ONE YEAR AGO
• Violent gangs fighting over drug turf might have been responsible for the wounding of an infant in Hobbema. Cpl. Darrel Bruno of Hobbema RCMP said the 23-month-old girl remained in critical but stable condition after she was struck by a bullet in a drive-by shooting.
• Rimbey RCMP were investigating a suspicious death following the gruesome discovery of a body inside a burning van. The body was found after Rocky Mountain House firefighters were called out to a fire on an oilfield lease road halfway between Rocky Mountain House and Rimbey.
FIVE YEARS AGO
• Red Deer City council voted 7-2 against holding a plebiscite on whether to go into debt to pay for major projects such as a new northside bridge or museum. Mayor Gail Surkan questioned whether voters would have enough background information to cast an informed ballot.
10 YEARS AGO
• Alberta nurses met with provincial health minister Halvar Jonson in Red Deer to sound the alarm over funding for nurses. Despite Jonson’s promise to hire at least 1,000 nurses and front-line staff, the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses said there wouldn’t be enough nurses available, as many were going to the United States for more money.
• Efforts to rebuild the once-mighty Social Credit party were chopped down when party leader Randy Thorsteinson of Red Deer and seven other members of the provincial board resigned over religious intolerance. Thorsteinson, a Mormon, said attempts had been made to limit the number of Mormons in key party positions.
25 YEARS AGO
• Three hours after a court gave the OK, McDonald’s restaurants moved bulldozers in to clear part of an old motel off its North side restaurant site. The demolition of five units of the Blue Pines Motel was halted by a court injunction. But the injunction was lifted by court of Queens Bench Justice H.S. Prowse around 11 a.m. and by 2 p.m. two builders moved onto the site.
• Man-made islands attracted Canada geese to Slack’s Slough 3 km south of the city. A viewing platform provided the perfect vantage point for watching Canada geese build their nests.
50 YEARS AGO
• The Red Deer Library marked National Library Week with the highest membership on record and a generally increased book circulation. Acting librarian Mrs. J. Russell said that membership has reached an all time high of 1,507. The total book circulation for 1958 totalled 78,057 which increased from 73,672 for the year ending 1957.
• There were 73 house completions in Red Deer since the beginning of 1959, it was reported by Central Mortgage and Housing Corp. this was 12 less than the number completed in 1958 but the 1959 home building program is still running ahead of last year as the CMHC reported 40 “starts” in the first four months; four more than the previous year.
90 YEARS AGO
• A letter was received from Mr. J.J. Gaetz M.P.P. at the Red Deer Board of Trade meeting showing the progress made in the matter of the bridge across the Red Deer River, a few miles east. He said he had lately taken the matter up with the minister of public works regarding the ferry which was put in temporarily but it was thought best to leave the matter of the ferry in abeyance until the bridge could be attended to, which would be done at the earliest time possible that the government engineer could visit the ground and investigate.
• Three evaders of the Military Service Act were arrested in Bentley. The young men took to hiding in the mountains immediately after the Military Service Act was put into force and returned home after the armistice was signed. There were a large number of evaders in the west part of the district yet to be rounded up, and the R.N.W.M.P. were busy on the work. Two of the draft evaders, Charles and Fred Carritt, appeared before the magistrate and were fined $125 and costs each. The third man, Frank Nelson was remanded for orders from Ottawa. The arrests were made by Sergeant Wells, R.N.W.M.P.
100 YEARS AGO
• Red Deer was visited by a roving group of German-speaking palmists, clairvoyants and phrenologists. They were accompanied by German-English translators.
• The Red Deer Advocate carried ads calling on ladies or gentlemen “with very little cash” to sell vacuum cleaners. The ads promised “good profits and easy, clean work.”