The Community
Press Telling your story
Volume 112, Issue 35
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
$1 Including GST
LESLIE CHOLOWSKY PHOTO
Winter storm warnings and snowfall warnings were out for much of Flagstaff County on the weekend, with forecasts of between 10 and 20 cm of new snow, and wind gusts up to 80 km/hr in some areas. Saturday’s hairy weather delayed and postponed many events, and stranded a few travellers unlucky to be caught in it. Sunday and Monday left roads still covered in snow and ice, including area highways. In Killam, Public Works employees were out Sunday morning with the graders, and hauled truckload after truckload of snow off Main Street alone on Monday. Environment Canada called for above-zero weather for the remainder of the week, dipping down again on the weekend with more snow in the forecast.
Killam RCMP deal with break-ins and stolen vehicles Leslie Cholowsky Editor, with files from Cpl. Trent Cleveland
Members of the Killam RCMP Detachment had 74 requests for services between Feb. 18 and March 1. A 911 hangup, from Daysland, required members to attend to clear. Two abandoned motor vehicle complaints were made, one, abandoned on private property, was determined not to be stolen, and was towed by RCMP. The other unit had broken down on the highway, members attended, and the vehicle was towed. RCMP received a complaint of a disturbance at a Sedgewick residence, and were initially asked to investigate an assault. Members were able to deescalate the situation, and no charges were laid. Members assisted the Edmonton City Police in obtaining statements from local individuals regarding an assault and threats-made charge from Edmonton that occurred in the area. Police acted on a request received from the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton to notify next-of-kin on their behalf.
Members were asked for assistance from the general public in three instances. An informal welfare check saw members find an individual within a short period, with no concerns. A dispute between neighbours regarding a dog complaint had police acting as mediators to diffuse the situation. A driver called police when the vehicle they were driving hit the ditch. Police had three breach of the peace complaints, two from the same incident, arising from a disturbance between youth and adults attending the Jr. B hockey game in Killam. Members were able to de-escalate the problem without charges. The third was a noise complaint from an apartment complex in Killam; a warning was given. RCMP are investigating six break and enters to Flagstaff businesses. In Forestburg, alcohol was stolen from a local restaurant, valued at around $1,000. Police have video surveillance of the thieves. At a rural site, precious metals were stolen, in the form of copper wire, etc. In Sedgewick, a business had a fenced compound breached and items stolen.
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Video is available to police. In Killam, a call came in to police about two males dressed in black at a business. Police determined that one of the two was an employee, who was just locking up for the night. “That was a good call from the public,” says Cpl. Cleveland. Killam assisted the Viking Detachment with a break in occurring at a rural property near Holden, and were joined by Tofield RCMP and the RCMP police dog services. Two suspicious vehicles were seen
trespassing on the property and the occupants were believed to be committing a break and enter. Police arrested three occupants of one of the vehicles, while the second truck fled from the scene. Later that same night, RCMP received another tip from the public regarding the location of the second vehicle, leading police to a rural property near Bruce. Viking RCMP obtained a warrant to enter and arrest a fourth suspect. Michael Kelm, 43, of Bruce, has been See RCMP P19
INSIDE:
SUNDAY, MARCH 8
Hardisty groups make presentations to BRSD - Pg 8/9 • Flagstaff Featured Business Buzz Buzz Salon - Pg 16 • Flagstaff Rural Crime Watch and East 13 Crime Watch bringing Trace pen technology to area - Pg 17
Funded by the Government of Canada
Page 16 - The Community Press, Wednesday, March 4, 2020
4540 48 Ave., Hardisty
