

Detroit at Columbus, 5 p.m.

Dallas at Montreal, 5:30 p.m.

Boston at Tampa Bay, 5:30 p.m.

Nashville at Winnipeg, 6 p.m.

San Jose at Edmonton, 7 p.m.

Wednesday’s Games N.Y. Islanders at Toronto, 5 p.m.

Chicago at St. Louis, 6 p.m.

Nashville at Calgary, 7:30 p.m.

Anaheim at Colorado, 8 p.m.

Arizona at Vancouver, 8 p.m.

Washington at Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday’s Games Dallas 2, Ottawa 1 Pittsburgh 6, New Jersey 1 N.Y. Islanders 6, N.Y. Rangers 4 Chicago 4, Detroit 1 Edmonton 2, Winnipeg 1

Monday’s summary Sharks 2, Flames 1 (OT) First Period 1. San Jose, Burns 24 (unassisted) 1:56.

Penalties — Thornton SJ (interference) 5:39 Giordano Cgy (interference) 6:13 Dillon SJ (tripping) 15:03 Karlsson SJ (tripping) 16:40.

Second Period No Scoring.

Penalties — Martin SJ (high-sticking) 3:58 Burns SJ, Hathaway Cgy (fighting) 8:03 Burns SJ (double high-sticking, served by Hertl) 8:03 Hathaway Cgy (misconduct) 8:03 Hathaway Cgy (instigator) 8:03 Ward SJ (high-sticking) 18:14.

Third Period 2. Calgary, Colborne 12 (Giordano) 18:38 (pp).

Penalties — Dillon SJ (delay of game) 17:18.

Overtime 3. San Jose, Pavelski 30 (Burns, Thornton) :19.

Penalties — None.

Shots on goal San Jose 7 4 11 1 — 23 Calgary 12 18 18 0 — 48 Goal — San Jose: Jones (W, 33-17-4). Calgary: Ortio (L, 1-6-3).

Power plays (goals-chances) — San Jose: 0-1 Calgary: 1-6.

games against non-major league teams do not.

Chicago White Sox 9, L.A. Angels (ss) 4

Sunday’s Games Boston 8, Baltimore 7 Philadelphia 6, N.Y. Yankees 5 Minnesota 5, Tampa Bay 4 Detroit 9, Miami 2 Houston (ss) 11, Pittsburgh 8 Washington 5, St. Louis 2 Houston (ss) 7, Toronto 1 N.Y. Mets 7, Atlanta 5 L.A. Dodgers 5, San Francisco 2 Seattle 7, Texas 3 Colorado 9, Cincinnati 3 Chicago White Sox 8, San Diego (ss) 1 Milwaukee 6, Cleveland 5 Kansas City 6, L.A. Angels 1 Arizona 8, Chicago Cubs 3 Oakland 6, San Diego (ss) 5

Tuesday’s Games Washington vs. Houston, 11:05 a.m.

N.Y. Yankees vs. Miami, 11:05 a.m.

Tampa Bay vs. Detroit, 11:05 a.m.

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia, 11:05 a.m.

St. Louis vs. Minnesota (ss), 11:05 a.m.

N.Y. Mets vs. Atlanta, 11:05 a.m.

Boston vs. Baltimore, 11:05 a.m.

Minnesota (ss) vs. Toronto, 11:07 a.m.

L.A. Angels vs. Arizona (ss), 12:10 p.m.

Texas vs. Oakland, 1:05 p.m.

Milwaukee vs. Chicago White Sox, 1:05 p.m.

Colorado vs. Kansas City, 1:05 p.m.

L.A. Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs, 1:05 p.m.

Seattle vs. Cleveland, 1:05 p.m.

Arizona (ss) vs. San Diego, 1:10 p.m.

Cincinnati vs. San Francisco, 7:05 p.m.

Monday’s Games Minnesota 3, Baltimore 0 Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2, 10 innings Philadelphia 1, Pittsburgh 0 St. Louis 9, N.Y. Mets (ss) 4 Houston 1, N.Y. Yankees 0 Washington 7, Miami 4 Toronto 3, Atlanta 1 N.Y. Mets (ss) 7, Detroit 3 Kansas City (ss) 3, Chicago Cubs (ss) 2 Texas 6, San Francisco 5 San Diego 8, Milwaukee 2 Oakland 6, Kansas City (ss) 4 Cincinnati 8, L.A. Angels (ss) 5 Cleveland 8, L.A. Dodgers 5 Arizona 10, Seattle 8 Colorado 4, Chicago Cubs (ss) 2

Wednesday’s Games Washington vs. Detroit, 11:05 a.m.

Miami vs. St. Louis, 11:05 a.m.

Toronto vs. Tampa Bay, 11:05 a.m.

Atlanta vs. Houston, 11:05 a.m.

Baltimore vs. Philadelphia (ss), 11:05 a.m.

Philadelphia (ss) vs. Minnesota, 11:05 a.m.

Boston vs. Pittsburgh, 11:05 a.m.

N.Y. Yankees vs. N.Y. Mets, 11:10 a.m.

Milwaukee vs. Kansas City (ss), 1:05 p.m.

Colorado vs. San Francisco, 1:05 p.m.

Texas vs. Cincinnati, 1:05 p.m.

Oakland vs. Chicago White Sox, 1:05 p.m.

Cleveland vs. Chicago Cubs, 1:05 p.m.

L.A. Dodgers vs. L.A. Angels, 1:10 p.m.

San Diego vs. Arizona, 1:10 p.m.

Kansas City (ss) vs. Seattle, 1:10 p.m.

WESTERN

CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts GF GA Chicago 67 41 21 5 87 191 160 Anaheim 64 37 19 8 82 164 149 Dallas 67 40 20 7 87 215 192 Los Angeles 64 38 22 4 80 170 148 St. Louis 67 38 20 9 85 170 164 San Jose 65 36 23 6 78 195 174 Nashville 66 33 21 12 78 181 168 Minnesota 67 31 26 10 72 177 169 Colorado 68 34 30 4 72 183 195 Vancouver 64 25 27 12 62 156 183 Arizona 66 28 32 6 62 175 207 Winnipeg 65 27 33 5 59 169 194 Calgary 66 27 34 5 59 178 207 Edmonton 68 26 35 7 59 167 201 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.

Baseball Major League Baseball Spring Training AMERICAN LEAGUE W L Houston 5 1 Toronto 5 1 Minnesota 4 1 Texas 4 1 Chicago 3 1 Oakland 3 2 Boston 3 3 Detroit 4 4 Seattle 3 3 Tampa Bay 3 3 New York 2 4 Kansas City 2 5 Los Angeles 2 5 Cleveland 1 4 Baltimore 0 7

Pct .833 .833 .800 .800 .750 .600 .500 .500 .500 .500 .333 .286 .286 .200 .000

NATIONAL LEAGUE

National Basketball Association EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB Toronto 41 20 .672 — Boston 38 26 .594 4 1/2 New York 26 38 .406 16 1/2 Brooklyn 18 45 .286 24 Philadelphia 8 55 .127 34

Miami Atlanta Charlotte Washington Orlando

WHL EASTERN CONFERENCE EAST DIVISION GP W LOTLSOL GF x-Brandon 67 43 18 4 2 291 x-Prince Albert 65 36 21 7 1 205 x-Moose Jaw 67 34 25 7 1 235 x-Regina 66 31 27 3 5 218 Saskatoon 66 25 37 4 0 205 Swift Current 66 23 35 5 3 175

GB .683 10 13 18 23

— 1/2 1/2 1/2

Pacific Division

W x-Golden State L.A. Clippers 41 Sacramento 25 Phoenix 17 L.A. Lakers 13 x-clinched playoff spot

L 55 21 37 46 51

Pct 6 .661 .403 .270 .203

GB .902 14 30 39 43

— 1/2 1/2 1/2

Sunday’s Games L.A. Lakers 112, Golden State 95 Oklahoma City 104, Milwaukee 96 Phoenix 109, Memphis 100 Denver 116, Dallas 114, OT Miami 103, Philadelphia 98 Detroit 123, Portland 103 Houston 113, Toronto 107 Monday’s Games Memphis 106, Cleveland 103 Indiana 99, San Antonio 91 Charlotte 108, Minnesota 103 Chicago 100, Milwaukee 90 New Orleans 115, Sacramento 112 L.A. Clippers 109, Dallas 90 Orlando at Golden State, late Tuesday’s Games Brooklyn at Toronto, 5:30 p.m.

