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21 road signs damaged, police looking for information

March 7, 2016, 2:33 pm
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Drumheller RCMP are looking for information regarding damaged road signs in the Starland County area.
 
Police say someone drove over 21 road signs in the area of junction 851 and 576 (northeast of Drumheller). 15 signs were driven over on 851 and six along Highway 576.
 
They were notified on Sunday morning (March 6) at 8:30 a.m.
 
It's not known how many vehicles were involved in the mischief, tracks at the scene suggest one may have had dual wheels.
 
The estimated damage is more than $3000.
 
If anyone has information about this or any other crime, please contact the Drumheller RCMP at (403) 823-7590.
 
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Hanna Colourfest returns for third year

March 8, 2016, 6:33 am
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The Hanna Colour Festival returns to the town east of Drumheller for the third year this spring.
 
The 5 kilometre long fun run sees participants doused with coloured powder at stations along the way.
 
"We're hoping to hit the 200 mark again this year," confided event organizer, Samantha Wilson. "(Registration's) a little slower than the first year, but we sold out so quickly the first year, we should be able to get there this year."
 
A white T-shirt and protective sunglasses will be provided for each Colour Festival racer.
 
"We're going to have some team prizes; we're going have best dressed family, best dressed team, who can be the most creative with costumes," Wilson added. "We're going to do some photo booth stuff, with props, and we're trying to get our hands on a T-shirt cannon."
 
The cost to participate in the Hanna Colour Festival is $35; the registration deadline is April 17.
 
"If you want to come and throw some colour at people, some of the volunteers actually have more fun, I think, than our participants," said Wilson. "There's a volunteer section on our website as well that you can check to be a volunteer."
 
The Hanna Colour Festival will leave the Hanna Curling Club at 10:00 a.m. on May 28.
 
Proceeds from this year's event will help to purchase new playground equipment for the new K-12 J.C. Charyk School.
 
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One in 100 year for Handhills Stampede

March 8, 2016, 10:37 am
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It's a time they've been waiting for for almost a century. The 100th edition of the Handhills Lake Stampede goes June 3-5 at the grounds a half hour north and east of Drumheller.
 
"You have no idea the phone calls I`ve had the last three or four weeks (from) people that want to come out and camp, (asking) how soon can they rope off" said Stampede organizer Layton Rosin. "I was just down there unloading pipe to redo the inside (track) rail and there's a whole bunch of spots already roped off."
 
The Handhills Rodeo usually draws about 2,500 spectators, not counting the cowboys and cowgirls, most of whom camp for the weekend. Rosin would not be surprised to see the number swell to 3,500 this year if the weather is good.
 
Because it's the 100th Stampede, they're doing something special for the kickoff on the Friday.
 
"The Miller family, like he started the first rodeo (1917) for the Red Cross, (and) the Red Cross is coming (because) we've been raising money all year to give to (them) because that's what the first (Handhills) rodeo was all about," noted Rosin. "Then the Miller family are going to come and open up the rodeo."
 
They could also use some more volunteers.
 
"We don't have a ton of volunteers (and) we're always looking for people to volunteer," he told 99.5 Drum FM. "There's always stuff to do, like in the food booth, it might not be a glamorous job."
 
Anyone who can spare some time should contact Layton Rosin or any of the other Handhills Club officers, here
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GHSD school buses will become more high tech

March 8, 2016, 11:00 am
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The Golden Hills School Division is outfitting buses with new technology.
 
Currently, WiFi has been installed on only half of the fleet, but the school division is moving ahead with a plan to have the entire fleet outfitted.
 
"This is something that we have been working at for some time," said Superintendent Bevan Daverne.
 
"Part of the reason why we haven't talked so much about it is that we've been looking for a solution that's cost effective and that works really well and that allows us to add functionality in the future."
 
There are a number of things that are being looked at with regard to functionality. In the future Daverne hopes to see the WiFi technology enable parents to see where the bus is, where and when students get off the bus or to help mechanics diagnose mechanical issues should the bus break down.
 
So far, WiFi has been very positive for both students and the school division.
 
"For students that are on a longer route, or maybe first to be picked up and last to be dropped off, it certainly does give them an opportunity to link back in with their school work and be able to do a few things," explained Daverne.
 
