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Woman still missing from Hythe seniors home

Jeff Henson
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It’s been three months since Linda Donnelly was last seen, and RCMP is still looking for any tips that will help them locate the missing 64 year old Hythe senior.

She was last seen leaving her residence at the Hythe Pioneer Home on December 10th.

She does have a history of leaving her home unannounced, but in all previous cases she returned a few hours later.

She is Aboriginal, around 5’7″ and 180 pounds, with grey hair.

With the weather warming up, Mounties are co-ordinating another search of the Hythe area, and are again asking anyone with information on Donnelly’s whereabouts to contact the Beaverlodge detachment.

MD of Greenview passes $130 million operating and capital budgets

Erica Fisher
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The MD of Greenview has adopted its operating and capital budgets for the year, totaling more than $131 million.

That’s reportedly around a 10 per cent increase over last year, but includes $30 million carried over from 2013.

Deputy Reeve Tom Burton explains that much of the operating budget is dedicated to improving roads in the area, especially ones used by industry.

“To address some of the issues that we’ve seen in the past through the oil and gas industry in utilizing some of the roads. With industry paying a fairly good portion of our revenue that we do get, we believe some of it needs to be put back in.”

Those include maintenance on the Forestry Truck Road and paving part of Little Smoky Road that was rebuilt last year.

Local agriculture has also played a big role with $1 million being put towards replacing equipment for rent to residents and improving weed control.

Burton adds they wanted to move forward to get projects going at hopefully lower costs, including 15-million for a proposed multi-plex in Valleyview, and new fire halls for DeBolt and Grovedale.

GPRC responsible for $139.4 million impact on local economy

Jenny Oatway
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The Grande Prairie Regional College is looking at just how much of an economic impact the institution has on the region on a yearly basis.

President Don Gnatiuk says the school itself contributes $56 million directly from it’s operation.

“And on the other side, education pays back. Education increases tax return, because people with education earn more, and because they’re informed they are less of a burden on the social network of our society, so all of those things contribute back to Albertans.”

Of the total return on investment, $3.4 million of it comes from student spending, and student productivity is responsible for another $80 million.

“So when you look at the whole thing together, Grande Prairie Regional College, per annum, provides $139.4 million to the region. This speaks volumes to the return on taxpayer investment in post-secondary.”

Gnatiuk says they also looked at the impact on a provincial level.

“We learned that in the province GPRC’s impact is closer to a quarter of a billion dollars, so $243 million. So post-secondary is not a cost to taxpayers, it’s an investment.”

Gnatiuk says the added income created by the GPRC and it’s students is equal to 2545 jobs.

Road ban on County gravel roads starting Friday

Erica Fisher
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Trucks travelling on gravel roads in the County of Grande Prairie will be restricted to 75 per cent axle weight starting tomorrow morning.

A road ban has been put in place to protect the roads during the spring thaw.

It’s in effect from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. until further notice.

MMA Meltdown coming to Grande Prairie

Jeff Henson
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Mixed Martial Arts action is returning to Evergreen Park next month.

Xcessive Force Fighting Championship will hold its fourth ever event at the Entrec Centre, called MMA Meltdown, on Saturday, April 19th.

Promoter Darren Cliffesays the 10 fight event will feature a first for Grande Prairie: 3 title fights in one night.

“Jarod Milko fighting Matt MacGrath. Jarod Milko is our welterweight champion, so he’ll be defending his title. We have two co-main events. The other one, at 125 lbs. is Adrian Woolley from Toronto fighting Eric Wilson from Saskatoon.”

The final title fight will see Jesse Arnett of Calgary take on Toronto’s Michael Imperato for the Bantamweight belt.

The event will also feature several local fighters, including Spencer Jebb, William Carriere, Conrad Krzysztan, and former Grande Prairie native Rick Pfeifer.

More money needed to complete renovations of former tennis courts

Jenny Oatway
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The multi-sport outdoor field renovation of the leisure centre tennis courts will need another 248-thousand dollars from city council in order to be completed.

Kylee Haining, Manager of Recreation and Sport for the city, says the money is needed for the rubberized resurfacing of the tennis and basketball courts, along with nets and posts for tennis and volleyball.

City council will be make a decision whether or not to approve the additional funding, along with a 445-thousand dollar tender for the project at their next meeting.

