ONE YEAR AGO
• A 16-year-old Red Deer youth pleaded guilty on Thursday to aggravated assault and weapons charges after a 13-year-old boy was stabbed in the heart. The accused, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested about a month after Tanner Chaboyer was stabbed on Aug. 11 while on a downtown street just south of the Red Deer Transit bus terminal at about 4 p.m. in the afternoon. The grievously wounded Chaboyer staggered into a nearby business for help. His heart stopped and had to be restarted by fire-medics several times as they worked to save his life.
• Red Deer’s oldest hotel and home to 24 low-income residents will soon be no more. All conditions surrounding the City of Red Deer’s offer to buy the Arlington Inn from its out-of-town owners were removed on Tuesday, said Land and Development Department manager Howard Thompson. City officials wanted to ensure some conditions were met, including a thorough review of environmental contaminants. The city found some asbestos, a cancer-causing mineral which was popular in building insulation for many years, in the building.
FIVE YEARS AGO
• Elections officials discovered 1,300 ballots had not been counted as a result of human error after announcing the results Red Deer’s municipal election. The returning officer opted to recount all votes cast. The recount resulted in no change to the election results.
• Delphine Berard, a Red Deer widow, received a cheque and a certificate honouring her husband after a 13-year battle with the government. Leonard Berard died from a rare blood cancer in 1986 at the age of 66. Berard believed the effects of the mustard gas, tested by the military at Canadian Forces Base Suffield, eventually killed him.
10 YEARS AGO
• City council approved a plan to turn the city landfill into sports fields and parking lots after the garbage dump fills up in 2002. The 30-metre-high plateau, covered with top soil, would cover approximately 100 acres. About 85 per cent of the landfill had already been reclaimed and leased out for hay crops.
• The federal government officially decided to demolish the Diefenbunker — a Cold War shelter at the former Penhold air base designed to house government leaders after a nuclear attack. The government had feared the bunker could end up in the wrong hands, such as outlaw biker gangs.
25 YEARS AGO
• CBC Calgary planned to tape 18 Reach For The Top shows beginning on Wednesday with a live production of Switchback on Sunday morning. CBC public relations spokesman Harry Wagter said the high school quiz show Reach For The Top would be taped Wednesday through Friday and aired during the winter. The public was welcome to attend; admission was free. Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School was the lone Central Alberta school listed among the 16 schools competing.
• An informative guide describing the City of Red Deer and its services was considered the best in the country by the Industrial Development Association of Canada. The 100-page Red Deer profile took first prize in a competition at the association’s national convention in Vancouver, said city development officer Al Scott, whose department produced the book. He said the profile was considered, “very factual, complete, well laid out and easy to read.” Mr. Scott said the book was designed by Scott Galbraith, assistant city development officer, and was produced by Gwen Russel, a city research assistant
50 YEARS AGO
• An 18-month-old Lacombe boy has been stricken by a mild case of paralytic poliomyelitis. The case has been referred to the University Hospital clinic at Edmonton. Dr. C. G. More, medical health officer of the Red Deer Health Unit, said the disease struck the child last month, but the diagnosis was uncertain at first. He is only mildly afflicted. “There is no cause for alarm,” Dr. More assures. “The child, as far as we know, only had one Salk vaccine shot, and it bears out our contention that only the full vaccination series is effective.” This was the first polio case reported in the Red Deer unit. At last report, there have been 39 cases of polio in the province thus far this season.
• The city’s newest drama society staged its grand opening Friday evening to an audience of about 300 in the Memorial Centre. For their debut, the ambitious Parkland Players presented the sharply contrasted Table Number Seven from Terence Rattigan’s Separate Tables, and Robert Carroll’s short suspense play, Heat Lightning. First-time actress Carol Golden turned in the outstanding performance of the evening as Sibyl, timid daughter of the domineering Mrs. Railton-Bell in Table. Miss Golden’s portrayal of the painfully frustrated, emotional young spinster was sensitive and authentic throughout. She played the part with the consistency of an actress who has completely assumed the identity of her character.
75 YEARS AGO
• A big final rally of the campaign of the Union Independent candidate, Mr. P. W. Galbraith, would be held in the Parish Hall Oct. 25. Senator Michener reviewed some of the inside history of his eight years in Alberta political life. The candidate would also speak. The public was cordially invited to be present.
• Mr. Gaetz was being advertised throughout the riding as a farmer’s candidate and farmers were being exhorted to vote for a farmer candidate to support a farmer-premier. Mr. Gaetz was not brought out by the farmers, but by the local Liberal machine. The farmers were not asked their opinion; had the farmers met to select a candidate in their interest, Mr. Gaetz, as a local Liberal would have been one of the last men to be considered.
100 YEARS AGO
• Arthur Carswell, who had his leg broken during an Edmonton-Red Deer high school football match, was reported to be recovering nicely at home.
• CPR construction workers ran a bit wild in Penhold, Red Deer and Blackfalds after receiving their pay. Several of them were arrested by police.