Red Deer AdvocateWEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Your trusted local news authority www.reddeeradvocate.com

Two sectionsAlberta . . . . . . . . . . . . A3

Business . . . . . . . A6-A7

Canada . . . . . . . . A5, A9

Classified . . . . . . B6-B7

Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . A8

Entertainment . . . . .B10

Sports . . . . . . . . . B3-B5

INDEX

PLEASE RECYCLE

Ottawa to count homeless veterans

For what’s believed to be the first time, Ottawa has estimated how many of Canada’s homeless are former soldiers.

Story on PAGE A5FORECAST ON A2

WEATHER 30% flurries. High -11. Low -12.

FEELING BLUE ABOUT AVATARAbsence has only made the biggest domestic moneymaker easier to forget

PAGE B10

REBELSBEAT RAIDERSON THE ROAD

PAGE B3

Driver who hit cyclist guilty

Not wanting to wait around for a decision on his sentence, a Red Deer man surrendered himself into custody for the tragic collision that injured a local teen.

Eric William Petty, 26, will be held in custody while judge John Holmes reviews sentencing sub-missions from both Crown Prosecutor Katie Clarey and defence counsel Chad Evans.

Petty pleaded guilty to one count of refusing a breath demand causing bodily harm. Dery Wang, 18, was severely injured while biking to the Greyhound bus station on July 4, 2015.

Wang was on his way to the Calgary Stampede when he was hit by a car. Petty was with friends that evening and had a few drinks. He was westbound on 32nd Street, driving in the right hand lane above the

speed limit, near Mitchell Avenue where the colli-sion occurred.

Petty did wave down an-other driver to call 911 as he could not find his phone.

Wang suffered a severe injury to his brain and is re-covering at the Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury in Lacombe.

Clarey said Wang has gone from enrolling in the Univer-sity of Alberta engineering program to being on life sup-port, to a coma, to now 100 per cent unintelligible.

A report on Wang’s prog-ress submitted on Tuesday said Wang is suffering from numerous deficits including communication, a bal-

ance impairment and post-traumatic amnesia.Clarey is seeking a sentence of 12 to 15 months of

jail followed by probation and a driving prohibition. Evans is instead seeking a jail sentence of three to six months, but followed by probation and a driving prohibition.

The sentencing hearing was conducted on Tues-day in Red Deer provincial court.

Complicating proceedings was a dearth of case law around the charge. Clarey instead used several cases with convictions for impaired or dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Clarey and Evans agreed that Petty is very re-morseful for the incident and provided a statement to police right after.

Holmes reserved his decision until mid-February.Petty, conceding he would face jail regardless,

surrendered himself into custody and will start serv-ing his sentence before the judge gives his decision.

mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com

GAME ON!

DERY WANG

JUDGE RESERVES SENTENCING DECISION UNTIL MID-FEBRUARYBY MURRAY CRAWFORD

ADVOCATE STAFF

Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate Staff

Scott Barclay of Bower Ponds Recreation sets up Settlers of Catan on Tuesday afternoon in what will be Bower Ponds’ new Games Room inside the pavillion. The Games Room will open to the public on Friday, Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. with over 100 board games available to play. Admission is $5 per player. For more information, visit bowerponds.ca.

‘Joe’s Last Inning’

slated for Friday

The service for Joe Bower, a popular teacher who advocated for a better education system, will take place Friday at 2 p.m. at the Harvest Centre at West-erner Park in Red Deer.

Tamara Bower, his wife, said Tuesday they are calling the service “Joe’s Last Inning.” He loved and played baseball in the summer for the North Stars team. He played hockey in the winter.

Joe had a heart attack at home on Dec. 28, his 37th birthday, Tamara said. He passed away Sunday.

Tamara, 36, said that first and foremost Joe was a father and husband. “He was always there for us.” The couple, married 15 years, have two children, Kayley, 8 and Sawyer, 3.

Joe had a large online following for a blog he wrote on education, and he was known as being very passionate about his philosophy toward teaching. He was a teacher in the Red Deer Public School District, in the Alternative School Programs most recently.

Joe is a descendent of the pioneering Bower fami-ly, for which Bower Mall, Bower Ponds and the Bow-er subdivision take their names from.

The family is anticipating a large turnout at the service. Hundreds of online condolences to his fam-ily and tributes to him have been posted to social media.

After learning of Joe’s death, Alberta Education Minister David Eggan tweeted: “Am out of the coun-try and just learned of the passing of my friend and education advocate (Joe Bower). Condolences to his family … Joe was so passionate about education and he made a real difference. He was taken from us far too soon and will be sorely missed.”

The reaction to Joe’s death has been “very touch-ing,” Tamara said.

Joe was never one to be sick and there had been no indication that he had any heart issues, Tamara said. She is quite thankful for the medical help he received.

“The Red Deer EMS and Calgary Foothills were amazing. … If you could put that in I would appre-ciate that. … The doctors, the paramedics, the nurs-es, and the (cardio unit) in Calgary … the care was stellar. It made a really horrid experience better because they were so caring and kind.”

The family had been having a good holiday season together, she said. “It was a lovely Christmas and we have so many amazing memories because we had so much family time. It was really nice.”

“It’s very, very hard, especially with all the pub-licity. … Everyone knows the education side of him but he was a stellar man at home,” Tamara said.

“We’re going to miss him. It’s a big hole in our life. It was very sudden.”

barr@reddeeradvocate.com

BY MARY-ANN BARRADVOCATE STAFF

Twenty-six Syrian refugees adjusting to life in Red Deer

Six Syrian refugee families quietly arrived in Red Deer with little fanfare over the last few weeks.

Remza Mujezinovic, program supervisor for Cath-olic Social Services, Immigration and Settlement, said most families arrived last week.

She said staff worked day and night to meet the needs and immediate medication attention.

“We received six families, a total of 26 Syrian refugees,” said Mujezinovic. “And we are expecting more in the following days and months to come. Our four Arabic speaking settlement workers are very busy helping new Syrians to adjust to their new life in Canada.”

The next step for the agency is to find affordable housing and move them to permanent housing from temporary housing as soon as possible.

“Rents are very high and (Syrian refugee) shelter allowance is very limited,” she said. “In collabora-

tion with (the City of Red Deer), we are looking for appropriate room, which can accept larger number of people, possibly 40 to 60.”

She said volunteers are doing great job accepting donations from the community and sorting it.

Another concern is finding a family doctor and dentist who are willing to accept new patients given the large number of Syrians and refugees from other parts of the world, said Mujezinovic.

“We will also welcome any medical practitioner that speaks the Arabic language,” she said.

The federal government is working on a plan to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees.

“The city prepares to welcome those who will settle here and call Red Deer home,” according to the city website. “To assist with this transition, the following resources may be of service to those who are sponsoring Syrian refugees or are refugees them-selves.”

To find out more visit www.reddeer.ca and search “refugee crisis.”

crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com

BY CRYSTAL RHYNOADVOCATE STAFF

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Banff: today, sun and cloud. High -6. Low -11.

Jasper: today, cloudy. High -10. Low -12.

Lethbridge: today, 30% flurries. High -10. Low -12.

Edmonton: today, 60% flurries. High -10. Low -12.

Grande Prairie: to-day, 30% flurries. High -15. Low -21.

Fort McMurray: today, 30% flurries. High -13. Low -18.

LOCAL TODAY TONIGHT THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

REGIONAL OUTLOOK

WINDCHILL/SUNLIGHT

GRANDEPRAIRIE-15/-21

JASPER-10/-12

BANFF-6/-11

EDMONTON-10/-12

RED DEER-11/-12

CALGARY-12/-13

FORT MCMURRAY-13/-18

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Sunny. Sunny. Low -26.HIGH -11 LOW -12 HIGH -12 HIGH -15 HIGH -15

TONIGHT’S HIGHS/LOWS

LETHBRIDGE-10/-12

Weather

Windchill/frostbite risk: LowLow: Low riskModerate: 30 minutes exposureHigh -5 to 10 minutes: High risk in 5 to 10 minutesHigh -2 to 5 minutes: High risk in 2 to 5 minutesExtreme: High risk in 2 minutesSunset tonight: 4:39 p.m.Sunrise Thursday: 8:43 a.m.

Supervisor ‘hopeful’ city

will take action to improve air

quality

Motorists who leave their engines running for more than 30 minutes within Inuvik city limits could net a $100 fine.

In Edmonton, vehicle idlers could face a $250 fine for idling outside schools and hospitals.

On Monday, Red Deer opted against going the reg-ulatory route to improve the city’s poor air quality. The Red Deer region has failed to meet federal air quality standards for the last two years.

Council cited concerns with enforcement chal-lenges if a new bylaw was introduced.

But Nancy Hackett, the city’s environmental ini-tiatives supervisor, said a bylaw could be designed that is appropriate for Red Deer’s weather and with enforcement options.

The city looked at 69 municipalities in Canada and one U.S. city with anti-idling bylaws as part of council’s direction to explore options for expanding the idle-free program.

Hackett said most of the municipalities have had a bylaw in place for 10 years. The earliest bylaw was introduced in 1996.

The time limit for idling ranged from zero min-utes to 30 minutes.

Some bylaws are regulated on a complaint basis or full-time by RCMP or bylaw officers or both. Many of Red Deer’s current bylaws are enforced on a com-plaint basis.

The anti-idling ranges cover entire municipalities or at specific locations such as hospitals and schools. The infractions range from verbal warnings to tick-ets ranging from $10 to $500 for a first-time offence.

“Given the significance of the data we have on air quality in Red Deer, I am hopeful Red Deer will take more actions in the future as we learn more,” said Hackett. “I know council wants to wait on the provincial air quality and particulate matter report. I am hoping there is direction out of that on what the community can do and that maybe after we have that report we can take more actions to protect our air quality.”

The city expects to learn more about the prov-ince’s plan to deal with the air quality later this month.

Hackett pointed out that vehicle idling is not just a winter problem.

“We are aware of people who idle year round,” she said. “Lots of people idle in the spring and fall when it is not a temperature-related issue. I believe a bylaw could address that as well.”

Hackett said there are still some ideas on the education front to reach more people in the coming year. She said progress has been made in the six years that the public awareness program has been running.

There are 260 signs in the community including all city facilities, 16 businesses, as well as, the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre and Sunnybrook United Church and schools.

Hackett said reducing idling is not only about improving air quality. It can help reduce theft and vehicle noise and money spent on gas.

“The city has grown in six years,” she said. “There are more vehicles on the road than we had six years ago. We have more people visiting Red Deer.”

Emissions from vehicles is one of the largest con-tributors to air pollution.

In a 2014 city survey, 80 per cent of the respon-dents would generally support anti-idling measures near hospitals and schools while 68.9 per cent would support an anti-idling bylaw to improve air quality.

crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com

BY CRYSTAL RHYNOADVOCATE STAFF

VEHICLE IDLINGICY WEDDINGS

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A newly wed couple walk past an ice sculpture during a mass wedding ceremony of the 32nd Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Zhaolin Park in Harbin city, China’s northern Heilongjiang province, on Tuesday. As many as 15 couples attend this mass wedding ceremony. The festival officially opened on Monday and lasts until Feb. 5, 2016. It is expected to attract both foreign and local visitors to experience the ice and snow.

Operating budget talks beginRed Deer’s 2016 operating budget talks get under-

way today.Administration is recommending a $341.9-million

operating budget for 2016. Council will begin debat-ing the line items after presentations.

The 1 p.m. meeting will begin with presentations

from City Manager Craig Curtis and Dean Krejci, the city’s chief financial officer. Following this Paul Go-ranson, the Corporate Services director, will discuss the corporate efficiencies and effectiveness in the proposed budget.

Council will also hear comments from the public on the proposed day-to-day spending.

Two reports — on resurfacing the City Hall wheel-chair ramp and building a Canada Winter Games parade float — will be on the table.

The debate could get underway as early as today.The meetings are scheduled for Thursday and Fri-

day and if necessary until Jan. 13 in council cham-bers.

LOCALBRIEFS

Man faces 13 charges after allegedly assaulting officers, ramming home

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY — A 28-year-old Calgary man is facing 13 criminal charges after three police officers and an EMS worker were assaulted during an investigation of an alleged domestic violence incident.

Police say they were called Sunday night after a truck was driven through the door and rear wall of a detached garage at a Calgary home.

They say the driver then went on a rampage with a crowbar inside the house, smashing windows, wreck-ing appliances and putting holes in the wall.

Those inside the home managed to escape without injury.

A short time later, police found a suspect vehicle and tried to stop it, but the driver rammed the police vehicle and sped off.

A suspect was later located at a separate resi-dence but during the arrest process, police say the four first responders were attacked.

Brian Joseph Russell is charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer, one count of assaulting a peace officer with weapon, one count of assault, one count of possession of a weapon, two counts of break and enter, two counts of hit and run, one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, one count of mischief causing danger to life, one count of theft under $5,000 and one count of possession of break-in instruments.

Shooting, wild chase ends with arrestsBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

SURREY, B.C. — Bullets flew as one vehicle pur-sued another across two Metro Vancouver munici-palities, with the driver of a pickup truck following someone who’d fired at him from a car.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Paul Hayes said the dangerous chase began in Surrey at about 8 p.m. Monday, mo-ments after the truck driver called police to report he’d confronted a suspicious vehicle parked in his neighbourhood.

Three occupants in a white car left the area as shots were fired at the truck driver, Hayes said.

The pickup driver chased the other vehicle for nearly half an hour as it sped into Delta along busy highways.

Hayes said the pickup driver refused to comply with repeated police demands to stop the chase.

The car lost control on icy streets in Delta, shear-ing off a power pole and leaving its three occupants with various, non-life threatening injuries.

One of the suspects, Cory Myers, was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for failing to comply with pro-bation as well as a local warrant for break and enter.

Mounties said a gun was seized from the car, the trio is known to them and charges are expected.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON — A man who pleaded guilty to killing his own sons has taken the stand at a fatality inquiry into their deaths.

Jason Cardinal is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder after the strangled bodies of six-year-old Ca-leb and three-year-old Gabriel were found in his Edmonton home just be-fore Christmas five years ago.

Inquiry lawyer Peter Duckett told Cardinal would not be asking how they died, but why they died.

But Cardinal, who told court he suf-fers from mental illness, didn’t answer most of the questions put to him, say-ing he couldn’t remember.

He admitted that when child wel-fare workers apprehended the boys in

2010, he began only sporadically taking his medication.

By Monday afternoon, Cardinal re-fused to answer any questions at all, demanding the court treat him as a “hostile witness.”

“I won’t answer any more ques-tions,” he said. “This is about one per-son gaining from a tragedy.”

The children’s mother, Andrea Bad-ger, has launched a lawsuit against the province and children’s services, contending the deaths could have been prevented had the visits with the fa-ther been supervised.

Badger had primary custody and Cardinal was only allowed to see the boys on the weekends. But when she went to get them on the weekend they were found dead, no one answered the door.

Police later found the bodies of the boys and Cardinal, who was suffering

from self-inflicted wounds.Once Cardinal was removed from

the court on Monday, his mother, Ger-maine Cardinal, took the stand.

She became emotional when asked about the last time she talked with her grandsons, saying they had talked about Santa Claus coming soon.

“That time for me as a grandmother is hard to remember and it is painful,” she said. “No matter what is decided, it’s not going to change the fact they’re gone.

“No amount of money is going to make up for their loss.”

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ALBERTA A3WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Redford to attend portrait unveilingBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON — The image of former premier Alison Redford is expected to be immortalized on the walls of the Alberta legislature this spring — and Redford will be on hand for the unveil-ing.

“Former pre-mier Redford has confirmed that she would like to attend the unveiling of her portrait, so the Speak-er’s office is currently work-ing with her to co-ordinate a date for that,” Cheryl Oates, s p o k e s w o m -an for the pre-mier’s office, said Tuesday.

“Right now we’re looking at the

spring, although we haven’t set a date yet.”

Redford’s official portrait and the artwork of her successor and fellow Progressive Conservative Dave Han-cock have been sitting in climate-con-trolled storage for more than six months at the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Redford’s portrait is oil on canvas by Calgary artist Liela Chan and cost $12,500.

Hancock’s is oil on linen by Ed-monton artist Tom Menczel at a cost of $12,046.

The former premiers got to choose their own artists.

Hancock’s portrait unveiling cere-mony will take place some time after Redford’s at an unspecified date, said Oates.

The premier’s office pays for and organizes the painting while the Speaker’s office, which is in charge of the legislature building, is responsible for the unveiling ceremony.

Redford, Alberta’s 14th premier, is now working with the Conference

Board of Canada on an initiative to harmonize energy development with environmental protection.

She could not be reached for com-ment.

The Calgary lawyer has avoided the public spotlight after she resigned as premier on March 19, 2014, one step ahead of a caucus revolt underpinned by a public scandal over exorbitant spending on herself and her inner cir-cle.

Those bills to the taxpayer included preliminary construction on a high-end condo-style retreat for Redford on top of the government’s Federal Build-ing, about a block from the legislature.

Redford resigned as a member of the legislature soon after she quit as premier, but one of her controversies lives on.

Premier Rachel Notley’s govern-ment called in an independent in-vestigator last year to assess whether Redford, as justice minister, followed the rules when she picked a law con-sortium with ties to her ex-husband to handle a multibillion-dollar tobacco

lawsuit on behalf of the province.A 2013 ethics investigation cleared

Redford.Redford has refused in retirement

to discuss details of what happened on her watch as premier except for broad statements such as “mistakes were made.”

After Redford, Hancock was picked by the caucus to run the province until Jim Prentice won the party leadership to take over as premier on Sept. 15, 2014.

Prentice then called an early elec-tion for the spring of 2015 and lost to Notley and the NDP, bringing the cur-tain down on almost 44 consecutive years of PC government.

The premier portraits are hung chronologically around the third floor of the legislature framing the entrance to the premier’s office.

The last portrait that went up was Redford’s predecessor, Ed Stelmach, in December 2012 at a legislature cere-mony presided over by Redford.

ALISON REDFORD

Bail application expected for man charged in death of daughter Court of Appeal rules lawsuit

against radiologist is a goEDMONTON — The Alberta Court

of Appeal has ruled that Alberta Health can sue a radiologist in Ontario whose alleged misdiagnosis led to cost-ly health-care costs for a woman who moved west from Ontario.

Martina Gulevich, who launched the lawsuit alongside her husband and Alberta Health, was living in Bramp-ton, Ont., in November 2007 when she sought medical care for headaches and vision changes.

According to the Court of Appeal decision, Gulevich underwent a CT scan requested by her family doctor, and the scan was reviewed by a To-ronto-area radiologist who indicated in a report that the results appeared normal.

Gulevich moved to Alberta in 2008 and, when her headaches returned, she again sought medical treatment.

An MRI and CT Scan done in July 2011 revealed a frontal lobe mass and a day later Gulevich was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour and un-derwent surgery followed by intensive cancer treatment in Edmonton.

A radiologist and a radiation oncol-ogist retained later by Gulevich and Alberta Health reviewed the 2007 CT scan and concluded it showed a read-ily identifiable abnormality on the frontal lobe.

The radiation oncologist’s opinion was that had the tumour had been di-agnosed in 2007, Gulevich could have had surgery before it became malig-nant.

INBRIEF

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY — The lawyer for a man arrested in Ontario and charged in the 2014 death of his four-year-old daugh-ter in Alberta says he is likely to seek bail for his client.

Oluwatosin Oluwafemi was arrested last month and flown back to Calgary to face a charge of second-degree mur-der.

The 39-year-old from Keswick, Ont., appeared briefly via video in a Calgary courtroom Tuesday and his case was set over to Jan. 21.

Lawyer Alain Hepner said he has received the pathologist’s report and a description of the incident but is still

waiting for more information.He expects he will be asking that

his client be granted bail before the end of the month and doesn’t think Oluwafemi poses any risk if released.

“He didn’t leave the country, he was in Toronto for the whole time, they knew where to get him. He was arrest-ed and brought back but it’s such a sensitive matter that I want to have all the information and all my cards in a row before I can establish a proper ap-plication for bail,” Hepner told report-ers after the court appearance.

Oluwafemi’s wife and family friends were in the courtroom to provide mor-al support.

Officers called to a home in south-east Calgary on Dec. 19, 2014, found the

preschool girl in cardiac arrest and not breathing.

Olive Rebekah Oluwafemi was taken to hospital, where she was pro-nounced dead.

Investigators deemed the case a ho-micide.

They said the injuries leading to her death appeared to have been in-flicted inside her home and were not the result of an accident.

Hepner said he hopes to discuss plans for a preliminary inquiry to de-termine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial at the next court appearance.

He doesn’t want the case to drag through the courts and hopes to have the hearing before summer.

Fatality inquiry begins into deaths of young boys

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COMMENT A4WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

One of the certainties in life is death. We are either mourned or we mourn the departure of people in our lives. The older we get, the bigger the likelihood we will experi-ence missing people from the inner circles of our per-sonal world due to death. We start with a full team of people that matter to us and slowly lose them over the years, primarily due to age or illness.

I have always felt sorry for people who experience the loss of somebody close to them for the first time be-cause there is no good way to prepare for the experi-ence. The death will change them forever and the de-parted will become a series of anecdotes and memories that illustrate the impact they had on the people who mourn the loss of this person who was close to them.

My family first experienced the death of one of our own 40 years ago when my older sister Shona died a few

days after Christmas in 1975. Shona was a wife and mother of two young sons who somehow managed to leave her hospital room in the final stage

of a terminal illness so she could spend one last Christ-mas with her family.

These are the instanc-es described in obituaries that are described as a bat-tle because Shona fought to remain alive long enough so she did not ruin Christ-mas for her two little boys and could leave behind one final positive memory for them.

Shona was a registered nurse who was drawn to the surgical unit of hospi-tals, including our own Red Deer General during the early phase of her career.

She was a bright woman who chose nursing for all of the right reasons, likely influenced by two of her aunts who were also nurses.

Shona was also a straight-to-the-point person who could sort people

out in a hurry, including a time I visit-ed her in the summer of ’74 and tried to convince her my black eyes were the result of a lack of sleep and not a scrap. Shona was also very irritated when people pronounced her name as “Shawna” instead of “Show-na”.

