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Teachers headed to Grande Prairie for annual convention

Jenny Oatway
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The 2014 Mighty Peace Teachers Convention gets under way tomorrow.

1600 teachers from all across the Peace Region will be in Grande Prairie for the annual two day event.

The Composite High School, Peace Wapiti Academy, and Harry Balfour School will play host for the numerous seminars, speakers, and workshops.

Convention Association President Julie Gummesen says students and parents can look forward to some of things teachers will be able to bring back to their classrooms.

“We hope, I guess, that the public realizes that we’re here working away for what’s best for our schools, so there’s a lot to look forward to for everybody after the convention is done.”

Gummesen says this year’s opening keynote speaker is Rick Wormelli, who was one of the first nationally board certified teachers in America.

“He is basically a guru for lots of different things, mostly literacy, and a lot about differentiated instruction. He’s just a really engaging guy, he can do anything for any teacher so we’re excited to have him back, he’s very, very popular.”

There will be no classes for students in the Catholic, Public, and Peace Wapiti school divisions on both Thursday and Friday.

Storm hand out year-end awards

Jeff Henson
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The Storm officially closed the curtain on their season last night with their awards banquet.

Captain Sasha Larocque was named the club’s Most Valuable Payer, while leading goal scorer Ryan Baskerville won the Garrett Larson trophy as the club’s top forward.

Defenceman Al MacPherson was the club’s top rookie while Dalton Olson was top defenceman.

Ian McLellan and Blake Bosch were both double winners, as they shared the Hustler award, while McLellan was Most Improved and Bosch was named Most Dedicated.

Province looks to create a Rural Economic Development Action Plan

Jeff Henson
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The province has created a task force made up of Conservative MLA’s, which will look at ways to further strengthen the rural Alberta economy. It’s step one in the creation of a Rural Economic Development Action Plan.

Agriculture and Rural Development minister Verlyn Olson says a strong and vibrant rural Alberta is essential for the economic health of the province.

“The Conference Board of Canada reports that the economic foot print of rural Alberta is in the order of 77 billion dollars. That’s very, very significant.

The task force, which includes Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley MLA Hector Goudreau, will visit 8 rural communities later this month and into April, to meet with key community stakeholders.

They will look for new ideas and ways to use current government programs in different ways.

Annual GPRC President's Awards handed out

Jenny Oatway
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Two GPRC alumni who coached Team Alberta to a gold medal in men’s volleyball at the Canada Summer Games in 2013 were recognized by their former college earlier today.

Jon Goldie and Mike Lauzon are the joint recipients of this year’s Alumni Excellence Award.

Goldie accepted the award on behalf of himself and the Wolves Coach.

“Mike and I have been friends for 10 years or more, when I got named head coach of the Canada Games [volleyball team] he’s the first one that I called to be on my staff. We get along really well and we challenge each other, we spent a lot of late nights coming up with strategies and helping build the team.”

Other recipients of the 2014 President’s Awards include Bridget Hennigar, who received the Distinguished Alumni accolade.

Fred and Ruth Estlin were recognized for their years of involvement at the college with the Board of Governors Award of Distinction.

The Distinguished Volunteer Award went to long time Wolves announcer Tom Pura.

And Ryan Pomeroy took home the Steps to the Greater Alumni Award, which recognizes recent alum who have achieved success early on in their career.

Local MLA weighs in on throne specch

Jeff Henson
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Monday’s Throne Speech from the Redford government included an announcement that they would be creating Canada’s first ever pipeline training facility.

Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale says that facility will benefit the entire energy industry, especially here in our region.

“We have to rely more on bringing workers in from outside and hopefully we can get more from eastern Canada or even the states, but if not, foreign workers. They don’t come with the skills that we require to build Alberta with these pipelines, so we need to train them when they get here.

Drysdale also thinks that local municipalities will be interested in the announcement of a new, long term MSI funding program, which will come in Thursday’s budget.

Local young entrepreneur wins provincial business award

Jeff Henson
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What started out as carrying on a hobby he shared with his dad has turned into a successful business venture and provincial recognition for a Grande Prairie resident.

Imperial Garden Sports Collectibles owner Kenney Der was presented the 2014 Alberta Business Award of Distinction for Young Entrepreneur over the weekend.

Der thinks his dad would be proud of how far the business has come since it opened in 2010.

