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Barring any weekend surprises, it looks like Wildrose leader Danielle Smith will be Alberta's next premier. Several polls have come out over the past 72 hours putting Smith's upstart Wildrose Alliance ahead of the governing Progressive Conservatives both in terms of popular vote and seat distribution in the provincial election. -excerpt- Regionally, according to the Abacus poll, the Wildrose Party has a commanding lead in Calgary with 44 per cent support followed by the PCs at 29 per cent, the Liberals at 13 per cent, and the NDP at 12 per cent. In Edmonton, the PCs continue to lead with...

THOUSAND OAKS (CBS) — A toxicology report found that the 18-year-old son of a former NFL quarterback died from a heroin overdose, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said. Thousand Oaks High School backup quarterback Griffen Kramer was found dead in his Agoura Hills home on Oct. 30. Friends told investigators that Kramer began foaming at the mouth while doing heroin with them. Authorities say one of his friends took him home and hoped he would sleep it off. Police have arrested five people in connection with Kramer’s death. Griffen Kramer’s father, Erik, played in the NFL for 12 years.

A judge has acquitted a controversial pro-family activist from a July 2008 charge of trespassing at a Canadian university. William (Bill) Whatcott was arrested by campus security at the University of Calgary and put into a holding cell for distributing a pamphlet that addressed the “harmful consequences” of homosexuality. Whatcott, in an email to LifeSiteNews, called the ruling a “victory for all Canadians who value freedom of expression and religious liberty on our university campuses.” Judge J.D. Bascom ruled from the Provincial Court of Alberta on November 15th that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms “applies” to the University...

Occupy Calgary protesters entrenched in Olympic Plaza have put out a call for donations from the public, asking for medical supplies, toiletries and condoms. The group, which expanded from its city-granted camp on St. Patrick’s Island following a Saturday protest at Bankers Hall, posted the plea for supplies on Facebook as city officials kept a close watch on the latest annexation of public property. Donations from the public have been coming in for the movement, which organizers say will be used to buy supplies such as food, but a plea has also been posted on Facebook for condoms, antibiotic ointment,...

The 6-ton UARS satellite — the biggest piece of space debris to fall from the sky since Sky Lab in 1979 — fell back to Earth early Saturday morning. Debris is reported to have been found near Calgary, Canada.The wait is over. NASA's bus-sized Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) has fallen, becoming the largest runaway chunk of space junk to drop back down to Earth since two satellites, including the behemoth Sky Lab, punched the atmosphere in 1979. "We can now confirm that #UARS is down!" reported the official NASA Twitter account. "Debris fell to Earth between 11:23 p.m. EDT...

The left has wasted no time in reacting to the Norway tragedy in the predicted way. Plumbing the depths of integrity, they quickly pointed to his white skin and assumed he had to be a far-right 'Christian fundamentalist'. Using some sort of warped process of elimination, the fact that the terrorist was not Muslim meant he must be a Christian. It didn't matter that the lie was exposed by Anders Behring Breivik himself in his rambling 1500+ word manifesto when he claimed not to have a 'personal relationship' with Jesus. The whitewash was already in full gear. I knew one...

TORONTO - It wasn’t the royal honey ‘moon’ Canadians were expecting. Prince William’s bride had a brief skirt-lifting experience when a prairie breeze hiked her dress almost to the waist. QMI Agency’s national photographer Andre Forget was following the royal couple at Calgary’s Airport when he captured Duchess Kate’s barely-seen Marilyn Monroe moment — far from any admiring crowd. It happened Thursday after the royal couple were flown in a military helicopter from Lake Louise, Alta., where they spent the previous night at a nearby lodge.

SNIPPET: "An Aeromexico plane flying to Mexico City from Paris had to land late Sunday afternoon at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal to remove a passenger whose name is on the U.S. no-fly list, Radio-Canada reported. The man was escorted out of the plane and taken into custody by the RCMP."

Date: January 8, 2010 ISCC affiliated Imams Issue Important Fatwa Attack on Canada and the United States is Attack on Muslims Over 10 million Muslims Live in North America Calgary) Twenty Imams affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada have issued a Fatwa today declaring the attacks on Canada and the United States by any extremist will be the attack on 10 million Muslims living in North America. This is the first Fatwa by the Muslim clergy declaring attacks on Canada and the United States as attack on Muslims. Following is the text of the Fatwa. FATWA (religious edict)...