As it is in the schools, internet access on the buses will be filtered, blocking any inappropriate sites for kids.
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Good food box provides affordable fruit and veggies

March 8, 2016, 11:30 am
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A local food buying cooperative is gaining a lot of attention, especially with the high cost of fruits and vegetables.
 
"Our food comes from Sysco Foods," said Kim Masson, community services coordinator for the Town of Drumheller. "Typically a $10 basket would be apples, oranges, bananas, potatoes, onions and carrots."
 
The $10 basket is a great option for single people, however a $20 basket contains more food and is geared towards families.
 
"The large box would be double the amount that's in the small box." stated Masson.
 
The Good Food Box concept is not uncommon and is happening in other Alberta communities such as Olds, Strathmore and Brooks. It's a not for profit cooperative which is open to anyone in the community.
 
"We have had people that have price checked on their own and you do get your money's worth if not more," noted Masson.
 
An annual membership fee is $10 but Masson says it's $5 right now because the annual membership renewal is in June. For anybody who wants to volunteer with the Good Food Box, there's even more savings.
 
"If you were to volunteer with it than that (rate) even gets cut in half from there," confided Masson.
 
The Good Food Box pick up happens the second Thursday of each month at the Church of the Nazarene from 2:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m..
 
To learn more about the program or to volunteer call Kim Masson at Drumheller Town Hall at 403-823-1365.   
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Fog alert for Drumheller and area

March 9, 2016, 2:23 am
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A fog alert has been issued for the Drumheller, Hanna, Three Hills and Rockyford areas. Near zero visibility in fog is expected or occurring.
 
A widespread area of fog has developed in Alberta. The fog is affecting north central Alberta and most of the eastern half of the province, including the Yellowhead Highway and Highway 1. Poor visibilities are expected to persist until late this morning before conditions begin to improve.
 
Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations. If visibility is reduced while driving, turn on your lights and maintain a safe following distance.
 
Fog advisories are issued when near zero visibilities in fog are expected or occurring.
 
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Trican office closes in Drumheller

March 9, 2016, 8:39 am
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The continued low price for oil and lack of markets for Canadian oil and gas have just hit home in Drumheller.
 
Trican Well Service is closing its Drumheller office effective immediately, with no plans to reopen anytime soon.
 
"We have very high quality people who do excellent work; they just weren't working close to this particular area and we didn't see this coming back anytime in the near term," explained Rob Cox, Trican's vice-president of Canadian Operations.
 
"Nothing's ever permanent, but we certainly don't see as rebound in this particular market in the near term," he added. "You never say never about going back into any area, but we wouldn't have taken the step that we took today if we thought that a year from now, the market was going to come back."
 
Cox didn't have exact figures, but he estimated about 20 local jobs are affected.
 
"It's a part of an ongoing rationalization of the business, but I wouldn't say it's the start of a domino effect or a large scale move," he argued. "We continue to evaluate our business to what extent we should be operating, where we should be operating and how big we should be."
 
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Town to recognize valuable volunteers

March 9, 2016, 8:12 am
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As Volunteer Week approaches, the Town of Drumheller is preparing for a special celebration to honour local volunteers.
 
"We always like to have a big affair for the volunteers and thank them for all that they do," said organizer Judy Quintin-Arvidson.
 
This year's volunteer appreciation dinner will be taking place on a weeknight, April 13 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Badlands Community Facility.
 
"Normally we do this on a weekend but the Mayor made a special request to bring in the Travelling Mabels (and) the only time they were available was on a Wednesday," noted Arvidson.
 
The 2011 Alberta Country Country Music Association Group of the Year winners, The Travelling Mabels just finished a big Saskatchewan tour. They will take to the stage from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m the night of the volunteer dinner.
 
Without volunteer labour many events and projects could not have been possible in Drumheller. This event is geared towards all those who volunteered throughout the year.
 
"A lot of times people seem to think it's only for certain volunteers or people who volunteer for things the Town puts on, but that's not the case. We want all volunteers to know that they are welcome," exclaimed Arvidson.
 
Volunteers must RSVP by April 1 to attend the appreciation dinner.
 