1974 was the year Shona was diag-nosed with cancer and she undoubt-edly knew her time was short, given the nature of her illness, but I did not grasp the finality of her disease until I saw her at Thanksgiving in 1975. She had become frail and gaunt in a very short time frame. After that visit, her death on Dec. 28, 1975 came as no sur-prise, although I can recall my father was clinging to hope right to the last when Shona briefly rallied shortly be-fore she passed away, a condition I lat-er saw in other people in the midnight hour of their lives-possibly as a final goodbye moment.

The funeral was the first one where I was a pallbearer and it took place on a dreary, snowy day in Vancouver during the first week of 1976. The thing I noticed most that day was the devas-tating effect Shona’s death had on my

parents, particularly my father who wore sunglasses that day to disguise his grief. It was a harsh introduction to the reality of death for me and my family.

One of the things I received this Christmas was a copy of a letter Sho-na had written to her husband Ken in August 1975. The letter was Shona’s goodbye message for Ken, their sons, and the rest of us, along with a person-al farewell to each of us.

It was written by a 32-year-old wom-an whose young age was evident in the message. She harboured no bitterness for her lot in life, beyond a sense of re-gret that her life was too short. Indeed it was, because now Shona has been gone much longer than she was alive, but she has never been forgotten by any of us.

I was just a kid when Shona passed away, but her death was a game-chang-er for me because it forced me to grow up and see the world in a much differ-ent way.

Jim Sutherland is a local freelance writer.

JIMSUTHERLAND

OPINION

Death — one of life’s game changers

Driver’s bad behaviour completely inappropriate

To the two drivers that honked at my wife and I while we were crossing 32nd Street at 43rd Avenue about 9 p.m. on Dec.27.

I would like to remind you that we were crossing at an unmarked crosswalk. The Alberta Highway Traffic Safety Act’s Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation (Alberta Regulation 304/2002) states that “41(1) A person driving a vehicle shall yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk.” “(4) Nothing in subsection (3) relieves a person driving a vehicle from the duty of exercising due care for the safety of pedestrians.”

We did not step out from the curb until there was adequate time to cross the roadway safely. We crossed the roadway as quickly as possible.

Your behaviour in keeping your foot on the accelerator and sounding the horn was inappropriate.

Shame on you.Bill FranzRed Deer

Alberta needs a credible, constructive opposition in the legislature

Ilse-Quick (letter to the editor, Red Deer Advo-cate, Jan. 5 2016) does not have to worry about the Wildrose Party ever forming a government in Al-berta based on their current ideology. But, there is a real danger of Wildrose widening the increasing rural-urban split. Wildrose is further marginalizing itself as an American style Republican Tea Party. Their support seems to include the likes of Sarah Palin (remember her speech in Calgary sponsored by the right-wing Fraser Institute) and the Amer-ican billionaire Koch brothers who contribute to the Fraser Institute. The Koch brothers are pro-oil and anti-climate change apologists who control over 1,000,000 acres of oil leases in Alberta and are re-ported to have a hired lobby here.

Wildrose support has dropped from 34 per cent in 2012 to 24 per cent in 2015. The Progressive Conser-vatives actually received more votes in the 2015 elec-tion than Wildrose. This exposes the reliance of Wil-drose on the rural vote at a time when urbanization, migration, and immigration are increasing in Alber-ta. The Progressive Conservatives have received a

broader base of support and are better positioned to represent Albertans. It is no wonder that Wildrose is on a crusade to unite with the Progressive Conserva-tives. The Progressive Conservatives must avoid this and rebuild their party so Alberta has a medium for reasonable constructive criticism in the legislature.

A historical examination of immigration to Alber-ta may help to explain some of the attitudes of our rural community. Between 1901 and 1906, 53 per cent of new immigrants to Alberta were born in the U.S. and by 1911, 22 per cent of Alberta’s population was American. Over 50 per cent of southern Alberta’s ranchers and farmers were American. Remember, these are not the descendants of the United Empire Loyalists. Their values included rugged individual-ism, laissez-faire capitalism, dislike of centralized federalism, smaller government, lower taxes, con-servative social policies, and religious evangelism. Does this sound like Wildrose? By the way, both Ted Morton and Tom Flanagan were born in the U.S. And, who sits in the petroleum towers of Calgary? A disclosure — my father was born in Wisconsin in 1908 and moved to a farm in Alberta in 1912.

Alberta needs a credible constructive opposition in the legislature and it is not Wildrose.

Ray KowalskiSylvan Lake

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Ottawa to count homeless vetsBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — For what’s believed to be the first time, the federal gov-ernment has estimated how many of Canada’s homeless are former soldiers — but the department that compiled the report warns the data is far from complete.

The March 2015 study by Employ-ment and Social Development Canada estimates that 2,250 former soldiers use shelters on regular basis, about 2.7 per cent of the total homeless popula-tion that uses temporary lodging.

The information in the report, re-leased to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, comes from a database that tracks 60 emer-gency shelters across the country and added veterans as an identifiable cat-egory in 2014.

“It’s shocking in Canada that we would have any veteran who is home-less, but it is a sad reality,” Gen. Jona-than Vance, the country’s top military commander, said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The report noted that the data still has some holes in it and does not cap-ture the number of veterans who do not use shelters. The national findings contradict counts being done in indi-vidual cities, which analysts suggest means that “veterans are more likely to be found outside shelters.”

Researchers also found that veter-ans who end up homeless tend to be older than non-veterans in the same circumstances and that ex-soldiers are more prone to so-called episod-ic homelessness — meaning they are individuals with disabling conditions who’ve been on and off the street three or more times in one year.

“Interestingly, there is a particu-larly high rate of episodic homeless-ness among female veterans,” said the report, which noted that 16 per cent of female ex-soldiers reported mul-tiple stints without a roof over their heads, compared with just six per cent of non-veteran women.

The average age of homeless veter-ans is 52, compared with 37 in the gen-eral population. Many ex-soldiers cite alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health issues as reasons for their cir-cumstances.

Vance, who has made care of sol-

diers one of his signature initiatives, says catching people early is a priority that requires National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada to focus on the point in time when a veteran is transitioning from life in the uniform to becoming a civilian.

The key is “if we can catch and find methods to ensure that people are seen to, and treated” before they reach a crisis stage, he said.

“I think there will be an effort to look at how to catch those people who fall through the cracks and get them

into a proper environment for a total wellness approach.”

Soldiers who are being released on medical grounds, particularly for post-traumatic stress disorder, are among the most vulnerable.

An independent report prepared last spring for Veterans Affairs found that there’s “little evidence” the de-partment is adequately dealing with — or reacting quickly to — the increas-ing number of soldiers being let go for medical reasons.

Cities voiced opposition to homeless count

OTTAWA — The federal gov-ernment is moving ahead this month with a nationally co-ordi-nated count of homeless people across Canada, despite opposi-tion from cities worried that the timing would lead to inaccurate results.

The newly launched nation-al point-in-time count marks the first time the federal government has tried to co-ordinate what has largely been a municipally driv-en project in some parts of the country like Toronto and Van-couver.

Many cities have never done a point-in-time count those that do use different methodologies, making it difficult to compare re-sults on a national scale.

The federal government had wanted to gather details on the size and makeup of the homeless population strictly in January, but faced stiff criticism when it disclosed the plan to represen-tatives from 49 communities at a national meeting in May 2015.

January is when the U.S. gov-ernment requires point-in-time counts for cities that receive fed-eral funding to help with costs.

“There was universal sup-port for a co-ordinated, national point-in-time count. It’s not like people didn’t want to do it,” said Tim Richter, president of the Ca-nadian Alliance to End Home-lessness.

“The opposition was more about when and do we have enough time to organize it.”

Cit ies complained they wouldn’t have enough time to get all the resources in place to count every homeless person in a city, town or region during one 24-hour period. Some cities, like Toronto or Vancouver, spend more than a year planning a point-in-time count, much longer than the seven months the feder-al government was giving munici-palities back in May.

OTTAWA — Employment and Social Development Canada has produced a re-port looking at homelessness among mil-itary veterans. It cautions that the March 2015 study is far from complete, but it’s a start. Here are some of the findings:

● Veterans Affairs estimates there are 697,400 veterans in the country.

● The study estimates that 2,250 vet-erans use shelters on regular basis.

● The number represents about 2.7

per cent of the total population who use homeless shelters.

● In the United States, a 2014 con-gressional report suggested that veterans make up 11.3 per cent of homeless adults in that country.

● Britain estimates that veterans make up about six per cent of the homeless population, while in Australia, the number is thought to be about three per cent.

HOMELESSNESS BY THE NUMBERS

Classified ad seeking to connect woman with father who doesn’t know she exists

CALGARY — A classified ad is seeking to connect a daughter with a father who doesn’t know she exists.

“Is your name Gary?” the ad begins. “Were you in Regina, SK on business in 1969?”

The ad is accompanied by a de-cades-old photo of a smiling, petite blond woman and an even blonder lit-tle girl with poker-straight hair.

Toni Rempel took out the ad on be-

half of her half-sister Bonnie.“My mom, in the summer of 1969,

met a guy named Gary, but she’s not sure of his last name. She thinks may-be he was Polish or Ukrainian,” Rem-pel, 39, said from Kelowna, B.C.

“It was the summer of ’69 and there was all of that free love. My mom end-ed up becoming pregnant with my sis-ter and she never told Gary about her.”

Rempel said her 45-year-old sister, Bonnie Eklund, is working as a doctor in San Diego, Calif., and has been hop-ing to learn more about her father for the last 20 years.

“She’s told me over the years that she feels there’s a part of her miss-ing and she wishes she knew, but she doesn’t really have the courage herself to go searching. I asked her if it was OK if I did,” said Rempel.

“We’re trying to figure out who he is and trying to establish a possible con-nection for Bonnie to meet her father.”

INBRIEF

Photo by ADVOCATE news services

The March 2015 study by Employment and Social Development Canada estimates that 2,250 former soldiers use shelters on regular basis, about 2.7 per cent of the total homeless population that uses temporary lodging.

▼CANADIAN DOLLAR

▲¢71.48US-0.25

NYMEX NGAS$2.34US+0.01

NYMEX CRUDE$35.97US-0.79

DOW JONES17,158.66+9.72

NASDAQ

▲4,891.43-11.66

TSX:V524.26-1.39

S&P / TSX12,920.14-7.01 ▼▼

BUSINESS A6WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — Despite the sluggish economy, Canadians snapped up near-ly 1.9 million new vehicles in 2015, making it a record year for auto sales, according to figures compiled by a leading automotive consultant.

And DesRosiers Automotive Con-sultants says manufacturers can thank a big increase in sales of light trucks — a category that includes SUVs, min-ivans and pickup trucks — for the im-provement.

Canadians bought nearly 1.2 million trucks in 2015, up 8.8 per cent from 2014, enough to push overall sales up 2.5 per cent to 1.898 million vehicles even as car sales slipped 6.3 per cent to 715,719, DesRosiers says.

“Consumers, despite the economic headwinds, are looking at the value proposition available in the new car market and they’re responding with re-cord levels of demand,” noted Michael Hatch, chief economist for the Canadi-an Automobile Dealers Association.

Experts cite a number of reasons for the strong sales, including new ve-hicle prices that have remained rough-ly the same for a number of years, while inflation and wages have risen. That means new vehicles have become more affordable for Canadians, said Hatch.

Competition has also been heating up in the Canadian auto industry in recent years, which has compelled au-tomakers to hold the line on prices, he

added.“Whereas in the past a relatively

small number of brands would have represented a very large chunk, the li-on’s share of the market, that’s no lon-ger the case,” he said. “There’s more brands available to consumers in Can-ada. The market is more fragmented.”

Meanwhile, consumers have be-come less loyal to brands, according to Hatch.

“My parents always drove the same

brand of vehicle,” said Hatch. “Every time they went back they bought the same brand from the same dealership and there was a great degree of brand loyalty… .

“But now consumers are less brand loyal, they’re more willing to shop around, and those competitive pres-sures are brought to bare on the prod-uct quality and on the prices that con-sumers pay.”

Dina Ignjatovic, the auto sector

economist at TD Economics, cited rock-bottom interest rates as the driv-ing force behind the stellar sales fig-ures.

“Interest rates are extremely low and loan terms have been lengthened, so affordability for consumers has im-proved a lot,” Ignjatovic said.

Auto industry consultant Dennis DesRosiers said lower gas prices have also enticed buyers by reducing the cost of owning a vehicle.

Improvements in the products on the market is another factor luring buyers, he said.

“There’s a dizzying array of new products and most are jam-packed with advanced technologies that consumers are embracing in a very big way,” said DesRosiers, citing lane-changing technology and enter-tainment technology as examples.

“I would put that at the top of the list as to why the market performed so well.”

Fiat Chrysler Canada claimed the top spot for 2015 with sales of 293,061 vehicles, up 1.1 per cent from the pre-vious year.

That was slightly ahead of Ford Canada, whose annual sales were down 4.6 per cent at 278,437, while General Motors Canada saw its sales climb 5.4 per cent to 263,335.

Hatch said he expects another re-cord-breaking year in 2016.

“But the rate of growth of new ve-hicle sales probably can’t continue to outpace economic growth forever,” he added.

Auto sales set record in 2015

FILE Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The 2016 Chevrolet Spark is presented at the New York International Auto Show. Automakers reported December and full-year sales Tuesday.

▼ ▼

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — Canada is headed for a rocky year as low oil prices continue to drag on economic performance, the chief economists of some of Canada’s biggest banks said Tuesday.

Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter told a morning gath-ering of leading economists that it’s going to be a “very close call” whether the fourth quarter of 2015 saw any eco-nomic growth.

Canada’s resource sector has been slammed as the price of crude has fall-en from a high above US$105 in June 2014 to below US$40 over the past few months, just as other commodities are at or near multi-year lows.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Canada, Porter said it looks like last year was one of the worst years for economic growth in decades outside of a full-on recession, and Canada is looking at a 2016 growth rate not much higher than last 2015.

The loonie, which has plunged as the price of oil has declined, also has further to fall, he said.

The negative outlook for oil, the differing policy directions between the Canadian and American central banks, and the strengthening Ameri-can economy mean the loonie will fall below 70 cents US before it begins to recover, Porter said.

“The last line of defence for the Ca-nadian dollar would be some stability in oil prices and resource prices, and we just don’t see that stability over the next few months.”

Canada’s dollar has been trading near 11-year lows for weeks but has re-mained above 71 cents U.S. since 2003.

Craig Wright, Royal Bank of Cana-

da’s chief economist, said the cheap loonie and the American economic recovery should provide a boost to Ca-nadian exports in the near future, al-though such a rebound hasn’t materi-alized so far.

Wright said Canada will depend more than ever on its largest trading partner for export growth, because of the faltering performance of the rest of the world including the European

Union and China.

“The U.S is the bright shining star,”

he said. “But it’s not a very bright sky.”

CIBC chief economist Avery Shen-

feld said 2016 will be a disappointing

year for the global economy at large,

and Canada won’t be spared.

Yet by the end of the year, he said,

investors may see better returns as the

world looks ahead to a brighter 2017.

Economists predict rocky year for economy

FILE Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

An oil worker holds raw oilsands near Fort McMurray. The chief economists of some of Canada’s biggest banks say the country is headed for a rocky year as low oil prices continue to drag on economic performance.

Two new board members added to Downtown Business

AssociationTwo new faces will be joining the

board of the Red Deer Downtown Busi-ness Association.

Ryan Curtis, of Famoso Pizzeria, and Danielle Harvey, of Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery will join the board for a three-year term. Departing is board member Rolland Forsland, owner of Dose Coffee Co., who has completed his three-year term.

The newcomers will join board members: Andrew Luft, Krystal Kro-mm, Julie Oliver, Kevin Traptow, Allie Grande, Tyler Hansen, Omar Lockhat, Brandon Bouchard and City of Red Deer council representative Lynne Mulder.

“We have representation from across the business community, in-cluding retail and second-floor busi-nesses, which allows us to ensure we are providing services all industries can benefit from,” says business as-sociation executive director Amanda

Gould, in a statement announcing the board changes.

This month, board members will select the executive for the year, and begin work on a new Strategic Plan which will guide the association from 2017 to 2019.

The association has been running for more than 30 years and serves about 500 downtown business owners.

Feds launch $50-million fund to boost small-business

exportsTORONTO — International Trade

Minister Chrystia Freeland has an-nounced $50 million in new funding for small businesses looking to export their goods.

Under the CanExport program, the federal government will reimburse up to 50 per cent of any spending be-tween $10,000 and $100,000 by compa-nies seeking to expand their overseas trade.

Businesses with fewer than 250 em-ployees and annual revenue between $200,000 and $50 million will be able to offset the costs of travel, trade fairs, market research and other expenses related to exports.

Trade accounts for around two-thirds of the Canadian economy, and the Department of Global Affairs says

one in five Canadian jobs is linked di-rectly to exports.

While the falling loonie has made Canadian goods cheaper and more competitive, exports have not shown the strength that some had predicted.

Shell-led joint venture obtains key permit for LNG

facility in Kitimat, B.C.VANCOUVER — A Shell-led joint

venture company says it has obtained a key permit to build a liquefied natu-ral gas export facility in northern Brit-ish Columbia.

LNG Canada says it is the first in the province to receive the permit from the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission.

The LNG facility permit specifies the requirements the project must comply with when designing, con-structing and operating the proposed facility in Kitimat, B.C.

Susannah Pierce of LNG Canada says it’s the most crucial permit for the project following its environmental approval from federal and provincial authorities in June last year.

She says there are still several steps to be taken before a final investment decision, including obtaining one out-standing permit from Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The facility, to be built in the coast-

al community of Kitimat, would initial-ly consist of two LNG processing units, each with the capacity to produce 6.5 million tonnes of LNG annually.

South Dakota regulators again approve portion of

Keystone XLPIERRE, S.D. — Regulators in

South Dakota have again approved the portion of the embattled Keystone XL oil pipeline that would go through the state. The Public Utilities Commis-sion’s decision Tuesday still requires TransCanada Corp. to get a presiden-tial permit for the project.

President Barack Obama blocked the pipeline in November, but an attor-ney for the company has said TransCan-ada remains committed to the project, which could be revived under the next president.

The state authorized the pipeline in 2010, but permits must be revisited if construction doesn’t start within four years.

The commission voted to accept the company’s guarantee that it can com-plete the project while meeting the con-ditions of the 2010 approval. The pipe-line would transport oil from Alberta to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines headed to the Gulf Coast.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY — A prominent Cana-dian businessman has taken out full-page newspaper ads to declare his opposition to a hostile takeover of Ca-nadian Oil Sands, but the CEO of Sun-cor Energy says he believes Seymour Schulich is in the minority. In the ads, addressed to fellow COS sharehold-ers, Schulich accused Suncor of “try-ing to pull a fast one” with its “unac-ceptable” offer: a quarter of a Suncor share (TSX:SU) for each COS share (TSX:COS). That amounts to a total of $4.3 billion, based on Suncor’s share price.

“The fact is Suncor needs Canadian Oil Sands more than we need them,” wrote Schulich.

“I’m not selling at this price and you shouldn’t either.”

The ads appear in the Tuesday busi-ness sections of The Globe and Mail and the National Post newspapers as the two Calgary-based oilsands com-panies woo shareholders ahead of a Friday deadline set by Suncor. Sun-cor also took out ads addressing COS shareholders with the headline: “Hope is not a strategy.”

On a conference call on its bid, Sun-cor CEO Steve Williams said he has “tremendous respect” for Schulich and praised his “wonderful track re-cord” as an investor.

Schulich told the Financial Post last month that shareholders who to-gether own 28 per cent of COS stock would not tender to the bid.

Schulich himself owns five per cent of the company, according to the re-port.

INBRIEF

Schulich advises COS

shareholders to reject Suncor

RED DEER ADVOCATE Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 A7

Diversified and IndustrialsAgrium Inc. . . . . . . . . . . 123.46ATCO Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . 35.46BCE Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.21BlackBerry . . . . . . . . . . . 12.38Bombardier . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.31Brookfield . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.49Cdn. National Railway . . 75.47Cdn. Pacific Railway. . . 176.43Cdn. Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 32.02Capital Power Corp . . . . 17.80Cervus Equipment Corp 13.00Dow Chemical . . . . . . . . 49.55Enbridge Inc. . . . . . . . . . 46.00Finning Intl. Inc. . . . . . . . 18.16Fortis Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.44General Motors Co. . . . . 32.43Parkland Fuel Corp. . . . . 23.10Sirius XM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.04SNC Lavalin Group. . . . . 40.66Stantec Inc. . . . . . . . . . . 33.13Telus Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . 38.15Transalta Corp.. . . . . . . . . 4.71Transcanada. . . . . . . . . . 45.03

ConsumerCanadian Tire . . . . . . . . 113.38Gamehost . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.97Leon’s Furniture . . . . . . . 14.09Loblaw Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . 64.00

Maple Leaf Foods. . . . . . 23.41Rona Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.02Wal-Mart . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.92WestJet Airlines . . . . . . . 20.30

MiningBarrick Gold . . . . . . . . . . 10.70Cameco Corp. . . . . . . . . 16.56First Quantum Minerals . . 5.26Goldcorp Inc. . . . . . . . . . 16.20Hudbay Minerals. . . . . . . . 5.57Kinross Gold Corp. . . . . . . 2.59Labrador. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.02Potash Corp.. . . . . . . . . . 23.63Sherritt Intl. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.730Teck Resources . . . . . . . . 5.27

EnergyArc Resources . . . . . . . . 16.51Badger Daylighting Ltd. . 23.73Baker Hughes. . . . . . . . . 45.92Bonavista . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.77Bonterra Energy . . . . . . . 16.91Cdn. Nat. Res. . . . . . . . . 30.69Cdn. Oil Sands Ltd. . . . . . 8.05Canyon Services Group. . 3.81Cenovous Energy Inc. . . 17.34CWC Well Services . . . 0.1200Encana Corp. . . . . . . . . . . 7.39Essential Energy. . . . . . . 0.560

Exxon Mobil . . . . . . . . . . 78.12Halliburton Co. . . . . . . . . 34.40High Arctic . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.43Husky Energy . . . . . . . . . 14.70Imperial Oil . . . . . . . . . . . 44.91Pengrowth Energy . . . . . . 1.06Penn West Energy . . . . . 1.200Precision Drilling Corp . . . 5.43Suncor Energy . . . . . . . . 35.40Trican Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.570Trinidad Energy . . . . . . . . 2.00Vermilion Energy . . . . . . 37.86Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1050

FinancialsBank of Montreal . . . . . . 76.62Bank of N.S. . . . . . . . . . . 56.13CIBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.88Cdn. Western . . . . . . . . . 23.54Great West Life. . . . . . . . 34.12IGM Financial . . . . . . . . . 35.67Intact Financial Corp. . . . 88.25Manulife Corp. . . . . . . . . 20.20National Bank . . . . . . . . . 40.09Rifco Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.45Royal Bank . . . . . . . . . . . 72.82Sun Life Fin. Inc.. . . . . . . 42.31TD Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.51

MARKETS

Tuesday’s stock prices supplied byRBC Dominion Securities of Red Deer. For information call 341-8883.