The City of Calgary introduced its blue box, curbside recycling program this year, and there was rejoicing. Calgary, the last major Canadian city to offer it, had, until recently, asked citizens to deliver their own recyclables to green bins located every few blocks, or to hire, at $10 a month, a private pickup service. To those concerned about environmental appearances, it was embarrassing. "It means something to me that we're the last large city in Canada to implement curbside recycling," said Druh Farrell, the alderman championing the program. Approving the $50-million plan (plus another roughly $50-million a year recycling tax...

EDMONTON — Even though Albertans shouldn't expect to see a balanced budget by the new health authority until 2011-12, pinching pennies won't come on the backs of patients, says a top health executive with Alberta's health superboard. "When they need the health system, our responsibility is to make sure the system is there to meet their needs," said Mike Conroy, executive vice-president of corporate services for Alberta Health Services. He spoke one day after The Journal detailed a presentation he made in B.C. that suggested Alberta could face a projected health deficit between $500 million and $1 billion in 2010-11,...

It was truly a black Friday in Calgary, as Bishop Frederick Bernard Henry suspended the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in at least two of the locations staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP). The Bishop, as published on the diocesan website, made drastic and forceful measures in the face of the Swine Flu outbreak. Mandatory as of November 9th, the bishop suspended communion on the tongue and from the chalice, stopped shaking hands at the sign of peace, removed the holy water from the fonts, as well as some minor non liturgical changes. When FSSP told the...

Health Care Systems: A return to private health care is rising from the grass roots north of the border. While we rush headlong toward socialized medicine, Canadians are saying, "No, thanks — been there, done that." We recently told the story of Ava Isabella Stinson, born 13 weeks premature at St. Joseph's hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. She weighed all of two pounds and had no time to be put on a waiting list. But there were no open neonatal intensive care beds for her at St. Joseph's or anywhere else in the entire province of Ontario it seems. Canada's perfectly...

Health Reform: A critically ill premature baby is moved to a U.S hospital to get the treatment she couldn't get in the system we're told we should emulate. Cost-effective care? In Canada, as elsewhere, you get what you pay for.Ava Isabella Stinson was born last Thursday at St. Joseph's hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Weighing only two pounds, she was born 13 weeks premature and needed some very special care. Unfortunately, there were no open neonatal intensive care beds for her at St. Joseph's — or anywhere else in the entire province of Ontario, it seems.

Being dragged from a car by Calgary police brought back memories for a Chechen refugee of the civil war in which he lost both legs, a lawsuit says. The $350,000 claim, filed by Calgary resident Suleyman Salamov, alleges cops even broke one of his artificial legs before letting him go without even a charge. Salamov's lawsuit says he was a passenger in a car on Feb. 26, 2008, when it was pulled over and the driver arrested. Police stopped the vehicle being driven by Elcha Khazayev, smashed the driver's side window and removed him from the car, the claim says....

A group of mothers plan to breastfeed in a Calgary pool Sunday morning to protest what they are calling harassment from lifeguards. The women say it's their right to breastfeed wherever they want to, but the lifeguards at the southwest Killarney pool have asked them to get out of the water or use the change rooms for nursing. Gemma Kelsall takes her two children to the pool every Thursday morning where they meet up with other families. If her 21-month-old Kaliya gets hungry, they don't leave the pool to breastfeed. But lifeguards have told her she is not allowed to...

Columbus man charged with threatening Blue Jackets Friday, March 27, 2009 9:01 AM By Aaron Portzline THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Peter Stenzel, 52, has been arrested and charged with inducing panic after placing at least three threatening phone calls to the Blue Jackets -- specifically goaltender -- Steve Mason during last night's win over Calgary. According to the Columbus police report, Stenzel was wearing a Calgary Flames T-shirt when he was arrested at his residence in Columbus. He is charged with menacing and inducing panic, a misdemeanor. "They got his number from caller ID, and it was given to special duty...

Protests greet Bush's first speech as ex-president Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:00pm EDT CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - More than 100 protesters chanted "war criminal" and flung shoes in Calgary on Tuesday, angry that former U.S. President George W. Bush was in the Canadian city to give his first speech since leaving the White House. At least two demonstrators were hauled away by police after brief skirmishes, as 1,500 business people in the oil patch city waited outside a convention center for an hour to pass through tight security and enter the C$400-a-plate ($315) luncheon. Media were barred from the invitation-only...

A crowd of roughly 200 noisy protesters gathered outside the Telus Convention Centre in downtown Calgary Tuesday to demonstrate against a noon speech by former U.S. president George W. Bush. Blowing whistles and chanting "war criminal," demonstrators carried signs and shouted "shame on you" at people attending the luncheon event at a cost of $400 each. One man was taken into police custody shortly before noon, apparently when he tried to enter the convention centre without a ticket. Security personnel are checking each guest individually at the event. Any public appearance by Bush, reviled in some circles for launching the...

