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WHEELIE EXCITED ABOUT SPRING
50 guns stolen from home
COUNTY OF STETTLER
Economy, rumour driving petition: Reeve
BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF Fifty more guns have been added to the growing tally of stolen firearms in Alberta after a break-in near Sundre. The cumulative total of firearms that have been reported stolen or missing in Alberta was 10,000 at the beginning of this year. Last year 1,300 firearms were stolen in areas of Alberta covered by the RCMP. “It is a big deal,” RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Sharon Franks said Thursday about the Sundre theft that occurred on Tuesday. “It’s a huge public safety issue. Absolutely.” Additional officers have been assigned to assist the Sundre RCMP detachment with the investigation, she said. “We are certainly taking it seriously. The fact is is that we now have additional firearms that are on the street, which elevates the risk to all of us, including citizens as well as police,” Franks said. The guns were stolen from a rural residence near Sundre. There were 35 long-barrelled firearms and 15 handguns taken from a secured room in the home.
BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF Inaccurate information and the poor economy likely fuelled much of the concern that drove a petition against a plan to borrow millions in the County of Stettler, says the reeve. “I’m going to blame it mostly on misinformation and rumour and, I guess, partly on the times,” said Reeve Wayne Nixon. “Stories kept coming back to council about things that just weren’t right but by that time the petition was underway. It was kind of too little, too late, our letter to the public.” Faced with growing discord over a plan to take $2 million out of reserves and borrow $7.6 million towards the estimated $9.4 million bill for a public works facility, council published an open letter to residents last week. One of its first messages was to shoot down rumours that ratepayers could see their taxes double or triple because of the project. In reality, says the county farm/residential residents would see a maximum annual tax increase of $35 to $70, or less or nothing depending on the financing scenario chosen by council.
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Dustin Cherbonneau jams his foot into his front fork as he gets back in his groove at the skate park near the Red Deer Arena. Cherbonneau and his friend Cody Smith were working to clear the snow and ice out of the park Thursday as they were determined to be able to get back on their bikes this week. Warm temperatures forecast through the weekend should go a long way to help clearing the area of snow and ice.
See GUNS on Page A6
See PETITION on Page A6
Poverty simulation workshop leaves students exhausted, stressed out BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer College social work students got a taste on Thursday of the stress that impoverished Red Deerians experience every day. United Way Central Alberta and the Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance put on a poverty simulation workshop in the classroom with about
70 students who were organized into small groups representing families living in poverty. They were given limited resources like a few bus vouchers and low-wage jobs to make it through one month. First year student Jessica Philips called it an intense hour-long workshop that left her frustrated. She assumed the role of a grandmother who lived with her husband RED DEER WEATHER
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and cared for their granddaughter because their daughter could not. “I was exhausted and stress out and kind of sad because no matter what I did it wasn’t good enough. You work really hard and you get pretty much nothing,” Philips said. Philip’s character worked 40 hours a week, earning $10.75 an hour. Her husband was on disability leave and received only $500 a month.
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“At first it was really hard because my family couldn’t afford to buy food for the first two weeks. “We got an eviction notice pretty much the first week in, which was stressful. We had debts at the bank we needed to pay right off the bat. That put a damper on our funds too.”
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