Call Judy Quintin-Arvidson at Town Hall at 403-823-1327 or email jarvidson@dinosaurvalley.com.
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Making a nutrition change could yield postive results

March 9, 2016, 9:36 am
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March is Nutrition Awareness Month across Canada.
 
"Each year we kind of have different themes and this year our theme is 'Make a Change One Meal at a Time' and we've kind of developed five different weekly messages," explained Alberta Health Services Nutritionist Pat Macintosh.
 
The first message is about getting people to think about how simple meal changes can yield big results while the second message is about the importance of breakfast.
 
"Whether it's just starting to have breakfast if you weren't before or making it healthier by boosting your breakfast with protein and fibre," said Macintosh.
 
Creating healthy lunches and dinners will also be focused on throughout the month in addition to ensuring people enjoy their eating experience.
 
Overall people seem to be aware of the importance of eating healthy despite leading busy lives.
 
"I think for the most part people are pretty good but it doesn't ever hurt to have to have a little bit more information and just tweek things a little bit," remarked Macintosh.
 
More information about nutrition month can be found on the Alberta Health Services website.
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Rotary Club seeks nominations

March 10, 2016, 3:26 am
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The Drumheller Rotary Club is looking for nominations for their annual Awards of Excellence.
 
The nominations have been open since February 18, but they haven't gotten the response they are hoping for.
 
"We definitely need a little more," Delphine Viczko of the Drumheller Rotary Club explained.
 
They are looking for nominations specifically for male and female Athlete of the Year and Citizen of the Year.
 
The deadline to nominate is March 18, and nomination forms are avaliable at S&J Fashions and Centre Street Insurance, or online.
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Speaker Series: investigating the mass extinction

March 9, 2016, 7:37 pm
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A very special guest this week for the Speakers Series at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Dr. Francois Therrien is the series organizer.
 
It's titled 'The Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction – What Do We really Know?'
 
"I'll be talking about a topic that's very popular these days," he told 99.5 Drum FM. "The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction marked the end of the age of the dinosaurs and the beginning of the age of mammals about 66 million years ago."
 
"The past few years, we've seen a lot of new discoveries being made about the possible causes of the extinction of dinosaurs, the timing of the impact, of vulcanism and everything," he explained.
 
Dr. Therrien is the curator of dinosaur paleoecology at the Tyrrell, the so-called KT Extinction, which killed off three quarters of all species on earth, is close to his heart.
 
"We know there's major climatic changes, we're talking a drop in mean annual temperature of at least six degrees Celsius in the time span of about 100,000 years, that's super fast," he said. "We know there were major volcanic eruptions going on, major sea level changes and then, of course, everybody's heard of the big meteorite impact that occured right at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary."
 
Speaker series talks take place every Thursday morning, through the end of April, in the Tyrrell Museum auditorium starting at 11:00 a.m. Admission is free.
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Women win Battle of the Sexes, again

March 10, 2016, 9:36 am
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Same result, different year. That's a quick recap of the 2016 Drumheller Battle of the Sexes.
 
"For the Badlands Community Facility (BCF), the women had 923 and change for kilometres (walked," reported Amber Leavitt, acting program specialist at the Badlands Community Facility. "The men were sitting at 702."
 
"We just had way more women participants," she continued. "We had lots more men max out at 36 kilometres before the women were able to catch up (but) we had a lot of women come in at the end of the month and track some major kilometres."
 
The annual fitness challenge started at the Drumheller Aquaplex for the first half of February and the women won that competition as well, with 11,657 laps swum to the mens' 10,070. While physical fitness was the real winner of the Battle of the Sexes, there were individual prize winners.
 
"We had a three month membership (to the BCF) awarded to Leah Cook and Ryan Hatch," noted Leavitt. "The grand prize draw, one woman and one man each got six month (multi-facility) memberships; Morgan Syvertsen and Karen McMillan were the winners of the six month memberships."
 
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Public input sought for police priorities

March 10, 2016, 5:37 am
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The Drumheller RCMP are busy drawing up a list of priorities for the local detachment for the coming year and your input is requested.
 
"Every year we look for input to present to (town) council and the RCMP for their annual performance plan," explained Fred Makowecki, the chair of the Drumheller Policing Committee. "That sort of is the plan for policing in our community."
 
They've put up a survey on the Town of Drumheller website asking peoples' opinions and policing priorities for the year ahead.
 