San Antonio at Minnesota, 6 p.m.

Atlanta at Utah, 7 p.m.

New York at Denver, 7 p.m.

Washington at Portland, 8 p.m.

Orlando at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s Games Memphis at Boston, 5 p.m.

Houston at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.

New Orleans at Charlotte, 5 p.m.

Miami at Milwaukee, 6 p.m.

Detroit at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.

New York at Phoenix, 7 p.m.

L.A. Clippers at Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m.

Cleveland at Sacramento, 8 p.m.

Utah at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.

Transactions Monday’s Sports Transactions BASEBALL Major League Baseball MLB — Named of Del Matthews senior director of baseball development.

American League BOSTON RED SOX — Reassigned LHP Danny Rosenbaum to their minor league camp.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Assigned LHP Tyler DeLoach and Cs Stephen McGee, Michael Strentz and Wade Wass to their minor league camp.

National League COLORADO ROCKIES — Signed RHPs Christian Bergman, Chad Bettis, Eddie Butler, Miguel Castro, Jairo Diaz, Carlos Estevez, Jon Gray, David Hale, German Marquez, Justin Miller, Scott Oberg and Antonio Senzatela LHPs Tyler Anderson, Tyler Matzek and Chris Rusin Cs Dustin Garneau, Tom Murphy and Tony Wolters Cristhian Adames, Ben Paulsen, Trevor Story and Rafael Ynoa and OF Raimel Tapia to one-year contracts.

SAN DIEGO PADRES — Reassigned RHP Martires Arias and INF Carlos Asuaje to minor league camp.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Agreed to sell a majority interest in Memphis (PCL) to Peter B. Freund.

Pacific Coast League SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS — Extended the player development contract with the San Francisco Giants through the 2020 season.

BASKETBALL National Basketball Association NBA — Fined Boston G Marcus Smart $15,000 for making an obscene gesture during a March 4 game against New York.

INDIANA PACERS — Signed G Ty Lawson.

NEW YORK KNICKS — Assigned F Cleanthony Early to Westchester (NBADL).

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS — Claimed G-F Sonny Weems off of waivers. Released F Christian Wood.

FOOTBALL National Football League ATLANTA FALCONS — Re-signed CB Ricardo Allen.

BALTIMORE RAVENS — Signed CB Shareece Wright to a three-year contract.

CINCINNATI BENGALS — Signed C T.J. Johnson.

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Re-signed LB Tank Carder. Signed DL Jamie Meder and RB Raheem Mostert.

DENVER BRONCOS — Announced the retirement of QB Peyton Manning.

HOUSTON TEXANS — Signed G-T Jeff Adams and CB Charles James to contract extensions.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Released QB Josh Freeman. Re-signed TE Dwayne Allen to a contract extension.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Signed DE Ryan Davis.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Re-signed S Andrew Sendejo, WR Adam Thielen and OT Carter Bykowski.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Re-signed S Robert Golden to a three-year contract. Agreed to terms with WR Darrius Heyward-Bey on a three-year contract.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Agreed to terms with DT Ahtyba Rubin.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Announced the retirement of OL Logan Mankins.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS — Released S Dashon Goldson, QB Robert Griffin III, DE Jason Hatcher and S Jeron Johnson.

HOCKEY National Hockey League CALGARY FLAMES — Recalled D Tyler Wotherspoon from Stockton (AHL).

NASHVILLE PREDATORS — Recalled F Colton Sissons from Milwaukee (AHL).

NEW YORK RANGERS — Recalled D Brady Skjei from Hartford (AHL).

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING — Lifted the suspension of F Jonathan Drouin and assigned him to Syracuse (AHL).

American Hockey League AHL — Suspended Providence LW Zac Rinaldo five games following his match penalty for an illegal check to the head of an opponent in a March 4 game against Bridgeport.

BAKERSFIELD CONDORS — Loaned F Andrew Miller to Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE CHECKERS — Loaned F Zach Boychuk to Bakersfield. Loaned C T.J. Hensick to Utica.

SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE — Recalled D Mason Geertsen from Fort Wayne (ECHL).

STOCKTON HEAT — Acquired D Yann Sauve from Portland Pirates for future considerations.

UTICA COMETS — Loaned C Blair Jones from Charlotte.

SOCCER Major League Soccer COLORADO RAPIDS — Acquired M Jermaine Jones from New England for general allocation money and a 2017 first-round draft pick.

LA GALAXY — Signed F Ariel Lassiter.

NEW YORK RED BULLS — Waived M Scott Thomsen.

W L Pct Washington 5 1 .833 Milwaukee 4 1 .800 Los Angeles 3 1 .750 Arizona 4 2 .667 Cincinnati 4 2 .667 Colorado 4 2 .667 New York 3 2 .600 St. Louis 3 2 .600 Philadelphia 4 3 .571 San Francisco 3 4 .429 Pittsburgh 2 4 .333 San Diego 2 5 .286 Miami 1 4 .200 Atlanta 1 5 .167 Chicago 1 5 .167 NOTE: Split-squad games count in the standings

Mushers set off from Alaska town as Iditarod begins

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WILLOW, Alaska — Eightyfive mushers set off Sunday to conquer the toughest terrain this nation has to offer, vying to become the first to reach Alaska’s western coast with their dog teams.

Scott Janssen, an undertaker from Anchorage who is known as the Mushing Mortician, was the first to leave across Willow Lake in the staggered started to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Dallas Seavey was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt as he packed his sled under blue skies and warm temperatures. He said it felt just like another day for him and his dogs, doing their thing.

That could be bad news for the field as Seavey has won three out of the last four races.

“If we have a good race, we should have a good finish. If we can maximize this team, we’ll get there fast,” he said of

the dash for the finish line under the burled arch in Nome.

The winner is expected in about nine days after travelling over two mountain ranges, the Yukon River and battling the fierce winds along the Bering Sea coast.

He said there are “a lot of really good teams, there’s a lot of people who could win.

There’s a lot of people that maybe should win that won’t.

That’s actually why we go run the race, and we’ll figure it out in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Besides Seavey, there are six other former champions in the race, including four-time winner Lance Mackey.

Last year, Mackey struggled to finish the race. The cancer survivor also has a condition which affects blood circulation in his hands, and he had problems caring for his dogs last year. His brother, musher Jason Mackey, helped with dog care so Lance could finish the race.

When asked Sunday if his

hands were good, Lance Mackey said, “Well, to a degree.”

He has had continued treatment on his hands, including a surgery last month that took out a nail bed on one finger.

He said the pain level has been reduced a bit, and he was ready to get the race started.

“If we don’t have a good run this year, it’s not the dogs’ fault. This team, in my opinion, and I know what kind of dogs it takes, this team has what it takes. It’s up to me now to show the world, and they deserve it,” he said.

Also in this year’s race is two-time champion Robert Sorlie of Oslo. He leads a large Norwegian contingency among the mushers. But Mats Pettersson will tell you there are eight Norwegians in the race, and not nine.

“I feel a little bit lonely,” he said because everyone believes he’s Norwegian, too.

“I have to tell every guy I’m Swedish.”

Hockey dominates RDC athletes of the week Hockey dominated the Boston Pizza RDC athlete of the week awards.

Goaltender Jen West of the Queens and forward Tyler Berkholtz of the Kings were named the female and m,ale award winners.