Grande Prairie moves up in list of best places to live

Erica Fisher
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Grande Prairie just nearly cracked the top 50 best places to live in Canada.

MoneySense’s annual rankings placed Grande Prairie in 51st place out of 201 cities.

That’s a major jump for the Swan City, which sat in 87th out of 200 in 2013.

To compile the list, the magazine uses a system of statistics revolving around quality of life.

Everything from unemployment rates, precipitation, and participation in arts and culture are compiled.

St. Alberts, Alberta was ranked number one for the first time ever.

Mayor Given to give State of the City Address

Jenny Oatway
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The Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce is playing host to Mayor Bill Given’s State of the City address tomorrow afternoon.

Given says the address is a bit of a reflection on the previous year, and also a look forward.

“There’ll be a bit of an update on some of the significant projects that we’ve had happening over the last little while, obviously an update on annexation, and touching on the 100th anniversary as well. We have a lot of things going on in the city and this is a great chance to be able to share that with the community.”

Registration for the event is $40 dollars for those who don’t belong to the Chamber of Commerce, and can be found online at their website.

The address starts at 11:45 at the Teresa Sargent Hall.

Students experiencing other cultures through food

Erica Fisher
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Harry Balfour School will be getting a taste of the world tomorrow at the 32nd annual International Food Fair.

Principal Wendy Crispin says it’s a much anticipated annual event.

“It’s a great day because all of the school children and parents come in and we have dishes from all around the world. We eat lunch together and it’s a dat if celebrating all the diverse cultures.”

Students will be bringing in dishes from countries like Scandinavian, Ukraine, and China.

The cost for a five-item food plate is $3 per family.

Everything from hot and cold dishes to vegetables, fruits, and desserts from foreign countries will be served starting at 11:30 a.m.

Local Afghanistan veteran feels time is right to end involvement

Jeff Henson
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Our country’s 12 year military service in Afghanistan has come to a close.

In honour of that, schools and municipal buildings across the country lowered their Canadian flag, and then re-raised it over the noon hour.

Grande Prairie City Hall held one of those ceremonies, which was attended by a local soldier who served in Afghanistan back in 2003.

Corporal Curtis King feels the time is right for our troops to be leaving Afghanistan.

“We lost too many troops there; a lot of good friends. We made a good difference, but I think it’s time.”

Corporal King is proud of the reconstruction work that they were involved with, from schools to roads.

Peace River High School teacher nominated for award

Jeff Henson
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Peace River School Division has announced their nominee for Alberta Education’s 2014 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Jennifer Favreau is a grade 9-12 Social Studies teacher at Peace River High School, where she also instructs Career and Life Management.

She is also the school’s Athletic Director, and organizes and chaperones the school’s trip to France, which is offered every three years to French Immersion students.

A selection committee will review nominations from across the province, and announce semi finalists and finalists for the award in the coming weeks.

Shane Babitsch back in court on first degree murder charge

Erica Fisher
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UPDATE: Shane Babitsch appeared in court this morning via CCTV while in custody. He has retained a lawyer, who has not yet received all the information on his case. His next court date is set for April 30th.

The man charged with the murder of 26 year old Courtney Johnstone of Grande Prairie is back in court today.

22 year old Shane Babitsch is facing a charge of first degree murder, after Johnstone went missing in late January.

Babitsch was last in court a month ago, and since then Johnstone’s remains turned up at the Aquatera Waste Management site.

He was given until today to find a lawyer and apply to be released from police custody.

Flags at half-mast to mark end of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan

Jenny Oatway
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Today marks the final day of Canada’s 12 year military service in Afghanistan.

In honour of the maple leaf flag in Kabul, all municipalities and schools have been asked to participate in a flag lowering and raising.

Local schools, along with Grande Prairie City Hall, will lower their flags to half-mast to begin the day, returning them to full height at noon.

Local military personnel have been invited to take part in the ceremony.

UPDATE: Water Situation in Wembley

Jeff Henson
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Water service has been resumed in the Town of Wembley.

Officials had to turn off the water for a few hours earlier today in order to repair a fire hydrant in the community.

Frozen valves on the hydrant was causing it to be running uncontrollably.