"We've added a few new questions and new places for comments on the form," outlined Makowecki. "We look at long term data and look for trends, but right now we'd like as many people as we can to go on it because the numbers really make a difference in how we're planning and presenting ourself."
 
He points out Drumheller is unique in Alberta in that it's the only policing committee that is made up of both urban and rural representatives.
 
"One of the most exciting components to me moving here was the fact there was a functional and active policing committee," stated RCMP staff sergeant Grant MacDonald. "We're limited in our resources on a day to day basis and having input from those people that live in the community, know the history of the community and are walking our streets (and) driving our streets day and night, they can provide valuable input to our priorities."
 
Local RCMP will be developing their policing plans for 2016-17 this month as the new business year for the force begins on April 1.
 
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Castor man to stand trial for murdering family

March 10, 2016, 7:32 am
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A Castor area man charged with murdering three members of his family more than two years ago will stand trial.
 
Jason Gordon Klaus, 40 and Joshua Gregory Frank, 31, each face three charges of first degree murder and one count of arson in the December 8, 2013 deaths of Gordon Klaus, 61, his wife Sandra, 62, and their adult daughter Monica Klaus, 40.
 
The remains of Gordon Klaus and his daughter, Monica were found in their burned out farmhouse east of Castor. No remains were found for Sandra Klaus, but she is believed to have died in the fire. The family’s dog was found dead outside from a gunshot.
 
Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank were arrested Aug. 17, 2014 after an RCMP dive team retrieved what police were calling a key piece of evidence from the Battle River near Big Knife Provincial Park.
 
Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank are being kept apart at the Red Deer Remand Centre until a date for their trial is set.
 
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Mayor extracts promises from minister

March 10, 2016, 8:14 am
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It's been a busy and, apparently, productive last couple of weeks for Drumheller mayor, Terry Yemen.
 
On February 26, he attended a government event in Calgary where $6.4 milllion worth of flood mitigation for Drumheller was announced. On March 2, Yemen travelled to Edmonton to sit down with Alberta infrastructure and transportation minister, Brian Mason.
 
"We talked about the next phases of flood mitigation and wanted to know when we're going to hear something about the people east of town," reported the mayor. "We told him these people have basically had to put their lives on hold because of the mapping and the lack of information from the provincial government."
 
The mayor also brought up the odour problem in south Newcastle, which has been traced back to a sewage holding tank at the provincially owned Royal Tyrrell Museum.
 
"We suggested it was too many band-aids and we wanted a proper fix, perhaps a lift station where it'll move everything through quicker and it won't have a chance to go toxic, as it has been," he outlined. "(Mason) was quite concerned when he found out as bad as it was and how long it's been going on, so he is going to try to move that forward."
 
A final topic of discussion was a requested pull-out for traffic at the bottom of the South Hill near Extra Foods.
 
"We have the Welcome to Drumheller sign there and in the summer there's a lot of tourists and a lot of kids that are pretty excited to see that first dinosaur (and) they're running around," explained Yemen. "We had requested funding for it (but) we didn't hear anything from them so we brought it up again, we presented a cost estimate that was done for the town, it was about $48,000 or $49,000, which they thought was reasonable."
 
The mayor says the minister promised to make it a priority, along with a government flood map that places most of the valley in a flood plain, but doesn't take into account the Dickson Dam, which was built west of Red Deer in 1983.
 
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Canadian Badlands Tourism without an Executive Director

March 10, 2016, 10:29 am
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Canadian Badlands Tourism will be making some changes over the next while.
 
Executive Director Brad Tucker seconded from the Alberta Government in 2014 to fill the Executive Director role, will be returning to the government this month.
 
"A position had come up that he was very much interested in and the parting agreement is that he's certainly allowed to do that," confirmed Canadian Badlands Tourism President Barry Morishita.
 
Canadian Badlands Tourism is now forced to do some soul searching with regards to the executive director's position in the organization.
 
"The executive is going to be reviewing the whole structure just to see if the executive director as it has been defined in the past, is the best way to go forward," said Morishita. "We anticipate there will be some announcements probably int he next 8 to 12 weeks."
 
