Don't drink and drive
Taking a breathlyzer and sleeping in a cell is no way to celebrate the holidays. Traffic police throughout the province are tightening the net on impaired drivers through an enhanced Check Stop program. Alberta Transportation want to send the message that if you drive while impaired, you will be caught. Department officials remind drivers that they don’t have to be legally drunk to be charged with impaired driving. The department warns people not to drive after drinking or using drugs, advising that everyone should make transportation plans before that first dip from the punch bowl. Those who encounter drivers they suspect are impaired are asked to record the vehicle’s plate number and then dial 911 to reach police.
Roadway delays in city
Expect delays as giant pieces of concrete will be trundle into Downtown Red Deer over the next 10 to 12 weeks. Precast pieces for the new parkade will be brought in from both Edmonton and Calgary, via 67th Street and down the North Hill into the city core, says project manager Darin Sceviour and contractor Bryon Jeffers with Kili Project Solutions. Disruptions should not be significant enough to warrant closing roads, but drivers must be aware that they may encounter these huge loads in their travels, said Sceviour. He said the city considers it worth the inconvenience to use precast pieces made under controlled conditions at the plant rather than pouring and assembling them on site.
Protecting kids online
Parents worried about predators reaching their children through the screens of their computers can get help and advice from a pair of provincial agencies. Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work and Child and Youth Advocate John Mould have teamed up to raise awareness and seek solutions to the dangers children face online. A discussion paper has now been published on the Child and Youth Advocate’s website, inviting more ideas from people in the general population. To learn more, see the discussion paper There Ought To Be A Law: Protecting Children’s Online Privacy in the 21st Century, available in the news section at www.advocate.gov.ab.ca