“It’s nice to know that I’m living my dad’s dream too, running a sports memorabilia store, because I know it’s something he probably would have loved doing maybe when he got older and retired and moved away from the restaurant side of things.”

Located inside the Imperial Garden Restaurant owned by his mother, Der says he opened the store to fill a need for an affordable sports collectibles store in Grande Prairie.

He says he was both shocked and honoured to receive the award, adding it feels great to be recognized after putting in a lot of hard work and long hours to get the business off the ground.

Grande Prairie developing city-wide standard for street lighting

Jenny Oatway
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Grande Prairie residents are invited to take part in a workshop to develop a city wide standard for street lighting.

City Traffic Engineering Manager Norman Kyle says right now street lighting relies on national standards, but the city would like to look at lighting needs related to the specific geography and climate of Grande Prairie.

“Once they develop community-based standards, then they’re actually going to do a model of the city; they’re going to model the current street lighting in the city and look at the light levels to determine where we have either excessive lighting or insufficient lighting, and that will help us when we do future capital projects.”

Kyle adds one component they would like their consultants to look at is the cost savings of LED lights.

The workshop, which is open to anyone interested, is set for March 19 at the Muskoseepi Park Pavilion from 5 to 7 p.m.

Canada Job Grant aims to match locals with skills training and employers

Erica Fisher
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It was announced late last week that almost every province had reached an agreement with the federal government to create the Canada Job Grant program.

The deal provides up to $15,000 each for a resident to get skills training and fill an open job.

Local MP Chris Warkentin argues this is good good news for the Peace Region.

“Really the number on issue for employers is finding skilled workers, especially in the area of trades and so many areas where there is requirement for some type of skills training but no people that have those skills are looking for those jobs.”

Warkentin says he’s heard from many employers in the area about the need for more skilled workers.

Part of the deal that was accepted ensured provinces could choose where the money for the funding comes from and protects current programs.

Details of the program in Alberta will be worked out in the coming months.

Highway 744 in Peace River closed for next six days

Erica Fisher
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Starting tomorrow, crews will be working to replace part of the highway that was damaged by last year’s floods.

Jasmine Franklin with Alberta Transportation Highway 744 at Pat’s Creek in Peace River will be closed for six days, but will be reopened at night when possible.

“They’re replacing a portion of the culvert that was damaged by the June 2013 flood, so the work will return the area to its pre-flood condition and if all goes as planned it should be reopen on Tuesday morning.”

Concrete panels are being replaced during this round of work, and guardrails, curbs, and signage will be added in late May and early June.

Detours are available for anyone wanting to access Highway 2 and downtown Peace River.

Grande Prairie unofficially breaks March 3rd snowfall record

Erica Fisher
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Grande Prairie received a record amount of snowfall Monday.

Unofficially, 4.6 centimetres fell, beating the previous record of 4.4 set in 1987.

However, the resulting precipitation wasn’t enough to match the March third record, falling short by 0.6 millimetres to the 3.8 set in 1951.

There’s a 40 per cent chance of more snow today.

Woman charged with drug trafficking in Grimshaw

Erica Fisher
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RCMP in Grimshaw has turned up large amounts of drugs meant for distribution after spotting a suspicious vehicle.

The driver, 24 year old Rebecca Garnett, has been charged with four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of obstruction and one count of possession of property obtained by crime over $5000.

Cocaine, methamphetamine, and presciption pills all worth more than $15,000 were turned up, along with $14,000 in cash.

Drug paraphernalia, packaging materials, digital scales and multiple cell phones were also found at a Grimshaw residence.

Garnett will next be in Peace River court on March 10th.

Harry Balfour School welcomes new principal

Jeff Henson
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Harry Balfour school will have a new principal in the fall.

Darren Young will take over the position from Wendy Crispin, who is set to retire this June after over 33 years with the Peace Wapiti School Division.

Young comes to Grande Prairie after 16 years of teaching and administration work with the Fort Vermillion School Division.

He has a master of Education in Education Leadership from the University of Calgary, as well as a Bachelor of University Studies with a focus in Elementary Education from the University of Maine.

Two fatal crashes on area highways over the weekend

Jeff Henson
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Late Friday night, a 49 year old woman was killed in a two vehicle crash near Clairmont.

RCMP say a dodge ram 3500 was travelling west bound on township road 724.