COMPANIESOF LOCAL INTEREST

DILBERT

MARKETS CLOSETORONTO — North Ameri-

can Stock markets finished rela-tively unchanged on Tuesday as investors paused after a dismal start to 2016 trading the previous session, which had led some to predict a year of volatility ahead.

The Toronto Stock Ex-change’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 7.01 points at 12,920.14.

The weakness came on the heels of the index finishing Monday 82.80 points lower, as a sharp decline in China triggered a sell-off that spread worldwide.

Some of that intensity abat-ed in the aftermath, with most major markets coming well off their lows of the day on Tuesday, after China injected cash into the country’s financial system.

Driving the TSX lower were consumer discretionary stocks, which fell 1.2 per cent overall, and the materials sector which dropped 0.7 per cent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones average of 30 stocks rose 9.72 points to 17,158.66 after falling 276.09 points Mon-day in its biggest decline in two weeks. The broader S&P 500 index closed up 4.05 points at 2,016.71 while Nasdaq edged down 11.66 points to 4,891.43.

Kash Pashootan, senior vice-president and portfolio man-ager at First Avenue Advisory, a Raymond James company, said stock markets are dealing with the hangover from Monday dra-matic pullback in China.

“It’s a game of time,” said Pa-shootan.

“If the market searches long enough for the next growth cat-alyst and doesn’t find it, that’s when you’ll see sentiment shift from being positive and optimis-tic to becoming more bearish,” he added.

Those cautious sentiments were echoed in a currency mar-ket outlook from TD Bank, which predicted further pressure on the loonie.

“Given low commodity prices and weak growth in Canada, it is likely that the Canadian dollar will remain at current low levels for some time,” Bruce Cooper, chief investment officer at TD Bank, said in the note.

“We continue to believe that a diversified portfolio of high quality assets is the best way to navigate this challenging envi-ronment.”

Worries over high stockpiles of crude oil pushed the price of the key commodity to its lowest level in nearly two weeks.

The most recent supply fig-ures will be issued on Wednes-day by the U.S. Energy Infor-mation Administration, giving traders a better idea of how in-ventories and production stack up against a potential supply disruption as tensions develop between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The February crude contract was down 79 cents at US$35.97 a barrel, while February natu-ral gas gave back a penny to US$2.33 per mmBtu.

TSX gold stocks fell 0.4 per cent as February gold rose $3.20 to US$1,078.40 an ounce.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTSHighlights at the close Tues-

day at world financial market trading.

Stocks:S&P/TSX Composite Index

— 12,920.14, down 7.01 pointsDow — 17,158.66, up 9.72

pointsS&P 500 — 2,016.71, up

4.05 pointsNasdaq — 4,891.43, down

11.66 pointsCurrencies:

Cdn — 71.48 cents US, down 0.25 of a cent

Pound — C$2.0522, down 0.03 of a cent

Euro — C$1.5040, down 0.57 of a cent

Euro — US$1.0751, down 0.78 of a cent

Oil futures:US$35.97 per barrel, down

79 cents(February contract)Gold futures: US$1,078.40

per oz., up $3.20(February contract)Canadian Fine Silver Handy

and Harman:$20.303 oz., up 21.5 cents$652.74 kg., up $6.91

DOLLAR MARKETSWINNIPEG — ICE Futures

Canada closing prices:Canola: Jan. ‘16 $2.40 higher

$476.20 March ‘16 $2.40 higher $484.30 May ‘16 $3.80 higher $491.00 July ‘16 $3.60 higher $493.50 Nov. ‘16 $2.80 higher $489.30 Jan. ‘17 $1.70 higher $491.50 March ‘17 $1.70 higher $491.50 May ‘17 $1.70 higher $491.50 July ‘17 $1.70 higher $491.50 Nov. ‘17 $1.70 higher $491.50 Jan. ‘18 $1.70 higher $491.50.

Barley (Western): March ‘16 $2.00 lower $182.00 May ‘16 $2.00 lower $188.00 July ‘16 $2.00 lower $190.00 Oct. ‘16 $2.00 lower $190.00 Dec. ‘16 $2.00 lower $190.00 March ‘17 $2.00 lower $190.00 May ‘17 $2.00 lower $190.00 July ‘17 $2.00 lower $190.00 Oct. ‘17 $2.00 lower $190.00 Dec. ‘17 $2.00 lower $190.00 March ‘18 $2.00 lower $190.00.

Tuesday’s estimated vol-ume of trade: 369,760 tonnes of canola 0 tonnes of barley (West-ern Barley). Total: 369,760.

FILE Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

An Air Canada passenger jet takes off from Halifax. Air Canada has asked the Supreme Court to intervene to overturn a court ruling that requires the carrier to keep maintenance operations in the country.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL — Air Canada has asked the country’s top court to over-turn a Quebec ruling that would re-quire the airline to keep its mainte-nance operations in the country.

In its legal filing with the Supreme Court in Ottawa, Air Canada said that the appeal court’s ruling “jeopardizes” the main objective of privatizing the formerly government-owned airline — to create a “viable and competitive company.”

Quebec launched its lawsuit against the Montreal-based airline after Aveos Fleet Performance, which did much of Air Canada’s aircraft maintenance, closed in 2012 in a move that laid off 2,600 employees, including about 1,700 in Montreal.

The province argued that Air Cana-da (TSX:AC) breached its legal obliga-tions under the 1988 Air Canada Pub-lic Participation Act, which required the airline to keep heavy maintenance operations in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

The province won the original court

decision in 2013 and the Quebec Court of Appeal decision in November.

The airline has argued that it re-spected the law by continuing to con-duct aircraft maintenance at its three Canadian facilities in Montreal, Win-nipeg and Mississauga, Ont. It also se-lected maintenance repair and over-haul providers Avionor and Premier Aviation in Quebec and others outside the country.

The airline has also said that the Quebec and Manitoba governments — Manitoba intervened to support Que-bec’s lawsuit —have no jurisdiction because aviation is a federal matter.

The union that represented Ave-os workers said the country’s highest court may grant the airline’s request to hear the appeal because it involves an important federal law that affects several provinces.

“But it’s still disappointing to see Air Canada fight this battle against the former Aveos workers and against the federal law,” David Chartrand, Quebec co-ordinator of the International Asso-ciation of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said in a news release.

Air Canada asks top court to reject maintenance

ruling in Quebec lawsuit

Cogeco sells Metromedia division to Bell Media for

undisclosed priceMONTREAL — Cogeco Inc. says its

radio subsidiary has sold its Metrome-dia advertising division to Bell Media, owner of Astral Out of Home.

Cogeco Metromedia specializes in the public transit sector, with tradi-tional and digital ad placements in Montreal Metro stations, on city buses, commercial parking lots and other lo-cations.

Cogeco (TSX:CGO) declined to provide the sale price, but said it pur-chased the operations in 2011 for $41 million.

Richard Lachance, head of the ra-dio group, said the advertising signage industry has undergone big changes in recent years with the arrival of major players. He pointed to Quebecor Me-dia (TSX:QBR.B) and Bell (TSX:BCE), which grew with the acquisition of Astral.

Consolidation in the so-called out-of-home advertising sector leaves little opportunity for future growth, he add-ed in an interview.

While he said Cogeco Metromedia has been “positive and profitable,” the company plans to focus on strengthen-ing its radio segment.

Garbage collection business Progressive Waste Solutions

launches strategic reviewTORONTO — A major North Amer-

ican garbage collection business, Progressive Waste Solutions, has em-barked on a review of its strategic op-tions but is providing few details about the potential impact of the process.

The company, headquartered near Toronto and active in six provinces and several regions of the United States, says it has hired J.P. Morgan Securities to advise its board in the review.

But Progressive Waste Solutions said there’s no certainty that the re-view will result in any change to its business strategy, or in any transac-tion, and cautioned investors against relying on news reports for their infor-mation.

“The company does not intend to make any further public comments regarding this matter prior to the com-pletion of the review of strategic alter-natives,” Progressive Waste Solutions said in a brief statement.

The announcement late Monday came hours after Bloomberg News cit-ed unidentified sources as saying the company’s advisers had approached potential buyers in recent weeks but talks were preliminary.

Progressive Waste Solutions shares (TSX:BIN) closed Monday in Toron-to at C$32.29, down 21 cents. In New York, the shares closed at US$23.21, down 34 cents. The company, based in Vaughan, Ont., deals with non-hazard-ous solid waste from residential and industrial customers. It operates fleets of collection trucks and operates land-fill, recycling and other disposal sites.

Yum Brands says David Novak to retire as chairman

Yum Brands Inc. Chairman David Novak will retire in May, ending a three-decade career with the restau-rant giant. The Louisville, Kentucky, company said Tuesday it plans to name one of its board members to suc-ceed Novak at its annual meeting in May. Novak, 63, began his tenure with the company in 1986 as the marketing chief for Pizza Hut when the chain was still owned by PepsiCo. When PepsiCo spun off KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in 1997, Novak became vice chairman and president of the new company. He was named CEO of Yum Brands in 1999 and chairman in 2000.

BUSINESSBRIEFS

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter ap-pears ready to loosen its decade-old restriction on the length of messag-es in a bid to make its service more appealing to a wider audience accus-tomed to the greater freedom offered by Facebook and other forums.

CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey telegraphed Twitter’s intentions in a tweet posted Tuesday after the tech-nology news site Re/Code reported the company is exploring increasing its limits on text from 140 characters to as many as 10,000.

Dorsey didn’t directly address the Re/Code report that cited unnamed people, but he made it clear that Twit-ter isn’t wedded to the 140-character limit. He illustrated his point by post-ing a screenshot of a text consisting of 1,325 characters.

If Twitter were to allow tweets to span 10,000 characters, it could pro-duce 1,700-word dissertations, based on the size of Dorsey’s extended post.

San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. declined to comment on its plans.

In his message, Dorsey wrote that Twitter has already noticed that many of its roughly 300 million users already have been including screenshots of lengthy texts in their tweets. He in-dicated Twitter is examining ways to give people more room to express themselves without polluting the ser-vice with gasbags.

Imposing some restraint “inspires creativity and brevity. And a sense of speed. We will never lose that feeling,” Dorsey pledged.

At the same time, Dorsey said Twit-ter isn’t “going to be shy about build-ing more utility and power into Twitter for people. As long as it’s consistent with what people want to do, we’re go-ing to explore it.”

Analysts said Dorsey is probably trying to avoid a backlash among long-time Twitter users who consider the 140-character tweeting limit sacred. At the same time, he needs to respond to company shareholders pining for a bigger audience that would generate more advertising revenue.

More revenue eventually could help Twitter turn a profit for the first time in its history.

Twitter can’t afford “to become stagnant, they need to get bigger if they want to build a more relevant adver-tising platform,” said Topeka Capital Markets analyst Blake Harper.

After a long streak of robust growth that turned it into one of the Internet’s hottest companies, Twitter’s growth has slowed dramatically during the

past year-and-half to leave it scram-bling to catch up with social network-ing leader Facebook and its 1.5 billion users.

Twitter’s malaise resulted in the de-parture of Dick Costolo as the compa-ny’s CEO last July and ushered in the return of Dorsey, who had been ousted as the company’s leader in 2008.

The pressure has been building on Dorsey to take drastic measures to ac-celerate user growth as Twitter’s stock has sunk further below its November 2013 initial public offering price of $26. The shares shed 64 cents Tuesday to close at $21.92, a decline of nearly 40 per cent from where they stood from when Dorsey became CEO last sum-mer.

Dorsey helped invent Twitter in 2006 and imposed a 140-character lim-it on messages so the service would be easy to use on cellphones that had 160-character limits on texts at that time.

Those texting limits on phones fad-ed away several years ago as the ad-vent of smartphones enabled people to use other Internet messaging services, making Twitter’s restrictions look in-creasingly antiquated.

Wedbush Securities analyst Mi-chael Pachter believes an increased limit on tweets would be a “good, baby step” to attracting more users to Twit-ter and believes it could be done with-out alienating the service’s current audience.

One way to make an increased limit less obnoxious would be to only show a limited amount of text in users’ feeds and then leave it to each individual to click on a button to see more.

“Twitter is an afterthought in social media right now,” Pachter said.

“They need to do something to drive more usage of the service. If people start using the service more frequent-ly, other users will come join in, too.”

Twitter appears ready to loosen its restriction on

length of messagesINTENDS TO GO FROM 140 CHARACTERS TO AS MANY AS 10,000

“TWITTER IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT IN SOCIAL MEDIA RIGHT NOW. THEY

NEED TO DO SOMETHING TO DRIVE MORE USAGE OF THE SERVICE. IF PEOPLE START USING THE SERVICE MORE

FREQUENTLY, OTHER USERS WILL COME JOIN IN, TOO.”

— WEDBUSH SECURITIES ANALYST MICHAEL PACHTER

A8 RED DEER ADVOCATE Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016

Complete the grid so that every row, every column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 through 9.

Solution

ARGYLE SWEATER

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

HI & LOIS

PEANUTS

BLONDIE

HAGAR

BETTY

PICKLES

GARFIELD

LUANN

TUNDRA

SHERMAN‛S LAGOON

RUBES

January 62009 — Team Canada wins the 2009

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for the fifth time in a row in Ottawa, Ontario.

2004 — U.S. Dept. of Agriculture an-nounces that DNA testing has determined that a cow in Washington state infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy was born in Alberta.

1992 — Québec Superior Court judge rules that a 25-year-old paralyzed patient,

‘Nancy B,’ suffering from a rare neurological disorder and on life support, has no hope of recovery and has the right to die. Doctors will remove her life support on February 13, after a 30 day appeal period lapses.

1966 — John Walter Grant MacEwan ap-pointed lieutenant-governor of Alberta. Holds post until July 2, 1974.

1918 — Canadian Captain J. Hedley of the Royal Flying Corps sucked from his seat and out of the plane while diving to escape German fighters during World War I near France. The slipstream pulled him back to the plane when it levelled out.

TODAY IN HISTORY

SUDOKU

Federal Court opens door for former KGB employee to

rejoin family in CanadaVANCOUVER — A Russian man

once employed as a KGB translator has new hope for reuniting with his family in Canada after he voluntarily left six years of church sanctuary in Vancouver.

A Federal Court judge ruled in late November that Mikhail Lennikov’s failed application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds must be re-examined.

Judge Elizabeth Heneghan directed the application be reviewed by a different federal immigration officer in her decision that was publicly released late last month.

Lennikov’s lawyer, Hadayt Nazami, says a door has finally opened for his client and he’s hopeful the man will be allowed back into Canada now that the Liberals have replaced the Conservative party as government.

Lennikov claimed sanctuary in the First Lutheran Church in June 2009 but gave up his fight to stay last August and returned to Russia, leaving behind

his wife and adult son who are now Canadian citizens.

The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered him deported in 2006 based on accusations that he had worked as a KGB spy, but expert evidence stated he was coerced into work that was not espionage.

Imprudence, not malice, led to alleged military security

breach: rear admiralHALIFAX — An alleged security

breach at one of the Royal Canadian Navy’s most sensitive security opera-tions was the result of imprudence, not malice, says the navy’s commander on the Atlantic coast.

Rear Admiral John Newton said Tuesday the so-called data spill involv-ing more than 1,000 secret documents was the result of mishandling of files by a civilian employee, a mistake that

did not pose a threat to military intel-ligence.

“We do not fear that there was a threat to the material that was upload-ed to a unclassified network,” Newton said after taking part in a dockside ceremony that saw the frigate HMCS Fredericton depart Halifax for a six-month, NATO-led mission in the Medi-terranean.

“We’ve looked at … the work of the person involved and it’s an issue of im-prudence in handling material, but it’s nothing more nefarious than that.”

Military police in Halifax allege that between 2004 and 2009 a web de-signer working at HMCS Trinity — the military’s principal East Coast intelli-gence centre — used Defence Depart-ment networks to improperly store secret files.

A search warrant filed in provincial court alleges the actions of a man iden-tified only as “Mr. Zawidski” violated a section of the federal Security Infor-mation Act that deals with wrongful communication of information.

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Ottawa faces hard slog to legalize potBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The Liberal govern-ment will have to do substantial work on the international stage before it can follow through on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to legalize marijuana, new documents suggest.

That work will have to include fig-uring out how Canada would com-ply with three international treaties to which the country is a party, all of which criminalize the possession and production of marijuana.

Trudeau’s plan to legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana is al-ready proving a complicated and con-troversial undertaking on the domestic front, in part because it requires work-ing with the provinces.

Internationally, says a briefing note prepared for the prime minister, Can-ada will also have to find a way to es-sentially tell the world how it plans to conform to its treaty obligations.

The note to Trudeau was obtained

by The Canadian Press through the Ac-cess to Information Act.

Errol Mendes, a constitutional and international law expert at the Univer-sity of Ottawa, says the government fac-es a long, hard slog in the global arena before it can legalize pot at home.

Legalization, he said, is a growing movement among some countries, par-ticularly in Latin America, but it faces stiff opposition in the United States — including within some quarters of the Obama administration.

If the Republicans win the White House in November, the opposition will be even stronger in a country where some see legalizing pot “as the thin edge of the wedge,” said Mendes.

“It will be an ongoing dialogue which has to be dealt with at the high-est levels, and it’s not going to be an easy one, and it’s not going to be a quick one either. It’s going to take ma-ny years.”

The Liberal policy means that Cana-da will have to amend its participation in three international conventions:

● The Single Convention on Nar-cotic Drugs of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol

● The Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971

● The United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.

“All three require the criminaliza-tion of possession and production of cannabis,” says the briefing note.

“As part of examining legalization of cannabis possession and produc-tion, Canada will need to explore how to inform the international community and will have to take the steps needed to adjust its obligations under these conventions.”

Global Affairs Canada, the lead gov-ernment department on international treaties, said it is examining a range of issues on pot legalization, including Canada’s international commitments, but said it was premature to comment on specifics.

The world’s drug problem will be the focus of a special session of the

United Nations General Assembly in April, the memo says.

“At the meeting, several South American countries as well as Mexico wish to discuss what they perceive as more effective policy approaches to respond to the current realities of the drug problem, which could include decriminalization/legalization of illicit drugs, harm reduction, and/or a call to renegotiate the international drug con-trol conventions.”

Mendes said Canada could still find a way to adhere to the treaties, but will have to show that legalizing marijuana helps reduce illicit drug use.

“There’s no international treaty where you cannot make reservations,” he said.

“The problem is the government having to explain why it’s doing it, why it feels it has to do it, given the con-viction (with which) Prime Minister Trudeau has said it’s a failure in terms of enforcement … in almost every re-spect and is driving up the crime rate in some parts of Canada.”

Defence singles out mother as

girl’s killerBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — An evil, demon-ob-sessed religious fanatic was the likely killer of her horrifically abused and starved teenaged stepdaughter whose body was found stuffed in a burning suitcase two decades ago, a first-de-gree murder trial heard Tuesday.

In closing arguments, defence law-yer Jennifer Penman urged jurors to acquit the teen’s father of deliberately killing Melonie Biddersingh, 17, saying the evidence instead points to his wife as the culprit.

Everton Biddersingh, 60, has plead-ed not guilty to the first-degree mur-der of his daughter. His wife, Elaine Biddersingh, faces her own trial this spring.

Penman portrayed Elaine Bidders-ingh, who claimed to be the victim of spousal abuse, as an evil domestic ty-rant and indifferent mother with a Bi-ble and demon obsession who ruled the roost.

Court has heard that she hated her husband and stepdaughter, whom she believed was possessed by the devil and had brought a curse on the family.

“She has the most animus of anyone in the home toward Melonie,” Pen-man said. “Elaine took matters into her own hands and drowned Melonie.”

The trial previously heard the teen was confined for hours in a tiny clos-et in their Toronto apartment, had her head placed in a toilet that was flushed, was chained to the furniture, and denied food. Witnesses also tes-tified her father kicked and punched her, and that her stepmother smashed her head against the wall in an effort to rid her of the devil.

Penman said it may never be known exactly how the teen died — appar-ently on Sept. 1. 1994 — but pointed to forensic evidence that she drowned, something she urged jurors to accept as fact. Her body also showed signs of severe malnourishment and 21 broken bones in various stages of healing.

“The tragedy of this young wom-an’s death may easily overwhelm our imaginations,” Penman said. “This case fundamentally is not about child abuse. It is about murder. This trial is about who drowned her.”

While her weakened state and in-juries might have been a factor in her death, that is not the same thing as saying starvation was the cause, the lawyer told the jury.

The Crown alleges Biddersingh killed his daughter by starving or drowning her, crammed her into a suit-case, drove her to a remote area north of Toronto and set her on fire. The Bid-dersinghs were arrested in March 2012 after a tip that finally allowed them to identify the victim’s remains and lay charges.

