Tag: Fort McMurray

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Alberta Entertainment Ft Mac

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Fort McMurray, Stay Safe

Merry Christmas, Fort McMurray

Merry Christmas Fort McMurray, and we wish for everyone to have a happy and safe holiday season. Enjoy spending the day with friends, family, and other loved ones. This is a time to appreciate what we have, and to focus more on the spiritual aspect of the holidays rather than the financial stresses we have or the gifts that we give and receive. With that in mind did you manage to get everything on your list or were there things that you overlooked or decided not to stress about? After the gifts are opened and the holiday meal is finished what will you do today? A rousing game of hockey or football outdoors can be a terrific way to burn off some of those calories that you consumed, and even a walk around the neighborhood can help you stay fit and ensure that you do not get sluggish from over indulging today if the weather permits.

Remember to stay safe while you are having a Merry Christmas, or engaging in another holiday celebration instead. The Fort McMurray weather and climate can be unpredictable at times. If you are heading anywhere today make sure that you are prepared for bad weather or any unexpected mechanical issues that could come up so that you arrive safely at your destination. We want everyone to be safe, healthy, and happy during this holiday, and we wish everyone in the Wood Buffalo and Fort McMurray communities peace and good tidings whether you celebrate Christmas. Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or another traditional holiday instead.

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Alberta Ft Mac

Tom Morimoto, 97 Year Old WWII Veteran and Fort McMurray Resident, Passed Away

Tom Morimoto, Fort McMurray

Tom Morimoto was a 97 year old WWII veteran, a Fort McMurray resident, and a beloved friend and family member. Morimoto passed away on Monday, December 14, 2015 at 4:30 a.m. Before his death Tom was living in a Kelowna hospice, and friends and family suspected that he did not have a lot of years left/ When Ariel Morimoto paid a visit to her grandfather in the hospice on Sunday evening, the day before he died, she comforted him. When Ariel went to leave Tom told her “Don’t let me be alone tonight.” In an act of love Ariel stayed through the night, holding her grandfather’s hand all night long, and at 4:30 a.m. he gave a final breath and then peacefully passed away.

While Tom Morimoto was not born in Fort McMurray he moved there when his father relocated the barber shop due to high rent prices in Edmonton. Ariel described her grandfathers passing and said “It was very peaceful. He wasn’t in pain and he knew he was going and he had accepted it. Even in death, he controlled what he wanted to do and how he wanted it to happen.” Morimoto’s granddaughter also talked about his service in WWII and stated “The fighting was something he didn’t talk much about. When he took us to Juno Beach a few years ago, it was the first time many of us actually saw him cry. He was always very grateful, but none of his accomplishments ever went to his head. I don’t think he thought he deserved it. He was always surprised and delighted, but always humble.”

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Ft Mac Health

After Extensive Planning Fort McMurray Launches New Sexual Assault Response Team

Fort McMurray, Sexual Assault Response Team

Fort McMurray has needed a Sexual Assault Response Team, or SART, for some time now, and one has officially been launched in response to this need. The team members and groups involved in SART have developed a working collaboration so that the sexual violence victims can access the help they need in a streamlined fashion. Some of the groups involved in the collaboration include the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre, the RCMP, Waypoints, and other community groups who are involved in the fight against sexual violence and sexual assaults. Waypoints’ sexual assault program manager Ginger Nickoli explained “When someone experiences a sexual assault, they often will go through one service or one door when there’s a lot of different services that can support them. (We’re) building a team to ensure that there’s no gap in services, that if someone wants to access the other services, it’s made easier for them.”

The Sexual Assault Response Team in Fort McMurray requires close collaboration so that sexual assault victims do not end up feeling overwhelmed or hassled during the process. Wood Buffalo RCMP Sgt. Jadine Dara explained “People kinda get tossed around like a ping-pong ball. One agency could potentially be telling them something totally different than the other one, and then you see the frustration and people get very disillusioned.” This is the first SART team in Alberta to launch in over a decade and the community expressed interest almost immediately. Ginger Nickoli said “We’re hoping is that in time, people will be quicker to report. There’s not that stigma there that ‘I’m going to be blamed for what happened’. People will realize that it doesn’t matter. People shouldn’t be sexually assaulting other people.”

