#Alberta Nelson

[imkeepinit]

Movie poster by an unknown artist, distributed by the National Screen Service (#64/117), for the 1964 American-International Pictures feature film Muscle Beach Party. Peter Lorre had a small part in the film. It was his penultimate picture, and he died two days before it was released. This was 13-year-old Stevie Wonder's first film.

[musicandoldmovies]

Alberta Nelson, Linda Evans, Myrna Ross and Timothy Carey in Beach Blanket Bingo

[rabbitcruiser]

Bow River Pathway, Calgary (No. 3)

The Centre Street Bridge is a historic bridge in Calgary, Alberta, crossing the Bow River, along Centre Street. The lower deck connects Riverfront Avenue in Chinatown with Memorial Drive, while the upper elevated deck crosses Memorial Drive as well, reaching into the community of Crescent Heights.

Centre Street Bridge is the central point of the quadrant system of the city.

It was built by The City of Calgary in 1916 for $375,000. It replaced the MacArthur Bridge, a steel truss bridge built in 1907 by a land developer called the Centre Street Bridge Company Limited. The MacArthur Bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1915. Centre Street Bridge was designed by John F. Greene, and features an upper and lower deck, cantilevered balconies on the upper deck, and four large cast concrete lions atop two pairs of ornamental concrete pavilions flanking each end of the bridge. The lions were cast by Scottish mason James L. Thomson. They were modelled after the bronze lions by Landseer at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London. The pavilions are ornamented with symbols of Canada and the United Kingdom: buffalo heads, maple leaves, shamrocks (Ireland), roses (England), and thistles (Scotland).

The upper deck, a reinforced concrete arch structure, spans 178 meters (584 ft) and is 15 meters (49 ft) wide. The lower deck, an "I" girders structure, runs for 150 meters (490 ft) and is 5.5 meters (18 ft) wide.

The Centre Street Bridge was listed as a Municipal Historic Resource for Calgary in 1992.

The bridge went through extensive restoration in 2001, when it was closed for one year. The lower deck is configured with reversible lanes. The original lions were replaced with replicas after considerable debate. Local legends of adjacent Chinatown hold that the lions would come alive after dark and roam the city streets. One of the original lions is now located at City Hall, the remaining three were placed in long-term storage. In April 2013, a city committee voted unanimously to place the remaining lions at one or more of the new West LRT C-Train (tram) stations. In 2018, one of original lions was repaired, conserved and is now displayed in Rotary Park. The remaining two lions are in storage to protect and preserve them for foreseeable future.

Source: Wikipedia

[docrotten]

THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI (1966) – Episode 187 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“I’m steaming. I’m steaming. I’m… I’m so exaggerated! I’m mad at that princess. The only girl I ever loved and now she and them street slobs are going to steal a million clams from them folks and they didn’t even invite me. ” Eric von Zipper has a way with words, doesn’t he? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Dirk Rogers – as they check out one of the last of AIP’s beach party movies, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 187 – The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

A corpse has 24 hours to mastermind a good deed without leaving his crypt, to go “up there” and have his youth restored.

Directed by: Don Weis

Writing Credits: Louis M. Heyward and Elwood Ullman

Selected Cast:

Tommy Kirk as Chuck Phillips

Deborah Walley as Lili Morton

Aron Kincaid as Bobby

Quinn O’Hara as Sinistra

Jesse White as J. Sinister Hulk

Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper

The Rat Pack

Andy Romano as J.D.

Alberta Nelson as Puss

Myrna Ross as Boots

Jerry Brutsche as Jerome

Bob Harvey as Bobby

Sam Page as Chauncey

John Macchia as Joey

Allen Fife as Beard

Basil Rathbone as Reginald Ripper

Patsy Kelly as Myrtle Forbush

Boris Karloff as The Corpse

Susan Hart as The Ghost

Nancy Sinatra as Vicki

Claudia Martin as Lulu

Francis X. Bushman as Malcolm

Benny Rubin as Chicken Feather

Bobbie Shaw Chance as Princess Yolanda (as Bobbi Shaw)

George Barrows as Monstro the Gorilla

Piccola Pupa as Piccola

Luree Holmes as Luree

Ed Garner as Ed

Frank Alesia as Frank

Mary Hughes as Mary

Salli Sachse as Salli

Patti Chandler as Patti

Sue Hamilton as Sue

The Bobby Fuller Four as Themselves (Bobby Fuller, Randy Fuller, DeWayne Quirico, Jim Reese)