CANADABRIEFS

‘IT’S ALMOST LIKE LOSING A CHILD’

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Firefighters walk past a barn that was destroyed by a fire at the Classy Lanes Stables in Puslinch, Ont., on Tuesday. The deaths of 43 racehorses in a massive barn fire is more than just a professional catastrophe -- it’s akin to losing members of a family, one trainer said Tuesday. ‘It’s almost like losing a child,’ said Dan Lagace. ‘These horses, they’re every part of your life. On Christmas morning, when other people are opening gifts with their kids and stuff like that, we’re out at the farm making sure they’re taken care of first. On Sunday mornings when other people are sleeping in, we’re there too.’

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A10 RED DEER ADVOCATE Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016

LOCAL B1WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Fax 403-341-6560 E-mail editorial@reddeeradvocate.com WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

BY SUSAN ZIELINSKIADVOCATE STAFF

The first baby of 2016 at Olds Hospi-tal and Care Centre was delivered by emergency cesarean section when it was discovered the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck three times.

The baby’s mother Cheryl Steeves, 39, a nurse at Olds hospital, said it’s common for a cord to get wrapped around a baby’s neck, but not three times.

“It wasn’t good,” said Steeves who was thrilled her baby was ultimately born healthy by cesarean on Jan. 1.

“It was a bit of a harrowing night,

but well worth it. I’m utterly thrilled to be a mom.”

Brinly Lynda Steeves was born at 5:50 a.m., weighing eight pounds and 10 ounces (3.93 kilograms) and 53 centi-metres long.

The baby was due Dec. 29.Steeves partner and Brinly’s father

is Ross Aldred, 48, a local trucker.Steeves said her water broke at 1

a.m. and by the time they drove to the hospital from the Sundre area, the ba-by was in distress due to the contrac-tions.

“As soon as we got there, we knew

things weren’t good.“It was a very, very scary night but

she came out of it well. She’s my first and I’m thrilled. I’m as happy as a clam to have her.”

As a nurse who has worked in la-bour and delivery at Olds hospital, Steeves said she was looking forward to delivering her baby with co-workers.

The hospital performs low-risk de-liveries and averages almost one birth per day, she said.

“Our labour and delivery program has really picked up. We’re doing a lot more babies than we did before which is fantastic. We pull in everyone from just south of Red Deer to Airdrie.”

szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com

Photo contributed

Brinly Lynda Steeves was born at 5:50 a.m., 2016 in at Olds hospital to Cheryl Steeves, 39 , and Ross Aldred, 48.

New Years Baby survives scareOLDS

BY PAUL COWLEYADVOCATE STAFF

Mobile vending should return to Sylvan Lake next summer, says a re-port from town staff.

Despite some opposition from ex-isting lakeshore district businesses, council opted to open the door to lim-ited mobile vending as a pilot project last year. Council asked for a review of the project once the season was fin-ished.

A 14-page report going to council’s committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday recommends the project be continued with some tweaks to im-prove it.

Surveys of vendors, town businesses and residents were largely supportive of the initiative, says the report from town licensing and planning staff.

“The general consensus was in fa-vour of mobile vending,” says the re-port.

Existing brick-and-mortar business-es were not affected by the additional competition, concludes the report. On-ly one complaint about a mobile ven-dor, which turned out be unfounded, was received by the town during the 17 weeks vendors were operating.

Based on survey feedback and in-formation gathered through other eco-nomic development initiatives, staff recommended a number of changes should council decide to bring the project back next summer.

Vendors argued their permit fees were too high. Food vendors had to pay $1,000 per week and food carts $300. Fees for other types of vendors ranged from $20 to $100.

There were also complaints that the limit of six vending permits was too low and too few locations were set aside for vending. Staff recommended council take a look at those issues and consider allowing vending on private property.

Another option suggested was to en-courage Food Truck Thursdays, which could be dictated as the only time food trucks are allowed to set up shop. Sim-ilar gatherings have been popular in other locations, including Red Deer, which has Food Truck Fridays.

The risk of food trucks taking away business from lakeshore eateries during the pilot project did not materi-alize because no food trucks took out a permit. Two food carts did set up for a total of 11 weeks between them.

But food trucks are a popular draw in other communities and some pres-ence might be desirable, suggests the report.

Vicki Kurz, Sylvan Lake’s economic development officer, said if the coun-cil committee wants to proceed it will direct staff to make specific recom-mendations for a regular meeting of council next month.

Other communities’ economic de-velopment experiences show that food vendors and buskers are seen as a way to inject life into downtowns.

In November, Sylvan Lake hosted an open house looking at “20 Ingredi-ents to an Outstanding Downtown.” In a survey done at that event, 18 of 25 re-spondents were in favour of expanding mobile vending and busking beyond Centennial Park.

Kurz said there was no backlash from local merchants or the public to last summer’s mobile vending and it fits in with the economic development vision for the downtown.

pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com

SYLVAN LAKE

Mobile vendors should

return in summer

BY ADVOCATE STAFF

Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams just wrapped up a busy year that included recovering 16 stolen fire-arms in Red Deer and uncovering one of the province’s largest illegal mari-juana grow-ops near Stettler.

Known as ALERT, the province’s re-sponse to organized and serious crime arrested 500 offenders and seized more than $36 million worth of drugs and proceeds of crime. The biggest drug trend last year was the emer-

gence of fentanyl. ALERT prioritized investigations and seized 21,000 fen-tanyl pills. Cocaine accounted for the highest dollar value of ALERT’s drug seizures with more than 151 kilograms seized, worth an estimated $15 million.

In October in the Stettler area, ALERT and Stettler RCMP uncovered a 3,284-plant grow-op with an estimat-ed street value of nearly $4 million.

In another major drug bust in the Olds area, ALERT seized 2,137 mari-

juana plants.In 2015, ALERT took 126 firearms

out of the hands of criminals as part of organized crime and gang enforcement initiatives. Seizures included 21 hand-guns, 81 long rifles, and 24 shotguns.

Last January, ALERT Red Deer seized 16 stolen firearms with the as-sistance of RCMP Red Deer and K-Di-vision Emergency Response Team. Guns were believed to be stolen from homes throughout Red Deer and Cen-tral Alberta, and highlighted a grow-ing Alberta trend of guns for being acquired through residential and com-

mercial break and enters.ALERT was established and is

funded by the provincial government. Members of Alberta Sheriffs, Calgary Police Service, Edmonton Police Ser-vice, Lethbridge Police Service, Med-icine Hat Police Service, and RCMP work in ALERT.

In 2015, ALERT teams assisted 41 different agencies, including law en-forcement, government, corrections, and universities, and conducted in-vestigations in 124 different munici-palities throughout Alberta and neigh-bouring provinces.

POLICE

Busy year for ALERT in Central Alberta

PROJECT AIMS TO INJECT LIFE

INTO LAKESHORE DISTRICT

G.H. Dawe Award nominations open

Nominations have opened for the G.H. Dawe Memorial Award of Excellence.

The award, established in 1999, is presented by Red Deer College to someone in the community who best exemplifies the values of George Harold Dawe.

Dawe, who lived from 1910 to 1999, was a co-founder of RDC and its first administrative officer. A local school is named after him.

The characteristics of recipients of the award include community involvement, leadership, warmth, generosity, high integrity and ethical standards and a vision and appreciation of RDC.

The deadline for nominations is Feb. 29. The recipient is the honoured at the RDC awards dinner on May 18.

The nomination package needs to include the nominee’s name, address and telephone number. A cover letter with the reason for the nomination and three letters of support, all need to be provided to the selection committee.

Nominations should be forwarded to:

G.H. Dawe Selection Committee, Red Deer College, P.O. Box 5005, Red Deer, Alberta, T4N 5H5, Attn: Elaine Vandale, Director, Board and Executive Relations.

For more information call 403-342-3259, fax 403-341-4899, or email elaine.vandale@rdc.ab.ca

Nomination forms are available at rdc.ab.ca/ghdaweaward.

RCMP set up photo radar sites through Jan. 15

Red Deer RCMP have released the next two weeks of photo radar sites and enforcement locations.

Running from Jan. 1 to Jan. 15, drivers can expect photo radar enforcement at the following spots in Red Deer.

School zones: Nolan Street, Douglas Avenue, 55th Street, 49th Avenue and 48th Avenue.

Playground zones: Boyce Street, Glendale Boulevard, Oak Street, Oak Drive, 22nd Street, Ellenwood Drive and Duston Street.

Traffic corridors: 49th Street, 49th

Avenue, 50th Avenue, Taylor Drive, Barrett Drive, 30th Avenue and 39th Street.

The RCMP reserve the option to change site or location without notice.

Inquiry set in Hotel robberyA scheduled trial will now be a

preliminary inquiry for a Penhold woman accused of a February robbery of the Eckville Hotel.

Krista Marie Rix, 32, had previously pleaded guilty to several charges including armed robbery, possession of stolen property and forcible confinement.

She was scheduled to stand trial in Red Deer provincial court starting on Feb. 3, but that changed on Tuesday.

Defence counsel Kevin Sproule, who is expected to represent Rix, indicated a change of election to trial by Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench before a judge alone.

The election change means the trial instead becomes a preliminary inquiry, which is held to test the strength of the Crown’s case before heading to trial.

On Feb. 22, 2015, Sylvan Lake RCMP were called to an armed robbery of the Eckville Hotel at about 4:35 p.m. Police said several people in the bar were held at gunpoint while the suspects robbed the bar. No one was injured

and no shots were fired.

Mounties search for thiefSylvan Lake RCMP are looking for

suspects in a rash of recent robberies.Police responded to a robbery com-

plaint at the Lakeway Liquor Store (117 Lakeway Blvd) around 5:49 p.m. on Monday.

Police say a man walked into the store and demanded cash from the till.

He placed the money in a bag and left the scene on foot. No weapon was displayed and no one was hurt.

The suspect is described as 1.83 me-tres (six feet) and in his 20s. He was wearing a black balaclava, black zip up hoodie, dark pants and work boots.

Police believe this same person is responsible for at least three other re-cent robberies in December.

A man matching this same descrip-tion robbed the Plaza Liquor Store in Sylvan Lake on Dec. 23 and Dec.27. On Dec. 29, the CIBC branch was robbed by a man matching this same descrip-tion.

Investigators are asking anyone who may have information on these crimes to contact the Sylvan Lake RCMP at 403-858-7200. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or at www.tipsub-mit.com.

CLEARING THE ICELOCAL BRIEFS

Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate Staff

City of Red Deer crews were giving the outdoor rinks a clean and scrape after a warmer weekend, including the rink in Deer Park.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BURNS, Ore. — A leader of the small armed group that has been occupying a remote national wildlife refuge in Oregon said Tuesday that they will go home when a plan to turn over management of federal lands to locals is implemented.

Ammon Bundy — one of the sons of rancher Cliv-en Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 Nevada stand-off with the government over grazing rights — told reporters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that ranchers, loggers and farmers should have con-trol of federal lands.

Bundy offered few specifics of the group’s plan, but LaVoy Finicum, a rancher from Arizona, said the group would examine the underlying land owner-ship transactions to begin to “unwind it.”

Finicum said he was eager to leave Oregon.“I need to get home,” he said. “I’ve got cows that

are scattered and lost.”As of Tuesday morning, authorities had not shut

off power to the refuge, Finicum said.“If they cut it off, that would be such a crying

shame, all the pipes would freeze.”As the occupation entered its third day, Ammon

Bundy said the group felt it had the support of the local community.

However, the county sheriff has told the roughly 20 people to go home and a community meeting was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

While the anti-government group is critical of federal stewardship of lands, environmentalists and others say officials should run the lands for the broadest possible benefit of business, recreation and the environment.

So far, law enforcement has not taken action against the group of about two dozen activists op-

posing the imprisonment of father-and-son ranchers who set fire to federal land.

“These guys are out in the middle of nowhere, and they haven’t threatened anybody that I know of,” said Jim Glennon, a longtime police commander who now owns the Illinois-based law enforcement train-ing organization Calibre Press. “There’s no hurry.”

Some observers have complained, suggesting the government’s response would have been swifter and more severe had the occupants been Muslim or oth-er minorities.

The activists seized the refuge about 300 miles from Portland on Saturday night as part of a de-cades-long fight over public lands in the West.

They said they want an inquiry into whether the government is forcing ranchers off their land after Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven, reported back to prison Monday.

The Hammonds were convicted of arson three years ago for fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006, one of which was set to cover up deer poaching, according to prosecutors. The men served no more than a year until an appeals court judge ruled the terms fell short of minimum sentences that require them to serve about four more years.

Their sentences were a rallying cry for the group calling itself Citizens for constitutional Freedom, whose mostly male mem-bers said they want feder-al lands turned over to lo-cal authorities so people can use them free of U.S. oversight.

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WORLD B2WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Obama expands background checksBY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama un-veiled an array of measures on Tuesday tightening control and enforcement of firearms in the U.S., us-ing his presidential powers in the absence of legal changes he implored Congress to pass.

Obama accused the gun lobby of taking Congress hos-tage, but said “they cannot hold America hostage.” He insisted it was possible to up-hold the Second Amendment while doing something to tackle the frequency of mass shootings in the U.S. that he said had become “the new normal.”

“This is not a plot to take away everybody’s guns,” Obama said in a ceremony in the East Room. “You pass a background check, you pur-chase a firearm. The problem is some gun sellers have been operating under a different set of rules.”

An emotional Obama wiped tears away from his eye as he recalled the 20 first-graders killed in 2012

at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He paid tribute to the parents, some of whom gathered for the cere-mony, who he said had never imagined their child’s life would be cut short by a bullet.

“Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad,” Obama said.

At the centerpiece of Obama’s plan is a more sweeping definition of gun dealers that the admin-istration hopes will expand the number of sales sub-ject to background checks. Under current law, only federally licensed gun dealers must conduct back-ground checks on buyers. But at gun shows, websites and flea markets, sellers often skirt that require-ment by declining to register as licensed dealers.

Aiming to narrow that loophole, the Justice De-partment’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is issuing updated guidance that says the government should deem anyone “in the business” of selling guns to be a dealer, regardless of where he or she sells the guns. To that end, the government will consider other factors, including how many guns a person sells, how frequently, and whether those guns are sold for a profit.

The White House also put sellers on notice that the administration planned to strengthen enforce-ment — including deploying 230 new examiners the FBI will hire to process background checks.

To lend a personal face to the issue, the White House assembled a cross-section of Americans

whose lives were altered by the nation’s most sear-ing recent gun tragedies, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and relatives of victims from Charleston, S.C., at Virginia Tech. Mark Barden, whose son was shot to death at Sandy Hook Elemen-tary School, introduced the president with a declara-tion that “we are better than this.”

Invoking the words of Martin Luther King Jr., Obama said, “We need to feel the fierce urgency of now.”

Obama’s package of executive actions aims to curb what he’s described as a scourge of gun vio-lence in the U.S., punctuated by appalling mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut Charleston, South Carolina and Tucson, Arizona, among many others. After Newtown, Obama sought far-reaching, bipartisan legislation that went beyond background checks.

When the effort collapsed in the Senate, the White House said it was thoroughly researching the pres-ident’s powers to identify every legal step he could take on his own.

A more recent spate of gun-related atrocities, including in San Bernardino, California, shootings have spurred the administration to give the issue an-other look, as Obama seeks to make good on a policy issue that he’s elevated time and again but has failed until now to advance.

‘THIS IS NOT A PLOT TO TAKE AWAY EVERYBODY’S GUNS,’ SAYS U.S. PRESIDENT

BARACK OBAMA

Afghan forces end standoff with gunmen holed up near the Indian Consulate

KABUL — Afghan special forces have ended a standoff with gunmen holed up near the Indian Consulate in the country’s north and have killed all the attackers after a 24-hour gunbattle, officials said Tuesday.

The standoff began on Sunday night in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, when three gunmen tried to storm the consulate, and then retreated into an adjacent, four-story building. Later, Afghan troops rappelled from helicopters onto the roof of the building to drive out the gunmen.

Sarwar Hussaini, a police spokesman in northern Balkh province, said the standoff ended late Monday night. There were three gunmen and all were killed while 10 people were wounded during the clashes, including five civilians who got caught in the cross-fire, he said.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

INBRIEF

Photo by ADVOCATE news services

Ammon Bundy, centre, at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters near Burns, Ore.

Leader says armed group will go home after federal land is transferred to locals

SPORTS B3WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Greg Meachem, Sports Editor, 403-314-4363 E-mail gmeachem@reddeeradvocate.com SEE MORE ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM>>>>

Helewka leads Rebels past RaidersBY ADVOCATE STAFF

Rebels 4 Raiders 3PRINCE ALBERT — Outside of a handful of de-

fensive and short-handed hiccups, the Red Deer Rebels were breathing relatively easy Tuesday night.

The Rebels coughed up a pair of power-play goals and were too generous on one other occasion, but otherwise controlled the play while skating to a 4-3 Western Hockey League win over the Prince Albert Raiders before 2,219 fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

“I thought we played pretty well,” said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter. “We made a couple of mental errors that we can’t make that put us down to a five-on-three and we turned the puck over on their (Raiders’) third goal. Other than that, we were pretty solid five-on-five.”

The Rebels led 1-0 after 20 minutes on defence-man Nelson Nogier’s third goal of the season, but the Raiders responded with back-to-back extra-man markers in the second period. With Red Deer short two men, Jesse Lees beat Rebels netminder Rylan Toth at 9:56, and Reid Gardiner potted his 24th of the season on a five-on-four advantage 66 seconds later.

Conner Bleackley pulled the Rebels even at 13:56 of the middle frame, beating Raiders goalie Rylan Parenteau to the short side while attempting to cut wide across the crease, and Grayson Pawlenchuk restored the visitors’ lead with his 16th of the season

two and a half minutes later.Raiders forward Jordan Tkatch scored on a de-

flection 1:52 into the final frame, setting the stage for Adam Helewka’s 18th of the season — and the winner — at 12:25. It was Helewka’s fifth point — and second goal — in two games with Red Deer since be-

ing acquired from the Spokane Chiefs.“When you have guys like the players we’ve add-

ed over the last little while, you’re never out of the game,” said Sutter, in reference to Helewka and linemate Jake DeBrusk. “If you’re down a goal you feel like you can win because you have the guys who can put the puck in the net.

“These guys also understand the game and the responsibility of playing defensively. And when they have the puck they make plays and make everyone around them better. The reality is we have other guys who have played their best hockey of the year for us over the last few games.”

Pawlenchuk, selected as the game’s first star, is one of those players.

“He got a big goal for us tonight and did a really good job of getting into good situations,” said Sutter. “He was just solid. He played like we expect Pawly to play and the last three to four games he’s been one of our better players.

“He had a good start to the season, then his play dropped off. But the last three to four games he’s been one of our better players again.”

Toth turned aside 26 shots as the winning net-minder, while Parenteau made 33 saves.

The Rebels conclude their two-game road trip to-night versus the Saskatoon Blades, then return home for Friday and Saturday engagements with the Leth-bridge Hurricanes and Vancouver Giants.

gmeachem@reddeeradvocate.com

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

HELSINKI — It’s every hockey play-er’s childhood fantasy. Major cham-pionship on the line. Overtime. Home ice. Childhood heroes arriving to con-gratulate you.

Kasperi Kapanen scored a wrap-around goal in overtime as Finland rallied past Russia 4-3 on Tuesday to win the world junior hockey champi-onship in a fairy tale ending for the host country.

Kapanen deked around two defend-ers, skated around the back of Russia’s goal and threw the puck into a wide-open net as Russian goaltender Alex-ander Georgiev failed to dive back into position. The largely Finnish crowd at Hartwall Arena exploded with chants of “Suomi!” — Finland’s name in its native tongue — and later “Kiitos!” — the Finnish word for thanks.

“That’s one of those goals that you always dream of,” said the 19-year-old Kapanen, who had the white and blue Finnish flag draped over his shoulders with a sideways baseball cap com-memorating the victory on his head. “I guess dreams do come true.”

Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho and captain Mikko Rantanen all scored in the third period as Finland staged a late comeback. Kaapo Kahkonen made 22 saves for the win.

“There’s not a lot of words (for) how to describe the feeling,” said Ran-tanen. “Very happy. Happy for the team, for the whole of Finland. We had an absolutely unbelievable crowd there and everyone was watching at

home on TV.”It was Finland’s fourth world ju-

nior title and second in the past three years. Finland beat rival Sweden for the championship in 2014. Before that, it was 1998 when Helsinki and Ha-

meenlinna, Finland hosted.“Everything’s so blurry,” said Kap-

anen when asked to describe the goal. “So excited and in shock at the same time.”

After the game former NHLers Saku

Koivu and Teemu Selanne — who had his No. 8 retired from international competition by Finland earlier in the tournament — came down to the Finn-ish locker-room, giving out hugs and fist bumps to the excited teenagers.

Finland set a European attendance record for the world junior champion-ships with 215,225 fans coming to the games and an average of 7,174.

Kapanen is a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect who is currently with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. Earlier Tuesday, Mark Hunt-er, the Maple Leafs director of play-er personnel, spoke about how well Kapanen played at the world juniors and said he was integral to Finland’s success.

Andrei Svetlakov scored twice for Russia and Vladislav Kamenev had the other goal. Georgiev stopped 25 shots.

Georgiev’s start in net was a sur-prise after Ilya Samsonov’s solid 26-save performance in Russia’s 2-1 semifinal win over the United States. Earlier in the day, Anders Bjork, Mat-thew Tkachuk and Ryan Donato each scored two goals as the Americans won bronze with an 8-3 win over Sweden.

Kamenev gave Russia a 1-0 lead nearly five minutes into the game. The Russians played conservatively after Kamenev’s goal, forcing Finland to work for any scoring opportunities in the first two periods.

Laine tied the game just 24 seconds into the third period. He took a drop pass from Aho before snapping a wrist shot past Georgiev to put Finland on the board.

Red hot Flames neutralize LightningBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

Flames 3 Lightning 1CALGARY — The resurgence of Karri Ramo and

the Calgary Flames continued Tuesday night.Ramo made 30 saves and Mark Giordano led the

offence with a pair of assists as Calgary beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1.

Perfect on 26 shots against the Colorado Ava-lanche on Saturday night, Ramo extended his shut-out streak to a personal best 152 minutes 55 seconds before Steven Stamkos picked up a carom off the end boards and found the back of the net at 18:21 of the third.