Until then it will be business as usual in the organization, which is getting ready for another busy tourism season. They will be continuing the marketing campaign this summer after a successful 2015 plan and are anticipating more tourists from the United States.
 
The Canadian Badlands Conference is set for April 19 to 21 at the Badlands Community Facility in Drumheller.
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Carbon School program gets a boost

March 10, 2016, 10:06 am
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Carbon School's Student Wellness Initiative got some major support.
 
The Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation presented a $500 cheque to the program, which helps kids focus on positive attributes.
 
"The staff and students at Carbon School have a character trait every month that we designate and do lessons about and activities surrounding (it). For example, this month is leadership," explained Carbon school associate Principal Marci Steen.
 
The money will be going towards bringing guest speaker Rob McLeod to the school who will discuss the importance of character attributes already recognized in the school's wellness initiatives program.
 
"He's a world record holder in Frisbee throwing, so he's going to come and demonstrate some of his abilities and share them with us and he also has a positive message about building positive self-esteem and anti-bullying," said Steen.
 
'Frisbee Rob' will be visiting the school on April 29.         
 
Steen thanks the Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation for their grant.
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The Memers win Delia School's Slap Shot Reading Challenge

March 10, 2016, 4:09 pm
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Delia School recently completed their Slap Shot Reading Challenge with the Drumheller Dragons.
 
The winning clan, The Memers, were presented a trophy for their efforts by their Dragon leader (and captain of the team), Connor Duncan, at the Drumheller Dragons last home game on March 5.
 
The Memers were given Drumheller Dragons t-shirts by Delia School librarian, Leah Hunter, and were able to enjoy the hockey game.
 
Students read over 34,000 minutes in the 28 days of the challenge.
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Humane Society rebuilds at AGM

March 11, 2016, 6:44 am
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The Drumheller and District Humane Society gets together on March 16 at the Badlands Community Facility for their annual general meeting.
 
The Humane Society has gone through some big changes of late, including the recent resignations of the president and vice-president.
 
"We lost our centre coordinator for a short time, so we were basically running on volunteer hours and we weren't open to the public as much as we should have been," explained interim president, Kelcy Travis. "We have a lot of good ideas coming up, new fundrasiers, different fundraisers (so) I'm very excited for our future."
 
Since it's an AGM, one of the items on the agenda will be the election of new directors and Travis hopes to see a lot more new members period.
 
"In my three years with the Humane Society our boards have been relatively small," she told 99.5 Drum FM. "I would like to have a more diverse board, I'd like to have a bigger board, different ideas and get some men in there; men, women, young, old, we want everybody."
 
"They are more than welcome to come to this meeting and if they would like to vote, they can pay a membership," she continued. "A single is $10 and for a family it"s $20 and that entitles each member on the family membership to vote."
 
Wednesday's Humane Society AGM begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Badlands Community Facility.If you can't make it but would like more information, check out the Humane Society website, Facebook page or call (403) 823-8999.
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Western GM reveals new Dragons window

March 11, 2016, 9:39 am
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A Drumheller auto dealer is doing its best to cheer on the Dragons hockey team as they compete for the Alberta Junior Hockey League title.
 
Western GM on Highway 9 South has a mural on its front windows of a Dragons player.
 
"This year we have Keaton Holinaty up on the windows," reported customer relations manager, Barb Lubinski. "Last year it was Curtis Skip (and) we're very glad we had Keaton this year (because) it was a much easier picture to draw without all the goalie gear."
 
"We have a resident artist who's taken this on," she continued. "It's actually my husband, Doug Lubinski, our general manager, who has decided that he's going to put a little art and a little community spirit into our windows at this time of year."
 
The mural features the Dragons centre, number 11, in a classic action shot from behind. Holinaty had a goal and an assist in the series opener in Canmore and Lubinski hopes it's a sign, pun intended, of things to come.
 
"I cross my fingers that it's actually a good luck charm," she told 99.5 Drum FM. "All our intent is to be positive and supportive of the team. There's a game coming up on Sunday afternoon (4:00 p.m., Memorial Arena) and I hope a lot of people come out and support the Dragons."
 
Game two of the best of five first round series against the Eagles goes this evening in Canmore. We'll have the play-by-play on 99.5 Drum FM and drumhelleronline starting at 6:50 p.m.
 
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