Some more big names have been added to the list of special guests that will be in the city this August for the ribbon cutting of the Philip J Currie dinosaur museum. Paul Mitchell hair products co-founder John-Paul DeJoria, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen will join the likes of the Dan Aykroyd family, Matthew Grey Gubler and Fran Drescher for three days of activities. That includes a Freedom of the City event on August 7th, and a day of digging for dinosaur fossils on the 8th. It wraps up with a full day of activities on August 9th, including the ribbon cutting for the museum, the dedication of the Aykroyd family theatre, and the Amber ball fundraiser.
Beaverlodge student thrives on Education Advisory Council
Grade 10 student Kaitlynn Douglas’ first year on the Minister of Education’s Student Advisory Council culminated in the Speak Out conference in Edmonton last weekend.
The event brings students from around the province together to share their experiences and ideas with Alberta Education.
Even though she hails from a rural area, Kaitlynn believes everyone should be engaged in education.
“That’s what makes education great; we need parents involved, the teachers involved, students involved, community members, everyone needs to be involved. Like they say, it takes a village to raise a child, so we need everyone to be involved and engaged, and that will make students successful.”
The Beaverlodge Regional High School student was selected as a member of the council last year and helped plan the conference.
She says her time involved so far has changed her life.
“I’ve grown so much as a person being on the council. I used to be really shy, not wanting to public speak, not wanting to raise my hand in class or anything; now I’m totally opposite. I’m engaged, I’m excited about education, I’m happy to come to school. It’s incredible how it can change you.”
At the conference, Kaitlynn and other council members held workshops and participated in a panel discussion with the Deputy Minister of Education.
She hopes to continue on as a member and encourages anyone wanting to learn more about and voice their opinions on the education system to try out.
Baytex Energy supports new regulations for Peace River area
Baytex Energy says it supports the Alberta Energy Regulator’s new regulatory initiatives.
The AER has approved all of the recommendations stemming from a public inquiry into odours and emissions from heavy oil operations in the Peace River area.
They include requiring the capture of produced gas, and encourage gas conservation measures.
Baytex argues it is already expanding its gas conservation facilities and is working on capturing vapours from all of its well sites.
The Calgary-based company’s operations are the subject of complaints from local families who have left their homes due to health concerns.
Police release more photos of armed robberies suspect
Grande Prairie RCMP has released more security footage stills of a man they believe is responsible for 13 armed robberies since mid-March.
The Caucasian male is between 5’6″ and 6′ tall with a thin to medium build.
He often wears sunglasses and a bandana or ski mask to conceal his identity.
The suspect appears to have targeted businesses on 100th Street from 84th to 121st Avenue.
In some cases he has produced a gun or knife, and demands money and sometimes cigarettes.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
Spruce Grove Saints win 2014 AJHL Gas Drive Cup
The Spruce Grove Saints have won the AJHL Gas Drive Cup.
They beat the Drumheller Dragons 2-1 in overtime last night to sweep their series.
Fourth year veteran and Captain Corey Chorneyko was named Playoff MVP.
They’ll next head to the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup in Dauphin, Manitoba.
They’ll compete there for a chance to represent the West at the 2014 RBC Cup National Junior A Championship in Vernon, B.C.
AER accepts Peace River oil operations recommendations
Existing heavy oil and bitumen operators in the Peace River area will have to capture their produced gas by mid-August and new ones by May 15th.
That’s just one of the recommendations from the hearings into odours and emissions from those operations that the Alberta Energy Regulator has accepted.
Chief Economist for the Energy Resources Conservation Board Carol Crowfoot explains it has also released a revised directive on flaring, incinerating, and venting reducing the impacts and increasing gas conservation opportunities.
“There would be flaring that would occur, but would end as soon as we can get then the gas conservation plans in place, so we’re obviously going to move very quickly on that, but we will wait for the report from the operators to determine what that’s going to look like.”
Operators will be conducting a feasibility study on capturing all gas in the region, due by October, for the AER to then take action on.
Companies who don’t comply with all of the new requirements could have their wells shut down.
Crystal Centre getting $3.94 million upgrades
City Council has approved spending $3.94 million to upgrade the trusses at the Crystal Centre.
The arena has been losing major concerts and events to its competitors as the structure can’t hold weight over 40-thousand pounds.