“As a team, we’re playing a lot better than the start of the year,” said Ramo. “That’s why we’re having success. Everybody’s chipping in, doing their things. It’s not perfect for us, but we are doing way more good things than bad things.”

Ramo, who got the Flames’ opening night start, had a rough October. He was briefly assigned to the American Hockey League after going unclaimed on waivers and finished the first month of the season with a .868 save percentage.

He’s improved since then, starting 25 of Calgary’s last 28 — including the last 10 in a row — and getting his save percentage up to .913.

“He went down, he was not happy, he came back and right from there he started to work,” said Flames coach Hartley. “He took advantage of (Jonas Hiller’s) injury and carried the ball and right now, he’s playing awesome. He’s probably been one of the best goalies in the league.”

Matt Stajan, David Jones and Lance Bouma, with his first of the season into an empty net, scored as Calgary (19-18-2) moved past the Anaheim Ducks and into third place in the Pacific Division.

Ben Bishop made 21 saves for Tampa Bay (19-17-4).Ramo got within 12 minutes of the Flames record

for longest shutout streak of 164:40 set by Mike Ver-non in Dec. 1992.

“He’s dialed in right now, he’s playing really well and he gives us a lot of confidence when he’s playing like that,” said Bouma.

Calgary opened the scoring 3:56 into the first peri-od on a nicely executed 3-on-2 that culminated with Giordano setting up Stajan at the side of the net.

At 15:30 of the second, Giordano intercepted the puck along the sideboards, shook off a check from Ryan Callahan and sent the puck in front for Jones to deflect into the top corner.

“Definitely something’s got to change,” said Light-ning defenceman Anton Stralman. “Right now we have the talent, we have the energy. We’re just not

going out and executing and working hard enough. It’s got to be a mindset.”

The Lightning, Stanley Cup finalists a year ago, are outside of a playoff spot, two points back of a wild card in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s frustrating but no one’s feeling sorry for us right now. We can’t sit here and pout,” said Stamkos. “We’ve got to do something about it. We can’t just keep saying the right things, we’ve got to do it. It starts with me. I’ve got to be better.”

Callahan left the game with a lower-body injury and did not return after his hit on Giordano.

Notes: Linesman Mike Cvik, 53, worked his 1,868th and final NHL game. The Calgarian’s first game was Oct. 8, 1987… Tampa Bay D Matthew Carle was a healthy scratch… Not in Calgary’s line-up was RW Jiri Hudler (lower body), who is undergoing medical tests. The severity of his injury not known…. Flames leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau has no points in his last four games.

Finland downs Russia to win world junior gold

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos, right, dives for the puck as Calgary Flames’ Dougie Hamilton passes him during first period NHL action in Calgary, Tuesday.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS

Finland captain Mikko Rantanen skates towards his team with the trophy as they celebrate their gold medal win at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland on Tuesday. Finland defeated Russia 4-3 in overtime.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

WINNIPEG — Matt Nichols believes the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are close to being a CFL contender.

That’s primarily why the veteran quarterback re-signed with Winnipeg on Tuesday rather than become a free agent next month.

“I think the makeup is there for this team to be very good and I want to be a part of it,” Nichols said during a conference call. “We were very close to winning some close games against good teams and easily could have had three, four more wins down the stretch and got ourselves into the playoffs.

“I can see the talent level is there, the passion is there, guys never gave up and that’s a team I want to be a part of.”

Winnipeg acquired Nichols from Edmonton in September and he start-ed seven games for the Bombers. Nich-

ols completed 149 of 248 passes for 1,757 yards with 10 touchdowns after throwing for 1,488 yards and eight TDs with the Eskimos.

Winnipeg (5-13) finished fourth in the West Division, four points behind the B.C. Lions (7-11) for the final play-off spot in the division. But the Bomb-ers were 3-3 before starter Drew Willy suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 38-8 loss to Hamilton on Aug. 9.

After Willy’s injury, Robert Marve and Brian Brohm both started be-fore Nichols’ arrival. The six-foot-two 215-pound Nichols wasted little time making his presence felt with the Bombers, completing 21 of 30 passes for 283 yards and a TD in a 22-7 win over Saskatchewan on Sept. 12 in his debut with the club.

But Nichols played sparingly in Winnipeg’s regular-season finale, a 22-11 road loss to Toronto on Nov. 6 as newcomer Dominique Davis made his first CFL start.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

HELSINKI — International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel thinks ticket prices should be lower for the 2017 world junior hockey championships in Montreal.

Fasel addressed media on Tuesday, the final day of the 2016 world juniors in Helsinki, Finland, and suggested that Hockey Canada should consider lowering its prices among other solu-tions to disappointing ticket sales.

“It’s a big city,” said Fasel. “I dis-agree that maybe Montreal people are only there for les Canadiens. They love the game. I think the pricing of the tickets was an issue in Montreal. I think that they have to have a look on the prices and people will come. Not all of Montreal is in Florida.”

Fasel, from Switzerland, was speak-ing on a panel with Finnish hockey federation president Kalervo Kummo-la and Spain’s Frank Gonzalez, who served as the organizing committee’s chair for the 2016 event. Ticket sales were disappointing in Montreal for the 2015 world juniors that the city co-host-ed with Toronto.

That year Montreal hosted prelimi-nary round games while Toronto han-dled preliminary and playoff rounds. The two cities will co-host the 2017 event again, with Montreal hosting the medal round and both cities taking on

the preliminary round.“Hockey Canada released its 2017

World Junior Championship ticket packages in early December. While we believe that the 2015 WJC was, in large part, a success, there is always room for improvement,” said Hockey Canada chief operating officer Scott Smith. “To better understand those op-portunities, we commissioned consum-er research and spoke with different stakeholders including the Montreal Canadiens.

“One of the areas we did revise for 2017 is the ticket pricing in Montre-al, where on a per-game cost, you can see the world’s best in men’s under-20 hockey for as little as $35, with plat-inum seats going for $100 per game. This represents on average a 30 per cent decrease in pricing.”

As Gonzalez spoke about how he believes that snowbirds — Canadians heading to the southern United States in the winter months — shouldn’t ef-fect ticket sales in Montreal. He also suggested that perceptions of atten-dance at the 2015 event may have been skewed by the size of Montreal’s Bell Centre.

“The problem is also that if you have such a big arena, we still had 15-16,000 people, but in a 22,000-seat are-na it looks not full,” said Fasel. “It’s still big, bigger than Hartwell Arena (where the medal round of the 2016 event was held.).

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Canadians hoping to clinch at homeMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM THE FRONT-RUNNER HEADING INTO

OLYMPIC QUALIFIERBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

The road to Rio is wide open for the Canadian men’s volleyball team.

Canada is favoured to win an Olympic qualifica-tion tournament in Edmonton starting Friday and compete in men’s volleyball at an Olympic Games for the first time since 1992.

“It would mean a lot to be the first team in a long time to qualify,” Canadian captain Fred Winters told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. “It would be a big-time validation for our program and our coaching staff.”

Canada, ranked 10th in the world, must win the round-robin tournament against No. 15 Cuba, No. 22 Puerto Rico and No. 24 Mexico to secure one of 12 berths in the Olympic men’s volleyball tournament in August.

The Canadian men fell a win short of going to Lon-don in 2012 when they were beaten by the U.S. in the final of this tournament.

The fifth-ranked Americans have already qual-ified for the 2016 Games by winning September’s World Cup, which removes a significant barrier to Rio for Canada.

Canada opens Friday against Puerto Rico fol-lowed by games against Mexico on Saturday and Cuba on Sunday at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

Should Canada not prevail in Edmonton, there is one more last-chance tournament this spring. The field will be tougher, however, and Canada wouldn’t have home-court advantage.

This is the fourth try at the Olympics in Winters’ 13 years on the national team.

“We’ve never hosted an Olympic qualifier,” said the 33-year-old from Victoria. “I’ve had one in the U.S. and two in Puerto Rico, but in all of them the U.S. has been there and in this one, they’ve obvious-ly qualified at the World Cup.

“It’s a big help for us that we don’t have to beat them to go. This is probably my last chance and real-ly the best chance we’ve had.”

However, Canada will be without star Gavin Schmitt of Saskatoon, a six-foot-eight outside hitter who smashes and serves the ball with the power of Thor.

The former Red Deer College King Schmitt, 29, re-quires surgery on stress fractures in his right leg as soon as possible in order to maximize recovery time

this spring, according to head coach Glenn Hoag.“It changes our game serving wise, attacking wise,

but we’ll try to make other adjustments and use dif-ferent tactics,” Hoag said. “It takes us a little bit out of our comfort zone, but we have no choice.”

The Canadians also didn’t have Schmitt in the lineup when they beat Cuba, Puerto Rico and host Mexico in October’s NORCECA Continental Champi-onship in Cordoba.

“We don’t need him to qualify for the Olympics,” Winters said. “It sucks for him and a big loss. We have guys who have played in his position all sum-mer.”

The men’s squad is getting an important player back from injury with left-side hitter Dallas Soonias of Red Deer, returning from knee surgery in 2014.

The key for Canada in Edmonton is not letting their emotions trip them up on the court, the captain said.

“When there’s so much riding on it, it can be more difficult,” Winter said. “Guys do weird things, guys

get nervous. We could have trouble with any of the teams.”

“When we simplify the game and slow it down, we play much better so we’ll try to do that.”

The men want to join Canada’s men’s field hockey team as well as the women’s basketball and rugby sevens squads that have already qualified for Rio.

Canada was once under-represented in tradition-al team sports at the Summer Games. Sport Canada told Own The Podium in 2010 to set aside $6 million annually specifically for teams, so they would have base funding regardless of their medal potential.

Hoag overhauled the men’s program in 2012 to es-tablish a national training centre in Gatineau, Que. That facility gave university and college graduates a place to train with their peers and allowed Hoag to drill a national team strategy into them.

When the players leave the centre to play profes-sionally in Europe and Asia — and many players on the national team play pro — they know how to play for Canada when they return for big tournaments.

Women look beyond Olympic qualifier in path to Rio gamesBY THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canadian women’s volleyball coach Arnd Ludwig finds himself in an unusual position going into this week’s NORCECA Olympic qualification tournament in Lincoln, Neb.

With the world No. 1 Americans in the four-team field and Canada the lowest-ranked entry, winning the event — which carries with it Olympic qualifica-tion — seems improbable. But both the second-place and third-place teams get another crack at an Olym-pic berth at subsequent tournaments.

And that’s where it gets interesting.“Actually it’s an advantage to finish third, be-

cause you get easier opponents (at a) tournament that you will host,” Ludwig explained Tuesday early into a 10-hour bus trip from Winnipeg to Lincoln.

“It’s weird,” added the German native. “You want to finish third instead of second and I don’t think that’s the right thing. It should be if you finish sec-ond, you get an advantage and not getting punished for being second.”

The second-place finisher goes to an eight-country tournament with more Olympic berths (four) on the line but with a tougher field than the event where the third-place team will end up (four countries, one Olympic berth).

Canada, ranked 17th in the world, opens Thurs-day against the powerful Americans at the Pinnacle Bank Arena before taking on the seventh-ranked Do-minican Republic on Friday and No. 16 Puerto Rico on Saturday.

The tournament winner will join Olympic host Brazil (No. 3 in the world), World Cup winner China (No. 2) and World Cup runner-up Serbia (No. 6) in the 12-country field in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

The winners of similar continental qualifying tournaments in Europe, Africa and South America will also book their ticket to the Summer Games.

The NORCECA runner-up will move on to a World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Japan that dou-bles as the Asian Continental Qualification event. The competition will also feature four teams from Asia, the second- and third-place finisher at the European qualifying tournament and the runner-up

from the South American qualifier.The top three teams plus the highest-placed Asian

team will qualify for Rio.The third-place finisher at the NORCECA qualifi-

er moves on to a four-team tournament that will fea-ture the third-place team from South America and the second- and third-place finishers from Africa. Only the tournament winner will advance to Rio.

Both of the events are scheduled for the end of May.

“For us, it’s important to get into the next round,” Ludwig said. “It will be very hard for us to beat the U.S. who are one of the best if not the best team in the world right now. We want to keep in the race for Rio so we want to finish second or third.”

The Americans went 41-6 in 2015, just missing out on Olympic qualification when they finished third at the World Cup.

The 14-woman Canadian team is captained by eight-year veteran Brittney Page of Vernon, B.C. Eight of the women play professionally in Europe.

Ludwig says his team is a mix of youth and experi-ence that is still growing as a squad.

IIHF wants lower ticket prices for 2017 world juniors

Nichols skips potential free agency to re-sign with Blue Bombers

Tuesday’s Sports TransactionsBASEBALLAmerican LeagueCLEVELAND INDIANS — Agreed to terms with 1B Mike Napoli on a one-year contract.HOUSTON ASTROS — Named Dave Borkowski pitching coach at Corpus Christi TL), Ramon Vazquez manager, Lancaster (Cal), Omar Lopez manager and Chris Holt pitching coach, Quad Cities (MW), Josh Bonifay manager, Green-eville (SALLY), Wladimir Sutil coach/Latin infield instructor (Gulf) and Russ Stein-horn manager, (DSL). Named Drew French pitching coach and Dillon Lawson hitting coach at Tri-City (NYP), Bill Murphy pitching coach at Greeneville, Aaron DelGiudice development coach at Fresno (PCL) and Lancaster (Cal), and Tom-my Kawamura development coach at Corpus Christi (TL) and Quad Cities (MW).OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Traded RHP Arnold Leon to Toronto for cash or a player to be named.TEXAS RANGERS — Signed LHP Cesar Ramos to a minor league contract.National LeaguePITTSBURGH PIRATES — Promoted strength and conditioning coach Brendon Huttmann to sports science co-ordinator. Named Kevin Fitzgerald physical thera-pist and Ricky White strength coach.FOOTBALLNational Football LeagueARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed Cs Taylor Boggs and Valerian Ume-Ezeoke, LB Mike Reilly and S Tyrequek Zimmerman to reserve/future contracts.CINCINNATI BENGALS — Signed LB Jayson DiManche to the practice squad and PK Zach Hocker, LB Dezmond Johnson and S Floyd Raven Sr. to reserve/future contracts.CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed DBs Sean Baker and Tim Scott, OL Dan France and Garth Gerhart, TE Connor Hamlett and DL Dylan Wynn to reserve/future contracts. Named Paul DePodesta chief strategy officer.GREEN BAY PACKERS — Signed DT William Campbell to the practice squad. Placed DE B.J. McBryde on the practice squad injured list. Signed QB Ryan Williams to reserve/future contracts.HOUSTON TEXANS — Signed OT Andrew McDonald from the San Diego prac-tice squad. Placed OT Duane Brown on injured reserve.JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Fired defensive co-ordinator Bob Babich.NEW YORK JETS - Signed G Jarvis Harrison, DT Deon Simon, WR Joe Ander-son, LB Deion Barnes, TE Brandon Bostick, LB Julian Howsare, TE Wes Saxton, CB Kevin Short and LB Julian Stanford to reserve/future contracts.OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Signed QB Garrett Gilbert and K Giorgio Tavecchio

to reserved/future contracts.TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Signed Cs Josh Allen and Ben Gottschalk, WR Andre Davis, G Antoine Everett, S Gerod Holliman, DE Martin Ifedi, DT Derrick Lott and CBs C.J. Roberts and Joel Ross to reserve/future contracts.WASHINGTON REDSKINS — Signed CB Cary Wil-liams. Activated C Kory Lichtensteiger from the injured reserve-return list. Placed DB Kyshoen Jarrett on injured reserve. Waived C Brian de la Puente. Signed CB Al Louis-Jean to the practice squad. Released LB Derrick Mathews from the practice squad.Canadian Football LeagueWINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS — Re-signed QB Matt Nichols.HOCKEYNational Hockey LeagueCOLORADO AVALANCHE — Claimed D Andrew Bodnarchuk off waivers from Columbus.DETROIT RED WINGS — Assigned C Tomas Nosek to Grand Rapids (AHL).NASHVILLE PREDATORS — Signed F Fredrick Gaudreau to a two-year, entry-level contract.PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — Assigned F Brandon Al-derson from Lehigh Valley (AHL) to Reading (ECHL).American Hockey LeagueAHL — Suspended Toronto LW Richard Clune one game for his actions at the conclusion of a Jan. 2 game against Syracuse. Suspended Bridgeport D Matt Carkner one game for a boarding incident in a Jan. 3 game against Hershey.CHICAGO WOLVES — Recalled D Jeremie Blain from Brampton (ECHL).ECHLREADING ROYALS — Loaned F Cam Reid to Her-shey (AHL).SOCCERMajor League SoccerFC DALLAS — Signed D Aaron Guillen.SPORTING KANSAS CITY — Named Brian Bliss director of player personnel.

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SCOREBOARD B5WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Local Sports

Football

Hockey

Basketball

Today• JV basketball: Sylvan Lake at Notre Dame, Wetaskiwin at Lindsay Thurber, Stettler at Hunting Hills, Lacombe at Rocky Mountain House, Ponoka at Camrose; girls at 6 p.m., boys to follow.• WHL: Red Deer at Saskatoon, 6 p.m. (The Drive).

Thursday• College women’s hockey: NAIT at RDC, 7 p.m., Arena.• Men’s basketball: Vikings vs. Btown, Bulldog Scrap Metal vs. Silver Spurs, 7:15 and 8:30 p.m., Lindsay Thurber.

Friday• Bantam AA hockey: Bow Valley at Central Alberta, 6 p.m., Big Valley; Airdrie at West Central, 8 p.m., Sylvan Lake.• Juvenile curling: Servus Credit Union Bonspiel, Pidherney Centre.• WHL: Lethbridge at Red Deer, 7 p.m., Centrium.• Midget AA hockey: Okotoks Black at Olds, 7:30 p.m.• Midget AAA hockey: Foothills at Red Deer, 8 p.m., Arena.• Heritage junior B hockey: Mountainview at Three Hills, 8 p.m.• Chinook senior AAA hockey: Fort Saskatchewan at Bentley, 8:30 p.m., Rimbey.

Saturday• Juvenile curling: Servus Credit Union Bonspiel, Pidherney Centre.• Minor midget AAA hockey: Calgary Canucks at Red Deer Strata Energy, 11:30 a.m., Arena.• Midget AA hockey: West Central at Red Deer Indy Graphics, 2 p.m., Arena; Red

Deer Elks at Olds, 7:30 p.m.• Peewee AA hockey: Wheatland at Olds, 2:15 p.m.; Central Alberta at West Central, 5:30 p.m., Rocky Mountain House.• Midget AAA hockey: Calgary Royals at Red Deer, 4:45 p.m., Arena.• Bantam AA hockey: Lethbridge at Olds, 4:45 p.m.• WHL: Vancouver at Red Deer, 7 p.m. Centrium.• Heritage junior B hockey: Coaldale at Red Deer, 8 p.m., Arena; Three Hills at Ponoka, 8 p.m.

Sunday• Juvenile curling: Servus Credit Union Bonspiel, Pidherney Centre.• Minor midget AAA hockey: Southeast at Red Deer North Star, 11:30 a.m., Arena; Rockyview at Red Deer Strata Energy, 2:15 p.m., Arena.• Major midget girls hockey: Edmonton at Red Deer, 2:30 p.m., Kinsmen A.• Heritage junior B hockey: Coaldale at Ponoka, 2:30 p.m.• Peewee AA hockey: Bow Valley at West Central, 2:45 p.m., Sylvan Lake.• Midget AA hockey: Central Alberta at West Central, 3:15 p.m., Rocky Mountain House; Foothills at Red Deer Elks, 5 p.m., Arena; Wheatland at Olds, 5:30 p.m.• Men’s basketball: Grandview vs. Carstar, Chillibongs vs. Monstars, Alken Basin vs. Rusty Chuckers, 4:15 p.m.; Washed Up Warriors vs. NWS, Henry’s Eavestroughing vs. Lacombe All Sports Cresting, Triple A Batteries vs. The D Leaguers, 5:30 p.m.; all games at Lindsay Thurber.• Bantam AA hockey: Okotoks at Central Alberta, 4:30 p.m., Big Valley.• Chinook senior AAA hockey: Innisfail at Bentley, 4:45 p.m., Rimbey.

National Football LeagueAMERICAN CONFERENCE

East W L T Pct PF PAy-New England 12 4 0 .750 465 315N.Y. Jets 10 6 0 .625 387 314Buffalo 8 8 0 .500 379 359Miami 6 10 0 .375 310 389

South W L T Pct PF PAy-Houston 9 7 0 .563 339 313Indianapolis 8 8 0 .500 333 408Jacksonville 5 11 0 .313 376 448Tennessee 3 13 0 .188 299 423

North W L T Pct PF PAy-Cincinnati 12 4 0 .750 419 279x-Pittsburgh 10 6 0 .625 423 319Baltimore 5 11 0 .313 328 401Cleveland 3 13 0 .188 278 432

West W L T Pct PF PAy-Denver 12 4 0 .750 355 296x-Kansas City 11 5 0 .688 405 287Oakland 7 9 0 .438 359 399San\ Diego 4 12 0 .250 320 398

NATIONAL CONFERENCEEast

W L T Pct PF PAy-Washington 9 7 0 .563 388 379Philadelphia 7 9 0 .438 377 430N.Y. Giants 6 10 0 .375 420 442Dallas 4 12 0 .250 275 374

South W L T Pct PF PAy-Carolina 15 1 0 .938 500 308Atlanta 8 8 0 .500 339 345New Orleans 7 9 0 .438 408 476Tampa Bay 6 10 0 .375 342 417

North W L T Pct PF PAy-Minnesota 11 5 0 .688 365 302x-Green Bay 10 6 0 .625 368 323Detroit 7 9 0 .438 358 400

Chicago 6 10 0 .375 335 397West

W L T Pct PF PAy-Arizona 13 3 0 .813 489 313x-Seattle 10 6 0 .625 423 277St. Louis 7 9 0 .438 280 330San Francisco 5 11 0 .313 238 387x-clinched playoff spoty-clinched division

NFL Playoff sWild-card PlayoffsSaturday, Jan. 9Kansas City (11-5) at Houston (9-7), 2:35 p.m.Pittsburgh (10-6) at Cincinnati (12-4), 6:15 p.m.Sunday, Jan. 10Seattle (10-6) at Minnesota (11-6), 11 a.m.Green Bay (10-6) at Washington (9-7), 2 p.m.