This is an incredible document. It’s an embarrassment to the University of Calgary. Frankly, it’s an embarrassment to the whole city. More to the point, it’s an embarrassment to anyone supports the University of Calgary – especially alumni donors. For it is in their name that this letter was sent. It was sent last fall. And it’s being acted on now. A political group of students on campus – they happen to be the pro-life group, but does it really matter? – wanted to have a peaceful demonstration. Demonstrations, displays, banners, posters – these things are a daily occurrence at...

(YNET NEWS.com) January 16, 2009 "THE GUARDIANS OF ISRAEL NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP" SNIPPET: "Israel and the US succeeded in preventing a United Nations announcement condemning the Jewish state for its strike on a UN compound in Gaza Thursday. The condemnation was proposed by Britain among other countries." SNIPPET: "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized for the incident before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, but stressed that IDF forces were attacked from the building before it was hit."

The teenager behind a "Kick a Ginger" group on Facebook is being investigated by police after reports of attacks on redhead children. Nearly 5,000 people joined the online campaign which urged members to "get them steel toes ready" for a day of booting this week. The website appears to have been inspired by a recent episode of the cartoon South Park, in which a young character called Cartman describes people with red hair as evil and soulless. Dozens of children left messages on the page claiming to have carried out attacks on "National Kick a Ginger Day" on Thursday,...

CALGARY — A white supremacist group that is offering to help pay the rent of new members as part of its "relocation program - destination Calgary" has raised the ire of the city's mayor. "The Aryan Guard is always seeking new brothers and sisters, if you are interested in relocating to our Calgary area, we will pay the damage deposit for your residence," a local member of Aryan Guard has posted on stormfront.org, a chat group that promotes "white pride." "We believe that through fortifying our current locations with more White Nationlists [sic] we can spread the world more efficiently...

McALLEN, Texas - During three years in the low minors, John Odom never really made a name for himself. That sure changed this week - he's the guy the Calgary Vipers traded for a bunch of bats. "I don't really care," he said Friday. "It'll make a better story if I make it to the big leagues." For now, Odom is headed to the Laredo Broncos of the United League. They got him Tuesday from Calgary of the Golden Baseball League for a most unlikely price: 10 Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, double-dipped black, 34-inch, C243 style "They just wanted some...

Three coyotes have tested negative for rabies after three children were attacked last week in southern Alberta. Fish and Wildlife officers caught and tested the animals after three children were attacked in Canmore, Alta., which is about 100 kilometres west of Calgary. "Parents will probably feel relieved," ... The coyote first bit another 10-year-old boy on the leg. Skaters scared the animal away, but it returned and bit Ethan's jacket... Canmore residents are still on the alert because the attacks were strange behaviour for coyotes, who usually avoid people, said Darcy Whiteside, a spokesman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

Bell Mobility to adjust bill in 'measure of goodwill' A Calgary man is disputing a cellphone bill of nearly $85,000, claiming the phone company failed to tell him using his phone to surf the internet would cost so much. The Motorola Krzr model Piotr Staniaszek bought from Bell Mobility allows him to use the phone to connect with his computer; downloading data to the computer resulted in the shocking charges. "I didn't know what to think. I thought there was probably a mistake," the 22-year-old oil-field worker said of the extraordinary total. A spokesman for Bell said the company will...

No hugs for thugs What police did this week downtown was more than public relationsBy IAN ROBINSONThe great New York City journalist Jimmy Breslin was assigned to cover the funeral of President John F. Kennedy. While every other reporter was following the funeral procession and getting the identical story, Breslin was at Arlington National Cemetery ... interviewing the Irish-American gravedigger who'd dug Kennedy's grave. In that great newspaper columnist tradition of finding the angle that wouldn't occur to anybody else, my colleague Rick Bell went out with the cops on Operation Riverwalk, the much-ballyhooed response of the Calgary Police Force...

Be nice. It's now the law in one Canadian city. Calgary, Alberta, has new regulations that ban public fighting, spitting, defecation and urination. Loitering or putting your feet up on public benches are no-nos, too. Officials said they're tired of the disgusting and disrespectful behavior. Violators can be fined, under an ordinance passed Monday. But critics charge the anti-rudeness regulations are aimed at the homeless in city parks. The city council narrowly passed the legislation. Laurie Fuhr of the Calgary Housing Action Initiative said she and her group tried to quash the bylaw and they plan to continue fighting it,...