West continued on in the playoff the way she played during the regular season.

After recording a 6-0 shutout against SAIT in the semifinals she’s been outstanding in the final against NAIT. She made 20 saves in a 2-1 loss in the opening game Thursday then turned aside 24 shots in a 5-1 win at NAIT Saturday to even

MIDGET AA HOCKEY

SWIMMING

The Red Deer Indy Graph Chiefs won their third straight South Central Hockey League Midget AA North Division championship during the weekend.

The Chiefs posted a 2-0-1 record in round-robin play, defeating the Red Deer Elks 4-0 and the Central Alberta Selects 6-1 and tying Okotoks Oilers Black 3-3.

They then downed the Olds Grizzlys 3-2 in double overtime on a goal by Justin Paarup.

They defeated the Oilers 2-1 in the final.

Brendan Davidson and Paarup scored for the Chiefs in the final while Geordan Andrew made 22 saves in goal.

Josh Brassard and Kyle James also tallied against Olds with Andrew making 35 saves and Ross King 33. Damian Vickers had both Olds goals.

The Chiefs face South champion Wheatland in a best-of-three series, beginning Thursday in Strathmore. The second game is in Red Deer at the Arena, but date and time has yet to be set.

Josh Young won six gold and a silver for the Red Deer Catalina Swim Club at the 2016 Speedo Alberta Age Group championships during the weekend.

Young won the 100, 200 and 400-metre Individual Medley and the 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke. He was second in the 400m freestyle. He also set provincial records in the 50m breaststroke and 100 and 200m IM. He received a top 1 youth recognition award while accumulating the most points in the boys’ 15-year-old category.

Kyla Leibel and Elizabeth

the best-of-five series.

The firstyear Business Administration student has a 1.01 goals-against-average and a .958 save percentage in the playoffs. During the season the Red Deer native led the league with a 1.22 gaa and was second with a .944 save percentage. She also had three shutouts.

Berkholtz played the role of hero, scoring at 2:45 of over-

time Sunday to give the Kings a 3-2 victory over the SAIT Trojans and a 2-1 win in the best-of-three ACAC quarter-final series.

The Penticton, B.C., native scored once in all three games and is second in the league in goals scored in the playoffs.

He is also one of the more physical wingers on the Kings and stood tall against the rugged Trojans.

During the season Berkholtz, who came to RDC from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, had 11 goals and 17 assists and tied for the team lead in scoring.

Moore both captured five gold and one silver.

Leibel won the 50, 100, 200 and 400-metre freestyle and 100m Individual Medley and was second in the 50m butterfly. Moore won the 200 and 400m I.M., 100 and 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly and was second in the 200m backstroke. Both girls tied for the most points accumulated in the 14-year-old division and both received top 10 youth recognition awards.

River Roos won silver in the 50, 200 and 400m freestyle and bronze in the 100m freestyle while also receiving a top 5 youth recognition award along with Cooper Waddle.

Kyra McMurray was third in the 50m backstroke.

The RDCSC team had 20 swimmers and they captured the Team Alberta medium team points award banner.

Seven members of the 20-member team reached new qualifying times.

They were: Tanille Collicutt — Western National 100free.

Elizabeth Moore —15 year old, AGN 400IM, 200fly.

Lauren Bettenson —13 year old, AGN in 50BR, 13 year old A 100IM. Ocean Roos — 12 year old A 400fr, 200fr.

River Roos — 11 year old A 50fr.

Murray Duncan — 12 year old A 400fr, 200fr.

Kyra McMurray — 14 year old AGN 50bk.

Tyler Berkholz

B5

LIFE

THE ADVOCATE Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Did House of Cards get worse, or has it always been this bad?

BY EMILY YAHR ADVOCATE NEWS SERVICES Netflix’s House of Cards kicks off its fourth season on Friday, and it appears the buzz has noticeably cooled.

Sure, it’s natural for a once-hot show to fizzle over time. But maybe it’s also because last season, despite typically strong performances from Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, the show featured unnecessarily complex storylines, deadly boring political shenanigans and questionable subplots that served no real purpose.

Although when you think about it … the first season had similar issues.

The second season did, too. So we have to ask: Did House of Cards sharply decline? Or has it always been this bad?

The latter is plausible, especially when you consider the Binge-Watching Steamroller Theory, an idea from Slate TV critic Willa Paskin. Reflecting on the sheer amount of television last year as the culture hit “peak TV,” Paskin argued that you’re much more likely to heap lavish praise on a problematic TV show if you watch it really, really fast. Especially one that is beautifully shot and has compelling actors.

“There are structural incentives in the current moment to gloss over TV’s baked-in inconsistencies … I think binge-watching steamrolls flaws.

It’s like driving down the highway extremely fast. If the scenery is mostly bucolic, the open sewage pit you flew by that one time barely registers,” Paskin wrote. “The greatest trick Netflix ever pulled is convincing us that binge-watching is a sign that something is very good and not just a sign that something is immediately available.”

Some critics, such as New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum, noticed these problems in Season 1: “In the days after I watched the show, its bewitching spell grew fainter — and if House of Cards had been delivered weekly I might have given up earlier,” she wrote. At the time, The Washington Post’s Hank Stuever said Netflix “has done everything right and still got it sort of wrong,” noting the show was weighted down by its own seriousness.

The Netflix piece of the equation is important, especially to consider why House of Cards had such a glowing reception when it debuted in February 2013. Touted as Netflix’s first big series, it made quite a splash as the streaming service took an unusual step and released all 13 episodes at once — a novelty! With acclaimed director David Fincher and esteemed playwright Beau Willimon in charge, the sleek series looked and felt like a movie.

Spacey was obviously having the time of his life as evil politician Frank Underwood, and Wright stole the show as his equally scheming wife, Claire.

Critics immediately pointed out the outrageous nature of the show, and some politicos hated it off the bat for

COMMENT

COMEDIAN LOUIS C.K. BEGS FANS NOT TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP

BY ADVOCATE NEWS SERVICES

Photo by PATRICK HARBRON/Netflix

Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Michael Kelly in a scene from Netflix’s ‘House of Cards.’ its unrealistic (even for a TV show) view of Washington. Others had major problems with the portrayal of a young female journalist who quickly jumped into bed with a source.

Mostly, though the show got raves.

As a result, some viewers didn’t have time to fully digest the series — they just wanted to hurry and watch to figure out what all the fuss was about.

Soon, it became a major part of the cultural conversation, especially in D.C.. (As the New York Times put it, “So what episode of House of Cards are you on?” became the new Beltway icebreaker.) The show was nominated for nine Emmy Awards and, because of its impressive creators, immediately welcome in the “prestige TV drama” club.

As time went on, people eventually started to recognize maybe House of Cards looked polished, but was ultimately just as ridiculous as any soap opera. (See: dialogue between Frank and his former protege/lover, Zoe Barnes.)

“It’s a show filled with political intrigue for those who think they’re too good for something as soapy as Scandal. But we are deluding ourselves,” Andy Gray of the Tribune Chronicle said. “House of Cards is as trashy and over-the-top as Scandal without the restrictions of network television.”

At the end of Season 2, HitFix TV critic Alan Sepinwall declared it “simply a bad show with the pretensions of a good one — a USA show that’s bad because it thinks it’s an HBO show.”

While the first season tried to at least wink and nod at the viewer with its outlandish plots (such as Frank’s insane complicated journey to become vice-president), the second sea-

son went off the rails and abandoned all pretenses of self-awareness, while doubling down on the crazy. Frank embarked on such an intricate, multi-step plan to overtake the White House that you needed a flowchart to figure it all out. Oh, and he got away with murder.

Twice.

Then the third season brought Frank’s presidency, and got bogged down way too much in the specifics of his policies As others noted, the show became a slog when Frank (and others) turned too earnest with goals to change the world, and far too much time was spent on the “America Works” jobs plan.