Divisional PlayoffsSaturday, Jan. 16 & Sunday, Jan. 17Pittsburgh, Kansas City or Houston at Denver (12-4), TBACincinnati, Houston or Kansas City at New England (12-4), TBASeattle, Green Bay or Washington at Carolina (15-1), TBAMinnesota, Washington or Green Bay at Arizona (13-3), TBA

Conference ChampionshipsSunday, Jan. 24NFC, TBAAFC, TBA

Pro BowlSunday, Jan. 31At HonoluluTeam Rice vs. Team Irvin, 6 p.m.

Super BowlSunday, Feb. 7At Santa Clara, Calif.TBD, 4:30 p.m.

WHLEASTERN CONFERENCE

EAST DIVISION GP W L OTL SOL GF GA PtBrandon 40 24 12 2 2 150 122 52Prince Albert 40 23 13 3 1 133 125 50Moose Jaw 40 20 15 4 1 139 130 45Regina 40 17 17 3 3 125 144 40Saskatoon 38 15 20 3 0 121 157 33Swift Current 39 12 22 4 1 91 126 29

CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L OTL SOL GF GA PtLethbridge 39 27 12 0 0 166 120 54Red Deer 40 27 13 0 0 153 118 54Calgary 42 25 15 1 1 140 129 52Edmonton 40 16 20 4 0 112 132 36Medicine Hat 39 14 21 3 1 127 152 32Kootenay 41 7 31 3 0 82 172 17

WESTERN CONFERENCEB.C. DIVISION

GP W L OTL SOL GF GA PtKelowna 40 28 10 2 0 145 113 58Victoria 40 23 14 1 2 133 101 49Prince George 39 23 14 1 1 133 115 48Kamloops 37 18 14 4 1 129 114 41Vancouver 40 15 20 3 2 118 139 35

U.S. DIVISION GP W L OTL SOL GF GA PtEverett 36 22 12 0 2 100 79 46Seattle 37 20 14 3 0 118 111 43Spokane 39 19 15 3 2 129 132 43Portland 38 20 17 1 0 134 124 41Tri-City 38 16 20 2 0 120 143 34

Tuesday’s resultsRed Deer 4 Prince Albert 3Moose Jaw 4 Medicine Hat 2Tri-City at Victoria, late

Wednesday’s gamesRed Deer at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m.Vancouver at Edmonton, 7 p.m.Swift Current at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.Prince George at Kamloops, 8 p.m.Tri-City at Victoria, 8:05 p.m.

Friday’s gamesMedicine Hat at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m.Prince Albert at Brandon, 6:30 p.m.Vancouver at Calgary, 7 p.m.Regina at Kootenay, 7 p.m.Lethbridge at Red Deer, 7 p.m.Tri-City at Kamloops, 8 p.m.Victoria at Prince George, 8 p.m.Everett at Kelowna, 8:05 p.m.Portland at Seattle, 8:35 p.m.

Saturday, January 9Medicine Hat at Prince Albert, 6 p.m.Saskatoon at Moose Jaw, 6 p.m.Swift Current at Brandon, 6:30 p.m.Vancouver at Red Deer, 7 p.m.Calgary at Edmonton, 7 p.m.Kootenay at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.Kamloops at Portland, 8 p.m.Victoria at Prince George, 8 p.m.Regina at Spokane, 8:05 p.m.Tri-City at Kelowna, 8:05 p.m.Everett at Seattle, 8:05 p.m.

Tuesday’s summaryRebels 4, Raiders 3

First Period1. Red Deer, Nogier 3 (Nikolishin, Fleury) 4:23.Penalties — Kelly P.A. (roughing) 13:14, Rattie RD (tripping) 15:59.

Second Period2. Prince Albert, Lees 15 (Gardiner, Guhle) 9:56 (pp).3. Prince Albert, Gardiner 24 (Warner, Lees) 11:02 (pp).4. Red Deer, Bleackley 12 (Pawlenchuk, Hagel) 13:56.5. Red Deer, Pawlenchuk 16 (Doetzel, Bobyk) 16:22.Penalties — Fleury RD (cross-checking) 7:57, RD Bench (served by Nikolishin, too many men) 9:21, Purtill RD (roughing) 14:49, Babych P.A. (roughing) 14:49.

Third Period6. Prince Albert, Tkatch 11 (Kelly) 1:52.7. Red Deer, Helewka 18 (Nikolishin, Strand) 12:25.Penalties — Rattie RD (roughing) 4:31, Budik P.A. (roughing) 4:31, Tkatch P.A. (roughing) 20:00, No-gier RD (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 20:00, Tkatch P.A. (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 20:00.

Shots on goalRed Deer 15 15 7 — 37Prince Albert 6 9 14 — 29Goal — Red Deer: Toth (W, 21-10-0) Prince Albert: Parenteau (L, 12-9-3).Power plays (goal-chances) — Red Deer: 0-1 Prince Albert: 2-3.

WHL Scoring Leaders G A PtsTyson Baillie, Kel 24 39 63Adam Brooks, Reg 21 38 59Ivan Nikolishin, RD 22 34 56Brayden Burke, Let 11 45 56Dryden Hunt, MJ 25 29 54Parker Bowles, TC 24 30 54Reid Gardiner, P.A. 24 30 54Devante Stephens, Spo 16 37 53Giorgio Estephan, Let 20 28 48Alex Forsberg, Vic 14 34 48Egor Babenko, Let 19 28 47Cameron Hebig, Sas 19 27 46Nolan Patrick, Bra 14 32 46Collin Shirley, Kam 24 21 45

2016 IIHF World Junior ChampionshipAt Helsinki, Finland

PLAYOFFSTuesday’s results

Gold MedalFinland 4 Russia 3 (OT)

Bronze MedalU.S. 8 Sweden 3

Monday’s resultsSemifinals

Finland 2 Sweden 1Russia 2 United States 1

Sunday’s resultRelegation(Best-of-3)

Switzerland 6 Belarus 2(Switzerland wins series 2-0 Belarus relegated for 2017)

Saturday’s resultsQuarter-finals

Finland 6 Canada 5Russia 4 Denmark 3 (OT)

Sweden 6 Slovakia 0United States 7 Czech Republic 0

Relegation(Best-of-3)

Switzerland 5 Belarus 1

IIHF world junior championship scoring leadersPlayer, Team G A PtJesse Puljujarvi, Fin 5 12 17Sebeatien Aho. Fin 5 9 14Patrik Laine, Fin 7 6 13Auston Matthews, U.S. 7 4 11Matthew Tkachuk, US 7 7 11Alexander Nylander, Swe 4 5 9Zach Werenski, US 2 7 9Denis Malgin, Sui 1 8 9Olli Juolevi, Fin 0 9 9Christian Dvorak, US 3 5 8Adrian Kempe, Swe 3 5 8Yegor Korshkov, Rus 2 6 8Nick Schmaltz, US 2 6 8Sonny Milano, US 1 7 8Ivan Provorov, Rus 0 8 8

National Hockey LeagueEASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAFlorida 40 24 12 4 52 111 86Detroit 40 20 13 7 47 101 106Montreal 41 22 16 3 47 119 103Boston 38 20 14 4 44 118 105Ottawa 40 19 15 6 44 114 120Tampa Bay 40 19 17 4 42 101 98Toronto 37 15 15 7 37 99 103Buffalo 40 15 21 4 34 92 110

Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAWashington 39 29 7 3 61 124 85N.Y. Islanders 40 22 13 5 49 113 99N.Y. Rangers 40 22 14 4 48 118 105New Jersey 40 20 15 5 45 93 95Pittsburgh 39 19 15 5 43 93 96Philadelphia 38 16 15 7 39 83 105Carolina 40 16 17 7 39 92 111Columbus 41 15 23 3 33 105 131

WESTERN CONFERENCECentral Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GADallas 42 28 10 4 60 146 113Chicago 41 24 13 4 52 114 99St. Louis 42 23 14 5 51 103 103Minnesota 39 21 11 7 49 105 92Nashville 40 19 14 7 45 104 106Colorado 40 19 18 3 41 113 111Winnipeg 40 19 19 2 40 108 115

Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GALos Angeles 39 25 12 2 52 105 87Arizona 39 19 16 4 42 110 124Calgary 39 19 18 2 40 104 122Anaheim 38 16 15 7 39 73 90Vancouver 40 15 16 9 39 97 113San Jose 37 18 17 2 38 101 106Edmonton 41 17 21 3 37 102 122NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.

Monday’s GamesDetroit 1, New Jersey 0Ottawa 3, St. Louis 2, OTColorado 4, Los Angeles 1Edmonton 1, Carolina 0, OTArizona 3, Vancouver 2

Tuesday’s GamesWashington 3, Boston 2Florida 5, Buffalo 1N.Y. Rangers 6, Dallas 2Chicago 3, Pittsburgh 2, OTMinnesota 4, Columbus 2Philadelphia 4, Montreal 3Winnipeg 4, Nashville 1Calgary 3, Tampa Bay 1

Wednesday’s GamesNew Jersey at Montreal, 5 p.m.Pittsburgh at Chicago, 6 p.m.St. Louis at Colorado, 8 p.m.Carolina at Vancouver, 8 p.m.Toronto at Anaheim, 8 p.m.

Thursday’s GamesWashington at N.Y. Islanders, 5 p.m.Florida at Ottawa, 5:30 p.m.Philadelphia at Minnesota, 6 p.m.Winnipeg at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.Arizona at Calgary, 7 p.m.Toronto at Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m.Detroit at San Jose, 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday’s summaryFlames 3, Lightning 1

First Period1. Calgary, Stajan 4 (Giordano, Brodie) 3:56.Penalties — None.Second Period2. Calgary, Jones 8 (Giordano) 15:30.Penalties — None.

Third Period3. Tampa Bay, Stamkos 17 (Stralman, Filppula) 18:21.4. Calgary, Bouma 1 (Wideman, Russell) 19:02 (en).Penalties — Paquette TB (tripping) 1:14.

Shots on goalTampa Bay 8 14 9 — 31Calgary 13 7 4 — 24Goal — Tampa Bay: Bishop (L, 15-13-3) Calgary: Ramo (W, 15-12-1).Power plays (goal-chances) — Tampa Bay: 0-0 Calgary: 0-1.

NHL Scoring Leaders G A PtsPatrick Kane, Chi 23 34 57Jamie Benn, Dal 24 28 52Tyler Seguin, Dal 23 27 50Erik Karlsson, Ott 9 33 42Vladimir Tarasenko, StL 23 18 41Taylor Hall, Edm 16 25 41Blake Wheeler, Wpg 10 30 40Johnny Gaudreau, Cgy 17 22 39Joe Pavelski, SJ 20 18 38Daniel Sedin, Vcr 17 21 38Evgeni Malkin, Pgh 18 19 37Alex Steen, StL 13 24 37John Klingberg, Dal 5 32 37Bobby Ryan, Ott 13 23 36Mike Hoffman, Ott 19 16 35Michael Cammalleri, NJ 14 21 35Patrice Bergeron, Bos 14 21 35Evgeny Kuznetsov, Wash 12 23 35

Red Deer Women’s League

Rampage 54 Triple Threat 37Rampage — Kelsey Wilson, 20 points; POG: Re-becca Schaal. TT — Tamara McKenzie, 12; POG: Jessi Charchuk.Hoosier Daddy 75 Xpress 35HD — Mallory Jones, 20; POG: Kristy Landry. Xpress — Robyn Bonnar, 14; POG: Maria Mak-kinga.Shooting Stars 63 Age Gap 31SS — Becky Clutton, 21; POG: Kayla Leopold. AG — Crystal Gustaw, 13; POG: Jessica Oscar.Storm 51 Ball Hawks 32Storm — Shanna Soehn, 10; POG: Soehn. BH — Amber Smith, 16; POG: Cassie Boychuk.Big Ballers 37 Dynamo 18BB — Katrina Boulter, 11; POG: Aimee Sandham. Dynamo — Kaitlyn Ball, 11; POG: Ball.

National Basketball AssociationEASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division W L Pct GBToronto 21 15 .583 —Boston 19 15 .559 1New York 17 19 .472 4Brooklyn 10 24 .294 10Philadelphia 4 33 .108 17 1/2

Southeast Division W L Pct GB

Miami 21 13 .618 —Atlanta 21 15 .583 1Orlando 19 16 .543 2 1/2Charlotte 17 17 .500 4Washington 15 17 .469 5

Central Division W L Pct GBCleveland 23 9 .719 —Chicago 21 12 .636 2 1/2Indiana 19 15 .559 5Detroit 19 16 .543 5 1/2Milwaukee 14 23 .378 11 1/2

WESTERN CONFERENCESouthwest Division

W L Pct GBSan Antonio 30 6 .833 —Dallas 20 15 .571 9 1/2Memphis 19 17 .528 11Houston 17 19 .472 13New Orleans 11 22 .333 17 1/2

Northwest Division W L Pct GBOklahoma City 24 11 .686 —Utah 15 18 .455 8Portland 15 22 .405 10Denver 12 23 .343 12Minnesota 12 23 .343 12

Pacific Division W L Pct GBGolden State 32 2 .941 —

L.A. Clippers 22 13 .629 10 1/2Sacramento 14 21 .400 18 1/2Phoenix 12 25 .324 21 1/2L.A. Lakers 8 27 .229 24 1/2

Tuesday’s GamesChicago 117, Milwaukee 106New York 107, Atlanta 101Dallas 117, Sacramento 116,2OTGolden State at L.A. Lakers, late

Wednesday’s GamesNew York at Miami, 5 p.m.Indiana at Orlando, 5 p.m.Cleveland at Washington, 5 p.m.Toronto at Brooklyn, 5:30 p.m.Detroit at Boston, 5:30 p.m.Denver at Minnesota, 6 p.m.Dallas at New Orleans, 6 p.m.Utah at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m.Charlotte at Phoenix, 7 p.m.Memphis at Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m.L.A. Clippers at Portland, 8 p.m.

Thursday’s GamesAtlanta at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.Boston at Chicago, 6 p.m.Utah at Houston, 6 p.m.L.A. Lakers at Sacramento, 8:30 p.m.

Transactions

The Lindsay Thurber Raiders, with Kelsey Lalor pouring in 23 points, rolled over the host Ponoka Broncs 59-18 in senior high girls basketball action Tuesday.

Hayley Lalor added 11 points for the Raiders, who got an additional 10 from Sierra Laye. Tawni Kjenner led the Broncs with eight points.

Jose Vizcarra scored 10 points as the Subaru Kingsmen de-feated Sheraton Red Deer 59-45 in a Central Alberta Senior Men’s Basketball Association game Tuesday.

Paul Mendonca added eight points for the Kingsmen. Brock Philips netted 12 for Sheraton, while Matt Thompson contribut-ed eight.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Bonds, Clemens, tainted stars of Steroids Era might get boost in Hall voting, but not enough

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Barry Bonds, Rog-er Clemens and other tainted stars of the Steroids Era appear likely to get a boost in Hall of Fame balloting, but not enough to enter Cooperstown this year.

Ken Griffey Jr. seems assured of election on the first try Wednesday, possibly with a record vote of close to 100 per cent. Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines also were strong candi-dates to gain the 75 per cent needed for baseball’s highest honour.

Following the elimination of about 100 retired baseball writers from the electorate, Bonds and Clemens were

on track for a 5-10 percentage point in-crease. After drawing about 37 per cent of the ballots last year, they were in the 48 per cent range this year according to www.bbhoftracker.com , which tabu-lated public votes adding to more than one-third of the total.

Last July, the Hall’s board of direc-tors cut eligible voters from approxi-mately 575 to roughly 475 by purging writers who had not been covering the game for more than a decade.

Marc Maturo, a reporter covering New York baseball for Gannett in the 1970s and ’80s, was among those who lost voting rights. He said he would have voted for Bonds, Clemens, Griffey and Raines.

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 B6

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fax; 403-748-4613 phone 403-505-2647

Professionals 810NOW HIRING

- LAB ANALYST 2(1 yr. contract) Joffre, AB.

Duties: Analyze water & organic samples using ICP, GC, HPLC, & NMR; maintain proper

calibration & quality control records; prepare samples for analysis using extraction methods; troubleshoot &

understand analytical equipment. Required: post

secondary education in chemistry or related fi eld; organized, detail-oriented; good communication skills (verbal & written); must be

able to work shifts.Apply online at:

maxxam.ca/careers.

Sales &Distributors 830

SENIOR SALES REP - Oil and Gas required

immediately, preferably with background in the

Service Sector. All sales will be International. Must have recent senior sales

experience. Remuneration, very generous fee from all clients you identify, as well as a portion of the fee on

an on-going basis that said clients pay us. All

expenses paid. For more information, visit our

webpage at www.wilsontrade.com.

Submit resume to brucewilson@incentre.net

BOWERJoseph 1978 - 2016Joseph James ‘Joe’ Bower passed away peacefully in the arms of his loving wife, on Sunday, January 3, 2016 at the young age of 37 years. Joe was born in Red Deer December 28, 1978 to Pat and Jim Bower. He has two siblings Jennifer (Norman, Westin, Wynona) and Jeff. Born into a fi fth generation farm family, Joe spent his childhood on the farm infl uenced by his parents and grandparents (Don and Barb McKinnon and Art Bower and Betty

Glover) to grow his love of the rural and family life. Jim and Pat will forever have a sore pitching arm from endless ball practice. Joe spending countless hours with his brother playing baseball and GI Joe. Together Joe and Jeff formed entire fantasy baseball leagues and armies to rule the world (Jek and Boh), and scheming and fi ghting with their sister Jen. Two strong minds, Joe and Jen enjoyed challenging each other thinking which lead into a strong bond later on. Joe was an excellent big brother, in fact, the best! In 2000, he married Tamara McLean and had two beautiful children, Kayley Morgan (8) and Sawyer James (3). Joe was an energetic and loving father who supported Kayley and Sawyer in their many activities - swimming, gymnastics, inventing games, and running the base paths after Joe’s ball games. Together Joe and Tamara encouraged the kids to seek their own passions while maintaining strong ties to the family core. They shared the love of farm life enjoying many farm animals and pets. They delighted in traveling, especially to Santa Barbara, California, to visit Jen and Norm. Joe enjoyed the support and comradery from his mother-in-law Geri, sister-in-law Melissa Lapierre (Phil, Leia), and Brothers-in-law Jason (Janet, Blake, Cam, Noah, Chloe) and Aaron (Krista, Janelle). Joe’s passion for education led to the creation of his popular blog For the Love of Learning; it was through his professional work and use of social media that he was able to connect and inspire so many. He was an International speaker recently presenting in Barcelona Spain, stimulating/exciting others with his progressive philosophy on education. “Joe’s Last Inning” will be held at the Harvest Centre, Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alberta on Friday, January 8, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. If desired, Memorial Donations in Joe’s honor may be made directly to the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation, c/o Unit 39 (Child/Adolescent Mental Health Unit) or the Cardiac Unit at 3942 - 50A Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta T4N 4E7 or www.rdrhfoundation.com/donate-now. Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.parklandfuneralhome.com.

Arrangements in care of PARKLAND FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORIUM,

6287 - 67 A Street (Taylor Drive), Red Deer. 403.340.4040.

announcementsObituaries

HENDRICKSONMilton JamesMilton Hendrickson was born September 29, 1938 in Lake Alma, SK and passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on Monday, December 28, 2015 at the age of 77 years. He is lovingly remembered by his wife of 53 years, Ruth Hendrickson; daughter, Natalie (Ed Shackel) Hendrickson; son, Darcy (Maryanne, Jayden) Hendrickson; grandchildren, Kyle Chenard and Faith Chenard. A Celebration of Milton’s Life will be held at the Elks Club, 6315 Horn Street, Red Deer, AB on Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 1:00 pm. Messages of condolence may be left for the family at www.myalternatives.ca

LONGMargaret ‘Ann’1937 - 2016Margaret ‘Ann’ Long (nee Moen) of Red Deer, Alberta passed away at the Foothills Hospital, Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, January 3, 2016 at the age of 78 years. Ann was born on July 12, 1937 at Wetaskiwin, Alberta and raised at Millet, Alberta. Ann will be lovingly remembered by her son, Kevin (Cecile) Bolseng of Calgary, Alberta; her daughters, Tracey Bolseng (Brian) of Monarch, Alberta and Lori (Brett) Edginton of Springbrook, Alberta; and three grandchildren. She will also be sadly missed by a brother, Chris Moen and three sisters, Eileen Sweetnam, Betty McAuley and Shirley Sieben. Ann was predeceased by her parents, Martin and Trula, and two sisters, Doreen and Linda. If desired, Memorial Donations in Ann’s honor may be made directly to the Canadian Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.ca/ or to a charity of the donor’s choice. Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.parklandfuneralhome.com

Arrangements in care of PARKLAND FUNERAL

HOME AND CREMATORIUM,

6287 - 67 A Street (Taylor Drive), Red Deer.

403.340.4040.

Obituaries

PHAGOOKarl1981 - 2016Karl Joseph Phagoo of Red Deer passed away at home on Saturday, January 2, 2016 at the age of 34 years. A dedicated friend to all, Karl will be dearly missed by all who knew him. Karl is lovingly remembered by his parents, Gea and Victor Phagoo; siblings, Annita (Brendan), Pamela (Russ), and Curtis (Andrea); girlfriend, Leah and the children in his life, Silas, Noa, Lucius, Greta, Ariella, Levi, Ezra, Ava and Mila. Relatives and friends are invited to come and pay their respects at the Parkland Funeral Home and Crematorium, 6287 - 67 A Street (Taylor Drive), Red Deer, Alberta on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 between the hours of 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. A Celebration of Karl’s Life will be held at the Living Stones Church, 2020 - 40 Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta on Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. with a Public Visitation one hour prior. Condolences may be sent or viewed atwww.parklandfuneralhome.com

Arrangements in care of PARKLAND FUNERAL

HOME AND CREMATORIUM 6287 - 67 A Street

(Taylor Drive), Red Deer. 403.340.4040.

