The Community
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Volume 113, Issue 4
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
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Two Flagstaff residents score Province announces big in Co-op’s Fuel Up To Win back-to-school plan concern expressed amongst teachers
Patricia Harcourt Staff Reporter
Students in Battle River School Division, as well as other schools in the province, are going back to the classroom this fall after ending their 20192020 school year doing virtual learning. The Alberta government announced on July 21 that students will return to the classroom across Alberta in September under Alberta Education’s Scenario 1 designation. This scenario is described as “nearnormal daily operations with health measures” in place. Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange explained the reason for the decision: “We are determined to do everything we can to safely return our students, teachers, and staff to school. I appreciate the input and support of school authorities across the province, as well as our education partners, in developing and refining our school re-entry
plan. “We are providing clear and detailed guidelines and a re-entry tool kit so everyone can do their part and prepare for a safe return to school.” This re-entry tool kit will be given to both parents and students to prepare them for the upcoming year. The kit includes videos for students explaining some of the health measures, a guide for parents, frequently asked questions, school posters, a self-screening questionnaire in multiple languages, and links to health guidelines. Public health measures to keep everyone safe in the schools will include frequent cleaning of surfaces, placing hand sanitizers at school entrances and classrooms, grouping students in cohorts, and planning the school day to allow for physical distancing. Physical distancing may mean staggering start times for classes, recesses, and lunches to keep gathering numbers down at one time. See SCHOOL RETURN P17
COVID cases on the rise Leslie Cholowsky Editor
Leslie Cholowsky Editor
Wild Rose Co-op Food Stores in Killam and Sedgewick had the pleasure of awarding two big prizes from the recent Fuel up to Win promotion held by Coop stores throughout western Canada. One of the early winners was Sara Langton, who collected her prize of Free Fuel for a Year, or $3,200 in Co-op Gift Cards at the Wild Rose Co-op Sedgewick Food Store, with Manager Nikki Heisler making the presentation. Langton was one of 10 lucky winners in the Collect to Win segment of the promotion. The latest winner was Gerald
Gruninger, who was one of three lucky winners of a Dream Vacation in the Collect to Win segment, winning Vision Travel gift cards totalling $5,000. Gruninger received his prize at the Wild Rose Co-op Killam Food Store from Manager Kris Hiebert during the grand re-opening held July 16. Another Flagstaff resident won a $50 Co-op gift card through this year’s promotion. The collect to win segment of the promotion required participants to collect specially marked Co-op locations throughout Western Canada. When all location stickers in each specific category were filled, participants won that prize.
Alberta has designated Stettler County and the County of Paintearth as ‘watch’ regions, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in these areas. As of Tuesday, July 21, Flagstaff County has four confirmed cases, three more than this time last week. The County of Camrose has held steady with three active cases in the county, with seven active cases in the City of Camrose, but the counties of Stettler and Paintearth have both seen increases bringing them to more than 10 cases, the criteria needed for the ‘watch’ designation. They are reporting 20 and 11 active cases respectively. The ‘watch’ designation does not carry any increased restrictions for areas. Beaver County has four active cases, up two from last week. The province recorded 141 new cases on July 20. Calgary remains the centre with the largest number of cases reported over the last week, with a total now of 589 active cases, nearly half of
the active cases reported in the entire province. Cases reported from July 14 to 20 show that Albertans aged 20 to 29 years represent the largest number of cases, both in that period and overall, with 30 to 39 year-olds next highest, and those 40 to 69 all around the same. Residents are encouraged to continue to follow good hygiene with frequent hand washing with soap and/or hand sanitizers, as well as following recommended social distancing guidelines, and to wear masks when indoors or when social distancing is impossible. Premier Jason Kenney said he will not mandate the use of masks, but recommends them to prevent lockdown conditions being reapplied. Albertans are mandated under a Public Health order to self isolate 14 days if they returned to or entered Alberta from outside Canada or are a close contact of someone with COVID-19; and for 10 days if they have any symptoms that are not related to a pre-existing illness or health condition: cough, fever, shortness of breath, runny nose, or sore throat.
