ONE YEAR AGO
• Kids walking around the streets of Ponoka late at night could soon face a ride home with police or a fine. Ponoka town council approved first reading of a bylaw that would enact a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. It applied to those who are — or appeared to be — under 16 years of age who weren’t accompanied by a parent or guardian. It would still need to go through second and third reading before it became an official bylaw.
• A Hobbema chief said he supported a gun amnesty as one of many steps being taken to stop violence in his community. The provincial government and RCMP announced the Hobbema RCMP detachment would accept illegal or unwanted firearms and ammunition starting in August and continuing until the end of November. Weapons would be accepted from all Hobbema residents, including those living in the four Cree First Nations bands of Montana, Ermineskin, Samson and Louis Bull.
FIVE YEARS AGO
• The Canadian Amphibious Search Team hunted for two people presumed drowned in Gleniffer Lake. Candice Craig, 37, and Keith Hancharyk, 36, disappeared on July 15 after their air mattress flipped. Craig’s daughter McKenna, 5, was also on the mattress but was saved by Christine Sieben of Red Deer, who was six months pregnant.
• More than 20 heavily armed police raided a “crack house” in Riverside Meadows, arresting seven men and five women. Police also discovered about 28 grams of cocaine, worth about $2,800 on the street. Officials said the co-operation of nearby residents was vital to the operation.
10 YEARS AGO
• Red Deer’s first Kosovan refugees arrived. Church groups sponsored the newcomers, and looked for Albanian-speaking translators.
• The city’s hospitality led to another well-attended Red Deer International Airshow, with more than 30,000 people attending the two-day event.
25 YEARS AGO
• The economy of the Red Deer region had just become substantially stronger, despite the recessionary gloom still gripping much of Western Canada. In fact, the Red Deer region had made greater strides industrially this year than ever before — really phenomenal strides which have been featured with three more world-scale petrochemical plants going into production on this city’s doorstep.
• Central Alberta viewers didn’t have to wait long to get excited about the actual competition that begins Sunday at the Los Angeles Olympics. Red Deer’s Pat Bawtinheimer saw to that. Bawtinheimer began his search for a medal Sunday during the opening day of the trapshooting competition at 10 a.m.
50 YEARS AGO
• What did a sixteen-year-old Girl Guide answer when Prince Philip smiling asked, “Do they always grow such tall Guides in Alberta?” Heather Wood, an excited Red Deer teenager who lunched with the royal party in Edmonton, smiled back and answered, “No, only for special occasions like this.”
• Negotiations had been completed by the Red Deer Public School Board for the purchase of 18.4 acres of land in the composite high school area from the Red Deer School Board Division, was reported to a meeting of the school board. The land had been acquired as a site for a Red Deer high school when city attendance became more that could be handled at the division’s composite high school.
90 YEARS AGO
• The biggest attraction feature of the Red Deer Fair was Miss Katherine Stinson, the popular aviatrix who gave a flight from in front of the grandstand. Her machine was open to inspection for grandstand and paddock ticket holders.
• Red Deer had an opportunity to see a bit of the Western front conditions at the Exhibition. There was a display of trench warfare staged by Veterans of the great war. There were real trenches and dugouts with the rats etc and there were some wire defenses and all who like could have a try at getting through them on the run. After the trier had got through, they were recommended to Dr. George and to Mr. Munro who was a first class tailor.
100 YEARS AGO
• Town residents voiced concerns about the high number of stray pets roaming Red Deer’s streets. Anyone concerned about dogs on the loose was asked to contact the local liveryman/pound operator.
• A quarantine on the movement of livestock from Red Deer, due to rabies, was lifted. Apparently there had been many cases of rabies in the rural area surrounding the town.