In Memoriam

BOB SCHATZJanuary 6, 2011

Five years ago today you were called home.

I just wiped a teardrop from the corner of my eye,Followed by another as I began to cry...

I just found a memory in the corner of my heart

Of happy times gone pastWhen you were by my side.

Pat, Shawna (Dennis), Darwin (Mary) & families

In Memoriam

GRANT Elwood Hewins

Apr. 28, 1932 - Jan. 6, 2010

Gone from us - 6 years past,But you left us to rememberYour smiling face - Which no one on EarthCan take your place.A happy homeWe once enjoyedWill never be the same.

No farewell words were spoken,No time to say good-bye.You were gone beforeWe knew it,And only God knows why.

~ We Miss You. Love MaryAnd your loving family ~

ANNE STEWARTAug. 2, 1953 - Jan. 6, 2012

Beautiful memories,Are wonderful things,They last till the longest day,They never wear out,They never get lost,And can never be given away.To some you may be forgottenTo others a part of the past,Your memory will always last.

Always in our HeartsYour Family

WM. (Bill) WHITTEMOREJune 28, 1926 - Jan. 6, 2014

Two years have passedour hearts still sore.

As time rolls on,we miss you more.With silent thoughtand deep regret,Loving memories

we will never forget.

Forever lovedBetty and family

Earn Extra MoneyFor that new computer, a dream vacation or a new car

Red DeerPonoka

Sylvan LakeLacombe

call: 403-314-4394 or email: carriers@reddeeradvocate.com

ROUTES AVAILABLEIN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD 71

1907

8TF

N

ADULT or YOUTH

CARRIERS NEEDED

For delivery of Flyers, Wednesday and FridayONLY 2 DAYS A WEEKCLEARVIEW RIDGE

CLEARVIEW

TIMBERSTONE

LANCASTER

VANIER

WOODLEA/

WASKASOO

DEER PARK

GRANDVIEW

EASTVIEW

MICHENER

MOUNTVIEW

ROSEDALE

GARDEN HEIGHTS

MORRISROE

Call Prodie at 403-314-4301

CARRIERS NEEDED

ADULTCARRIERS NEEDED

For delivery of Flyers, Wednesday

and FridayONLY 2 DAYS A

WEEKANDERS

BOWER

HIGHLAND GREEN

INGLEWOOD

JOHNSTONE

KENTWOOD

RIVERSIDE

MEADOWS

PINES

SUNNYBROOK

SOUTHBROOKE

WEST LAKE

WEST PARK

Call Rhonda at403-314-4306

KENTWOOD

SPRINGBROOK

Call Joanne at403- 314-4308

For early morning delivery by 6:30 am

Mon. - Sat.

ForCENTRAL ALBERTA

LIFE1 day a week

INNISFAILPENHOLD LACOMBE

SYLVAN LAKEOLDS

BLACKFALDSPONOKA

STETTLER

Call Terri at403- 314-4303

TO ORDER HOME

DELIVERY OF THE

ADVOCATE CALL OUR

CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 403-314-4300

ADULT or YOUTH

CARRIERS NEEDED

7119

052t

fn

Offi ce/Phone Hours:8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Mon - Fri

Fax: 403-341-4772

2950 Bremner Ave. Red Deer, AB T4R 1M9

Circulation403-314-4300

DEADLINE IS 5 P.M. FOR NEXT DAY’S PAPER

TO PLACE AN AD

403-309-3300classifi eds@reddeeradvocate.com

wegotjobsCLASSIFICATIONS 700-920

wegotrentalsCLASSIFICATIONS 3000-3390

wegotservicesCLASSIFICATIONS 1000-1430

wegothomesCLASSIFICATIONS 4000-4310

wegotstuffCLASSIFICATIONS 1500-1940

wegotwheelsCLASSIFICATIONS 5000-5240

CLASSIFIEDSRed Deer Advocate

wegotads.ca

Classified Memorials:helping to remember

Announcements

informative choice! Classifieds 309-3300

thethe

Just had Just had a baby girl?a baby girl?

Tell Everyone with a Classified Announcement

309-3300309-3300

RED DEER ADVOCATE Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 B7

Trades 850GOODMEN

ROOFING LTD.Requires

SLOPED ROOFERSLABOURERS

& FLAT ROOFERS

Valid Driver’s Licencepreferred. Fax or email

info@goodmenroofi ng.ca or (403)341-6722

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE!

Misc.Help 880ACADEMIC Express

ADULT EDUCATION AND TRAINING

JANUARY START

GED Preparation

Would you like to take the GED in your community?

• Red Deer• Rocky Mtn. House• Rimbey• Caroline• Sylvan Lake• Innisfail• Stettler• Ponoka• Lacombe

Gov’t of Alberta Funding may be available.

403-340-1930www.academicexpress.ca

CLASSIFICATIONS1500-1990

wegotstuff

Equipment-Heavy 1630TRAILERS for sale or rent Job site, offi ce, well site or

storage. Skidded or wheeled. Call 347-7721.

Tools 1640SKILL SAW, Craftsman 7.25, $50. 403-314-0804

Firewood 1660AFFORDABLE

Homestead FirewoodSpruce, Pine, Aspen - Split. Avail. 7 days/wk. 403-304-6472

B.C. Birch, Aspen, Spruce/Pine. Delivery avail.

PH. Lyle 403-783-2275

FIREWOOD. Pine, Spruce, Can deliver

1-4 cords. 403-844-0227

HouseholdAppliances 1710

DISHWASHER, G.E. in very good cond. $40. obo.

403-342-4949 or 780-717-6206

GENERAL 12.5 cubic ft. chest deep freeze, $200.

SOLD

Misc.Help 880

HouseholdAppliances 1710

HAIER (apartment size) deep freeze, 5.1. cubic ft,,

$180. 403-358-5568

HouseholdFurnishings1720

WANTEDAntiques, furniture and

estates. 342-2514

StereosTV's, VCRs 173040 “ + TOSHIBA color tv; and older tv to give away 587-273-3377

You can sell your guitar for a song...

or put it in CLASSIFIEDS and we’ll sell it for you!

Misc. forSale 1760

100 VHS movies, $75. For All 403-885-5020

30 pc. wall mounted storage bins $35, new

elec. rotisserie and BBQ oven $35 - SOLD, Stringer

wet/dry vacuum cleaner $20 - SOLD, Skil 3/8

variable speed drill $12 - SOLD, B & D jig saw $12, 6” multi-purpose vice, $25.

403-358-5568

POLAR bar fridge $50, 2 Canadian Club (Texas Mickey) 133 1/3 oz. whis-key bottles w/pumps, $50 ea. 403-358-5568

PROPANE heater for in-side travel home, works

good $150 obo 403-314-0804

Misc. forSale 1760VHS OPRAH tapes, 60 VHS movie tapes and fi g-ure skating tapes to give away 403-347-9357

WATER cooler $50. 403-885-5020

OfficeSupplies 18002 DRAWER metal fi ling cabinet $10 403-885-5020

Cats 1830TWO kittens and cats to

give away, good mousers.Need good homes.

403-782-3031

TravelPackages 1900

TRAVEL ALBERTAAlberta offers SOMETHINGfor everyone.

Make your travel plans now.

ClassifiedsYour place to SELLYour place to BUY

Looking for a place to live?

Take a tour through the CLASSIFIEDS

CLASSIFICATIONSFOR RENT • 3000-3200WANTED • 3250-3390

wegotrentals

Houses/Duplexes 3020STETTLER older 3 bdrm. 2 storey, 4912-53 St. large

fenced yard, single car garage, 1 blk. from school,

3 blks. from main street, $1000/mo. + utils. $500 DD avail. Feb. 1. Call

Corrinne to see 403-742-1344, call Don 403-742-9615 to rent.

SYLVAN Lake, 3 fully furn.rentals, garage, inclds. all

utils., $1100-$1600. 403-880-0210

GROW WITH USExcellent Salary with Benefi tsCARPET CLEANING TECHNICIAN

Become a sought-after professional in the art and science of carpet & upholstery and all-surface cleaning! Work Monday to Friday during the day, with some evenings and Saturdays.We’re looking for someone with:• A commitment to excellence• Good physical fi tness• Good hand/eye coordination

• Good communication skills• Mechanical aptitude

Learn under the personal direction of one of North America’s experts in restorative cleaning!

Drop off or mail resume + driver’s abstract to

MancusoCleaning #8-7428-49 Ave

Red Deer, T4P 1M2www.mancusocleaning.com

Salary and Benefi ts based on skill set and experience

Accounting 1010INDIVIDUAL & BUSINESS Accounting, 30 yrs. of exp.

with oilfi eld service companies, other small

businesses and individuals RW Smith, 346-9351

Contractors 1100BRIDGER CONST. LTD.We do it all! 403-302-8550

DALE’S Home Reno’s Free estimates for all your reno needs. 403-506-4301

Entertainment1160DANCE DJ SERVICES

587-679-8606

Flooring 1180NEED FLOORING DONE?Don’t pay the shops more.

Over 20 yrs. exp. Call Jon 403-848-0393

HandymanServices 1200

BOOK NOW! For help on your home

projects such as bathroom, main fl oor, and bsmt.

renovations. Also painting and fl ooring.

Call James 403-341-0617

MULTI-SKILLED HANDYMAN For Hire

Call Derek 403-848-3266

MassageTherapy 1280FANTASY

SPAElite Retreat, Finest

in VIP Treatment. 10 - 2am Private back entry

403-341-4445

Misc.Services 12905* JUNK REMOVAL

Property clean up 505-4777

Misc.Services 1290GARAGE Doors Serviced

50% off. 403-358-1614

Painters/Decorators1310

LAUREL TRUDGEON Residential Painting and

Colour Consultations.403-342-7801.

Seniors’Services 1372HELPING HANDS Home

Supports for Seniors. Cooking, cleaning,

companionship. At home or facility. 403-346-7777

YardCare 1430

TREE / JUNK / SNOW removal. Contracts

welcome. 403-358-1614

Tired of Standing?Find something to sit on

in Classifieds

To Advertise Your Business or Service Here

Call Classifi eds 403-309-3300classifi eds@reddeeradvocate.com

wegotservices

CLASSIFICATIONS 1000-1430

Red DeerADVOCATE

CLASSIFIEDS403-309-3300

CALL NOW

Get your vehicle listed on the Get vehicle listed on the

ADVERTISE YOUR VEHICLE IN THE CLASSIFIEDS AND GET IT

SELL YOUR VEHICLE FAST WITH A FAST TRACK

CLASSIFIED VEHICLE AD

CALL 403 309-3300 AND ONE OF OUR SALES SPECIALISTS CAN PUT YOU ON THE FAST TRACK TO

SELL YOUR VEHICLE.AD ON THE INTERNET

AD APPEARS EVERY DAY YOUR AD

IS PUBLISHED IN THE ADVOCATE

6 DAYS IN THE RED DEER ADVOCATE1 FRIDAY FORWARD

2 CENTRAL ALBERTA LIFE

2 FREE SALE SIGNS

AND TIP SHEET

FREE PHOTO AD WEDNESDAYS IN FAST TRACK

FOTOSIF YOUR VEHICLE

DOESN’T SELL THE FIRST WEEK, THE 2ND WEEK IS HALF PRICE!

635421

1996 26’ PHOENIX 147,000 kms, sleeps 6,

new tires, good working order

$9100. 403-704-3094

DO YOU HAVE ATENT TRAILER

TO SELL? ADVERTISEIT IN THE FAST

TRACK, Call 309-3300.

DO YOU HAVE ATRUCK CAMPER

TO SELL? ADVERTISEIT IN THE FAST

TRACK, Call 309-3300.

SELLING CHEAP! $1900 for 2001 Ford

Escape 4x4, 5 spd, std, 293, 453 kms, dependable

403-887-0373

2001 INTREPID SE $2000 fi rm

403-357-9459

2002 DURANGO, RT, AWD, Hi + low range

4x4. 7 pass. 124,000 kms..

$5000. obo 780-916-0221

DO YOU HAVE ASEADOO

TO SELL? ADVERTISEIT IN THE FAST

TRACK, Call 309-3300.

2003 FORD Sport truck, exc. cond

2003 NISSAN Maxima SE Titanium 143,000 km

V6, 6 spd. manual, loaded

403 358 1713

2003 OLDS ALERO, good cond.,

240,000 kms. $1000.

2004 FREESTAR Limited Edition

$5600. 587-377-3547

2006 BUICK CXL Lucerne 117,000 kms, n/s, all op-

tions, winter & summer tires on wheels, $6800 obo

DO YOU HAVE ABOAT

TO SELL? ADVERTISEIT IN THE FAST

TRACK, Call 309-3300.

2006 JEEP Commander full load, 4.7.

Best Offer ASAP 403-342-7798

DO YOU HAVE AMOTORHOME

TO SELL? ADVERTISEIT IN THE FAST

TRACK, Call 309-3300.

2007 DODGE Nitro 4x4, SLT V6, auto., loaded w/sunroof,

low kms., CLEAN. Priced to buy

Call 403-318 3040

EXCELLENT 2nd vehicle, 2007 Ford Five Hundred, loaded, w/sunroof, leather,

all options, $5,300 obo.

2007 Ford Ranger Level II 6 cyl auto 4x4 loaded. Clean.

Priced to Buy Call 340-318 3040

DO YOU HAVE ADIRT BIKE

TO SELL? ADVERTISEIT IN THE FAST

TRACK, Call 309-3300.

2010 FORD FUSION SEL, 2.5L, IV engine,

6 spd., loaded. 81,000 kms.

$11,800. 403-350-1608

2011 COLORADO, Z71 4x4, loaded for

comfort, 45,000 kms., 1 owner, $27,500.

DO YOU HAVE AHOLIDAY TRAILER

TO SELL? ADVERTISEIT IN THE FAST

TRACK, Call 309-3300.

WE Will Take Payments!!2012 Dodge Gr. Caravan

White, 93,000 Kms. Full Inspection

$13,450. Harvey @ Reward Lease

403-358-1698

RARE 1997 LINCOLN Mark VIII,

exc. cond. throughout, $6000. obo.

SoldSold SoldSold SoldSold

SoldSold

SoldSold SoldSold SoldSold

B8 RED DEER ADVOCATE Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016

Condos/Townhouses3030New Blackfalds Condo. 2 Bdrm/2 Bath. Main oor & 2nd oor options avail. 2 powered parking stalls. Rent $1,400. Pets nego-tiable. Ask about rent incentives. 403-396-1688.

SEIBEL PROPERTY6 locations in Red Deer, well-maintained town-houses, lrg, 3 bdrm,

11/2 bath, 4 + 5 appls. Westpark, Kentwood,

Highland Green, Riverside Meadows. Rent starting at

$1100. For more info, phone 403-304-7576 or

403-347-7545

SOUTHWOOD PARK3110-47TH Avenue,

2 & 3 bdrm. townhouses,generously sized, 1 1/2

baths, fenced yards,full bsmts. 403-347-7473,

Sorry no pets.www.greatapartments.ca

ManufacturedHomes 3040WELL-maintained 2 bdrm mobile home close to Jof-fre $825 inclds. water, 5

appl. 403-348-6594

Buying or Selling your home?

Check out Homes for Salein Classifieds

4 Plexes/6 Plexes 3050

1 BDRM., no pets, $850 mo. 403-343-6609

3 BDRM. 4 plex, Innisfail, heat included, $795

w/laundry connection. 403-357-7817

3 BDRM., no pets, $1000 mo. 403-343-6609

ACROSS from park, 2 bdrm. 4-plex, 1 1/2 bath, 4 appls. Rent $925/mo. d.d. $650. Avail. now or Feb. 1. 403-304-5337

CLEARVIEW3 bdrm. 4-Plex, 4 appls., 1 1/2 baths, Rent $1075.

incl. sewer, water and garbage. D.D. $650. Avail.

Feb.1 403-304-5337

EASTVIEW. Clean 3 bdrm. 4 plex, 1 1/2 baths, 4 appl., balcony, no pets, n/s, Incl. water & garbage. $950/mo. $700. s.d. 403-392-8385

LIMITED TIME OFFER:

One free year of Telusinternet & cable AND 50%off rst month’s rent! 1 & 2Bedroom suites available.

Renovated suites in centrallocation. Cat friendly.

leasing@rentmidwest.com1(888) 784-9274

SYLVAN LAKE, 3 bdrm. 4-plex, 4 appl., no pets,

n/s, $825 mo. Avail. Feb. 1. 403-350-4230

Suites 30602 BDRM. bsmt. suite, $850 + $500. d.d. Close to Red Deer College, n/s, no pets, utils. incld. 403-341-0156, 885-2287

ADULT 2 BDRM. spacious suites 3 appls., heat/water

incld., ADULT ONLY BLDG, no pets, Oriole Park. 403-986-6889

AVAIL. IMMED. large 2 bdrm. in clean quiet adult building, near downtown Co-Op, no pets, 403-348-7445

CITY VIEW APTS.Clean, quiet, newly reno’d adult building. Rent $925 S.D. $800. Avail. immed. and Jan. 1. Near hospital.

No pets.403-318-3679

DELUXE Innisfail 2 bdrm. n/pets, balcony, inclds. water $860 + utils. 403-348-6594

LARGE, 1 & 2 BDRM. SUITES. 25+, adults only n/s, no pets 403-346-7111

MORRISROEMANOR1 & 2 bdrm.,

Adult bldg. only, N/S, No pets. 403-596-2444

NEW Glendale reno’d 1 & 2 bdrm. apartments, rent

$750, last month of lease free, immed. occupancy.

403-596-6000

Suites 3060

NOW RENTING1 & 2 BDRM. APT’S.

2936 50th AVE. Red DeerNewer bldg. secure entry

w/onsite manager,3 appls., incl. heat & hot

water, washer/dryer hookup, in oor heating, a/c., car plug ins & balconies.

Call 403-343-7955

SPACIOUS luxurious 1360 sq.ft. lower suite in John-stone, separate entrance, under oor heating, new ooring, freshly painted, 5 appls, ensuite laundry, storage area, fully fenced w/parking pad at back, Small pets, n/s. Avail. Feb. 1. Call Linda for info & appt. 403-356-1170

THE NORDIC

1 & 2 bdrm. adult building,N/S. No pets. 403-596-2444

RoomsFor Rent 3090BLACKFALDS rooms for rent $600 fully furnished, all included 403-358-1614

RoomsFor Rent 3090ROOM $500./mo. DD $250

403-352-7417

ROOM and BOARD, all inclusive, incld’s meals. $750. Rent + $300 d.d.

Must like dogs. 403-872-0027

MobileLot 3190

PADS $450/mo.Brand new park in Lacombe.

Spec Mobiles. 3 Bdrm.,2 bath. As Low as $75,000. Down payment $4000. Call at anytime. 403-588-8820

Misc.For Rent 32003200 SQ. FT. building for lease, Hwy. 2 exposure, situated on 1.26 acres of

land south end of Innisfail, avail. immed. Gilles

403-227-1603

CELEBRATIONSHAPPEN EVERY DAY

IN CLASSIFIEDS

TOO MUCH STUFF?Let Classifiedshelp you sell it.

Looking for a new pet?Check out Classifieds to

find the purrfect pet.

CLASSIFICATIONS4000-4190

wegot

homes

Realtors& Services 4010

HERE TO HELP & HERE TO SERVECall GORD ING atRE/MAX real estate

central alberta 403-341-9995gord.ing@remax.net

HousesFor Sale 4020

SERGE’S HOMES“OPENING”

Jan 7 & 7 2 - 5 pmJan 9 & 10, 1 - 5 pm

6325 61 Ave. Red DeerCall Bob Pelletier

403-505-8050

HousesFor Sale 4020

WHY RENT?#2, 6220 Orr Drive,

$242,000, as little as $12,000 down, and it can be yours! 2 bath, in- oor

heat, 6 updated appl., sin-gle garage, imm. poss.,

Open House Jan.9, noon-2Margaret Comeau

RE/MAX 403.391.3399

Condos/Townhouses4040Need to Downsize? Brand New Valley Crossing Con-dos in Blackfalds. Main oor is 1,119 SQ FT 2 Bdrm/2Bath. Imm. Poss. Start at $219,900. Call 403-396-1688.

Celebrate your lifewith a Classified

ANNOUNCEMENT

Start your career!See Help Wanted

Something for EveryoneEveryday in Classifieds

CLASSIFICATIONS5000-5300

wegot

wheels

Tires, PartsAcces. 5180

4 SUMMER TIRES . 205-70R15 with Alessio sports rims , plus 1 brand

new spare tire w/rim. Rims could also be put on

winter tires. $200 for all 403-346-4263

New Factory Radio AM FM CD w USB Aux, mp3 input,

from a 2012 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD. Asking

$195.00 403-728-3485

A Star MakesYour Ad

A Winner!CALL:

309-3300To Place Your

Ad In TheRed Deer

Advocate Now!

El Nino storms begin drenching CaliforniaBY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — Forced by drought to be-come miserly with water, Californians were warned against reverting to old habits Tuesday as the first of several storms spawned by a record-tying El Nino began drenching the state.

A series of storms lining up over the Pacific Ocean was welcome news in parched California, despite their potential for causing flash floods and mudslides.

But authorities cautioned that even the wettest of winters can’t replenish depleted reservoirs and aquifers unless everyone keeps pitching in.

California’s water deficit is so deep after four years of drought that a “steady parade of storms” like these will be needed for years to come, said Mike Anderson, climatologist for the state’s Depart-ment of Water Resources.

“We’re at least on a good trajectory,” he said. “We’ve got to keep it going.”

The current El Nino — a natural warming of the central Pacific Ocean that interacts with the atmo-sphere and changes weather worldwide — has tied 1997-1998 as the strongest on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said, citing statistics that go back to 1950.

El Ninos usually bring heavy rains to Califor-nia, although it remains to be seen whether people should expect anything like a repeat of 1997 and 1998, when storms killed 17 people, wiped out crops, washed out highways and pushed houses down hill-sides.