Another was relieved that former Frank sidekick Doug Stamper’s (Michael Kelley) presence spiced things up, and that his character “erased even the tedium of the mid-Season 2 doldrums.” But then Stamper’s arc became one of the show’s most puzzling elements, as it started Season 3 with a prostitute shooting bourbon into his mouth and ended with him murdering a woman. Throw in Frank and Claire’s marital problems, with their solid relationship once a cornerstone of the show, and you have a very odd, often dull season of television.

After sitting through a season like that, you go back and start to wonder: Were Seasons 1 or 2 an absurd political satire, or were they just as self-serious and convoluted as the third?

Considering you likely watched them all within a week years ago, it’s easy to forget. Thus the beauty of Netflix — and since they’ll never release ratings, no one will ever know how many people even watched in the first place.

Spider-Man’s defence of his biracial identity ‘groundbreaking’

BY DAVID BETANCOURT ADVOCATE NEWS SERVICES It took only took two issues into his new Marvel series for Miles Morales to take a stand on a serious issue.

Miles is now officially a part of Marvel’s singular post-Secret Wars universe, and a member of the Avengers.

And the move to the big time has put Miles under a bigger public microscope.

After Miles helps the Avengers take down a bad guy, his black-and-red Spidey suit (which original Spider-Man Peter Parker has declared much cooler than his) is left ripped up. That allows onlookers the chance to announce on social media that the new, young Spider-Man has brown skin.

In the comics, a young Spider-Man fan of colour posts video of this online, excited that this confirms that the new Spider-Man is not white. And though this fan admits that Spider-Man could be a number of races, she concludes with excitement in her voice that Spider-Man is/could be black. “Spider-Man represent!” she says.

When Miles’s best friend shows the video to him, Miles doesn’t seem too pleased. He says he wants to just be Spider-Man, not the “black Spider-Man” — and that’s where things get tricky.

Some interpret this as a decision by Brian Michael Bendis (Miles’s co-creator and writer) to take the liberty to have Miles declare he didn’t want to be labeled a black Spider-Man. In other words: Those critics see Bendis as having overstepped the bounds of his own creation. Bendis isn’t black, and therefore shouldn’t be going there, some say.

But in all that hubbub, one panel was overlooked that explained Miles’s position: “First of all, I am half Hispanic,” Miles says.

Miles isn’t denying his blackness —

‘The guy is Hitler’

Illustration by MARVEL

In the second issue of ‘Spider-Man’ from Marvel Comics, Miles Morales unexpectedly becomes part of a social media conversation he wasn’t prepared for. he’s defending his biracial identity. In his mind, he’s just as Puerto Rican as he is black. You don’t just push that to the side, as any biracial Puerto Rican will tell you. Your family would never let you get away with it. (Myself, I’m the son of a Puerto Rican man and a black woman).

This issue of Spider-Man isn’t about Miles’s not wanting a “black” label to his superhero identity — it’s about his instantly wanting recognition for his two cultures.

When I first read this panel, it was the first time since I began reading Miles (I’ve read all his comics) that I

got a little emotional and really connected to him since the hype of his introduction as a biracial Spider-Man. Since that beginning, Miles has had little to no “Puerto Rican moments.”

No “yo soy boricua,” no rice and beans, no mentions of J-Lo or pride in Puerto Rican baseball players in the bigs. No clarifying moments of someone mistaking a half black, half Puerto Rican kid for a Dominican (happens all the time, trust me). No speaking in Spanish. But then again, there were no moments of “blackness,” either. Miles was just Miles. And this is a superhero comic, after all. It’s about him being Spider-Man more than anything.

But the moment of Miles’s stating that he is half Hispanic is groundbreaking within his short comic-book life.

Am I happy that Miles, within the pages of his Spider-Man comic, is finally getting I touch with his Puerto Rican side? (Something that becomes apparent when, on the last page of issue No. 2, he has to deal with the wrath of his Spanish-speaking abuela.

An abuela who is so mad that Miles’s grades are suffering that she drops the c-word in Spanish? (Let’s just say Pitbull uses this word a lot in his unedited Spanish songs, but you won’t see it in print here.) Of course I am. Miles’s not addressing his Puerto Rican side much has been one of my few qualms with him. I’m just as happy that Miles’s black father not only remains his closest confidant, but also shares Miles’s Spider-Man secret with him.

This moment has been a long time coming for Miles. But let’s see it for what it is. He’s not denying one side.

He’s just demanding that both be seen.

And that’s a decision only he has a right to make.

And Miles’s taking a stand on who he is is the most heroic thing he’s done to date.

Every Saturday since the end of January, comedian Louis C.K. has emailed his fans to announce each subsequent episode of his new show Horace and Pete. This week’s came with a lengthy post-script plea.

“Please stop it with voting for Trump,” he said at the end of Saturday’s email. “It was funny for a little while. But the guy is Hitler… . Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird comb over who would say anything at all.”

The email may be a marketing ploy for the new show, but that isn’t Louis C.K.’s style. (In fact, he inveighs against marketing in favour of establishing a more genuine connection with his audience.)

Instead, the email seems like a genuine plea — a more than 1,400-word plea for fans not to vote for the leading Republican presidential candidate.

Trump is “dangerous,” “insane,” and a “bigot,” he said.

The letter is long, but we broke down the best parts for you. Here, take a look: ★★★ Louis C.K. was quick to defend himself against partisan attacks: he’s not advocating for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, he said.

“I’m an idiot and I’m sure a bunch of you are very annoyed by this,” he said toward the end of the email. His opposition has nothing to do with politics, he said. It has to do with who Trump is. In fact, he said he would welcome a conservative president.

“I wish the next president was a conservative only because we had Obama for eight years and we need balance. And not because I particularly enjoy the conservative agenda. I just think the government should reflect the people,” he said.

He said in a nation with two thriving and opposing ideologies, a push and pull is healthy: “It always made sense that everyone gets a president they like for a while and then hates the president for a while.” But that balance depends on conservatives putting up a “good” candidate, he said.

“Trump is not that. He’s an insane bigot. He is dangerous,” he said. ★★★ Trump’s attacks on speech are troublesome to Louis C.K. — particularly the Republican presidential candidate’s promise to make it easier to sue newspapers.

“I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money,” Trump said last month.

“He has promised to decimate the first amendment,” he said in response to a not entirely accurate version of Trump’s comments.

“I’m saying this now because if he gets in there we won’t be able to criticize him anymore,” the comedian said. ★★★ Trump supporters owe it to their fellow Americans to at least “know and understand who he is,” Louis C.K. said. “Spend one hour on Google and just read it all.”

Listen to respected Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, he said. The same McCain whose time as a prisoner of war Trump belittled. (“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”) The same McCain who criticized Trump only to have the Republican presidential front-runner warn him “to be very careful.” When asked by CBS News’s chief White House correspondent Major Garrett what he meant, Trump cryptically added: “He’ll find out.”

Why did Trump deride McCain’s imprisonment? Simple, Louis C.K. explains.

“He said it because he’s a bully and every bully knows that when you enter a new school yard, you go to the toughest most respected guy on the yard and you punch him in the nose,” he said.

“If you are still standing after, you’re the new boss.” ★★★ In concluding his long post-script, Louis C.K. made clear that his concerns have little to do with Trump’s politics and more to do with his character.

“Trump is a messed up guy with a hole in his heart that he tries to fill with money and attention,” Louis C.K. said. “He can never ever have enough of either and he’ll never stop trying.

He’s sick. Which makes him really really interesting.”

Give Trump another show, let him expand his Trump-themed real estate, Louis C.K. said. “But please stop voting for him.”

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COCAINE ANONYMOUS SAUDER 403-396-8298 Helen Dr. FRANCOIS BOTHA 1932 - 2016 It is with great sadness that has moved his practice to the Rimbey Medical Clinic, we announce the peaceful as of February 1, 2016 and passing of Mrs. Helen is accepting new patients.