As it tried to enter the intersection, it struck a southbound Hyundai accent, killing the driver.

A 29 year old Clairmont man has been charged with Impaired driving causing death.

He is slated to appear in court march 24th.

The name of the deceased has not been released.

Then last night, RCMP were calle dto a two vehicle crash on Highway 40, about 20 km south of Ainsworth.

The collision was between a transport and a pickup, which was driven by a 29 year old from Grande Prairie.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police believe the pickup may have crossed the centre line and collided with the transport. His name has not been released.

New contest aimed at aspiring screenwriters

Jeff Henson
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Budding screenwriters and filmmakers from the Alberta Peace are encouraged to enter a new contest offered through the Reel Shorts Film Festival.

The Youth Screenplay Competition sees people between the ages of 16-24 submit a maximum 15 page screenplay, which is then critiqued by award winning filmmaker Scott Belyea.

The entrant then has a chance to submit a revised screenplay by May 4th for final judging.

Festival director Terry Scerbak says the idea for the contest was born off of a screen writer’s competition that they held in conjunction with last year’s festival.

“It seemed to me that so many of them had kernels of great ideas, and Scott Belyea is so talented at working, that I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to offer this opportunity.’ Yeah, you submit your screenplay, but then you have professional mentor ship to actually make it better.”

Concept practicality is a key factor in the contest, as organizers would like to see the film develop within the Peace region.

The winner gets a $500 cash prize and two thousand dollars to produce it into a short film.

More details can be found online www.reelshorts.ca.

Federal government outlines new legislation regarding child predators

Jenny Oatway
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The federal government has tabled a new bill to crack down on child predators.

The legislation, the “Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act”, outlines nine new measures that they say will help keep children safe.

Peace River MP Chris Warkentin says a big component of the bill is that in offenders with multiple convictions would have to serve their time consecutively.

“For the one charge, they’re going to serve out time for that, and then the next charge they’ll have to tack on additional time and additional time. That’s what Canadians would expect in this circumstance, and I think we’re finally moving on legislation that will reflect what Canadians would expect when it comes to these types of criminals.”

The bill would also establish a database of high risk child sex offenders who have been the subject of public notification.

Provincial government highlights upcoming session in throne speech

Jeff Henson
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Improving relationships with the province’s two biggest cities, while finalizing long term funding to all municipalities through GreenTrip and the Municipal Sustainability Initiative are two of the highlights of the spring sitting of the Alberta Legislature.

In their speech from the throne, the Redford government also pledged to use money in the Alberta Heritage Scholarship fund to create two new endowments – one for social innovation and one for Agriculture and Food innovation.

Other highlights include the creation of the Alberta Institute for Research and Commercialization, plans to create the country’s first pipeline training facility, and developing a new school curriculum that focuses on a strong understanding of basic literacy and numbers.

RCMP seeking robbery suspect

Jeff Henson
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Grande Prairie RCMP are investigating an armed robbery at a downtown convenience store early this morning.

They say a white man with a gun walked into the store before 4:20 am and demanded money, then took off after getting a small amount of cash.

The suspect was wearing a black jacket, a black sweatshirt with grey interior, and a black scarf that hid his identity.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Grande Prairie detachment or Crime Stoppers.

Second appearance set for Horseman and Smith

Jenny Oatway
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Two people charged in connection to the abduction of a seven month old baby from Royal Oaks will remain in custody for at least another three weeks.

26 year old Keisha Horseman and 22 year old David Michael Smith of Grande Prairie are charged with kidnaping, abandoning a child, theft of a vehicle, and possession of property obtained by crime.

Horseman has an additional count of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

The two will be back in court on March 24.

Edmonton stabbing suspect now in custody

Jenny Oatway
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Edmonton RCMP have captured a suspect after a stabbing at a grocery warehouse in that city’s west end.

The attack, which happened just after 2 pm, left two people dead and four others wounded.

29 year old Jayme Pasieka, who is an employee at the warehouse, was the subject of a massive police hunt, and is now in custody.

Former Fox Creek financial officer charged with fraud

Jenny Oatway
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The former financial officer for the town of Fox Creek has been charged with fraud.

54 year old Florette Macleod worked for the town from January 2006 until March 2013.

Police say the period of investigation involves over $370,000.

Macleod will appear in Fox Creek provincial court on April 28 for charges of Fraud over $5000 and Breach of Trust.

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