“DarthNino may finally have California in its sights,” said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the private Weather Underground.

“A parade of strong Pacific storms characteristic of a strong El Nino event will batter the state this week and will likely bring damaging flooding by the time the second storm in the series rolls through on Wednesday,” Masters said.

However, Masters and meteorologist Ryan Maue of the private WeatherBell Analytics don’t believe this first storm is as powerful as some other Pacific storm systems, and caution that the storms now fol-lowing it may land elsewhere.

The current forecast calls for a “kind of a nice lev-el of bombardment” over the next two weeks proba-bly not enough to cause the tremendous flooding of 1998, but then again, that year’s floods didn’t peak until February, Masters said.

As much as 15 inches of rain could fall in the next 16 days in Northern California, with about 2 feet of snow expected in the highest points of the Sierra Nevada, said Johnny Powell, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

In Southern California, between 2 and 3.5 inches of rain is predicted to fall across the coastal and valley areas, and up to 5 inches falling in the moun-

tains.The first in the line of storms also drenched the

desert Southwest on Tuesday and was aiming for the Gulf Coast, but should weaken to no more than a couple inches of rainfall by the time it reaches the Southeast, Masters added.

Flash flooding and flows of mud and debris were a concern, especially in places left barren by last year’s wildfires. Residents of the Silverado Canyon burn area in Orange County and the Solimar burn area in Ventura County were urged to consider evac-uating.

“The best time to prepare is before a weather event happens, but there is still time to prepare at least a basic emergency kit for your home, your car or your place of work,” said Brad Alexander, spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Rocks fell on the roadway through Malibu Can-yon, damaging four vehicles and clogging a heavily travelled commuter route through the steep Santa Monica Mountains, and Los Angeles police were rousting the homeless from normally dry riverbeds.

As steady and sometimes heavy rains fell, Los

Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti urged people to clear gutters and anything in their yards that might clog storm drains, and to stockpile sandbags if their home is susceptible to flooding.

Garcetti also said that the city’s homeless en-campments have been mapped for the first time, and promised shuttles to bring people to shelters with 6,000 beds.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said swift-water rescue teams are ready, but he’d rather not deploy them. Authorities hope to avoid a repeat of last September’s rescue of a homeless man who scrambled up a tree with his dog when the Los Ange-les River quickly grew to a torrent.

The storms are whipped up large ocean swells that could generate hazardous breaking waves at west-facing harbours. Ventura’s Harbor Boulevard was closed Tuesday by flooding about a foot deep, police there said.

Altogether, the storms hold the potential for mas-sive amounts of precipitation for a very parched state, but water managers won’t be able to fully es-timate this year’s snowmelt until April 1, when the snowpack is typically at its deepest.

Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Octavio Angulo jumps as Mike Patel, left, looks on as the two abandon their vehicle after a flooded road stalled their vehicles engine in San Diego, Calif. El Nino storms lined up in the Pacific, promising to drench parts of the West for more than two weeks and increasing fears of mudslides and flash floods in regions stripped bare by wildfires.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD — While many Iraqi Shiites took to the streets in outrage over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, the country’s prime minister has had to walk a more cautious line, trying to con-tain Iraq’s own explosive sectarian tensions.

The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has in-flamed the sectarian divide across the region. Shi-ite-led Iran has been the most vocal in its condem-nation, and protesters stormed Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran over the weekend. That prompted Sunni-led Saudi Arabia to cut diplomatic relations with Iran, and the kingdom’s allies have lined up behind it, either cutting or reducing their ties with Tehran.

The government of Iraq, however, is straining to keep the peace amid the regional tumult. Iran is a key ally of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, has helped it in the fight against the Islamic State group, and supports powerful Shiite militias in the country.

At the same time, as the fight against IS extrem-ists enters its second year, Iraq is grappling with the worst political and security crises since the with-drawal of U.S. troops in 2011. Only last week, Saudi Arabia sent an ambassador to Baghdad for the first time in 25 years to try to improve its relationship with Iraq.

In Washington, Brett McGurk, special presiden-tial envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spent most of Monday on the phone trying to ease tensions in the region.

“We are encouraging a de-escalation, because any time you have regional polarization, regional escala-tion, it obviously can cause difficulties and it opens up seams for extremists on all sides to take advan-tage of the situation,” McGurk told reporters.

In a sign of the Iraqi government’s caution, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a statement ex-pressing regret over al-Nimr’s execution and warn-ing that such actions would “bring more destruction and devastation.”

His office followed that Tuesday with a call for unity among Iraqis. Regional tensions should be faced “wisely, responsibly and rationally in order to preserve the security and stability of Iraq,” accord-

ing to a statement from al-Abadi’s office.A day earlier, thousands of Shiites gathered a few

hundred meters (yards) from his office and called for the government to sever diplomatic ties with Riyadh. The protesters, supporters of prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, chanted that al-Nimr’s blood had not been spilled in vain and that the Mahdi Army, Sadr’s disbanded Shiite militia, would avenge his death if needed.

That points to the government’s bigger fear: That the regional dispute over al-Nimr’s execution will turn into new violence between Iraq’s Shiites and Sunnis. Sectarian violence has quickly spiraled out of control in Iraq in the recent past, and a renewed form could disrupt Baghdad’s campaign against the Islamic State group, the Sunni extremists who con-trol large parts of the north and west of the country.

Iranian-backed Shiite militias, whose might rivals that of the military and security forces, have been a major factor in the fight, and the government has already had to cede them considerable authority. At the same time, al-Abadi has sought to encourage reconciliation with the Sunni minority, among whom hatred of the militias is strong, and include Sunnis in the fight against IS.

“This is the last thing (al-Abadi) needs after the high point in Ramadi,” said Kirk Sowell, publisher of the Inside Iraqi Politics newsletter, referring to the recent government victory pushing IS fighters out of the western Iraqi city.

While al-Nimr’s execution is unlikely to change Iraq-Saudi policy in any meaningful way, it does have the potential to set off violence in Iraq, Sowell said.

Two Sunni mosques were attacked in the south-ern town of Hilla in apparent retaliation for the exe-cution, but al-Abadi was quick to blame IS and order a buildup of security in the province.

A group of powerful Shiite militias with strong ties to Iran, including Asaib al-Haq and the Badr Brigade, demanded the government cut diplomatic ties with the kingdom, expel the ambassador and execute all Saudis held in Iraqi prisons on charges of terrorism.

Acceding to their demands risks disillusioning Sunnis, who already accuse the government of being too beholden to the militias and who often see neigh-bouring Sunni powerhouses like Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as allies.

With Saudi and Iranian tensions rising, Iraq’s prime minister must walk a fine line

North Korea says it has conducted an H-bomb test

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — North Korea said Wednesday it had conducted a hydrogen bomb test, a defiant and surprising move that, if confirmed, would put Pyongyang a big step closer toward im-proving its still-limited nuclear arsenal.

A television anchor read a typically propagan-da-heavy statement on state TV that said North Ko-rea had tested a “miniaturized” hydrogen bomb, ele-vating the country’s “nuclear might to the next level” and providing it with a weapon to defend against the United States and its other enemies.

The statement said the test was a “perfect suc-cess.”

The test, if confirmed by outside experts, will lead to a strong push for new, tougher sanctions at the United Nations and further worsen already abysmal relations between Pyongyang and its neighbours.

North Korean nuclear tests worry Washington and others because each new blast is seen as push-ing North Korea’s scientists and engineers closer to their goal of an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States.

While a hydrogen bomb is much more powerful than an atomic bomb, it is also much harder to make. In a hydrogen bomb, radiation from a nuclear fission explosion sets off a fusion reaction responsible for a powerful blast and radioactivity.

North Korea is thought to have a handful of ru-dimentary nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.

After several failures, it put its first satellite into space with a long-range rocket launched in Decem-ber 2012.

Experts say that ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology.

The U.N. called the 2012 launch a banned test of ballistic missile technology.

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LIFESTYLES B9WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Dear Annie: Am I out of the loop or just a prude? It bothers me to see a mother cradling her infant child, one latching off and on to mom’s exposed breast? This was the recent scene in the crowded men’s department of a popular store.

I am certainly in favor of nursing an infant, due to the enormous benefits to both the child and the mother. I nursed all three of my chil-dren.

But this total exposure seems extreme. When in public, a scarf or a small lightweight blanket would be perfectly fine to cov-er the infant. I find the mother disre-spectful of others and going too far in making her statement.

I’d love to hear other comments on this subject. — Wondering Mom

Dear Mom: And you’ll get them, we

assure you. We covered this topic a few years ago, and we heard plenty. Let us stipulate — we are in favor of nursing. We have no objection to women who nurse in public places. Our concern is the need some women have to expose their entire upper bodies while doing so. Why?

There is no added ben-efit to the child if Mom is naked from the waist up, so we can only assume the mother is making a state-ment about public nudity, likes to flaunt her body or thinks modesty is old-fash-ioned.

That is her choice, but there are lovely nursing tops and cov-er-ups that allow Mom to nurse com-fortably anywhere and we recommend they be used.

Dear Annie: Our daughters, now in their 50s, have always given us a wish

list for Christmas. In years past, I have made it known that this doesn’t consti-tute the true meaning of Christmas. A year ago, we gave each daughter cash, hoping it would send a message. I also sent cash to my granddaughter, with no acknowledgement.

Well, at the end of November, we received an e-list containing a descrip-tion of each article and a link for pur-chase. Some of the items are e-books. I also received a similar list from my 27-year-old granddaughter for herself and her significant other. In addition, she sent a note apologizing that she would be unable to join us this year.

How do I address her lack of ac-knowledgement or thanks?

Also, how does one prepare the In-ternet gift to be given on Christmas Day, when, for example, the e-book goes directly to the receiver’s email?

I feel as if I have missed something. Thanks for your advice. — Out of the Loop

Dear Out: First of all, wish lists of

any kind should not be considered demands. They are suggestions. You don’t have to get anything on those lists unless you want to.

In some instances, the links will provide you with a product that you can purchase in a brick-and-mortar store. As for e-books, and any other gifts that are sent via the Internet, most allow you to request that they be sent as gifts so that the recipient will get the item along with a note from you.

If you find it necessary to hand them something tangible, it is perfectly OK to give them a card saying you have sent them a gift that they will receive in the mail or their inbox.

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime ed-itors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailbox@creators.com, or write to: Annie’s Mail-box, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Wednesday, Jan. 6CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DATE:

Eddie Redmayne, 33; Rowan At-kinson, 60; Nigella Lawson, 55

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Mercury’s now retrograde so it’s time to revise, re-schedule, re-boot and review.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Focus firmly on personal relationships in 2016. As birthday great Kahlil Gibran reminds us, “Life without love is like a tree without blos-som and fruit.”

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Mercury is in retrograde mode, so it will be easy to misinterpret what people are saying over the next three weeks. If you take the time to listen to others, it will help you avoid misunderstandings.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): With Mercury reversing through your career

zone expect mix-ups, missed appointments and/or computer chaos at work. Its not a

good time to apply for jobs — wait until after January 25.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Talkative Geminis love to gos-sip but beware the tendency to spill secrets over the next three weeks.

If someone tells you some-thing in confidence, make sure you zip your lip and keep abso-lutely quiet!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): There may be a tussle between head and heart/intellect and intu-ition today Crabs, as you strug-gle to make a decision about something thats been worrying you. In the end, let your inner voice be your guide.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Be extra diplomatic with family and friends over

the next three weeks as Mercury reverses through your relationship zone, until January 25.

If you are too self-absorbed, loved ones won’t be impressed!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Your ruling planet Mercury is reversing through your work zone Virgo — until Jan. 25. So prepare for mixed messages, missed appointments and plenty of computer chaos. So strive to be extra patient!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Over the next three weeks you need to be extra tactful with a frazzled child, teenager or friend. Other-wise there’ll be communication chaos, as you misread each other’s words, actions and intentions.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Sun/Pluto hook-up highlights your deep and pow-erful energies, so tread carefully Scorpio. Avoid getting drawn into arguments, and strive to keep your possessive streak under control.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Be extra careful when sending emails, texts or tweets over the next three weeks, as it will be very easy to send something to the wrong

person — or your meaning could be com-pletely misinterpreted.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The next three weeks will be tricky for money matters Capricorn, as retrograde Mercury stirs up mischief in your finance zone.

So resist the urge to make big ticket pur-chases — even if they are on sale.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Mercury is reversing through your sign Aquarius, so take extra care when travelling, texting, tweeting and talking with others. Otherwise mega mis-understandings, mix-ups or delays are likely.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Don’t be-lieve everything you hear — or let someone take you up the primrose path to Piscean trouble. Avoid making important decisions, and instead concentrate on creative or spiri-tual pursuits.

Joanne Madeline Moore is an internation-ally syndicated astrologer and columnist. Her column appears daily in the Advocate.

Woman irked by ‘total exposure’ nursing

KATHY MITCHELL AND MARCY SUGAR

ANNIE’S MAILBOX

HOROSCOPES

JOANNE MADELINE MOORE

SUN SIGNS

ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP

Photo by Rick Tallas/freelance

These two Ewes and one Lamb were casually working in middle of highway just east of Abraham Lake.

Rare galaxy with 2 black holes discovered

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — An astrophys-icist has discovered something even rarer than a double-black hole galaxy: a skinny black hole.

The University of Colorado at Boul-der’s Julie Comerford reported her findings Tuesday at the American As-tronomical Society’s annual meeting in Kissimmee, Florida.

To date, only 12 galaxies are known to exist with two black holes in their midst, Comerford said. Normally galaxies have a single supermassive black hole at the centre, equivalent to 1 million to 1 billion times the mass of our sun.

But in this newly identified galaxy about 1 billion light-years away, one of the two black holes is significantly smaller than the other and apparently starved of stars. Black holes typically are surrounded by stars this one ap-pears “naked.”

Comerford speculates the slim black hole lost mass in the collision of two galaxies that merged into this one —” a crash diet.” Or it’s a rare example of an intermediate-sized black hole that likely will morph over time into a supermassive monster.

Astronomers have yet to confirm an intermediate-size black hole, which makes Comerford’s streamlined target extra tantalizing. Intermediate black holes are 100 to 1 million times the mass of our sun. Comerford used the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in her study. She discovered this latest two-black hole galaxy — her fourth — last year. Finding a potential intermedi-ate-size black hole inside was “an ex-tra bonus,” she told reporters.

INBRIEF

Impresario who managed the Bee Gees and produced

Grease, dies at 81LONDON — Robert Stigwood, the

impresario who managed the Bee Gees and produced 1970s blockbusters Grease and Saturday Night Fever, has died. He was 81.

Stigwood’s office said he died Mon-day. The cause of death was not an-nounced.

Born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1934, Stigwood moved to Britain in the 1950s and soon became an astute player in Britain’s embryonic rock music indus-try.

In the 1960s he managed rock super group Cream and its guitarist Eric Clapton before signing brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, collectively known as the Bee Gees, whose melodic folk-rock achieved late-’60s success be-fore a career slump.

Rousey to host Saturday Night Live

LOS ANGELES — UFC star Ronda Rousey will host Saturday Night Live on Jan. 23.

The show announced the plan Tuesday, with Selena Gomez as the mu-sical guest.

Rousey (12-1) was the first female fighter signed by the UFC. She defended her 135-pound title six times before her shocking loss to Holly Holm in Aus-tralia two months ago.

Guns N’ Roses to headline Coachella

music festivalINDIO, Calif. — L.A.

rockers Guns N’ Roses will headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, along with Calvin Harris and LCD Soundsystem.

Passes for the two-weekend festival in Indio, California, on April 15-17 and April 22-24 go on sale Wednesday.

The lineup doesn’t indicate which members of Guns N’ Roses will per-form. Representatives for the festival and the band didn’t immediately re-turn messages Tuesday seeking clari-fication.

Jazz pianist played with Young, Rollins, Mingus

STUART, Fla. — Avant-garde jazz pianist Paul Bley has died at his Flori-da home. He was 83.

The publicist for Bley’s record la-bel, ECM Records, said Tuesday that Bley died of natural causes Sunday at his Stuart home.

Born Nov. 10, 1932, in Montreal, Bley began studying music at age 5 and formed his first band at age 13. While still a teenager, Bley replaced Oscar Peterson at the Alberta Lounge and he co-founded the Montreal Jazz Work-shop, where he invited Charlie Parker to play.

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INDIA – NOSH ON NAWABI – JAN. 24, 2016

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FRANCE – A TASTE OF PROVENCE – APR. 24, 2016

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ENTERTAINMENT B10WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6, 2016

Feeling blue about Avatar

BY STEPHANIE MERRYADVOCATE NEWS SERVICES

You may have read that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is poised to oblit-erate the domestic record of reigning box-office champ Avatar.

James Cameron’s 3-D spectacle — released six years to the day before “Force” — made more than $760 mil-lion (plus about $2 billion worldwide) total following its December release in 2009. The seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise has pulled in just north of $740 million (and about the same overseas) a little more than two weeks after its release.

This news sets in motion two diver-gent trains of thought. The first goes something like this: Whoa. Star Wars is bringing in a ton of money. Maybe LucasFilm was worth $4 billion after all. Also, J.J. Abrams should feel free to exhale now.

And the second train: Really? Ava-tar is currently the most popular movie in our nation’s history? How can that be true?

In fact, it’s not. (So now we can all exhale.) The reality is a little more complex.

Avatar is the biggest domestic mon-eymaker if you’re not accounting for inflation. Luckily, Box Office Mojo has an adjusted list of all-time winners. The site divides each movie’s revenue by the average ticket price of the day then multiplies the number of tickets by our current average ticket price.

Avatar holds its own, no question. It’s No. 14 on the list, which means The Force Awakens will need to bring in another $100 million to overtake the movie on inflation-adjusted grounds. (Meanwhile, it will have to bring in another billion dollars to get to the top spot, which is currently occupied by Gone With the Wind.)

It’s also worth noting that Avatar got an extra bump because so many peo-ple saw it in 3-D and IMAX 3-D, and those tickets are significantly pricier than your average entry fee.

Still, it makes you wonder how a movie that generated so much cash has basically fallen off the cultural map just six years on. What made Avatar so popular? And, then, what made it so forgettable?

Here are some thoughts on how it might have happened.

● The reviews were good and word of mouth was strong

Avatar didn’t have a huge opening weekend domestically. In fairness, it debuted at the same time a snowstorm was sweeping through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. But it opened below projections, which no doubt freaked

out Fox, a studio that wasn’t entirely keen to make Cameron’s movie in the first place.

No matter. In its second weekend, Avatar had less than a 2 per cent drop in revenue, which is basically unheard of. (For comparison’s sake The Force Awakens made about 40 per cent less during its second weekend than its opening one.) In its second weekend, Avatar beat out Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, not to mention Fox’s safety net for the movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

Movie-goers continued showing up in droves thanks to enthusiastic re-views — 83 percent positive, according to Rotten Tomatoes — plus glowing praise from other audience members, many of whom went to see the movie multiple times.

● Everyone was talking about itThe obvious reason people were

hyping Avatar was because it was vi-sually spectacular thanks to technical achievements. Cameron made a movie that blended two worlds — one that was entirely live action and one that used computer-generated images and motion-capture technology against re-al backdrops to create Pandora and its inhabitants, the blue Na’vi.

The images turned out to be stun-ning. Cameron wanted the two worlds to become almost indistinguishable, and the use of motion-capture for alien characters really brought the fantasti-cal to life. (How Andy Serkis didn’t end up with a supporting role is a mystery.)

These aspects won Avatar three Os-cars in 2010 for cinematography, visual effects and art direction.

But the other reason people were talking about the movie was its social and political themes. You might com-pare the effect to American Sniper, which inspired scores of think piec-es and heated debates, which in turn led to more ticket sales. In order for people to weigh in on the various Av-atar controversies, they had to see the movie. That way they could speak au-thoritatively on what Avatar said about race; if the whole white saviour sto-ryline was problematic; and wheth-er the movie, with its heavy-handed eco-friendly messages, didn’t smell vaguely of patchouli.

● Avatar was meant to be viewed on the biggest screen possible

Fans who recommended Avatar to friends always had the same directive: Go see it right away. The movie was best appreciated in a theater, pref-erably in immersive IMAX 3-D. This was not the kind of movie that would inspire people to say, “I’ll just wait till it’s on Netflix.”

That was a boon for Avatar in the short term. It created urgency at the time, which in turn led to huge ticket sales.

● It has a derivative story, ham-fist-ed script and subpar acting

What did Avatar remind people of? Take your pick: Dances With Wolves, FernGully, the John Carter series, Poca-hontas, Dune, the obscure novella Call Me Joe and the Timespirits comic, just to name a few.

“My inspiration is every single sci-ence fiction book I read as a kid,” Cam-eron told Entertainment Weekly at the time. And that’s exactly how the movie felt — though not necessarily in a good way. It was as if the writer-director cherry-picked items from other stories and threw them into one semi-coher-ent whole.

● The Avatar sequels (which) are taking forever to arrive

The three movies have been pushed back multiple times. Now it seems as if the first will get a Christmas 2017 re-lease, which is still a long way off.

While Cameron has been work-ing on getting those scripts together, other franchises have sprung up and dimmed our memories of Pandora and the Na’vi. We’ve had the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy; we’ve gotten four installments with Katniss Everdeen and the Hunger Games; three new Star Wars movies will have materialized between the last Avatar and the next one.

With our short attention spans, stu-dios tend to want to get movies out in quick succession, lest the public forget how much they love Iron Man’s quips or the charming cinematic destination that is Middle Earth.

People love to say that absence makes the heart grow fonder — and sometimes it does. Seeing Han Solo onscreen last month was certainly a thrilling sight. But that’s not always the case. With Avatar, absence has on-ly made the movie easier to forget.

Photo by ADVOCATE news services

‘Avatar’ is the biggest domestic moneymaker if you’re not accounting for inflation.

ABSENCE HAS ONLY MADE THE BIGGEST DOMESTIC MONEYMAKER EASIER TO

FORGET

COMMENT

INBRIEF