Elena Andreas as Statue (uncredited)

Herb Andress as Statue (uncredited)

Philip Bent as Beach Boy (uncredited)

Gary Daily as Boy in Blue and White Trunks (uncredited)

Bobbi McCall as Girl in Blue Bikini (uncredited)

Christopher Riordan as Beach Boy (uncredited)

The Grue-Crew and guest host Dirk Rogers take a trip to the beach with one of the last of the Beach Party movies. Wait, what? There’s no beach? No ocean? No surfing? And AIP disliked the product so much that they added Boris Karloff and the whole ghost-in-the-invisible-bikini schtick after the fact?

Well, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) makes for a nice title. Let’s face it. It’s a bad movie. It’s even a dumb movie. But it can be a fun movie, especially if you love the lame, teen music numbers inserted throughout the film as much as the Grue-Crew do. And even if you despise the music (yeah, the Grue-Crew didn’t like it either – except Doc, of course), you can have fun with this flick.

With Deborah Walley and Tommy Kirk (subbing for Annette and Frankie), Basil Rathbone, Patsy Kelly, Harvey Lembeck (Eric von Zipper!), Jesse White, and Nancy Sinatra, there’s always something to watch. Think “the Three Stooges in an old dark house.”

At the time of this writing, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) is available to stream from MGM+, Amazon Prime, and several PPV options.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Jeff – is The Shadow of the Cat (1961), a Hammer Film directed by John Gillin, featuring Barbara Shelley and André Morell, recently released as part of Scream Factory’s Universal Horror Collection Vol. 6! 

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!” 

Check out this episode!

[goalhofer]

2024 IIHF Worlds U.S.A. Roster

Wingers

#7 Braeden Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators/Creve Coeur, Missouri)

#12 Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild/Millis, Massachusetts)

#13 Johnny Gaudreau (Columbus Blue Jackets/Carneys Point, NJ)

#22 Cole Caufield (Montreal Canadiens/Mosinee, Wisconsin)

#23 Mikey Eyssimont (Tampa Bay Lightning/Littleton, Colorado)

#26 Kevin Hayes (St. Louis Blues/Boston, Massachusetts)

#86 Joel Farabee (Philadelphia Flyers/Cicero, New York)

Centers

#6 Will Smith (Boston College Eagles/Lexington, Massachusetts)

#9 Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks/Bedford, New York)

#11 Luke Kunin (San José Sharks/Chesterfield, Missouri)

#24 Ryan Leonard (Boston College Eagles/Amherst, Massachusetts)

#29 Brock Nelson (New York Islanders/Warroad, Minnesota)

#57 Shane Pinto (Ottawa Senators/Hempstead, New York)

Defensemen

#4 Jared Jones (Chicago Blackhawks/Denver, Colorado)

#5 Michael Kesselring (Tucson Roadrunners/New Hampton, NH)

#8 Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets/Grosse Pointe, Michigan)

#43 Luke Hughes (New Jersey Devils/Canton Charter Township, MI)

#46 Jeff Petry (Detroit Red Wings/Farmington Hills, Michigan)

#51 Matt Kessel (St. Louis Blues/Detroit, Michigan)

#72 Alex Vlasic (Chicago Blackhawks/New Trier Township, Illinois)

#85 Jake Sanderson (Ottawa Senators/Calgary, Alberta)

Goalies

#1 Kenneth Augustine III (Michigan State Spartans/South Lyon, MI)

#34 Alex Lyon (Detroit Red Wings/Baudette, Minnesota)

#39 Alex Nedeljkovic (Pittsburgh Penguins/Cleveland, Ohio)

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

[The use of police dogs as a novel technology, one adopted by rank and file police officers with enthusiasm, ostensibly to enhance 'crime-fighting' by tracking bank robbers and escaped prisoners, but one that consistently failed to deliver results due to poor training and poorer handling. A consistent theme of police dogs, whether bloodhounds or narcotics dogs, is their high rate of error and general inability to deliver consistent results.]

"To further ensure the CPR’s profits were not affected by American “desperados,” [General Superintendent, Canadian Pacific Railway Pacific Division, Richard] Marpole recommended that troops of Royal North West Mounted Police be stationed at critical points along the CPR’s main line and at a strategic point in the south Okanagan or Kootenays.

