The AJHL has announced the winners of its league awards.
Canmore Eagles defenceman Trey Phillips is a double winner, claiming league MVP and top defenceman honours.
Fort McMurray netminder Tanner Jaillet was named top goalie, while rookie of the year honours went to Chris Gerrie of Olds.
Jason McKee of Spruce Grove was named the league’s coach of the year.
For more details on the players and awards, click here.
A Juno Award-winning drummer will share his life story with high school students in three Peace region communities this week.
Mitch Dorge will talk about living out his dream of being a drummer for the Crash Test Dummies, while encouraging the students to follow their own dreams.
He adds a big part of his message will also be about making responsible choices in life.
“And knowing that the choices that you make affect the outcome of what it is that you’re trying to achieve in life. It’s not me getting on the pedestal saying do this or don’t do that; I really think that education is the key.”
Dorge says his presentation will be him talkin with the students, rather than talking to them.
He will be in Valleyview this morning, followed by Fox Creek tomorrow and Ridgevalley on Thursday.
Speeding drivers continues to be a major issue that County Enforcement Services officers deal with on a daily basis.
Program Manager Stuart Rempel says traffic safety takes up about 96 per cent of what his peace officers do on a daily basis.
Sadly, he does not see that number getting smaller any time soon.
“People seem to get the idea that getting there faster makes their day go better. The problem with being a rural municipality is we have great distance between points and it’s a message I keep sending out to people; the statistics we put out with respect to high flyers is alarming.”
Rempel says his officers continue to hammer the point home to drivers that instead of speeding, they should simply leave earlier and give themselves more time to get to their destination, therefore improving their odds of getting there safely.
Meanwhile, tt has been a while since they could say it, but the Enforcement Services department was fully staffed in all areas to close off 2013.
In his year end report to County council, Stuart Rempel says that means they can now fully serve residents at all points during the year.
Rempel alsosays revenues from tickets were up, because more people were recognizing their mistakes and owning up to them.
That also helped lead to fewer warrants being issued, and fewer trials
It was a cold morning in Grande Prairie yesterday.
Unofficially, temperatures dropped to -34 degrees, below the previous record low of -33.4 set in 1994.
While it hovered around that mark in the 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. hours, the day also warmed up to -12.2 by 5 p.m.
More cold weather is on the way, with a low of -36 forecast for Friday night.
Residents of Mandalay Estates, south of Grande Prairie, have brought forth a number of traffic related concerns to County council.
The main issue is a former emergency exit road for Evergreen park, which runs right by their homes.
It was gated for the longest time, but Sheri Hulan says that gate is now left open, leaving open access for motorists.
“People still do not realize that there are residences down there, and the road appears to be abandoned because it has not been brought up to County standard. Â So what happens is that people see that this is an open road and that it looks pretty flat, but it is just a dirt trail.”
Hulan says they would like to see speed control measures and enforcement along that road.
They would also like the access road to their neighbourhood from Resources Road brought up to higher standards.
County council said they would work with residents in that area on the issue.
Stage one of developing the display portion of the Philip J Currie Dinosaur museum has been approved, with the awarding of an RFP to co-ordinate, develop, and document the displays that will be needed.
Research Casting International from Trenton, Ontario was awarded the contract for just over 69 hundred dollars.
PCDI Executive Director Brian Brake cautions though that production and delivery of the casts will not take place until the funding for it is in place.
“We have a request into the provincial government right now for assistance with providing some of the remaining funding. Â And I understand there is maybe some representation on that over the next week to 10 days.”
Brake says about 4.5 million dollars is needed to completely fund the displays and furnishings needed for the museum.
He adds the funding needs to be in place by May 15th, in order for them to have everything done and installed in time for a December opening of the museum.
Some County of Grande Prairie residents will be getting a visit from property inspectors this spring.
Chief Assessor Barry Donovan explains that every property in the County get assessed every five years to see if its value has changed, like from an addition or a new shop.
“Just to look for changes in the property since the last time we were there. Some people don’t take out permits or something like that or there’s been a change in the property where they didn’t need a permit but still there is a change in the property to get the market value of property to the current values.”
From early March to mid-June, properties in Range 5, the Town of Wembley and the Village of Hythe will be assessed for the 2015 tax year.
Assessors will also carry identification and travel in a marked County vehicle.
A meeting is being held tonight at Montrose School to see if there is enough interest in a late entry French immersion program.
Families that moved to Grande Prairie after their children passed Kindergarten and want them to learn in French are invited.
If implemented, full French immersion would be offered at the grade five level.
The meeting starts at seven p.m. and if you can’t make it, another is being held on March 4th.
The County of Grande Prairie has added another 27 firefighters to its ranks.
The men and women will be stationed among the five County fire halls.
Fire Chief Everett Cooke says over the past 13 months their training has shown them everything from hose handling to vehicle extrication.
“What we do now is we expand on that knowledge utilizing our skilled firefighters on the floor, we go through all those skills and steps, we put them to use in scenarios right here at the fire base and on our training ground, and give them further education on what to do and what not to do.”
The graduating members bring the county’s numbers to more than 130 firefighters.
Some of the County’s long-time members were also honoured at Saturday’s graduation ceremony, as MP Chris Warkentin presented Tony Huether with a medal for 20 years of service and Captain Trevor Grant received a medal for 12 years of service in Alberta from MLA Wayne Drysdale.
Valleyview RCMP has arrested a 19 year old male in connection with a fatal hit and run last week.
Jesse Aaron Derksen’s vehicle was found over the weekend.
The Dodge Caravan had damage to its front end, which police believe was sustained when 32 year old Percy Papastesis of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Reserve was struck and killed in the area Thursday morning.