Although the project came in greatly over the projected $3 million budget, Councillor Dwight Logan argues it’s worth it in the long run.
“The marketplace has a tremendous amount of competition up here. If you can’t satisfy the groups that want to be here, the entertainment wants to be here, then they’re going to go somewhere else.”
Unused capital funds and the Leisure Centre budget reduction will be used to cover the difference.
The decision was not unanimous, however, as two city councillors voted against it, including Rory Tarant.
He felt only the tress structure upgrades should be paid for, and not rigging that would make the venue more attractive, but wasn’t deemed necessary.
The work has been awarded to T-West Construction, who will have f52 days starting May 28th to get everything done.
The Crystal Gardens will remain open in the meantime.
Alberta farmland values increase
The value of farmland in Canada has steadily increased over the past twenty years, no more so than over the last year.
Farm Credit Canada reports the average value increased 22.1 per cent in 2013, the largest rise since at least 1985.
Senior Appraiser Ken Gurney says that reflects the strength of the industry.
“Agriculture is very strong at this point in time across Canada. If the agricultural industry was not strong, then we would not be seeing the increases across this country as we’re seeing at this point in time.”
Alberta’s farmland values rose 12.9 per cent, and have consistently increased since 1993.
However, demand across the country is expected to slow down.
City to host presentation on wetlands importance
The importance of wetland areas will be the focus of a special presentation tomorrow night at the Coke Centre. The city’s environmental stewardship and planning departments are hosting the event, which will highlight the importance of these areas towards a healthy community. The north east corner, especially around Crystal Lake, is the largest wetland area in the city. Council has made it a priority to preserve the natural environment of these areas, while fostering sustainable growth. The information session begins at 5:30 tomorrow night, and all interested residents are encouraged to attend.
Reel Shorts Film Festival unveils lineup
Ticket sales for this year’s Reel Shorts Film Festival are ahead of the pace set last year. The schedule for this year’s festival, which goes May 7-11, has been released, with 101 short films divided into 16 packages. Director Terry Scerbak says they have already moved a couple of their screenings due to huge interest.
“We have had to move the school packages, there are five of them, and Psycho shorts, to the Jan Cinema, because we have out grown Grande Prairie Live Theatre for those screenings. Â We already have 300 grade 1-3 kids booked for our first screening of that package.”
Scerbak says while moving screenings provides logistical challenges, it is a good problem to have. She says a downtown performing and media arts centre, which has been discussed for several years, would be an ideal new home for the festival in the future.
Non profit sector conference needs more registrants, in danger of being postponed
The “Changing Faces, Survival of the Non-Profit Organization” conference being organized by Grande Prairie Volunteer Services Bureau is in danger of being postponed unless registration numbers pick up in the coming days. GPVSB Executive Director Carol Anne Pasemko says the conference is for more than just non profit groups.
“When you look at the quality of these workshops, and the topics that are in these workshops, these are ideal for the business person too. Â There is leadership, human resource management, risk management overall.”
The conference is set for April 23-25, but Pasemko says portions of it will have to be postponed if they do not get at least 100 people registered by next Monday. Registration is 225 dollars for GPVSB members, and 250 for non members, with discounts for organizations sending multiple members. Contact the Volunteer Services Bureau office to register.
Habitat for Humanity gets HUGE donation from local students
Students from Grande Prairie Catholic School District have presented a cheque for 126-thousand dollars to Habitat for Humanity. HFH Edmonton President and CEO Alfred Nikolai says it is the largest ever donation they have received from a group of youth.
“For a bunch of school children to come together and say ‘I am going to work hard and try to raise money for somebody that I do not know’ is the spirit of neighbours helping neighbours. And it is so alive in our Northern communities.”
The money was raised through a variety of projects over the past two years. It will go towards the construction of Habitat for Humanity homes in both Fairview and Grande Prairie.
City mounties investigating another armed robbery
Mounties are investigating yet another armed robbery in our city. At around 1:15 this morning, two men walked into a convenience store in the Lakeland area, flashed a handgun and demanded cash from the clerk. They then took off on foot in an unknown direction. Both suspects are described as being around 5 foot 2 in height, and wearing all black clothing. One suspect had red gloves, a red bandana, and a black hoodie with a white happy face on it. The other suspect had a black bandana on his face, goggles, and white sneakers. Police do not believe this case is associated with the 13 armed robberies that have taken place in the city since mid March. Anyone with info on Tuesday morning’s hold up is asked to call the Grande Prairie detachment.