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Economic Ft Mac Health

Fort McMurray Resident Bo Cooper Fights Leukemia, Community Pitches in to Help

Fort McMurray, Bo Cooper

Fort McMurray resident Bo Cooper is known by many in the community. As a local firefighter and a promising MMA fighter the 26 year old has battled many things in his life but now he is facing one of his toughest fights ever, a battle against leukemia. The brave young man has already beaten leukemia before, and he is fighting the disease for the third time. Cooper first won against acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2011 but the disease returned. Since Bo has already received all the chemotherapy that he can have in his entire lifetime there are very few other treatment options to choose from that cold make the difference in how his battle turns out. One option, CAR T-Cell drugs, show great promise but there is a catch. Right now the government does not cover these drugs and Cooper would need to travel to the USA for his treatment.

Bo Cooper can not afford to receive the Car T-Cell drugs that could save his life, and the Fort McMurray community has rallied to try and help out. Each dose of these drugs can cost as much as $60,000. Cooper may need up to 10 doses, with a total cost just for the drugs expected to run about $600,000. Without this treatment option Bo may not be able to win this latest fight. According to Fort McMurray Fire Department Captain Rob Van Hecke “It’s not cheap. It’s nothing health care covers yet. But with a 90% success rate, it’s worth trying.” Hecke started an online fund raising campaign last month to raise money for Cooper, and over $100,000 has been raised in just a few weeks from this fund raising effort and other community events. How can you help out?

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Economic Entertainment Ft Mac

Is your Christmas to do List Complete Yet Fort McMurray?

Christmas, Fort McMurray

Christmas Eve is just a week away, and many are scrambling to find the perfect last minute gift or special present for someone special. The year end holidays area time for joy and for giving, spending time with friends and family and enjoying all the social activities that are planned. Are you already finished with your shopping or are you still waiting to star with only a week left to go? The closer it gets to the holidays the bigger the crowds are, and the longer the lines can be. Fort McMurray has the holiday spirit, that is obvious, but is your Christmas to do list all checked off or do you still have a way to go before you are finished?

During the Christmas holiday it is better to put the focus on relationships and caring, with less emphasis on material things that so not matter nearly as much. With parties to attend, gifts to wrap, holiday meals to plan, and other details to be worked out and planned for this time of year can be hectic and stressful. Make sure that you take care of yourself and your loved ones during the season, in fact you should put this on your checklist so that it is easy to remember. The most important part of the Fort McMurray holidays is the people that you spend it with, not the gifts that you give and receive. What is left to do on your list before Christmas arrives in Fort McMurray?

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Alberta Breaking News Ft Mac World

Child Sex Tourism Charges Lodged Against Fort McMurray Man

child sex tourism, Fort McMurray

Police in Alberta have lodged child sex tourism charges against a Fort McMurray man, 33 year old Jashua Robert Tremblay. This is the very first time that this type of charges have been lodged under the umbrella of child sex tourism activities. Tremblay is now facing 2 charges of sexual interference, 1 charge of indecent exposure, and 1 count of luring. Tremblay was recently arrested in Fort McMurray on the charges and taken into custody. According to police the man is alleged to have sexually interfered with a 13 year old minor located in Ireland. According to a press release from ALERT “ALERT alleges that Tremblay twice travelled to Ireland to have sex with a girl he met on the internet. he alleged offenses date back to late 2013 when the victim was 13 years old.”

The child sex tourism charges against the Fort McMurray man are allowed under section 7 of the Canadian Criminal Code. Under this section anyone who is involved in committing certain crimes of a sexual nature against children can be charged in Canadian courts even if the acts were committed outside of Canada. The acts are charged as if the offenses were committed in Canada. The clause under section 7 that allows this was added to the criminal code in 1997. According to the ALERT force this is the first time that charges were laid for child sex crimes committed on an international level. Sgt. Paul Czerwonka explained “We do deal with international partners a lot in these cases, because the Internet takes us all over the place, right?. But as far as physically going to a different country to commit an offence, that is kinda something we don’t see every day. So as far as I know, a sex tourism charge is not something we charge very very often. As a matter of fact, I spoke to a crown prosecutor and in the last ten years, he says probably two or three times max he can remember this being laid.”