Sauder on Friday March 4, Call 403-843-2256 to book an appointment.

2016 at the Innisfail Hospital at the age of 84 years. Helen was born in Provost, Alberta on January 25, 1932. Helen wegot grew up in Consort and later settled in Innisfail in 1966 where she remained to raise her six children until her retirement. Helen worked for CLASSIFICATIONS many years at the Michener 700-920 Centre in Red Deer and loved her work there. She went on to be involved with Caregivers/ the Innisfail Historical Society for many years where she Aides enjoyed helping out with the Nanny needed for 2 afternoon teas. Helen was children in Red Deer.FT, predeceased by her husband $11.50/hr,44 hrs/wk,split shifts,days & nights Nelson Lane Sauder and her rotation. HS grad, 1-2 great-grandson Kale O’Connor. years exp. in child care, She will be lovingly train if needed.apply at remembered by her special willfrh1951@outlook.com friend Stan Dent and her NANNY req’d, email children Mary Lou (Bob), yettepasion@yahoo.ca Larry, Deb, Darryl (Colleen), Corey (Barb) and Sherry Classifieds (Graham); her 13 grandYour place to SELL Your place to BUY children and 17 greatgrandchildren along with numerous friends and family.

Helen is survived by her brother Fred (Susan) of BC; Farm Work sisters Marg of Ponoka and FEEDLOT in Central Jean (Chuck) of Rocky Alberta seeking F/T Mountain House and their employee for feed truck families. A Memorial Service operator and machinery maintenance. Send will be held at the Alliance resume to fax: Church, Innisfail, Alberta on 403-638-3908 or e-mail to: Saturday, March 12 at 2:00 dthengs@hotmail.com p.m.

If friends so desire memorial tributes may be made to S.T.A.R.S. Air Ambulance or the charity of Trades donors choice.

HEARTLAND FUNERAL SERVICES LTD., Innisfail, entrusted with arrangements.

403-227-0006. www.heartlandfuneralservices.com

710

755

LEEDS (Ransom) Gladys Reta April 16, 1934 - Mar. 2, 2016 With loving family by her side, in her 82nd year, our dearest mother passed away peacefully Wednesday March 2, 2016. She was Predeceased by her eldest son William (Bill) Leeds and will be sadly missed by her remaining children, Roberta Clarke (late husband John) of Richmond Hill, Pat Croutch (husband Al) of Red Card Of Thanks Deer and Scott Leeds (wife Sue) of Gilford, as well as her eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. A Celebration of her life will be The family of the late held in the Summer of 2016.

Vicki Mix of Innisfail In lieu of flowers donations send a heartfelt thanks to may be made to Dogtales Dr. Tarukandirwa and Rescue and Sanctuary, a Dr. Jeff Mulder and all charity that would be dear to their staff, and also to the our Mothers Heart at nurses and staff of Unit 32 www.dogtales.ca/donate/. at the Red Deer Regional @DOGTALESRESCUE ON Hospital Centre, Thank INSTAGRAM you for your kindness and Online tributes can be made care given during her time to in the hospital for which www.roadhouseandrose.com she was very grateful and appreciative.

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Over 2,000,000 hours St. John Ambulance volunteers provide Canadians with more than 2 million hours of community service each year.

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KATHAN April 25, 1914 - Mar. 1, 2016 Mr. Willard Kathan passed away on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at the age of 101 years at the Red Deer Hospital.

Willard was born in Round Hill, AB to Alexander and Nellie Kathan. He joined the Air Force in 1941 ending up in England where he married Olive. Willard is survived by one sister Mary of Edmonton, son Terry (Annette) Kathan of Sherwood Park, daughter Doreen (Jim) Rich of Innisfail, four grandchildren, four great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife Olive in 2003, his parents, three brothers and two sisters. A graveside service was held on Monday, March 7, 2016 at the Innisfail Cemetery with Tom Peters officiating. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or to the charity of your choice.

HEARTLAND FUNERAL SERVICES LTD., INNISFAIL entrusted with arrangements.

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1590

LADIES size 4 1/2 Italian chocolate leather knee high boots, soft fits like a glove, $200 587-876-2914

50-70

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Clothing

LADIES London Fog, reg.

10 size, cranberry pea coat Length $75. 587-876-2914

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BECK Gordon Gordon was born in Vulcan, Alberta on July 22 1923, the son of Chester and Ethel Beck. He died on March 2nd, 2016 at the Red Deer Regional Hospital. Dad grew up on his parents’ farm in the Pine Lake district, enjoying a happy childhood surrounded by his parents, three brothers and two sisters. He attended school at Pine Lake and loved to hunt and trap. He married his sweetheart, Isabelle in 1949 and together they enjoyed raising their four children. Dad built a thriving resort, Beck’s Cabins and also farmed.

The community of Pine Lake was an integral part of Gordon’s life. He was President of the Pine Lake Chamber of Commerce for 10 years, was instrumental in the building of the Pine Lake Hub as President and was an active member of The 40+ Club.

Hunting, enjoying nature, and building were some of his favourite pastimes. Gordon is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Isabelle, his son Lyle and his daughters Nancy (Derek) Nelson, and Laurel (Stan) Phillips. Also treasuring his memory are five grandchildren: Craig and Mark Phillips, and Ben, Sam and Emma Beck. He also enjoyed his great-grandson, William. He was predeceased by brothers Glen, Earl and Ronald, his daughter BettyLou and grandson Max. Gordon will be fondly remembered by his siblings, Lavonne (Larry) Thomas and Ruby (Lorne) Olmstead. He was a great uncle to his many nieces and nephews.

Gordon was a kind and generous man, known to be quite the jokester and was loved and respected by all.

He enjoyed his relationships with friends, neighbours and his Beck’s Cabins customers who became family over the years. The family would like to thank all the staff at the Red Deer Regional Hospital for their kind and compassionate care. A Memorial Gathering will be held at the Pine Lake Hub Community Centre, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to charities of choice.

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1520

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1860

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1870

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ADULT 2 BDRM. spacious Wanted suites 3 appls., heat/water To Buy incld., ADULT ONLY BLDG, no pets, Oriole WANTED: gas motored Park. 403-986-6889 golf cart. 403-845-3808 AVAIL. IMMED. large 2 bdrm. in clean quiet adult building, near downtown Co-Op, no pets, 403-348-7445

1930

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2004 LEXUS RX330, 155,000 mi., exc. cond. $7500. 403-350-3766

5070

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LARGE, 1 & 2 BDRM. Buses SUITES. 25+, adults only Grain, Feed 2009 Grand Caravan, exc. n/s, no pets 403-346-7111 cond, extra set winter tires, Hay DVD, topper, security bar, $12,500. 403-505-5789 TIMOTHY & Brome square bales, great for horses, ap1 & 2 bdrm., prox. 55-60 lbs. put up dry, Adult bldg. only, N/S, stored in shed $8/bale Motorcycles No pets. 403-596-2444 Sylvan area. 403-887-2798 NEW Glendale reno’d 1 & 2 bdrm. apartments, rent $750, last month of lease free, immed. occupancy.

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Ron @ 403-304-2255

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3030

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Refugees stranded in Greece await news of fate

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IDOMENI, Greece — While European leaders struggled Monday for a unified approach to the refugee crisis, tens of thousands of people affected by their decisions were left stranded in Greece, with countries along the migrant trail gradually tightening border controls to staunch the northward flood.

The restrictions along what has become known as the western Balkan route has left about 13,000-14,000 people stuck on the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, and more than 36,000 people in the financially stricken country.

The European Union held a summit meeting Monday with Turkey to try to halt the flow of thousands of refugees and migrants coming from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, whose proximity has made the country the preferred route into Europe.