City commits another $700,000 to Odyssey House supportive living facility

Jenny Oatway
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With construction of the Odyssey House Supportive Living Facility looming on the horizon, the organization is thanking the city for another contribution to the campaign.

The city first designated $2.3 million through affordable housing, and has now committed another $700,000.

Executive Director Jasmin Greavett says now they are not far off from their goal of $4.45 million.

“It’ll really come down, I think, to a lot of community support, different industries, different businesses, thinks like that. We’re hoping that $100,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to what we’ve been fundraising, so we’re pretty hopeful that we’ll be able to get that in the next few months.”

Greavett says they are hoping the building will be move-in ready about a year after construction begins, which is expected to be sometime in April.

Peace Region Relay For Life finds new home

Jeff Henson
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The County Sportsplex has become the new home for the Peace Region Relay For Life.

The 12th annual event is set for June 13th, with organizers hoping to raise over 425 thousand dollars in the process.

Sandy Hunter, a revenue development co-ordinator with the Canadian Cancer Society, says they are off to a good start with registrations.

“We have actually had a few people call into the office, and say ‘hey I heard it was inside this year, so I want to come out again’.  People that have not done it for the past few years because it was cold and wet, are responding.  We are already at 42 teams registered, with our goal being 100.  So at this point of the game, that is great for Grande Prairie.”

The event is a major fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, with the Peace Region relay being one of the biggest held in Canada.

Teams can register at the local office, or online at www.relayforlife.ca.

February a slow month for housing starts in Grande Prairie

Jeff Henson
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Housing starts in Grande Prairie were down last month when compared to January.

Just six homes – all single family units – were built in the city last month.

That compared to 52 homes in January, with 19 of those being single family homes.

Despite the lower numbers last month, there have been 29 single family homes built so far this year, one more than what had been recorded at this time last year.

The big fall off is in multi-family home builds. There have been none so far this year, compared to 42 last year.

Creating the next wave of volunteers in Grande Prairie

Jeff Henson
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Developing more youth volunteers is one of the goals of the Youth Volunteer Certification program being offered through Grande Prairie Volunteer Services Bureau.

Executive Director Carol Anne Pasemko says they want any youth between the ages of 16 and 30 to be able to go into a volunteer situation, and be successful at it.

“We’ll be doing some stuff on personal development, time management, skills appraisals, and identifying their transferable skills. They’ll work on interpersonal skills, verbal communication, how to build rapport, to deal with criticism; how to become self-motivated.”

Communication, problem solving, and decision making are other key areas that will be worked on during the training.

Participants will also receive certification in areas like First Aid, Food Safe, and Workplace Safety.

Registrations are now being accepted for the 10 week program, which will run from April 7th to June 14th.

They can be found online at www.gpvsb.com.

City reacts to provincial budget

Jenny Oatway
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The city is pleased overall with the provincial budget, though Mayor Bill Given notes a decrease in funding available to municipalities.

Given says money that had previously been available to the city through MSI grants has been reallocated to the Regional Collaboration Grant, which will have to be applied for.

“I think it’s encouraging that the province is trying to show municipalities that there is value in working together, and certainly the city of Grande Prairie, that’s something we believe. But it does mean on an actual, sort of, budget for the city, that there’s a reduction in the amount of money that’s going to be available for us this year.”

Given says overall, the city is always pleased to recieve any funding and support from the province.

He considers the new budget to be fairly par for the course.

RCMP recruiting in Grande Prairie

Erica Fisher
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The Mounties are hiring and they’re looking to Grande Prairie for some of their new recruits.

Members will be in the Swan City later this week to speak with anyone interested in a career with the RCMP.

K Division recruitment officer Constable Andy Wetzstein says that in addition to the basic requirements like being a Canadian citizen and over eighteen years old, they’re looking for people of “good character” with life experience.

“We’re looking for somebody that has the core values of honesty, integrity, professionalism, respect, accountability, and compassion. We’re looking for somebody that embodies are six of those qualities.”

Wetzstein adss the public might be shocked to learn that they’re looking to hire 960 people a year for the next three years.

Officers are expected to put in three to five years in general duty before moving on to more than 150 different specializations.

The career presentation will be held at the GPRC Friday night, with the opportunity to take the entrance exam the next morning.

To register call 1-877-726-7472.

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