What's believed to be Canada's first stem-cell treatment for horses has been conducted in southern Alberta. Veterinarians at the Alberta Equine Hospital in Stavely, 80 km south of Calgary, have implanted stem cells into five horses suffering from leg joint problems last Thursday. It came after a long battle with federal officials to allow passage of the stem-cell material -- donated from the patient horses themselves -- back over the border after it's sent for processing in a San Diego lab, said Dr. Andy Guccione. "Just being able to bring this therapy into Canada is a huge thing," said Guccione....

CALGARY -- Two mysterious deaths discovered in as many days in Calgary have left the city's homicide detectives scrambling for answers. On Sunday morning, a man was tossed from a car in the heart of downtown, dying just before or just after. Two men were arrested later that day, but both were released without charges yesterday morning after being questioned as "persons of interest" in the homicide investigation, police said, and supplying information about the vehicle used in the incident. "We obtained the information we needed and they were sent on their way," Detective John Dooks said. A spokeswoman later...

A desperate struggle for survival — and not the white man and his horse — likely forced First Nations people on the Canadian Plains to band together in complex communities at least 1,700 years before what is currently accepted. And the way they came together to ward off threats from southern bands from the Dakotas and Minnesota may have resembled a very early form of democracy. University of Calgary archaeologist Dr. Dale Walde has proposed the controversial theory in the prestigious World Archaeology journal, following more than five years of research in the field in Alberta and Saskatchewan. If accepted,...

Calgary and homelessness. To those outside Alberta, the two could easily be viewed as an oxymoron. But there’s an ongoing brouhaha in this well-off city about what to do with the mounting numbers of less fortunate and most dependent. It’s an intriguing battle, considering the front lines involve one of Canada’s most prosperous centres, and that it’s escalating during the season for giving. The city’s and province’s success is evident almost everywhere. Alberta has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, producing many well-paying jobs due to overwhelming labour shortages (starting wages at convenience stores can pay $10 an hour)....

I was way out in Calgary, Alberta, last week, the tar sands capital of western Canada. I was there to yak on camera for a CBC-sponsored documentary about suburbia, and the city itself proved to be a strange and interesting case of immersive delusional behavior. Calgary started out, of course, as the railhead for western ranching and a jump-off for various gold rushes in the late 19th century. Now it has become an archetypal city of immense glass boxes in a sterilized center surrounded by an asteroid belt of beige residential subdivisions -- sort of what Rochester, New York, would...

I have been to the promised land. And, nobody gave me $400 at either crossing of the provincial border. When I passed from Saskatchewan to Alberta, nothing really changed. The sun did not suddenly shine brighter. The rolling hills were empty of trees, or anything resembling green, on either side of the border. There is no Lone Tree Road here. The wind was ripping on both sides. And no matter where you were, the people were complaining fiercely about the tug of war the gas companies continually play with our wallets. In the dawn of a Thursday morning, I hit...

United Church officials in Calgary are offering what is believed to be Alberta's first same-sex marriage preparation classes this fall. They say such classes are long overdue in Alberta, but the church waited for the provincial government to recognize the law before offering the marriage preparation course. The first seminar was to be held this past weekend, but was cancelled after only one couple signed up. Organizers blame the political climate for the lack of seminar participants on the weekend. Reverend Linda Hunter of Wild Rose United Church in northwest Calgary said the legislation is new, Alberta is particularly homophobic,...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, August 12, 2005) – A special ceremony at the Canadian embassy Aug. 11 kicked off a major reunion for a famed U.S.-Canadian military unit taking place on the other side of the continent. The event in the U.S. capital was to recognize the veterans of the First Special Service Force – better known as the Devil’s Brigade – who were gathering for their 59th annual reunion in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 11-13 August. It was also to note a special presentation at the reunion, the awarding of U.S. Army Combat Infantryman’s Badges to Canadian infantrymen veterans of...

Harvey M. Sapolsky, who directs the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told some unpleasant home truths to Canadians last month in a full-page article published in the National Post. There has been little response to it, either officially or editorially, and that is significant. "Canada is a security risk to the United States," wrote Sapolsky. "Anti-Americanism is the unstated essence of the modern Canadian identity." But there are reasons for this. After the Second World War, when Canada's historic British connection began to decline, "the threat of being absorbed, not by a conquering but by a...

Ottawa, Jun. 09 (LifesiteNews.com/CWN) - In Canadian House of Commons committee hearings on the same-sex marriage Bill C-38 Monday, Bishop Frederick Henry of Calgary revealed details of threats leveled against him by government officials for putting forward Church teaching. Bishop Henry described in detail how he was called by Terry De Marche of Revenue Canada, the country's tax agency, after issuing a pastoral letter that said the media's description of Prime Minister Paul Martin as a "devout Catholic" was inappropriate due to Martin's support for abortion and gay marriage legislation. Speaking of the conversation he had in June 2004 with...