At the expense of the B.C. Provincial Police, his editorial described the Mounties as “a magnificent body of men” that Alberta and Saskatchewan were lucky to have to maintain law and order in those provinces. Marpole also was not averse to incorporating American law enforcement techniques into Canada. “I am strongly in favour of keeping bloodhounds at certain points in this province,” he wrote. He went on to praise the handlers of the dogs that had come up from Spokane as “men of experience as hunters of outlaws.”

....

Despite the spectacular lack of success experienced by the bloodhounds brought in to hunt down the Ducks robbers, [B.C. Police Superintendent F.S.] Hussey was getting pressure from some of his constables in the Kootenays to authorize the use of the hounds in their regular work. On 20 June 1906, Hussey wrote Attorney General Fulton on the topic. He noted that some Provincial Police members kept their own bloodhounds and wished to be able to use them at their discretion without checking with Victoria first. Constable Young in Nelson, who had such a pitiful lack of success with his dogs south of Ducks, owned six, and Constable Darraugh of Midway had one or more. Other officers had solicited him for permission to be able to own and use such animals.

Hussey advised the Attorney General [Fulton] that in his judgment the dogs were almost useless unless they had been highly and competently trained in man hunting and were in the hands of exceedingly skilled handlers. It is under only the most favourable circumstances that these animals could be successful and do useful work.

He noted also that there exists a strong feeling from the general public against such use of bloodhounds excepting perhaps in the most extreme cases. Hussey recommended to Fulton that under no conditions should the use of bloodhounds be authorized except under the direct permission of the Superintendent’s office in Victoria.

He requested instructions from Fulton so that he might advise the constables in the field, and Fulton agreed that they should not be used in B.C. unless under emergency conditions.

...

[B.C. Provincial Police] Chief Constable Campbell had been eagerly anticipating an emergency situation to make use of the services of a local bloodhound and its trainer, Bradford Nanton of Vancouver. Despite Hussey’s reluctance to utilize the animals, the rule was initiated that under special circumstances they might be employed. As soon as Campbell received the call from [Acting Warden] Bourke about the prison breakout, he assigned Constable Spain that evening to escort the hound and handler to the B.C. penitentiary.

When Campbell and Spain, the handler and his hound arrived at the prison, they were met by some prison guards. The guards escorted the party to the brickyard, where the hound was given Miner’s scent from the straw hat he had left behind. Immediately the hound picked up the scent in the brickyard, and after circling the compound a few times, it tracked the scent to the hole under the fence.

Moving into the outer yard, the hound picked up the scent again which led the party to the door in the perimeter wooden wall. Here it was determined by the dog’s actions that Miner had tried the latch on the door before leaning the ladder on the fence and clambering over. The hound sat down and whined at the base of the ladder that was still leaning against the wall. Outside the prison walls, the dog led them alongside the ravine that held Glen Stream and into the brush to the north. As it was too dark to be thrashing about in the thick underbrush and risking destroying the scent, the handler and his hound, Spain and the guards called off the search until daylight.

Daybreak at 5:30 A.M. found the previous night’s bloodhound party joined by two newspaper reporters. The guards included Keeper W.A. Patchell, Instructor Doyle and guards Devine and McLure. ... The handler led the hound to where they halted the search in the dark the previous night, and again presented the animal with Bill Miner’s scent. The trail was picked up once more, and the party was led through the brush about a mile and a half from the penitentiary wall. The dog was able to show the guards and the trackers that Miner had separated from the other convicts at a location close to Thorne Road and the city boundary. Here the dog inexplicably seemed to have a change of heart, and the newspaper reporter described the animal’s antics in a scathing paragraph.

The bloodhound chase was a total failure, the animal seemingly being out of whack, and its owner out of sorts. The animal, a highly bred English hound, seemed to be primed for work, but after a few whiffs of the damp alfalfa, he apparently lost courage, and could not pick up the scent. He ... sulked fearfully Friday morning.

Patchell also described the hound as “sulky,” and after the searchers had wandered through the brush for two hours, he reported that the seemingly moody and sensitive animal refused to work any more. The fruitless search with the dubious aid of the emotionally challenged canine and his handler was abruptly terminated.

Colin Campbell’s expectations that the hound would be able to enhance the search efforts proved groundless, and it was to be some time before the Chief Constable, later to inherit Superintendent Hussey’s mantle, would again cast his eyes towards a dog to aid in the apprehension of criminals."