But while European leaders haggled in Brussels, a punishing thunderstorm turned much of the overcrowded Idomeni camp into a sea of mud. Conditions are deteriorating in the camp, which was set up only for about 2,000 people, and crews are struggling to maintain hygiene.

More people have arrived each day, and hundreds of small tents from aid organizations have sprung up in and around the camp, spilling into fields and onto nearby railway tracks and a train station platform, with nowhere to go.

Until a few months ago, Idomeni was a transit camp where people would stay for a couple of days before continuing northward. But Macedonia began tightening the controls late last year, saying other countries farther up the line — Serbia, Croatia and Austria — were doing the same.

First the route was closed to people considered economic migrants, with only those from countries affected by war — Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan — allowed to cross. Then, in November, the Afghans were stopped, too.

Ever more stringent restrictions have appeared since then. In recent days, Macedonia began denying entry to Syrians and Iraqis whose registration papers from the Greek authorities had been signed in black ink, rather than blue.

On Sunday, Macedonia allowed in only people from cities deemed to have been affected by

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war, meaning those from Aleppo, for example, could cross, but not those from Damascus, the Syrian capital.

The restrictions have led to occasional protests by frustrated refugees who stage sit-down protests on the railway tracks, blocking freight trains.

Even though there were no trains Monday, dozens of men, women and children sat on the tracks holding banners, waving a German flag and chanting, “Germany, Germany,” and “Mama Merkel,” referring to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom they consider sensitive to their plight.

“We are protesting because of the Macedonians and because we know all of their imports are coming from the sea on these railway tracks,” said Syrian Abdul Rahman, “and I, for one, if the train comes here, I will die on these railway tracks if (the Macedonians) don’t open the gate at the border.”

Macedonia has said it can only take in as many people from Greece as Serbia will allow to enter from Macedonia. Serbia has severely restricted the flow in recent days.

This has led to about 1,500 people being stuck on the Macedonian-Serbian border — 630 Afghans and the rest Syrians and Iraqis.

The largest bottleneck in Europe is in Idomeni, where those in the growing tent city say they had no choice but to flee their homes and seek the safety of Europe, with the dream of reconstructing their lives.

“We were stuck with a decision,” said Hala Haddad, a 19-year-old English literature student from Syria’s battered city of Homs, travelling with her parents, older sister and younger brother. “Would you rather stay in your home and die, or leave without a home? We chose to live.”0 The International Rescue Committee aid group said in a statement on the Brussels summit that closing European borders without offering safe alternative routes will benefit only the people smugglers.

IRC head David Miliband said the EU “cannot seal off its borders without offering safe and legal routes to refuge, effective relocation for refugees already in Europe, and better aid for Syria’s neighbours.”

“Europe’s response needs concerted and co-ordinated action, not a race to the bottom,” Miliband added.

Bloomberg decides against third-party bid for president

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

wegot

Accounting

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A woman holds the hand of a toddler walking on a railway track at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Monday. Greek police officials say Macedonian authorities have imposed further restrictions on refugees trying to cross the border, saying only those from cities they consider to be at war can enter as up to 14,000 people are trapped in Idomeni, while another 6,000-7,000 are being housed in refugee camps around the region.

WASHINGTON — There will be no battle of the New York billionaires in the 2016 presidential race.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that he will not run for president as an independent candidate — a move that would have roiled this year’s already extraordinarily unpredictable presidential campaign.

Bloomberg’s announcement came on the eve of Tuesday’s Michigan primary, the first nominating contest in a big industrial state. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are both favoured in a primary that should offer clues about how the candidates will fare in important Midwest contests to come. Also on tap for Tuesday are primaries for both parties in Mississippi, and Republican contests in Idaho and Hawaii.

Bloomberg, who had spent months mulling a third-party run, made his decision official through an editorial posted by the Bloomberg View, writing that he believes his candidacy would likely lead to the election of Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.

“That is not a risk I can take in good conscience,” the 74-year-old billionaire wrote.

Bloomberg was blistering in his critique of Trump, currently the Republican front-runner, saying the billionaire real estate mogul has run “the most divisive and demagogic presidential campaign I can remember, preying on people’s prejudices and fears.”

He was similarly critical of Cruz, saying the Texas senator’s “pandering on immigration may lack Trump’s rhetorical excess, but it is no less extreme.”

He acknowledged that he and Trump had been on “friendly terms” and that he had twice agreed to be on his reality TV show “The Apprentice.” But the former mayor said that Trump’s campaign “appeals to our worst impulses.”

“We cannot ‘make America great again’ by turning our backs on the values that made us the world’s greatest nation in the first place,” Bloomberg wrote. “I love our country too much to play a role in electing a candidate who would weaken our unity and darken our future — and so I will not enter the race for president of the

United States.”

Bloomberg made only an oblique reference to Clinton and Democratic rival Bernie Sanders and did not endorse a candidate.

Trump has maintained his grip on the Republican field, with Cruz emerging as his strongest competitor. Trump’s rise in particular has sparked discussions among the party establishment about blocking the real estate mogul in a contested convention or perhaps supporting a third-party candidate who could keep him from the White House.

Florida Sen. Mario Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have one last chance to emerge as viable alternatives. Their home states vote on March 15 and offer winner-take-all caches of delegates that could revive sagging candidacies. Kasich is also hoping to get a boost with a better than expected showing Tuesday in Michigan which neighbours Ohio.

Rubio does not plan to leave Florida until after next week’s primary. Campaign officials concede it will be virtually impossible to stay in the race without a home-state win, but have expressed confidence voters will move toward him as primary day draws closer.

Cruz aides are making noise about taking on Rubio in his home state, hoping to block him from winning so Cruz can move to a headto-head race with Trump. Cruz’s campaign announced plans to open 10 offices in the state and has said the senator will hold events there this week.

In the race for the Republican nomination, Trump has 384 delegates to the party’s national convention to Cruz’s 300. Rubio has 151 delegates and Kasich 37, with 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination.

On the Democratic side, Clinton has 1,130 delegates and Sanders 499. Including superdelegates — members of Congress, governors and party officials who can support the candidate of their choice. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.

In their latest debate Sunday night in Flint, Michigan, Clinton and Sanders clashed over their records, with the former secretary of state defending her Wall Stree ties and the Vermont senator fighting off accusations that he opposed a 2009 bill that provided billions of dollars to bail out the auto industry, the mainstay of Michigan’s economy.

B8 RED DEER ADVOCATE Tuesday, March 8, 2016 FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

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THE ADVOCATE B9

FAMILY Tuesday, MARCH 8, 2016

Underlying issues lead to outburst I was making lunch when I heard Sophie yelling from the basement, “MOM—Get me some food!” I was already tired from a terrible sleep so my patience was wearing thin. I placed the burner on low and marched downstairs.

“If you have something to ASK me like a polite human being then you can come upstairs and do it. Don’t you dare think you can yell orders—I’m not your maid!” I said to my daughter upon reaching her playing quarters.

“Yeah okay whatever.” She replied and dismissively went back to her game of house with Sleepy bear. In that moment I actually felt like I may have a pretty accurate sense of what the Incredible Hulk feels like when transforming into his enraged green self. I could feel the bubbling annoyance that had been residing in my gut grow into an all-out scorching hot fury.

I walked towards the kid, she was none the wiser to what was about to happen and for some sick and twisted reason that made me feel a little giddy—I wanted to see the shock on her face when I did it. I grabbed Sleepy Bear without hesitation and said, “If you want to talk to me like that, then I will be taking Sleepy Bear from you.”

Immediately I regretted thinking it would give me pleasure to see her devastation because it didn’t. As soon as her brain began to recognize what I had just done, her face did too. A shade of anguish had dropped over her and a bellow of devastation broke free from her mouth.

“You can’t do that!” She squealed reaching unsuccessfully for her bearfriend. It occurred to me for a split second how much I could possibly be scarring her right now but I held strong to my guns. She needed to learn the boundaries. This was my reasoning. This was why I walked away with my daughter’s most prized plaything under my arm and didn’t look back despite her tormented screaming.