Page 2 - The Community Press, Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Forestburg chosen MER SUM as site of new GM BIKE Pearson thermal facility Leslie Cholowsky Editor
Forestburg Village Council held a special meeting on Thursday, July 16, and approved an offer to purchase land from GM Pearson. They also approved a development permit for a new thermal treatment facility. As the land in question was recently changed to direct control, only Council has the authority to approve development permits. GM Pearson Project Manager Michael Fournier says, “It’s a credit to village Council for doing the groundwork and communicating with the community about the project.” Fournier says at the recent Open House held in Forestburg, it became clear to the company that enough people had researched the proposed development. “We were very happy with the turnout, and it verified for us what we had heard from Council.” He credits Forestburg Council and Administration for putting together a very comprehensive proposal, as well as input from BREOC, that outlined many of the advantages that operating in the village brings to the project. Fournier indicated that Forestburg was one of a dozen communities who submitted an interest
package regarding the development. He said the company has been running site location exercises since the fall of 2019, and what may seem like a sudden decision after the information session was in fact the final stage of their decision-making process. Fournier said that the process the company followed was to put out information about the project and invite interested communities to respond. “In many ways it sorted out misinformation from facts, and the net result was proposals from communities who really wanted us there, and who were well informed about the project from the start. “What most impressed us was those who had taken the time to understand the project.” He said Forestburg in particular has people in the community with experience, background, and significant expertise in the thermal process. Fournier says next steps will include the fieldwork of the approval process. “This is very site specific, now we have to sit down and determine what studies will be needed for Forestburg.” He explains that some work is common to all projects such as this, while others are very much site specific. GM Pearson is in the process of developing a project-based website that will track the process of the development process,
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through studies being performed and the application process through Alberta Environment and Alberta Health, in an effort to keep the public informed through the stages of development. Final approval from the province will take between 12 and 18 months, and the equipment for the thermal treatment facility will take another year to build and come on site. “While that’s being done, we can start working on the building.” He expects that it will be a two to three-year process before the facility would even open. He says company representatives who travelled to Forestburg to participate in the Open House were “very impressed with the community.” “This community has a lot going for it, especially their motivation to maintain their level of development during transition.”
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The Community Press, Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - Page 3
CHSPS broken into as RCMP field many calls Leslie Cholowsky Editor with files from Cpl. Trent Cleveland Killam RCMP Acting C.O. Killam Detachment continues to have a very busy summer, recording 99 occurrences from July 1 to 15. The detachment will say good-bye to Cst. Mariane Marin this week, as she leaves Killam for her new posting. A sincere thank you goes out to Cst. Marin on behalf of the community for her service at the Killam Detachment, and best wishes in her new posting. The Detachment will soon welcome a new cadet, Cst. Calvin LeBlanc. Members verified six 911 hang ups during this period. Police had one call regarding an abandoned vehicle. Members responded to two animal calls/complaints. RCMP responded to four break-ins. In Sedgewick, three or four males broke into the Central High Sedgewick Public School. Police have identified the males involved and continue to follow up. The school had minimal damage in the incident. In Alliance, a break in at a business is still under investigation. In Killam, police believe suspects in a break in to a storage facility were driving a While Chevrolet pickup truck. In Heisler, a KSM 200 Motorcycle was stolen when a business break in occurred. Two other break ins are under investigation, one to buildings on private property, and another complaint from a residence in Sedgewick. RCMP dealt with one complaint under the Cannabis Act. Killam members are investigating two instances of failure to remain at the scene of a collision, and also one flight from police. RCMP had three fraud complaints under $5,000. and one over $5,000. Two complaints of harassing communications were made to police. One complaint of Identity fraud is under inves-
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tigation. Killam RCMP Members responded to five calls under the Mental Health Act during this period. Two complaints of mischief were received. RCMP assisted on two bylaw complaints. RCMP investigated three impaired driving complaints, and wrote 13 other provincial violation tickets. Four complaints of theft under $5,000 were made to RCMP. Two missing person complaints were made to the Detachment. RCMP dealt with one instance of possession of stolen property. Two sexual assault complaints were made to RCMP. The general public reported 14 suspicious persons or vehicles to police during this period. RCMP had 11 motor vehicle collisions reported. Two reports of trespass, and one report of trespass at night were made to police. RCMP performed two wellbeing checks. Two complaints of uttering threats were made to RCMP. If you have any information about any criminal activity or any of the circumstances described here, please call the Killam RCMP at 780-385-3509. You may also choose to submit a tip with Crime Stoppers at canadiancrimestoppers.org or by calling 1-800-222-8477
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