- Peter Grauer, Interred With Their Bones: Bill Miner in Canada, 1903-1907. Kamloops: Tillicum, 2006. p. 291, 396-397, 440-442.

[guerrerense]

RDCs at Dawson Creek por Joe McMillan Por Flickr: In 1987, the West Coast Railfans Association (WCRA), a Canadian group, sponsored a RDC tour of the entire BCR. For about $600, we would be treated to seven solid days of train riding, lodging, meals, etc. Steve and I, plus some of our friends, couldn't get our checks mailed in fast enough. What a bargain!! We were to tour the main line from North Vancouver to Fort Nelson, a distance of 979.4 miles, plus all the branches, except the Dease Lake Extension beyond St. James, which was closed by then. (As noted earlier, Steve and I had already done the line west of St. James.) We left North Van on September 13, 1987, and returned on September 19th. We spent each night in a town along the way. The town usually had a banquet for us and put on an after-dinner show. We were assigned three BCR RDCs for our trip and they stayed with us the entire time. Our three cars were coupled to BCR Train 2 at Lillooet on the last day, so we had five RDCs that day. On September 15, we traveled the 61.1-mile Dawson Creek Subdivision from Chetwynd to Dawson Creek, B.C., The cars are spotted next to the Northern Alberta Railway station shortly before our departure back to Chetwynd. We tied up that night at Fort St. John–––photo by Joe McMillan with Steve Patterson and a bunch of other friends.

[fleurcareil]

BC fires update

Hi all, here's a quick update on my travel plans; although my storytelling still has me in Saskatchewan ready to cross into Alberta, I'm actually already in Nelson in Southern BC. Been traveling a lot and seen/done amazing things so I'm a little behind! 🙃

As you may be aware, there are currently terrible forest fires across all BC including a few big ones near Kelowna and Kamloops, where I had planned to travel to in the next week. Although I have full belief that the government & wildfire services would keep me safe, it doesn't feel right to continue traveling as if nothing is happening... roads are being closed on short notice and hotels are filling up with people evacuated from their homes, so this is really not my place to be. The smoke has been bad on & off the last few days - there was some blue sky & mountains to be seen yesterday but then today it's really bad with ash covering the car. Not fun camping but honestly the smoke is everywhere including in the restaurant I am now.

All that to say that I'm canceling my plans to travel further west to the Okanagan and Haida Gwaii, which I had been really looking forward to (since about 14 years!), and instead am returning to the Rockies and Alberta where there's also fires 😞 but less.

Not all is bad; I had one of my best experiences in Canada 2 days ago soaking in a natural hot spring next to a glacial river deep in the forest, keep meeting very friendly people everywhere and am already planning my next fun things to do.

I'm sure I'll come back to this region as it's stunning, but in the meantime there's still a lot of Canada on my way back home in the next weeks that I'm looking forward to explore!

Hug, Fleur

[independentartistbuzz]

Singer-Songwriter Billie Zizi of Edmonton Shares Levitate LP featuring Earnest and Uplifting Rocker, “Midnight Sun”

Singer-songwriter Billie Zizi of Edmonton, Alberta, is unveiling her long awaited new record, Levitate. The collection of dreamy songs, which range from earnest folk rock to eerie singer-songwriter, capture the artist’s experience of navigating life through her tight knit hometown community.

From the gas station love affairs of pitbull-walking, rhinestone adorned Edmontonians to the spiritual levity of transcendence, this album is a glimpse into my strange mind and the life I’ve lived. Loss, radiant love, transience, delirium and indefatigable hope are some of the themes. I dreamed this record into being over many years. It's a love letter to Edmonton, to delighting in the simple things like hot dogs and friendship and the prairie sky and the absurdity of it all. To all the Dirt City angels, the big dreamers, the lovers, and the dancers, this is for you: I hope you like it. – Billie Zizi

“Midnight Sun” was born out of a writing prompt to reference a natural phenomenon. Zizi ran with the concept of the midnight sun, one where we are “soaked in the luminous 24 hour sun,” and in turn, the “gardens of our love would proliferate wildly and we would be intoxicated by the honeyed light.” Yet inevitably, the winter would come and with it the love would wither and die. Co-produced with album collaborator Austin Parachoniak, “Midnight Sun” has an inherent groove to it with an arrangement meant to translate perfectly to a live setting, gradually deepening in intensity and heart as Zizi’s vocals and guitar lines grow around each other.