When I got upstairs I looked at the bear. I knew how much the thing meant to her. I had no intention on actually getting rid of it, but she didn’t know that. So I took it to my bedroom and placed it on the top shelf of my closet.

My heart felt heavy. There was something about all of this that felt unjust. I wished Jamie were here to help me, but he was still in Sylvan Lake waging out his last few weeks of work. It didn’t even occur to me that my daughter may be missing her father too amidst our current battle of supe-

LINDSAY BROWN ME PLUS THREE riority.

“I HATE YOU LINDSAY!” She shrieked at me as she charged up the stairs. She has begun calling me by my name but only when she is really pissed off. I took away her Sleepy Bear…She was really pissed off.

“STOP SCREAMING AT ME!” I screamed at her. For a moment the thought, ‘and you wonder where she gets it from’ came to mind. “You are not the adult Sophie. You don’t get to make your own rules and you certainly aren’t allowed to treat people like this.”

She was silent. She stared hard at me for a really long time. Then crumpled unexpectedly to the kitchen floor.

She was crying. I moved towards her and found that I was crying too.

“What Sophie? What?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around her. It was so unlike her, usually if she had something to say she had no problem shouting it loud and proud.

“I’m sorry but I just miss Dad.” She said. She was shaking her head as though embarrassed of what she was saying and I couldn’t understand why.

Then I thought of what I had been telling my children for the last few weeks since he had left.

“Only two more weeks guys!” “No tears kids, Daddy wouldn’t want you to cry when there is only another week until we see him!” “You have to be strong because it is only a few more days.”

I have basically been telling my children that they aren’t allowed to feel sad about missing their father.

It may not excuse the way Sophie was acting but it sure does explain it.

Sometimes we forget that these tiny humans we are raising have a huge bank of emotions inside of them. The same kind of emotions that we adults even have a hard time understanding and expressing. Kids are going to have bad days, just like adults. It’s only logical.

So I leaned in close to my daughter and told her that I missed him too. We sat on the kitchen floor and talked and cried and let our emotions flow freely.

And it felt good.

Lindsay Brown is a mother of two and a freelance writer from Alberta.

Reflections of a celebrity judge “Mom, I have a favour to ask you!”

As the mother of three adult children, all of whom have spouses and children and busy days crammed from border to border with ‘to do’ stuff, I am well aware that sometimes this stuff spills over into the category of “too much.”

That’s why when I get the 9-1-1-mom/ grandma calls, I’m not too surprised.

As usual, I get such a call when I’m sitting at my cluttered desk in my cluttered office struggling with the challenge of having an uncluttered mind.

I have the phone cradled on my left shoulder, a pen in my left hand and a notebook in front of me. I’m ready….. for what I’m not sure, but I’m ready.

“Of course,” I respond automatically. “How can I help?”

“Well, I need you to judge a poetry contest at my school. I want you to be the celebrity judge.”

“Really, a celebrity judge,” I muse, and immediately the little thought flashed into my mind, quick as a lightening bug. “She meant to call someone else.”

“Me?” “Yes, mom,” she said patiently.

“You! Can you do it?”

“Well, of course,” I reply. “I would love to.”

And so it came to be that last Thursday I found myself outside the school where my daughter teaches Grade 8.

Although it was early, I must admit to being amazed at the hub of activity that was already happening.

It was like the world and everyone in it suddenly got very busy because the bell was going to ring at any minute.

Kids were all over the place, kind of like the pieces of a moving patchwork quilt. In between the pieces were cars and school buses and in between those pieces were the adults.

That’s where I fit in. The adult. The celebrity judge.

I found my way inside the front door and finally to the front desk where I was greeted by the teacher (my daughter) and one of her students (my granddaughter). Already feeling slightly overwhelmed and somewhat less than celebrity like, I followed them to the band room (where the contest was held) and finally to the judges’ table.

They brought me coffee and also, because it was someone’s birthday, cake.

Slowly I began to relax and even feel a little more celebrity like.

Several students were already milling about, going over their contest submissions, gathering in little groups,

TREENA MIELKE LIFE talking, giggling, and, every now and then, sneaking me quick looks, no doubt, to see if I was looking back.

I was.

Suddenly, the bell rang and the students arranged themselves in rows, their chatter momentarily lulled, their attention on the loud speaker.

As their attention shifted away from the upcoming contest, I faded into the background, becoming the observer, the noticer, the fly on the wall.

I sipped my coffee slowly. I was curious as to what would come next.

When they started their day with a short prayer and the singing of O’ Canada I was momentarily taken aback.

“I love this school,” I think, feeling a sudden rush of pride, mixed with a good dose of humility as I observed these students and the simple, respectful way they started their school day.

My daughter, the teacher, then walked to the front of the room. She explained the rules of the contest and then went on to talk about me, the celebrity judge. She briefly mentioned my career as an editor and a columnist, graciously leaving out any of my shortcomings, which would have taken far too long, anyway.

And then she said the thing that I am the most proud of which is, without a doubt, my best accomplishment ever.

“And she’s also my mom.”

The students clapped obligingly.

And so the contest began. One by one the students came to the front of the room. Some sauntered, some came quickly, some kept their head down.

Some walked, tall and straight. They were brave, they were fearful, they were shy, they were flamboyant.

But they all came and once again I was humbled and impressed. The students’ work was diverse, thoughtful, clever and original. It was deep, simple, funny, serious, poignant, heartbreaking. All was filled with nuggets of wisdom, as seen through the eyes of the youth.

How to judge? Impossible!

To me they were all winners! Each and every one.

Treena Mielke lives in Sylvan Lake and is the editor of the Rimbey Review.

She has been a journalist and columnist for more than 25 years. Treena is married to Peter and they have three children and six grandchildren.

Building a better ego in the context of confidence, self-esteem EXTREME ESTEEM

Now and again, people write to me with remarks about my columns, workshops and talks. Mostly, they send me amazing and capable of changing the emails with comments like, “Great world without the benefits of anything story,” “Made total sense” or “Now I tangible to link these comments to – understand why this is happening.” skills, hard work, passion, talent or Sometimes they offer suggestions goals – we are most certainly setting about books I should read, movies I them up for disappointment. Praise for must see or someone I should meet. the sake of praise (empty praise) can Occasionally, someone will take the create unrealistic expectations and a time to write me an actual letter and distorted view of self. If chil-dren are share his or her life story or experi- constantly told they are the prince or princess, they may indeed adopt an unence, and that’s always appre-ciated.

A few years back, somebody wrote founded sense of entitlement and the me a letter and personally delivered it belief that they are superior to others. to my home mail-box. The plain brown They may also come to think that rules envelope contained a CD (which I and regulations apply to average folk didn’t listen to) and two pieces of pa- and not to them.

You could say that ego-building is per, one referencing a number of biblical passages and a second outlining identifying with the false self. When the author’s view of the self-esteem we build the ego, we invest deeply into movement and its perceived damage to our “stories” about people, life and our youth. The letter was handwritten our place in it. Who we think we are in a large scrawl. There was no signa- be-comes tied to form: how we look, ture nor return address. Here’s how it how much money we have and what we possess. read.

Self-esteem building, on the other “When we relentlessly tell our children that they’re perfect and wonder- hand, tends to be a grounded, realiful and can conquer the world, we’re ty-based approach to building self-efsetting them up for disaster. We end ficacy founded upon strengths, talup sending a bunch of spoiled brats ents, abilities and, above all, awareout into the world and each with a ness. Chil-dren raised to have healthy baseless sense of entitlement and a self-esteem are cognizant of their natbelief that they are better than their ural skills and uniqueness, in-teract peers. We are punishing our children well with others and move through life by denying them valuable life lessons: with a confident expectation of good things. They also tend to be more resilyou have to work hard for what you want, there will be others better/ faster/smarter than you.