Derksen has been charged with failing to remain at the scene of an accident and will next be in court on March 6th.
The Grande Prairie JDA Kings now know who they’ll face in the NWJHL semifinals.
The Fort St. John Huskies completed their three-game sweep of the Slave Lake Wolves Saturday, and will move on against the JDA Kings.
A schedule for the next round has not yet been set, but the winner of the best-of-seven series will go on to the league finals.
The provincials will be held in Clairmont from April 4th to 7th.
Even with the large amount of snow on the ground, residents both in the city and in rural areas are encouraged to prepare their properties for the start of wildfire season this Saturday.
That means checking any winter burn sites for heat from burning under the surface, and limbing and trimming any trees and clearing your gutters.
Last year, around half of the wildfires in the Grande Prairie region occurred in April and May.
Local wildfire information officer Kelly Burke says starting wildfire season in March allows them to be ready for that busy time.
“The earlier we get staff hired and everybody in the fire season mode, it helps us get ready quicker, and also it helps us keep tabs on any spring fires that are burning.”
Burke adds the permit applications allow them to know where burning is occurring, so that they know where to restrict burning and possibly place fire fighters, if fire hazard hits high.
The President of the National Research Council of Canada feels changes to their operating model will create a higher impact from the research and development being done in our country.
The changes include focusing their investment on well managed and multi disciplinary projects, that focus more on benefiting Canada rather than just being a pure scientific contribution.
John McDougall says they want to make sure they match other countries in getting peak innovation for the investment provided by the government.
“In the macro sense that it seems like cost-benefit equation just isn’t the right balance, so everyone’s trying to say, ‘how do we get more out of this public investment?’. If you looked at the rise in spending in RND in Canada, and you looked at our innovation and competitiveness, they were going in the opposite directions.”
McDougall says Canada is currently ranked 14th in the world in productivity and competitiveness, which is innovation-driven.
He says that’s a number that needs to be turned around quickly, adding he thinks the changes can lead to improvements in that area over time.
Despite greater public awareness, there is still a stigma surrounding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is why a former EMS worker has organized a cross-country awareness tour.
Vince Savoia’s career was cut short after attending a traumatizing homicide call, but he says it was years before his PTSD was properly diagnosed.
He hopes to get frontline workers together to learn more about psycological stressors and how to recognize symptoms.
“It’s an opportunity to basically bring this taboo subject into the open and get more people talking about it, and we want to reduce the stigma so that it’s okay for those people who are affected to step forward and seek the help that they should be receiving.”
The 2014 Heroes are Human tour is being put on by the Tema Conter Memorial Trust and will touch down in Grande Prairie on June 13th at the QEII.
The event is free and open to the public.
The GPRC Lady Wolves volleyball team is off to CCAA Nationals next month in Toronto.
The Wolves earned a wild card spot in the nationals after making the finals of the ACAC provincials on their home court this weekend.
After beating Olds and Grant MacEwen college in their opening games, the Wolves fell to Red Deer College in three straight games in the gold medal final.
Grant MacEwen took the bronze by beating Briercrest College three games to two.
A wind chill warning is in effect for Peace River, Fairview, High Prairie, and Manning this morning.
Fifteen kilometre an hour winds will force the windchill factor to below minus forty, although conditions are expected to improve this afternoon.
Frostbite could occur on exposed skin within ten minutes.
The Grande Prairie Storm are officially out of playoff contention, and will miss the post-season for the first time in club history.
The Storm fell 3-1 Friday to Lloydminster.
The team still has one game left in its road trip tonight in Bonnyville, and will play their final home game next Saturday.
That will also be fan appreciation night and a chance to say goodbye to players moving on.
Albertans willing to brave the early wake up call to watch team Canada go for gold on Sunday morning will now be able to do so with their favourite patriotic beverage in hand.
The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission has granted approval to all bars and lounges in their provinces to open their doors at 5 am that day.
Jody Korchinski with the AGLC says not only will bars be allowed to open, they will be able to offer liquor service as well.
“We were able to look at this as a very unique circumstance, it certainly doesn’t happen every weekend, and so to allow Albertans to gather in their local bar or pub and cheer on their team, we decided to allow this to happen.”
Korchinsky reminds everyone planning on joining the festivities on Sunday to, as always, enjoy responsibly.
The United Way Northwest Alberta is a little over half way to their 2013 fundraising goal of 1.3 million dollars.
However, with the deadline for donations is just six weeks away, organizer say they have raised about $845,000, just 65% of their goal.
Funds raised from the annual campaign go towards supporting 31 programs and 26 charities that serve northwest Alberta, such as the Sunrise House Youth Emergency Shelter and the Disabled Transportation Society.
Donations can be made online at www.unitedwayabnw.org up until March 31.
The Peace Wapiti School District is congratulating 14 of their recent graduates for their outstanding academic achievements.
A number of the students were recognized for finishing grade 12 with an average over 90%.
Katie Schulz and Cole Sauder from Savanna School, Sage Schmied of Peace Wapiti Academy, and Kathleen Bolton of Ridgevalley School received awards of excellence. Sauder was also named the top student in the school division.
The award was also handed out to Sexsmith Secondary grads Brandon Reber, David Edgeworth, Katelyn Koerson-deBoer, and Devyn Rorem along with Daniel Decker, Deanna Funk, Kelly Lepchuck, Matthieu Martin, and Tyler Vig from Beaverlodge Regional High School.
Payton Damer was recognized as the top student from the Spirit River Regional Academy.
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Grande Prairie, AB
T8V 7W5
Phone numbers
Studio Phone: 780-357-1047
Newsroom Phone: 780-357-6397