780-888-2693 Amy de Kock didn’t always want to be a hairstylist. She was originally intent on following in her mom’s footsteps and becoming a teacher, much like her sister did. “But I just found that being in school for four years was not my cup of tea,” she explains. “I’m very happiness-driven and I wasn’t happy. So I decided to make a change and fell in love with the beauty industry.” She trained fully in skin care, makeup, and aesthetics, before eventually pursuing hairdressing. “I worked in a salon/spa and just decided I really liked the dynamic of a salon,” she adds. “The great rapport between clients and the stylists was amazing and I decided that’s what I wanted. So then I worked in salons in the city.” Before long, de Kock yearned to own her own salon. That way she could put an extra emphasis on customer service with her own personal flair. “That’s kind of what drove me to open up my own shop, to really be able to give the customer the best possible experience that I could,” she says. Buzz Buzz Hair Company opened in November of 2015 in her refurbished garage in her hometown of Hardisty. “I just love being here. I’ve had really great community support,” de Kock notes. That sense of community is one of the biggest benefits of having a business in the Flagstaff Region, according to de Kock. “Right when I opened my salon, I automatically had an amazing support system because of that smalltown feel,” she explains. “You just can’t get that in the city. And that’s one of my favorite things about owning a business here. It’s like a big extended family.” Along with the standard salon services of cutting and colouring hair, Buzz Buzz also specializes in a variety of hair extensions. “It’s an amazing service that we’re happy to offer our clients,” says de Kock. “We wanted to bring the highest quality here, because even though we’re in a small town, quality still really matters to us and we wanted to make sure our clients had the best possible services imaginable with extensions.” Buzz Buzz Hair Company carries the Kevin Murphy product line. For de Kock, it was a no-brainer. “The big reason that I brought it in was because it was the first thing that actually worked for myself,” she says. “I am not really a sales pusher in terms of product and Kevin Murphy was the first line that I
didn’t have to push because it just worked. It supported me as a stylist and it did amazing things for the hair.” In fact, de Kock believes in the products so much that she became an educator for Kevin Murphy. “I’m always striving to take out-of-salon education to continuously improve my craft. I loved Kevin Murphy so much that I applied for a position for an educator for them. And in October of 2017, I found out that I was selected, one of 13 in North America to go become an educator for them,” she recalls. “So I got to fly to California and take a week-long training course with them to pursue a role as an educator. “So now I get to do hair and teach as well. I travel to other salons to spread the Kevin Murphy love, which is amazing. And it’s such a passion for me to get to share that love of Kevin Murphy and love of hairstyling with other stylists around Alberta.” She employs “two amazing girls” in her shop, who both believe in education as much as she does. “We just have a family here,” de Kock adds, noting they are currently all accepting new clients. “I’m not really strict as a boss, so I needed people that were really positive, really amazing, that would be able to work with me.
“And we are like a little Buzz Buzz Salon family. It’s amazing. We just love working together. It always makes me smile anytime my girls walk in the door because I know we have an instant, awesome dynamic anytime they’re in here with me.” Future hopes and plans for Buzz Buzz include potentially a freestanding salon, as well as the addition of a barber shop side. The salon’s easygoing and personable owner has some sage advice for any would-be hairstylists. “It’s not easy to make it as a hairstylist and a lot of girls will go to school and then not continue,” she says. “The biggest advice I could give them is just keep going. Find a place that you love, find a boss that loves you and invests in you, and believes in education, and you’ll really fall in love with the industry. “Again, it’s really hard at the start, but if you persevere and go through with it and really pursue more education, that’s what’s going to inspire you and light that spark for you to want to do more as a stylist.” For more information, find Buzz Buzz Hair Company on Instagram and Facebook, and watch the video on The Community Press website (www.thecommunitypress.com).
