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Alberta accredited childcare centres suffer financial setback

    The Little Explorers Childcare and Discovery Centre will be hit hard by Alberta Human Service’s decision to end the $7,500 Quality Enhancement Grant for accredited childcare centres across the province on April 1.
   According to Craig Loewen, press secretary for the department, the grant was cut because it had achieved its goal of helping childcare centres qualify for accreditation.
   Nevertheless, daycare operators are upset over the loss of the grant, which enabled them to provide better programming and additional training for staff.
   “There might be a lot of established daycares in Alberta right now, but for someone who’s just starting out, this is painful,” said Nola Wallace, director of the Little Explorers Childcare Centre.
   She explained that the Little Explorers are still in the accreditation process, having only been in operation for less than two years.
   “That money was essential,” said Wallace, explaining that a certain standard of excellence is required for all accredited childcare programs in Alberta.
   “We have what is required to be a daycare, but to be an accredited daycare, we need multicultural items, a more advanced library and more toys. Basically all of our resources need to be held to a higher standard.”
   The Little Explorers Childcare and Discovery Centre is a non-profit organization, meaning that any money made is invested directly back into the daycare.
   Wallace mentioned that she was grateful the government hasn’t taken away her professional development funds – funds provided by the government to give specially trained employee’s a top-up in addition to the regular pay they receive – although she fears that they too may now be in jeopardy.
   “If it had affected their pay, I really don’t know what we would have done,” she said.
   Although raising fees for the daycare may be one alternative to recoup the financial losses, Wallace affirms that it is not set in stone.
   “Because we’re in the accreditation process, we don’t want to bail out on that. We want to keep on going, but it will make things tough.”
   Despite the setback, Wallace has faith that Little Explorers will be still be able to continue moving forward without making any detrimental changes to the program.
   “It’s not going to get us down, we shall overcome,” she said.

Alleged speeder clocked at 202 KPH charged

    With the assistance of Linden Citizen on Patrol and helpful residents, a speeder who was allegedly driving more than 100 kilometres per hour over the speed limit will have his day in court.
   Kneehill County Community Peace Officer Jamie Erickson told inSide Drumheller about an incident occurring last Friday evening, March 29. He observed a new Mitsubishi Lancer traveling north on Highway 806 towards Linden at a high rate of speed. Erickson clocked the car traveling at 202 kilometres per hour.
   “I activated the radar when I saw him coming up really fast on another vehicle,” said Erickson. “I hit my lights after I had locked in the speed and he was well ahead of me at that point. He made no attempts to stop and passed another vehicle on a corner.”
   Erickson said he made no further attempts to stop the car and notified Beiseker and Three Hills RCMP of the car and direction of travel.
   Later he was patrolling in the Village of Linden and was flagged down by a resident who gave him information on the car that had passed through the village. A member of Citizen on Patrol helped the peace officer locate the vehicle at a residence in the village.
   “I had a lot of help from some citizens of Linden telling me where the vehicle went and the license plate, and Citizens on Patrol who stepped forward to find the vehicle,” he said.
   Erickson told inSide Drumheller a male has been charged with driving more than 50 kilometres per hour over the speed limit and failing to stop for a police officer, both under the provincial Traffic Safety Act.
   He explains that a driver charged with driving 50 kilometres over the speed limit has an automatic court appearance. There is no specified penalty. The maximum fine the driver could face is $2,000 and/or up to a six month suspension.
   Surprisingly enough, this was not the fastest driver he has ever seen in his 12-year career. He once clocked a driver traveling 218 kilometres per hour.
   “We see the 150s often in the county, but not often we come across speeds that extreme,” said Erickson.
   The driver is slated to appear in provincial court in Drumheller on May 1.

Hansen-Zacharuk elected president of Wildrose Constituency Association

    The Wildrose Constituency Association for the Drumheller-Stettler Riding has a new president.
   The Association held its Annual General Meeting on March 23 and Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk was elected the Association’s president, replacing Gordon Butler.
   “It is exciting and a big step,” said Hansen. She explains she was approached a few weeks ago to gauge her interest and she feels she can do a good job.
   She explains the Constituency Association’s (CA) main focus is to make sure the area has an elected MLA. It works on fundraising for the association and to mobilize during election time.
   “The party is supposed to be grassroots, and so the CAs come up with policies they bring forward to the AGM or policy session and then vote to see if it gets adopted,” said Hansen-Zacharuk.
   Hansen-Zacharuk is also a sitting Drumheller town councillor and sees no problem in performing both rolls, and in some cases, it could be helpful.
   “The point of the matter is we are all supposed to be working together towards one good and that’s Alberta,” she said. “Because Rick Strankman is our MLA, regardless of party affiliation, I can take our concerns directly from the Town to our MLA. I find that handy.”

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