BILLIE ZIZI TOUR DATES:

Friday November 8th @ The Royal – Nelson, BC (TICKETS)

Saturday November 9th @ The Palomino Smokehouse and Social Club – Calgary, AB (TICKETS)

Sunday November 10th @ Ye Olde Jar Bar – Medicine Hat, AB (TICKETS)

Monday November 11th @ House Concert – Red Deer, AB

Thursday November 14th @ The Bassment – Saskatoon, SK (TICKETS)

Friday November 15th @ Artesian – Regina, SK (TICKETS)

Saturday November 16th @ The Handsome Daughter – Winnipeg, MB

Tuesday November 19th @ Mills Hardware – Hamilton, ON (TICKETS)

Thursday November 21st @ The Toucan – Kingston, ON

Friday November 22nd @ Horseshoe Tavern – Toronto, ON (TICKETS)

Saturday November 23rd @ The Mill Restaurant and Inn – Tillsonburg, ON (TICKETS)

[gregmh-blog]

ISPORs 2024 HEOR Awards

ISPOR’s 2024 HEOR Awards https://ift.tt/9nIc4hx Who won the ISPOR’s 2024 HEOR awards? The list is below. Avedis Donabedian Lifetime Achievement Award: C. Daniel Mullins, PhD; Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research and Executive Director of The PATIENTS Program; University of Maryland School of Pharmacy; Baltimore, MD, USA Marilyn Dix Smith Leadership Award: Deborah Marshall, PhD; Professor and Svare Chair in Health Economics, Value, and Impact; University of Calgary; Calgary, Alberta, CA  Bernie O’Brien New Investigator Award: Natalia Kunst, PhD; Senior Research Fellow (Associate Professor); Centre for Health Economics; University of York; York, England, UK Low- and Middle Income Country (LMIC) Health Economics and Outcomes Research Excellence Award: Nelson Rafael Alvis-Guzman, MD, PhD; Professor, Universidad of Cartagena; Cartagena, Colombia Award for Excellence in Health Economics and Outcomes Research Methodology: William Padula, PhD; Assistant Professor, University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA, USA for the article, “Predicting pressure injury risk in hospitalised patients using machine learning with electronic health records: a US multilevel cohort study;” [BMJ Open. 2024;14(4): e082540.] Award for Excellence in Health Economics and Outcomes Research Application: Inmaculada Hernandez, PhD; Professor, University of California San Diego; San Diego, CA, USA for the article, ”Changes In net prices and spending for pharmaceuticals after the introduction of new therapeutic competition.” [Health Aff (Millwood). 2023;42(8):1062-1070.] Value in Health Paper of the Year Award: Aurélie A. Meunier, MSc; Director, Modelling, HEOR, Putnam; London, England, UK for the article, “Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis of health technologies: data requirements and challenges.” [Value Health. 2023;26(1):60-63.] Value in Health Regional Issues Excellent Article Award: Carleigh B. Krubiner, PhD; Bioethics Lead, Wellcome; London, England, UK for the article, “The value of explicit, deliberative, and context-specified ethics analysis for health technology assessment: evidence from a novel approach piloted in South Africa.” [Value Health Reg Issues. 2023;34:23-30] Congratulations to all the winners! via Healthcare Economist https://ift.tt/SdVGYC2 October 17, 2024 at 01:04AM

[littlewalken]

jul 19

Well, it's going to be day 3 of a computer file project that future Little Walken will thank me for doing, and present Little Walken's questionable sense of balance is all for sitting at the puter with getting up at regular intervals is agreeing with.

Shall we be able to do some activities the toy horses we intend to keep are to be sorted, MLP and fashion horses from the Breyer and others, and tidied away in storage tubs for the moment. Come this time next year the barn might be repaired to a state of displaying somewhere.

As for media and all that... I've had Teen Beach Movie and the sequel for years because I like the old AIP beach movie and thought there was a decent chance Disney might have done an okay job. I got the feeling to skim to about half way thru.

I have no idea who any of the actors are. Costume and hair are for shit. That's a coked up too much eyeliner modern rats nest not a beehive. Then one the two identical looking black rats nest fake haired girls opened her mouth and yapping screech plank is an apt description. I couldn't delete both movies fast enough.

The blonde on the left is Alberta Nelson the only person to be in all the AIP beach movies. She is our queen. Albreta isn't afraid to touch the water. The bikers are the queer and spectrum kids. The leader Eric von Zipper can't read but he'll save a dance for Paul Lynde as long as he gets to lead.