You will have your hopes dashed and your expectations left unfulfilled and that is just part of life.”

I showed the letter to my wife who suggested I toss it in the trash and forget about it. I thought about the comments for quite some time and, though I could appreciate the viewpoint, I felt the need to draw a distinction. In retrospect, I think what the letter-writer was describing was not self-esteem-building but ego-building, and the consequences are vastly different.

To my anonymous letter writer, I would like to say that you do make GREAT THINGS HAPPEN WHEN some valid points. If we are constantly telling our children they’re great,

D

of your life yet overall still har-bour a poor self-image.

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THE ADVOCATE B10

ADVICE TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

BABY GIANT ANTEATER

Spat amongst close high school friends turns ugly Dear Annie: I have three best friends. We are juniors in high school and like sisters. Two weeks ago, “Jessica” and “Lucy” got into a fight because Jessica didn’t like Lucy’s driving. When I suggested that most people don’t take well to criticism, Jessica refused to talk to me. The next day, she sent a long text message to Lucy and me, saying we are “always mean and heartless” to her. She sent me a separate text listing all the little things I do that bother her.

I apologized to Jessica, saying it was not intentional and that I would try to be more aware of my responses to her.

We are in a lot of classes together and eventually, she started being sugary sweet to me. Meanwhile, Lucy confided that her parents are having horrible problems and then she swore me to secrecy. I felt loyal to Lucy, and didn’t really warm up to Jessica’s overtures.

Today, a classmate informed me that Lucy is dating my ex-boyfriend.

Lucy claims she didn’t tell me because she thought I’d be angry. Annie, I don’t care about my ex and it doesn’t bother me if they date. What bothers me is that Lucy hid it instead of telling me and asking if it was OK. After the way I’ve tried to be loyal to her, this is like a stab in the back. Are these friendships over? — Kylie Dear Kylie: Maybe. You sound like a sensible person with some difficult friends. One seems oversensitive and the other self-involved. But this is not unusual during high school. With the normal ups and downs of adolescence, along with hormonal changes, relationships can be challenging. These changes are indications of personal growth and maturity, and not all friendships survive the transition.

We recommend you be as tolerant as possible while Jessica and Lucy sort out their own struggles. Be supportive and kind, but you shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells. And please find Tuesday March 8, 2016 CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: John Kapelos, 60; Micky Dolenz, 70; Aidan Quinn 56 THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The Solar Eclipse is a time of renewal, as we wipe the slate clean and start all over again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: There will be many new challenges and surprising detours in 2016, but if you set realistic goals and are patient, then you’ll make pleasing progress.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): With the Piscean Solar Eclipse lighting up your fantasy zone, your motto for the day is from Piscean writer Dr Seuss “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Bulls are you bored to bits? The Solar Eclipse urges you to dream up exciting goals and challenges for the rest of the year.

Don’t play it too safe though. If you stretch yourself, you’ll reap the rewards.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Are you restless at work? The Solar Eclipse brings fresh ideas and opportunities into your professional life. Just make sure you are organised so you can capitalise on lucky breaks that come your way.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Hey Crabs, the Solar Eclipse lights up your latent adventurous nature. So it would be a fabulous idea to plan an overseas holiday, an interstate trip or a weekend escape soon - somewhere wildly wonderful.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The Solar Eclipse gives you a shot of subtle energy, just when you need it. And it also signals a fresh start for a joint financial arrangement. But beware the tendency to over-promise and under-deliver.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Attached Virgos - a romantic revamp is likely as you discover new ways to reboot a tired old relationship. For some sin-

KATHY MITCHELL AND MARCY SUGAR ANNIE’S MAILBOX

people you can count on to be supportive and kind to you, even if it means broadening your circle of friends.

Dear Annie: I thought you offered good advice to “Just Wondering,” who came home after a week away to find that her house sitters had used all her stuff, including food, laundry supplies, shampoo and hand lotion.

I have need of a house/pet sitter from time to time and here is how I adjust my attitude: When someone stays in your home and takes care of your pet, your pet does not have to cope with the stress of being moved to an unfamiliar location. Your pet also doesn’t have to sleep in a crate.

Additionally, kennels run around $200 per week for cats, plus additional fees for exercise, treats, etc. It is also much safer to have the house occupied than empty, not only to discourage burglars, but also to catch a burst pipe or broken furnace early enough to save thousands.

Next time, she should put most supplies in a locked closet. Leave some food and necessities for the house sitters, but don’t go overboard. Be grateful you have friends so willing to look out for you. Granted, using all of your stuff is weird, but it’s not worth losing a friendship. — A Different Perspective Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailbox@ creators.com, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. You can also find Annie on Facebook at Facebook.com/AskAnnies.

JOANNE MADELINE MOORE HOROSCOPES gles ñ sparks are set to fly with a sexy Scorpio, a caring Capricorn or a passionate Piscean.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Librans can be a little too languid. Tonight’s Solar Eclipse highlights your health zone so it’s time to get your body moving, as you initiate an exciting new exercise program that is fun and flexible.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): A challenging situation with a child or teenager is set to change over the next few months, as the Solar Eclipse sweeps away old patterns of behaviour, to be replaced with much more compassion.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Is your domestic life in the doldrums?

The Solar Eclipse promises a fresh start over the coming year via a marriage, pregnancy, real estate purchase, renovation, house move or new housemate.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): All work and no play is a recipe for a grumpy Goat. The Solar Eclipse encourages you to find creative ways to contribute your considerable Capricorn talents to worthy causes within your local community.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Are you feeling confused about your financial future? With the Solar Eclipse and nebulous Neptune in your money zone, don’t make any major moves until you have all the relevant facts at hand.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): With tonight’s Solar Eclipse stimulating your sign, you’re at your inspiring Piscean best and your infuriating worst. The more creative and compassionate you are, the less confused you’ll feel.

Joanne Madeline Moore is an internationally syndicated columnist. Her column appears daily in the Advocate.

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A baby giant anteater is presented at its enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. The baby was born on Jan. 20, 2016. For Prague Zoo it is the first baby anteater born in its breeding history.

STORY FROM PAGE B9

FUHRER: Build selfesteem as opposed to ego We sometimes see this with performers who own the audiences yet find themselves unable to deal with success or the eventual loss of status and recognition.

I remember a friend, a criminal psychologist, explaining to me that we all reach an emotional transition point at about the age of 12 – a coming of age, if you will. It is a time when we tran-scend from a heliocentric or self-centred view of life to one where we acknowledge that we are but one instrument in the great symphony of life. We bring awareness to the impact our words and actions have upon ourselves. We begin to accept responsibility for our own lives and the choices we make. Research suggests that praise without accountability can leave some children stuck at this crucial stage and unable to transcend it. I recall this same friend telling me that many incarcerated individuals and repeat offenders were stuck at this

particular stage.

Now you might say that a big ego is necessary to succeed in business, athletics or entertain-ment. There is, however, a fine line between being confident and self-assured and becoming the victim of a fat head. In his best seller, Ego Check: Why Executive Hubris is Wrecking Compa-nies and Careers and How to Avoid the Trap, Mathew Hayward provides some advice to help bolster self-esteem and keep the ego in check. He suggests that we stay close to our passion, remain true to who we are and never lose track of what makes us tick. He also suggests that we seek wise counsel, that is, build and sustain a network of people whom we can depend upon to remain open and honest about our progress relative to others in the field.

On the topic of ego, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the late Indian guru and philanthropist, once de-clared, “You are not one person, but three: the one you think you are, the one others think you are (and) the one you really are.”

When you work to build your self-esteem (as opposed to your ego) you will soon discover that you grow in awareness and possess a sustained confidence that becomes all-encompassing – a grounded confidence that acknowledges all of your strengths and opportunities. And in all likelihood, you’ll be willing to share your opinions openly rather than anonymously.

Murray Fuhrer is a self-esteem expert and facilitator.

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