The Community Press, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 - Page 17
Rural people are no strangers to DIY solutions FLAGSTAFF REGION SUCCESSION SERIES SELL VALUE, NOT ASSETS Rural people are no strangers to DIY solutions. Many small communities throughout much of western Canada’s short history have often not had the luxury of relying solely on government or big industry players to get the services, goods, and amenities they need and want. Today, Canada is facing a “wave” of business transitions
as business-owning baby boomers look to retire or sell. The threat to the Canadian economy is multiple, but chief among them is that a business in transition will often slow its growth for a period prior to the actual transition. This is the exact opposite strategy a business owner should take as a slowdown decreases value and increases the risk of an asset sale. While co-ops are often a last resort, they do have a role to play in business succession. 3 WAYS THE CO-OP MODEL CAN SAVE A LOCAL BUSINESS
1. Employees take over the business 2. Local consumers purchase the business 3. Local stakeholders pool resources and form an investment co-op to invest in young Dan Mathews – Manager, entrepreneurs Strategy & Communications Each of these scenarios re-
quires a unique set of circumstances. So, let’s look at each a bit more closely. EMPLOYEE PURCHASE Employee purchases of a company are quite rare. But in some cases, a few employees have both an interest in the business continuing so that they have employment, but also the desire to run it themselves rather than have the company sold to an unknown entity. In these cases, employee purchases are an option and a coop can be a good model for that type of transition. CONSUMER PURCHASE The second way a co-op can help save main street businesses from asset sales is through consumer or even community ownership. Often these types of co-ops form to save a theatre, fitness centre, or
some other business that has shared public value for the community but that the municipality or other levels of government aren’t interested in owning and managing. In these cases, a group forms committed to saving a specific business. They raise money, incorporate as a co-op, and, as an incorporated entity, can sell shares, get mortgages or raise donations, and purchase the business. INVESTOR PURCHASE The third way co-ops can help save main street businesses is through forming an investment co-op. Like the consumer purchase, this type of co-op requires interest from the community and a small group of invested leaders. The difference is the potential for financial return on investment. By bringing home some of the capital tied up on Bay Street or Wall Street through RRSPs and other investment products, an investment co-op is mechanism for delivering investment
funds to young entrepreneurs, local businesses in your community. By taking a small portion of their larger portfolio, investors pool capital to invest in a variety of local initiatives, while still often enjoying a return on investment. Without question, the direct financial returns may not be as high as Wall or Bay Street, but the impact on your main street, local economy, and broader community will be significant and provides a way for you to contribute to the revitalization of your entire region. Cooperatives First is proud to be working with the Flagstaff Region on their Succession Program to help businesses think outside the box when it comes to succession planning.
For more information on how the Flagstaff Succession Program can help support your business, please contact Jordyn Prior – Economic Development Coordinator at 780-384-4151 or email jprior@flagstaff.ab.ca.
Flagstaff Rural Crime Watch making trace pens available to public Jayden Lesmeister Staff Reporter
In early 2019, an initiative planned as a response for victims of break and enters in Alberta was announced by the then NDP government. One part of this initiative is the distribution of Trace pens across the province. Marion Macdonald, Chair of the Flagstaff Rural Crime Watch Society, provided information on this new crimefighting tool. “It’s a way for people to have a little more control of their own destinies. “The pen leaves microchips on an object to help police identify the original owners.” Thousands of identical microchips are suspended in each pen’s adhesive. An individual pen’s microchips have a unique PIN and a single pen can be used to mark approximately 50 objects with that PIN. The adhesive can be detected by law enforcement by using a
unique flashlight on items that are suspected to be stolen. Police can then use a reading device to detect the PIN of the microchips located in a marking. Currently, the Flagstaff Rural Crime Watch and East 13 Rural Crime Watch are ahead of the curve and have purchased Trace pen readers. Macdonald says that each PIN can be traced back to the original owner through an online database. Owners of a Trace pen are instructed to register their PINs to this database at traceidentified.com. This database is an effective tool to return stolen goods to their rightful owners. “We’d like to see readers throughout the province so that items retrieved by the police in other counties can be recovered the same way,” says Macdonald, “We need every advantage we can get in
this war against crime. “Trace pens are another tool in our repertoire we can use to make our belongings unattractive to thieves. “We want to make criminals in Flagstaff County very uncomfortable.” Trace pens are intended to be used by anybody and everybody to keep their belongings safe, so everyone is invited to attend a presentation to the RCMP led by C.M. Jennifer Kee, the Crime Reduction Coordinator for Alberta’s K Division, on Monday, March 9, in the Flagstaff County Building.
Cst. Jacob Ott will be present as the local RCMP representative. The presentation will include hands-on demonstrations of the Trace pens, flashlights, and readers, as well as an opportunity to purchase one of the pens after the presentation. Members of the Flagstaff Rural Crime Watch Society will get a 25 per cent discount on the pens. While the pens are the newest tool, there are still many things one can do to better protect their property. Using locks and gates or re-
porting suspicious activity to the RCMP by phone or social media goes a long way to stop crime before it happens. Macdonald says, “We have to watch out for our neighbours. That’s a thing that we’ve lost in society. “We need to bring back people watching out for their community.” A community with more crime reduction tools and with effective suspicious activity reporting is a less attractive, riskier target for criminals, is the hope Flagstaff Rural Crime Watch has.