Former GPRC volleyball star among first ACAC hall of fame members
A former athlete from Grande Prairie Regional College is among the first inductees announced for the ACAC hall of fame. Jason Haldane played volleyball at GPRC from 1990-92. He then went on to spend 12 years with the Canadian National team, and also played for Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics. A total of 50 people will be inducted into the ACAC hall of fame at a gala event May 10th in Edmonton. The next 10 inductees will be announced on Wednesday.
Locals invited to try out for provincial football team
Three Peace region football players have been invited to the selection camp for Alberta’s Under 18 men’s football team. Running back Taylor Rempel of St Joe’s, along with teammate and defensive back Aiden Senft, will be joined by receiver Kelton Bailey of Peace River at the May 9-11 camp in Edmonton, hoping to make the team that will represent Alberta at the Football Canada Cup this July in Saskatoon.
City joins onto aerial imagery project with County
The city has come on board again with the County for their aerial imagery project.
The two sides worked together on the project every four years, beginning in 2002, with the photos being used to help with urban planning, construction, and assessment.
They are also used by property owners interested in seeing what their property looks like from above.
The city is contributing close to $91,000 of the cost for the photos, with the County contributing up to $156,000.
The County’s amount may decrease if towns like Beaverlodge, Sexsmith, Wembley and Hythe decide to partner in the project, at a cost of $28,000.
AECOM has been hired to take the photos, which are 40 cm imagery for rural areas, and 10 cm imagery for urban areas.
The city also plans to use the photos for flood risk management, ground surface drainage, and contour mapping.
The photos will be taken once the snow has melted, and will be published by this fall.
City surveying residents on future of aquatics facilities
Want more spray parks or renovations to the Eastlink Centre’s pool?
The City wants to hear that and more through a survey on the future of aquatics facilities in Grande Prairie.
City Council decided to take different options to the public to see whether they would want to see The Leisure Centre reopened with a pool and fitness centre, or if they’d prefer to reopen the Bear Creek Pool.
Other options include reducing the depth of the shallow end of Eastlink’s 50 metre pool, and building more spray parks.
Using the online survey, residents can see how each option would affect their tax bill.
Neighbouring communities can participate as well on the City’s website.
Holy Family Catholic Regional Division names Edwin Parr nominee
Another Peace region school division has named its nominee for the Edwin Parr Award.
Sadie Thompson is a grade 4 teacher at Good Shepherd school in Peace River, which is part of the Holy Family Catholic Regional Division.
Thompson is a former Good Shepherd student who returned to the school to begin her teaching career after graduating from the University of Alberta.
Her patience in the classroom and the way she adapts her teaching style to meet the needs of each student were some of the reasons she was nominated.
The provincial winner of the Edwin Parr award, which is given annually to outstanding first year teachers, will be announced in the fall.
Drayton Valley, GP Warriors Orange win Windigo 7's rugby tournament
The Drayton Valley Senior Girls took the championship over Grande Prairie’s Composite High Warriors in the Windigo 7’s rugby tournament this weekend.
The hosts fell 6-2 in the finals.
On the boys side, it was an all GP Warriors final, with Team Orange beating Team Black 7-4.
Emily Cook from Composite High School Warriors Rugby Team won tournament female MVP and a $500 scholarship, while Shane Cote from PWA Titans Rugby won the same for the boys.
More than a dozen armed robberies in Grande Prairie
RCMP is looking for the public’s help in finding a suspect wanted in a rash of recent armed robberies.
Since March 13th, local Mounties have responded to 13 armed robbery reports, with most of them being within the 100th street corridor between 84th and 121st Avenues.
Nobody has been injured in any of the instances, with the suspect asking for cash and sometimes cigarettes in each occurance.
He has also produced a gun or knife in some cases, and merely said that he had a weapon the other times.
The suspect is described as being 5’6″ to 6′ tall in height, Caucaian, with a thin to medium build.
In each case, he has worn a ski mask or bandana to conceal his identity, along with a dark coloured hooded sweatshirt.
Anyone with info on these robberies is asked to contact the Grande Prairie RCMP detachment.