Dey might be puttin on a bit of da tropey generic bad guy biker accent but yous don't want to strangles none of dems neither.

I was curious about the Disney version of Umbrella Academy, The Mysterious We Have No Original Ideas Society, but again I skimmed to the middle of it and pig tailed screech plank whined about something and I noped out. Once you reach a certain age it's like the little girl in pig tails character is just annoying as fuck.

Not that it's cute when Robert Shenanigan whines or anything but he varies the tone to more than just what dogs can hear and there's some actual feeling in to 'how come we have to go fight the monster can't the national guard or someone do it'? I do keep old copies of Propaganda by U2 around just in case I have to roll one up and tap his floof and tell him to tone it down a bit.

I did note down some of the writing ideas in my tornado of thought book but nothing has wanted to go much further. Wanting to do some art too but real life and other projects are getting done, or half done, first.

[andronetalks]

Thousands told to evacuate after huge British Columbia, Canada wildfire burns out-of-control

Strange Sounds May 14, 2024 Thousands of Canadians have been ordered to leave their homes in Fort Nelson, British Columbia due to the threat of a wildfire. The blaze began on Friday night and was described by officials as “exhibiting extreme fire behaviour”. Wildfires have also led to evacuation alerts and orders in the neighbouring province of Alberta. The Canadian government has warned this…

[rabbitcruiser]

Alaska Highway, CDN (No. 2)

The road was originally built mostly by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a supply route during World War II. In 1942, the Army Corps of Engineers assigned more than 10,000 men, about a third of whom were black soldiers, members of three newly formed African-American segregated regiments. There were four main thrusts in building the route: southeast from Delta Junction, Alaska, toward a linkup at Beaver Creek, Yukon; north then west from Dawson Creek (an advance group started from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, after traveling on winter roads on frozen marshland from railway stations on the Northern Alberta Railways); both east and west from Whitehorse after being ferried in via the White Pass and Yukon Route railway. The Army commandeered equipment of all kinds, including local riverboats, railway locomotives, and housing originally meant for use in southern California.

The official start of construction took place on March 9, 1942, after hundreds of pieces of construction equipment were moved on priority trains by the Northern Alberta Railways to the northeastern part of British Columbia near Mile 0 at Dawson Creek. Construction accelerated through the spring as the winter weather faded away and crews were able to work from both the northern and southern ends; they were spurred on after reports of the Japanese invasion of Kiska Island and Attu Island in the Aleutians. During construction the road was nicknamed the "oil can highway" by the work crews due to the large number of discarded oil cans and fuel drums that marked the road's progress. The construction crew had also passed through an Indigenous village known as Champagne (Shadhala-ra) which they used to set up camp. Unfortunately, disease spread and nearly wiped out the indigenous population of the village. After the war, the survivors left the village to find work, leaving the location a ghost town.

Source: Wikipedia

[follow-up-news]

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has prompted health warnings across the upper Midwest for the second straight year. Fires raging in British Columbia and Alberta sent the haze over parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday, lingering into Monday morning. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued its first air quality alert of the season for the entire state on Sunday. The agency said pollution levels will be unhealthy for everyone. The agency urged people to remain indoors and avoid heavy exertion outdoors until the warning expired at noon on Monday. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued advisories for multiple counties across the state’s northern two-thirds on Sunday warning air quality is unhealthy for sensitive people. The advisories were set to end at noon on Monday as well. At least some smoke could drift as far south as Iowa and Chicago, leaving skies looking milky by late Tuesday or early Wednesday, said Rafal Ogorek, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Chicago office. Nearly 90 fires are currently burning in Canada, according to the Canadian government’s National Wildland Fire Situation report. A fire raging near Fort Nelson in British Columbia’s far northeastern corner has forced evacuations. Most of the smoke is hanging between a mile (1.6 kilometers) and 2 miles (3 kilometers) above the ground, the National Weather Service’s Ogorek said. Prevailing winds are driving the smoke south and east, he said. Canada witnessed a record number of wildfires in 2023 that also caused choking smoke in parts of the U.S. and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate across British Columbia. Smoke from those fires led to hazy skies and health advisories across multiple U.S. cities, particularly on the East Coast. An analysis by World Weather Attribution, an initiative that aims to quickly evaluate the role of climate change in the aftermath of extreme weather events, found climate change more than doubled the chances of hot, dry weather that helped fuel the fire season. The chances of more wildfires igniting this summer appear high. Northeastern British Columbia, northwestern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories are suffering from an intense drought, meaning lightning strikes could trigger fires that grow quickly, according the Canadian National Wildland Fire Situation report.