WASHINGTON and TORONTO — Canadian Maurice Strong agreed to step aside Wednesday as a special envoy for the United Nations, but vowed to clear his name after being linked to Tongsun Park, a Korean lobbyist charged in connection with the Iraq oil-for-food scandal. At the same time, new details emerged about a Calgary oil company in which Mr. Strong and his son, Fred, were major investors during the 1990s together with Mr. Park -- whom the younger Mr. Strong described as "a spooky guy." Shareholders in Cordex Petroleums Inc. also included CSL Group Inc., the holding company owned by Prime...

CALGARY, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The covering-up of the picture of a saint, depicted inside a chapel at Calgary's notorious Foothills hospital, has brought the ire of local Roman Catholic bishop Fred Henry. The hospital claims the picture of St. Luke, a physician, is offensive to non-Christians, and has had doors placed over it. A note over the doors explains that any representation of the human form in a place of worship is offensive to both Jews and Muslims. Bishop Henry said the move is ridiculous. The Foothills hospital gained notoriety in 1998, after nurses charged that hospital staff...

University of Calgary and Canadian Conservatives show our support for Bush/Chenney 2004 by painting the rock!!!

TORONTO, Sept. 28 - As one of Canada's pre-eminent historians, David Bercuson of the University of Calgary is not your average couch potato. But with beer in hand and feet up on the sofa, he watched the Olympics on television last month to cheer on the world champion hurdler Perdita Félicien to win a gold medal for Canada. When Ms. Félicien inexplicably stumbled into the very first hurdle like a rank amateur, Mr. Bercuson dashed straight to his computer. He knocked out a screed declaring that her sad performance, and that of the entire Canadian Olympic team, was just another...

CALGARY - Canadian rescuers left the South Pole Sunday, carrying a sick researcher who needs to return to the United States for medical treatment. Pilot Sean Louititt, with Calgary-based Kenn Borek Airlines, landed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole research station late Saturday afternoon. Following 10 hours of rest, Loutitt and the unidentified patient took off from the research station in the Twin Otter aircraft. They are accompanied by Loutitt's co-pilot, Newfoundlander Brian Crocker and an engineer. They are expected to land at the British Rothera Air Station on the northwestern tip of Antarctica around 3:30 p.m. ET. They will switch...

The life of a sick polar researcher is in the hands of two Calgary-based flight crews attempting a daring rescue strikingly similar to the first-ever mid-winter mercy dash to Antarctica two years ago. Two de Havilland Twin Otter planes are en route from Calgary to the South Pole, where they hope to land Sunday to pick up the ailing American worker, believed to be suffering from an intestinal ailment too serious to be dealt with by the one doctor at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. One of the planes, flown by 42-year-old local pilot Capt. Jim Haffey, took off...

UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS |PH: (403) 220-3500 | FAX: (403) 282-8413 Greg Harris, Media Relations (403) 220-3506 (403) 540-7306 (cell)August 15, 2002Centuries-old African structures have never been excavated U of C-led team hopes to unlock mysteries of Cameroon’s granite strongholdsA University of Calgary archaeologist is leading the first expedition to excavate the so-called Strongholds of Cameroon, which are some of the most remarkable stone-built structures anywhere in Africa.Located in the Mandara Mountains of northern Cameroon, the strongholds range in size from small standalone structures, to complex, castle-sized fortresses with  platforms, terraces and covered passageways. The curving walls on some of the...

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Dozens of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers working at the site of this week's G-8 summit became nauseous early Monday, and three were taken to a Calgary hospital. Const. Rob Dunnett of the RCMP said the officers at Nakiska camp, inside the security zone at the Kananaskis resort where the summit begins Wednesday, fell ill during the night. He said about 30 were treated at Nakiska camp. RCMP Const. Charlene Lewis said only three officers were hospitalized, and one had been released while the other two were being treated for dehydration. The cause of the...

Activists planning city core chaos Calgary won't be cowed: mayor Mark Reid Calgary Herald Tuesday, June 18, 2002 Anti-globalization activists will use roadblocks and other tactics to disrupt summit events and paralyse downtown Calgary during the G-8, the Herald has learned. Activists also intend to prompt a "Showdown at the Hoedown" by holding a mass protest at a city-sponsored gala party for summit delegates and visiting journalists. Members of the Anti-Capitalist Collective, which is organizing the hoedown showdown, could not be reached for comment. Mayor Dave Bronconnier said Calgarians will not be frightened by protesters who intend to cause chaos...