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Morrin SADD chapter promoting safe driving practices

Sadd-morrin

   The Morrin SADD Chapter has remained a force in the community promoting safety on the roads and is taking aim at unsafe practices behind the wheel.
   The group has partnered with Parachute, a national charity dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives, for Project Gearshift, a national awareness campaign that targets reducing aggressive and distracted driving and impaired driving.
   It is a tragic statistic that while only 13 per cent of drivers on the road are between the ages of 16 and 24, they account for close to a quarter of all fatalities and serious injuries.
   “What makes teen driver fatalities so tragic is that the vast majority of them are completely preventable,” says Katie Pennock, Staff Advisor, Morrin School SADD Chapter. “Through community initiatives like our Youth Traffic Safety Conference in March and our Speed Awareness Campaign in May, we will inspire young drivers to ensure they drive safely, while making them aware of the devastating effects of distracted, aggressive and impaired driving.”
   The SADD group is planning activities to raise awareness during Parachute’s National Teen Driver Safety Week (NTDSW) from October 19-25.
   On October 23, the group will be participating in a virtual classroom with students from across the country to discuses teen driver safety issues. They will also be promoting the #PracticeSafeText campaign during the lunch hour, which encourages others to take selfies to create awareness around the issue of texting and driving on social media.
   “We need to take action to help make our roads safer for all drivers, and education, knowledge and empowerment are key,” says Louise Logan, Parachute’s President and CEO. “By partnering with the Morrin School SADD Chapter and through Parachute’s national initiatives such as National Teen Driver Safety Week and #PRACTICESAFETEXT, we’re helping keep teens safe behind the wheel.”
   In Morrin, SADD is raising awareness of teen driver safety all year round and this year will be hosting a Youth Traffic Safety Conference for local schools in March. Annually members promote a speed awareness campaign and a White Out Day.

Partial solar eclipse visible in valley

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A few Drumhellerites had their “protected” eyes to the sky Thursday afternoon checking out a rare partial solar eclipse.

On October 23 in the afternoon the moon passed between the sun and earth, taking about out of view of the sun. The eclipse was visible in the area beginning shortly after 2:30 p.m. and was at its maximum just after 4 p.m.

While not visible to the naked eye, and in fact dangerous to even try to look at, there are ways to see the phenomenon.

Ken Briault and the folks at Acklands Grainger in Drumheller we helpful allowing The Mail to have a peek using welder’s glass.

Horseshoe club fire deemed suspicious

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(l-r) Director of Protective Services Greg Peters, and firefighters Bruce Wade and Peter Gruber assess the damage to the Horseshoe Facility on Saturday morning. The investigation into the overnight blaze continues. photo O.R. Sheddy.

Investigators have determined that a fire that destroyed the Drumheller Horseshoe Club facility in Centennial Park was suspicious in nature.
   Drumheller Firefighters responded to the blaze at about 1 a.m. October 18, to the building that sits behind the Drumheller Memorial Arena.
   Upon arrival at the scene, the building was totally engulfed in fire. The facility and its contents were completely destroyed.
   Fire investigators and police were at the scene Saturday morning to begin the fire investigation.
   Fire Chief Bill Bachynski explained fire investigators look for things such as cause of ignition, locations of damage, contributing fuels, and any other clues that could determine how or why a fire started.
   “We look for heavier burns and many other different things during a fire investigation,” he explains. “It is a specialized field, and investigators go through a lot of training to learn this.”
   “You start with reconstructing the scene prior to the fire - that is the basis. And then you move forward using the process of elimination.”
   Bachynski explains in this case, investigators have determined a point of origin of the fire, but have not determined its ignition source.
   When there is a fire, Drumheller’s RCMP are notified and form part of the emergency response. Police are on scene during the fire, and continue with the investigation that follows. In this case, the fire is considered suspicious, and the investigation continues.
   “It is a long process, and there are many different phases as we work through the investigation,” said the fire chief.

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