[newstfionline]

Monday, May 13, 2024

Wildfire in Canada’s British Columbia forces thousands to evacuate. Winds push smoke into Alberta (AP) Canadian authorities are urging all remaining residents in the northeastern part of the province of British Columbia to leave immediately, despite improving weather conditions, after thousands have already been evacuated due to a fast-growing wildfire. The blaze, which started Friday, almost doubled in size the following day, reaching about 17 square kilometers (4,200 acres). BC Wildfire Service maps showed the fire burning just a few kilometers (miles) west of Fort Nelson’s city limits. The fire is one of three major wildfires near Fort Nelson, located in the far northeastern corner of British Columbia, about 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) from Vancouver. The high winds pushed smoke from the blaze into parts of neighboring Alberta on Saturday, putting the city of Edmonton under an air quality advisory with hazard levels rated at 10-plus—or “very high risk”—forecast.

Crews prepare for controlled demolition as cleanup continues at bridge collapse site (AP) After weeks of preparation, crews are scheduled to conduct a controlled demolition Sunday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, which came crashing down under the impact of a massive container ship on March 26. The steel span landed on the ship’s bow after the Dali lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s support columns shortly after leaving Baltimore. Since then, the ship has been stuck among the wreckage and Baltimore’s busy port has been closed to most maritime traffic. The controlled demolition will allow the Dali to be refloated and guided back into the Port of Baltimore. Once the ship is removed, maritime traffic can begin returning to normal, which will provide relief for thousands of longshoremen, truckers and small business owners who have seen their jobs impacted by the closure.

The elections next door: Mexico’s cartels pick candidates, kill rivals (Washington Post) This time, Willy Ochoa brought reinforcements. This time, unlike the last time, he’d be ready for cartel attacks. He was accompanied by three truckloads of National Guard troops. Two state police cars with flashing red lights. He rode in his own bulletproof SUV, and had a complement of muscular bodyguards. This is what it’s like to run for Senate today in Mexico. “You’re at risk every minute,” the candidate said. Organized crime groups are turning Mexico’s elections into a literal battleground, making the campaign this year one of the deadliest in the country’s modern history. More than two dozen candidates have been killed leading up to the June 2 vote; hundreds have dropped out of the race. More than 400 have asked the federal government for security details. The armed groups’ goal is to install friendly leaders in local offices so they can better exploit Mexican communities. Once largely focused on shipping drugs to the United States, the cartels now also smuggle migrants, extort businesses and win contracts for firms they control. They want to name towns’ police chiefs and public works directors.

Rise in UK knife attacks leads to a crackdown and stokes public anxiety (AP) A familiar horror reached Pooja Kanda first on social media: There had been a sword attack in London. And then Kanda, who was home alone at the time, saw a detail she dreaded and knew all too well. A man with a sword had killed a 14-year-old boy who was walking to school. Two years ago, her 16-year-old son, Ronan, was killed by two sword-wielding schoolmates while walking to a neighbor’s to borrow a PlayStation controller. In parts of the world that ban or strictly regulate gun ownership, including Britain and much of the rest of Europe, knives and other types of blades are often the weapons of choice used in crimes. Many end up in the hands of children, as they can be cheap and easy to get. Although the number of fatal stabbings has mostly held steady in England and Wales over the past 10 years, headline-grabbing attacks and an overall rise in knife crime have stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more.

Economy scars voters in run-up to EU election (Reuters) The northern French port of Dunkirk, riding an industrial mini-boom thanks to a state-backed investment push, is a showcase for President Emmanuel Macron’s belief that fighting unemployment is the best way to curb support for the far-right. But the economic potential of two new EV “gigafactories” will not stop locals like Killiams Pierron backing Marine Le Pen’s nationalists in June elections to the European Parliament, after a surge in prices for food, heating and other essentials. “Bread, cheese, butter, it’s all gone up,” construction labourer Pierron told Reuters as he rode one of the region’s free buses, listing the ingredients of a ham-cheese baguette roll he said had tripled in price to 4.40 euros ($4.75) after three years of high inflation. “At some point you need to start thinking about the French before others,” he said, arguing Macron should prioritise domestic issues like affordable housing rather than pursue support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Bundeswehr's classified meetings found online (DW) Germany's military has admitted on Saturday a flaw in the video-conferencing tool it uses left thousands of its meetings publicly accessible online. Zeit Online reported accessing German Bundeswehr meetings by using simple search terms on the military's Webex system. "More than 6,000 meetings could be found online," some of which were meant to be classified, it wrote. The military said the bug was fixed within 24 hours after being made aware.

Russia says it has captured 5 villages in northeast Ukraine as more than 1,700 civilians flee (AP) Moscow’s forces captured five villages in a renewed ground assault in northeastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday, and Associated Press journalists in the city of Vovchansk described multiple buildings destroyed after Russian airstrikes and barrages of Grad rockets. Ukrainian officials didn’t confirm whether Russia had taken the villages, which lie in a contested “gray zone” on the border of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and Russia. The Institute for the Study of War said Friday that geolocated footage confirms at least one of the villages was seized. The Washington-based think tank described recent Russian gains as “tactically significant.”

Flash floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan after heavy rains, UN says (AP) Flash floods from unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 1,000 houses, the U.N. food agency said Saturday. The World Food Program said it was distributing fortified biscuits to the survivors of one of the many floods that hit Afghanistan over the last few weeks, mostly the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the deluges Friday. The floods hit as Afghanistan is still reeling from a string of earthquakes at the beginning of the year as well as severe flooding in March, said Salma Ben Aissa, Afghanistan director for the International Rescue Committee.

Isolated and Defiant, Israel Vows to ‘Stand Alone’ in War on Hamas (NYT) Turkey has suspended trade with Israel. The world’s top court is considering whether Israeli leaders have committed genocide. Protests have overtaken cities and campuses worldwide. Ireland and Spain say they will recognize Palestine as a state by the end of the month. Even the United States—long Israel’s closest ally and benefactor—is threatening for the first time since the war began to withhold certain arms shipments. Seven months after much of the world pledged its support to Israel following a Hamas-led terrorist attack, the country finds itself increasingly isolated. With a war that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and left Gaza on the verge of famine, any international good will that Israel amassed on Oct. 7 has been all but lost. “If we need to stand alone,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Thursday, both acknowledging and seeking to defy his country’s growing isolation, “we will stand alone.”

As Israel Steps Up Attacks, 300,000 Gazans Are on the Move (NYT) Around 300,000 Palestinians in southern and northern Gaza are being forced to flee once again, the United Nations says, as Israel issued new and expanded evacuation orders on Saturday. But many are unsure where to find secure shelter in a place devastated by war. The expanded evacuation orders apply to the city of Rafah at Gaza’s southernmost tip, where more than a million Gazans have gathered after fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere over the past seven months. They have deepened fears that the Israeli military is set to proceed with an invasion of Rafah, which Israeli leaders have long promised, a prospect that international aid groups and many countries have condemned. “It’s such a difficult situation—the number of people displaced is very high, and none of them know where to go, but they leave and try to get as far away as possible,” said Mohammad al-Masri, a 31-year-old accountant who is sheltering with his family in a tent in Rafah. “Fear, confusion, oppression, anxiety is eating away at people.”

For Mormon Missionaries, Some Changes (NYT) Andres Gonzalez, 19, stands on the balcony of his Los Angeles apartment, his hands in his suit pockets. It is his first week as a missionary, but today, instead of approaching people on the street, he is shooting a [witnessing] video that he will later post to social media. Mr. Gonzalez is the image of the modern missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has changed many of its practices—from how missionaries preach to how they dress. The faith, long known for sending tens of thousands of neatly and formally dressed young people across the globe each year to preach door to door, is encouraging new missionaries to spread the gospel on social media and, for some, with acts of community service closer to home. In the last few years, the church has also changed some rules for missionaries themselves—loosening restrictions on dress codes (women can wear pants) and how often they can call family members back home (once a week, not just on Christmas and Mother’s Day).

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B.C. and Alberta Guide Dogs puppy raisers needed

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B.C. and Alberta Guide Dogs puppy raisers needed

B.C. and Alberta Guide Dogs is looking for volunteers to raise puppies so they can grow up and help people. Future guide dogs need your help in British Columbia as the organization is looking for volunteer puppy raisers.  April 24 marks International Guide Dog Day and B.C. and Alberta Guide Dogs has 166 dogs working with people. Rachel Nelson is […]

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